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It is an age-old practice for Indians to observe a fast (vrat) on Ekadasi days. According to Hindu calendar, Ekadasi occurs twice in the month. Ekadashi occurs twice in a month, once it occurs after 11 days from the full moon day and secondly 11 days from the new moon.
According to Hindu epic, Padma Purana, that describes the mythological relevance of Ekadasi.
There was a renowned sage, Jaimini Rishi, once asked the significance of Ekadashi from the great sage, Vyas.
Vyas explained that initially when the world was manifested, Lord Vishnu created a demonic creature known as (Papa-Purush) that was the embodiment of all types of sins. Subsequently, he created Yamaraj, so that anyone who sinned (signs of Papa-Purusha in him) would be punished and sent to Yamalok.
On a visit to Yamlok(the palace of Yam), Lord Vishnu noticed the sufferings of the people living there and had sympathy for them. He created goddess Ekadasi from his female powerand decided that anyone undertaking the Ekadasi fast would be absolved of his sins.
A1) Black Magic is an ancient science that uses the Spirts, physics, biology, and electronics to hurt or heal people. The base of all black magic lies within the spirit world or the world of the dead.
Q2) What is the reason behind the black magic and who can perform it?
A2) People who have jealousy, anger, hate towards their relatives, friends and co-workers perform black magic either perform black magic themselves, provided they have mastery in it or hire black magicians to harm them.
Black magic means inviting the spirit or making animal sacrifices (Human sacrifices in some cases). Once the spirit is controlled, it can be used to access any information about anyone and are also used to harm one person or group of people by killing or harming them.
Q3) Can one become a victim of spirit world without someone doing black magic on the individual?
A3) Females are more prone to become a victim of spirit as compared to males.
Females generally get victimized at the time of their monthly cycles. At that time, their auric shield weakens if she visits any of the possessed places such as graveyard, river, lake or trees. There is also believe that if during that time if she uses scent, drinks alcohol or take drugs, does not take care of her hygiene or allows the occurrence of negative or sexual thoughts; she is calling spirits that can take charge of her body during that time. On the other hand in men, the auric field breaks, weakens or opens up if they consume drugs, take alcohol, involve with women who are controlled or are unhygienic. Both males and females have week auric shield in case of extreme sickness or an accident.
Coconut is also known by many names such as Chopra, Nariyal,
Shreepha, Shreephal and Tengai. It is considered as a most important
offering to the Hindu deity especially during auspicious occasions such
as festivals, marriage, purchase of a new vehicle, the inauguration of
the bridge, house, office, etc.
There are several reasons for choosing Coconut has importance in Hinduism that are as follows:
1) Coconut- Sacred Fruit
Coconut is considered as sacred, pure, clean and satvik (naturally
processed) fruit. It outer hard body protect the inner fruit and help it
remain clean.
2) Coconut replaced Narbali
In Hinduism, during the ancient time, there was a practice of Narbali
(offering the head of the human) to the Hindu deity. However, there was
the sage Adi Shankaracharya, who condemned this ritual and advised to
replace the human head with a coconut. He further said that breaking of
coconut signifies that breaking away the ego and other negativities that
are as hard as a hard shell and getting the peace and purity that is as
white as from inside. It also signifies that you can seek the blessing
of the Deity by breaking off the ego i.e. represented by its hard shell
and get away from the desires (Vasanas) that are represented by inner
water. Unfortunately, Nar Bali is still practiced at various places.
3) Coconut- selfless service
Every part of the coconut tree -the trunk, leaves, fruit, coir, etc. are
used in countless ways like mats, thatches, oil, soap, tasty dishes,
etc. It is used in the preparation of many ayurvedic medicines and other
alternative medicinal systems. It takes in even groundwater from the
earth and converts it into sweet, nutritious water that is especially
beneficial to sick people. This signifies that you take the ill feelings
(such as hatred, anger, and jealousy) of the others for you and in
return you send your good feelings for them instead of ill feelings for
them.
4) Mythological saga related to Shiva, Ganesha and coconut
One day Lord Ganesha was playing and suddenly attracted by his father
(Shiva’s) third eye. Ganesha wanted to touch it. Shiva said that he
would him a special ball to play and thus presented him coconut that
also has three eyes. Therefore, coconut is special to Lord Ganesha, and
thus it is offered to him.
5) Mythological saga related to the Trishanku, Vishwamitra and coconut
According to Hindu Mythology, there was a King Trishanku, who was a
saintly man. He has a great desire to ascend bodily into heaven. He went
to sage Vishwamitra to help him to fulfill his desire. Vishwamitra
advised him that his desire was against the law of nature, but Trishanku
insisted and thus sage had to agree to help him. He performed a yajna
and Trishanku began to rise towards the heaven... Read More
Ganesh
Chaturthi, also known as Vinayak Chaturthi and Ganesh Chauth, is a
festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha. The day is celebrated as his
birthday on the fourth day of the waxing moon in the month of Bhadrapada
(August-September), according to the Hindu calendar. The main highlight
of the festival is that it lasts for ten days and its ends in Ganesh
Visarjan when people bid their goodbye to Ganesha and pray him to come
visit them again the next year. This festival is of prime importance for
the people living in Maharashtra.
