Month: January 2015

RAMMAPA TEMPLE ~ THE BRICKS WHICH FLOAT ON WATER !!!!

RAMAPPA ~ Ramappa Temple is located 77 km from Warangal, which served as the ancient capital of the Kakatiya Empire, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The temple is situated in a valley at the now forgotten Palampet village of Venkatapur Mandal, in the Mulug Taluq of Warangal district.

This Temple is a Shivalaya (where Shiva is worshipped) and named after the sculptor Ramappa. It is the only temple in the world named after its sculptor/architect. Its presiding deity, Ramalingeswara, is the form of Shiva and a personal god of the Avatar of Vishnu, Rama. The history says that it took 40 years to build this temple.

This is opposite the beautiful temple, an example of brilliant Kakatiya dynasty art, Planned and sculpted by Ramappa, the temple was built on the classical pattern of being lifted above the world on a high star-shaped platform. Intricate carvings line the walls and cover the pillars and ceilings. Starting at its base to its wall panels, pillars and ceiling are sculpted figures drawn from Hindu mythology.The roof (garbhalayam) of the temple is built with bricks, which are so light that they are able to float on water.
The hall in front of the sanctum is filled with exquisitely carved pillars that are placed as to combine light and space wonderfully with the finely chiselled walls and ceiling.

There are two small Shiva shrines on either side of the main temple. The enormous Nandi within, facing the shrine of Shiva, remains in good condition. In most of the shiva temples, the Nandi was strait to deity but in the temples built by KAKATIYAS the nandi is in an alert position and waiting for the order of lord shiva. Acharya Nataraja

Ramakrishna revived Perini Shivatandavam (Perini Dance), by seeing the sculptures in this temple. The dance poses written in NRITTA RATHNAVALI by JAYAPA SENAANI also appears in these sculptures. The temple built area is 5 acres and a twenty acres of land was developed by the greenery around the temple. A total of 25 km radius found historic temples in the district.

Krishna Temple in Pakistan

 

This ancient Krishna temple in Pakistan, which is now used as a storage to keep straw, still contains some extremely beautiful ancient paintings of Lord Krishna. Just go through the pictures. However, the dilapidated condition of the temple is very painful.

Peape tree or Ficus Religosa and sweet water well in Garden area or Bagh of the Krishna Mandir and Gurdwara of Kallar Syedan 1830 AD — in Kallar Saidan, Punjab, Pakistan.

Vedic God Indra is worshipped as God Thagyamin by the Buddhists

The Vedic God Indra is worshipped as God Thagyamin by the Buddhists of Burma/ Myanmar. Here are some beautiful statues of the Vedic God Indra in the Burmese style.

oldest Hindu Temple is Cambodia- Akkor Vat

The Oldest Hindu Temple? We all know that Ankor Vat (built in 12th century) in Cambodia is the biggest Hindu temple complex in the world (in fact, it is the biggest religious structure in the world!!!). But where is the oldest Hindu temple? The question of finding an answer to the oldest Hindu temple is a bit difficult. Each temple that is considered to be the oldest is questioned by another set of people claiming their temple to be the oldest one. Early worships used to take place in caves, so it is quite probable that the most ancient temple has to be a cave temple. Therefore, here I present a possible candidate: Cave No. 19 of the Bhaja Caves, Lonavala, Maharashtra. Even though the 2200 years old Bhaja Caves are primarily a Theravada Buddhist site, it seems that, like is the case with many other ancient cave temples, these caves too were shared by Buddhists and Hindus alike. In cave no. 19 we find 2200 years old rock carvings of Surya (the Vedic Sun God) on his chariot, Indra (the Vedic Thunder God) on his Airavata elephant and Lord Parashurama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, which is enough evidence for us to speculate that cave no. 19 was used as a temple by people following the Vedic traditions. This makes it most probably the most ancient Hindu temple to be found intact today.
Pic: 1. 2200 years old rock carvings of Surya (the Vedic Sun God) on his chariot, Indra (the Vedic Thunder God) on his Airavata elephent in cave no. 19, Bhaja Caves, Lonavala, Maharashtra. 2. Buddhist Chaitya at the main cave entrance, Bhaja Caves, Lonavala, Maharashtra.