It is believed
that one should not see the moon on Ganesha Chaturthi as it results in a
fault in one’s stars because of which he can be falsely accused of
stealing something. Thus according to the astronomical calculations,
avoid sighting the moon in between 20:01 to 20:13 on 16th September 2015
and in between 09:20 to 20:50 on 17th September 2015.
Legend
There
are two legends that are related with the birth of Ganesha. According
to the most believed one, Ganesha was created by Parvati to keep herself
company as Shiva was out of the house for most of the times. She
created a son for herself out of sandalwood paste. Once she was going to
take a bath when she asked Ganesha to guard the door. She asked him not
to allow entrance to anyone. When she went inside, Shiva arrived and
asked Ganesha to let him in but he denied his request. Shiva became
furious, and he asked his followers to teach him some manners. They
tried to fight with Ganesha but as he was created by Shakti herself, he
was very powerful and defeated the army of Shiva. Other deities also
tried but failed to appease him. Finally, Indra tried to teach him a
lesson with his huge army but with no results. Finally, Shiva took it as
a matter of his pride and severed his head.
When
Parvati came out of her arena, she was filled with anger witnessing her
beheaded son. Shiva knew Parvati’s anger could result into the end of
the universe. Thus, he promised to bring back Ganesha. He asked his
troop to find a head of a dead being facing in the North direction, and
they could only find a head of an elephant. Shiva fixated the head on
the child’s body, thus bringing him back to life. Since then he is being
called Ganesha.
According to a less known and
talked about a legend, Ganesha was brought to life by both Shiva and
Parvati after listening to numerous requests from Gods. They wanted
someone who could solve all their problems but at the same time create
hurdles in the path of the demons. Thus, he is known as Vighnaharta
(obstacle-remover), as well as Vighnakartaa (obstacle creator).
Rituals
As
Parvati made Ganesha with sand, similarly devotees prepare or buy an
idol of Ganesha made up of clay. The size of these idols may range from a
small miniature to a 75 feet statue. The celebrations take place at two
levels. People either worship him by placing a small pandal at their
home, or a raised platform is placed in societies and people from
various houses come to worship the God. These pandals are beautifully
decorated with paintings and flowers. Lights are used to highlight the
specific arena. People wear beautiful clothes at the time of Puja, and
if one appoints a priest, then he can be offered red and white
traditional clothes for performing the ceremonies.
The
priest chant mantras and the most repeated one is “Vakratunda Mahakaya
Suryakoti Sama Prabha Nirvighnam Kuru Mey Deva Sarva Kaaryeshu Sarvadaa”
which is a pleading to the Lord with a huge body, curved trunk and
brightness equivalent to the brightness of million suns to remove the
hurdles from one’s life. It is believed that by chanting many other
mantras, Priests try to invoke life in the idols and this ritual is
known as ‘Prana Pratishtha’. Thus in many houses, these idols are
considered like family members who are woken, bathed, fed and made to
sleep at appropriate timings.
As the festival is
celebrated for ten days, those worshippers placing an idol at home
should follow the below-mentioned routine. Devotees first clean their
bodies and while taking bath ask Ganesha to clean their souls of all the
sins. Then offerings of white flowers are made as they are Ganesha’s
favorite. A special type of three blade grass call Durva is kept in the
worshipping arena. People may also offer vermillion that symbolizes good
fortune and incense sticks representing fame. A special type of sweet
called Modak is then prepared for the Lord as he loves eating them and
can consume them in infinite numbers. Usually, the items like Modak and
durva grass that are placed next to the Lord are 21 in number. Family
members should also meditate on Ganesha’s legends and chant ‘Om Gam
Ganapataye Namaha’, 108 times a day.
On the last
day, a huge number of processions are taken out on the roads and people
sing and dance along the troops. They shower colors and flowers on each
other. They finally reach near different water bodies and submerge the
idols in them.
Regional Celebration
Apart
from Ganapati Puja and Visarjan that takes place in Maharashtra,
celebrations of other southern states are famous too. In Karnataka also
people install idols at their home and can continue to worship them even
for 21 days. In Telangana, apart from clay, the idols of Ganesha are
prepared using turmeric. On the day of submergence, the people stay
vigil at night and celebrate the festivity till the sunrise.
In
Tamil Nadu, the idols are decorated with special kind of garlands made
up of bermuda grass. The people of Tamil Nadu prefer making
environmental friendly idols and use coconut shells and other organic
items only. They believe that the nature is also a part of the Lord and
should not be destroyed in any manner. In Kerala, people offer milk to
the idols and break thousands of coconuts on the doorsteps of temples to
gain liberation from their sins. In Goa, elaborate Puja ceremonies take
place and Gauri and Shiva are also worshiped along with Ganesha.
Displaying fireworks at night is also a part of the ritual. Though,
people of Goa widely consume fishes and other sea foods, they refrain
themselves from eating non-vegetarian items on Ganesha Chaturthi... Read More