Yazidi Hindus in Iraq,Syria

See this video of how a Yazidi priest is giving Tilaka to a visiting devotee in the same way like Hindu priests make Tilaka to visiting devotees all over India, one Tilaka mark on the forehead, on the Ajna Chakra, and the second on the throat. on the Vishuddhi Cakra. Amazing. They also have a caste system, walk around sacred objects 3 times which is called “Parikrama” in Hinduism and consider trees holy.

Syria was ruled by Hindu King 3300 years ago

A King named Dasharatha ruled over Syria and Iraq 3300 years ago: The Arya Kingdom of Mittani comprised of what is known today as Syria and parts of south-eastern Turkey and Iraq between 1500-1300 BC. It is well-known to historians that the Mittani kingdom was founded by an Arya ruling class, whose names are of Indic origin and who worshipped Vedic Gods, such as Mitra, Varuna, Indra and Nasatya (Ashvini-Kumaras) etc. Look at the names of some of their kings: The first Mitanni king was Sutarna I (“good sun” – सुतर्ण). He was followed by Paratarna I (“great sun” – परतर्ण), Parashukshatra (“ruler with axe” – परशुक्षत्र), Saukshatra (“son of Sukshatra, the good ruler” – सौक्षत्र), Paratarna II, Artatama or Ritadharma (“abiding in cosmic law” – ऋतधर्म), Sutarna II, Tushratta or Dasharatha (दशरथ), and finally Mativaja (Matiwazza, “whose wealth is prayer” – मतिवाज). For more info read Pr. Subhash Kak’s well-researched informative article: http://creative.sulekha.com/the-sun-king-and-dasharatha_103…
Pic: 1. A letter from King Dasharatha (Tushratta) of Mittani written to King Akhenaton of Egypt, Tell El Amarna letters (tablets). 2. The extent of the Mittani kingdom in 1400 BC.

Lord Brahma in Thailand.

Lord Brahma is a very popular deity in Thailand. He is known as Phra Phrom in local Thai language which is derived from Sanskrit “Vara Bhrama” (वर ब्रह्मा). Shrines dedicated to Him can be found in various places of Thailand. Thailand also has a small native Hindu Brahmana priesthood, which take care of these Hindu deities in the country. Pandit Vamadeva Muni, the royal priest of Thailand (Rajapurohita), is the head of all these Hindu Brahmana priests.

Deepavali in Thailand:

Deepavali in Thailand: The Thai version of the Hindu celebration of Deepavali is called “Loi Krathong” (to float a basket with a lamp in it). Deepavali celebrates the homecoming of Lord Rama. It is also celebrated in parts of Malaysia, Laos and Burma. It must be noted that the ancient capital of the Thai Kingdom was called Ayuthya (named after the birthplace of Lord Rama) and the Cakri (चक्रवर्ती) kings of Thailand are known as “Rama” even today. The present King of Thailand is known as “Rama IX”.
A short video of Loi Krathong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch…

Lord Narsimha In China Museum

This ancient Hindu relief, housed at Quanzhou Museum in China, features the image of Lord Narasimha, one of Lord Vishnu’s ten incarnations, destroying the evil Hiranyakashipu.

Ramayana in Phillipines

Ramayana in the Philippines.
The famous dance of Singkil from the Philippines is inspired from the Ramayana of the Philippines.
PDF version of a detailed study on Maharadia Lawana, the ancient Ramayana from the Philippines, can be downloaded from here…
http://www.asj.upd.edu.ph/…/ASJ-07-02-1969/franciso-maharad…

फिलिपीन्स में रामायण –
फिलिपीन्स का प्रसिद्ध सिङ्किल नृत्य वहां की राम-कथा पर ही आधारित होता है। प्राचीन फिलिपीन्स द्वीप समूहों में वहां की भाषा में लिखित राम-कथा को ‘महाराडिया लवन’ के नाम से जाना जाता है।

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