Know About Shingnapur, Maharashtra on this Day…Shani Jayanthi…June 8 2013!!!

Shani Jayanti, or Sani Jayanthi, is believed to be the day when Lord Shani, one of the Navagrahas made its appearance on Earth. In 2013, the date of Shani Jayanti is June 8, Saturday. The day is doubly auspicious in 2013 as it falls on a Saturday. Shani is feared by those people who believe and follow astrology, as Shanaishchara has the capacity to create malefic influence on the horoscope and thus in their life.

In Hinduism, Lord Shani is the son of Surya (Sun God) and his wife Chaya. Suryadev’s wife Chaya had gone into intense meditation to please Lord Shiva for a son. Due to the intensity of her meditation and the rigor and austerity of the sun, the fetus in her womb turned blackish in colour before even being born After Shani Dev was born, Suryadev went to see his wife and the new born baby. However, seeing Shani’s black colour, Suryadev refused to accept him as his child.
Suryadev doubted his wife and said to her that such dark child cannot be his. Seeing such an attitude of his father, Shani Dev started to think very high of his mother, but developed hatred and anger for his father.
To become more Tejasvi and Parakrami than his father, Shani went into intense meditation to please Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva finally got impressed and asked Shani for his wish. In return, Shani Dev asked Shiva to make him more powerful than his father.
His wish was granted and Lord Shiva made him the judge and made him more powerful than his own father, Suryadev.
There is a small village in Maharashtra called Shingnapur where even today not even one door of any house remains shut. Despite doors being opened all the time here, there is never a case of theft happening. This is because of a belief that if anyone dares to steal anything from any house, Lord Shani himself will punish the culprit.  This place has a special grace of Shani Dev.
According to the mythological scriptures, Shani was born in Shingnapur. Though there is no temple of Shani here, but the village has his statue. The sculpture is black. Its length is approximately 5 feet 9 inches and 6 feet 1 inch in width.
There is a famous story of this village. Once a Pandit visited this village. He was blind. One night when he was sleeping, Shani Dev appeared in his dream and asked him to visit a hill inside which was his idol to bring it out.
When Panditji told him that he is blind and won’t be able to this work, Lord Shani gave him eyesight. When the Pandit woke up, he was happy to see everything and the first thing he did was take out the idol as asked by Shani Dev. When the idol was taken out,-  people established it in a place and descendants of the priest and other residents worship Lord Shani’s idol even today.
On Shani Jayanti day, people perform special pujas at Navagraha Temples or in Shani Temples. Those Hindus having Saturn cycle or Shani cycle or Sade Sathi in their horoscope perform special pujas like Shani Yagya or Homa. Some devotees observe a fast (fasting or upvaas) on the day and the rules observed are similar to Shanivar Vrat or Saturday Fasting.Shani dev is also the god worshipped on Saturday or Shanivar. .  Visiting Navagraha shrines, Shani temples or temples of Lord Ganesha on the day is considered auspicious.
Depending upon the condition of Shani, people are provided with results. Among all nine planets, Shani is considered to be the most important because it stays on a zodiac for the maximum time, which is two and a half years.
This year, on June 8, Shani Jayanti will be celebrated all over the country. The Amavasya falling on this Saturday has special time to worship Shani Dev.
Coincidently, this year, Shani Jayanti is also on the same day as Amavasya. So it is rare thing and very lucky for people.
source:::::H.Deepa in shirdi sai speaks…
Natarajan

Divine Image Of The Day…Shirdi Sai…

 

Quote of BABA:

When the repeated contemplation becomes perfect and the difference between the meditation and meditator  disappears, then the mind becomes calm and steady, like the lamp on the windless night.
SOURCE:::::shirdi sai speaks….H.Deepa
Natarajan

Stunning Images Of The Week!!!!….Part 2 !!!

15 STUNNING photos from the week that was!

A sculpture titled ‘Pentateuque’ representing an elephant balancing on the back of a man by French artist Fabien Merelle on May 23, 2013 in Hong Kong.

Austrian tightrope walker Christian Waldner passes the roof of St. Stephens cathedral on a high line in Vienna.

The line was fixed between St. Stephen’s cathedral’s two south towers 60 meters above ground.


Model Hannah Fraser dressed as a mermaid swims in an aquarium to promote the film “Tears of a Mermaid” in Cannes during the 66th Cannes Film Festival May.

Liu Lingchao, 38, carries his makeshift dwelling as he walks along a road in Shapu township of Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Five years ago, Liu decided to walk back to his hometown Rongan county in Guangxi from Shenzhen, where he once worked as a migrant worker. With bamboo, plastic bags and bed sheets, Liu made himself a 1.5-metre-wide, 2-metre-high, “portable room” weighing about 60 kg, to carry with him as he walks an average of 20 kilometres everyday.

To support himself, Liu collects garbage all the way during the journey and he is now 20 miles away from his hometown, according to local media.

A car is seen in the water as a span of highway bridge sits in the Skagit River, 2013 after collapsing near the town of Mt Vernon, Washington late Thursday.

The bridge collapse that sent cars and drivers tumbling into a frigid river in Washington state appears to have been caused when a semi-trailer truck carrying an oversize load struck a bridge support beam, officials said on Friday.

The truck crossed the bridge safely before a portion of the structure collapsed, sending two vehicles and a mass of concrete and steel into the Skagit River.

Three people had to be rescued, officials said.   


A man carries his wife as they wade through a flooded street in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. Heavy rainfall since Saturday has killed two people in south China’s Guangdong Province, bringing the death toll resulting from rainstorms to 36 this year.

A pedestrian carrying an umbrella walks through a Memorial Day display of United States flags on the Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts.

According to the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund, the flags are planted on the Common for fallen Massachusetts service members at the Memorial Day holiday, which will be celebrated May 27 in the United States.

The clouds of a thunderstorm roll over neighborhoods heavily damaged in a tornado in Moore, Oklahoma.

A house built on a rock on the river Drina is seen near the western Serbian town of Bajina Basta, about 160km from the capital Belgrade.

The house was built in 1968 by a group of young men who decided that the rock on the river was an ideal place for a tiny shelter, according to the house’s co-owner, who was among those involved in its construction.


A shepherd holds an umbrella as he watches over his flock of goats at the bank of Mahanadi river in Cuttack district, about 45 km from Bhubaneswar.

A man tows a damaged car from a property in Moore, Oklahoma, four days after the Oklahoma City suburb was left devastated by a tornado.

Tornadoes that struck the United States from May 18 to May 20 caused between $2 billion to $5 billion of insured losses, disaster modeling company Eqecat said late Thursday.

Eqecat said most of the losses were attributed to the tornado that devastated Moore, Oklahoma. That storm, with winds that exceeded 320 kph, killed 24 and flattened two elementary schools

15 STUNNING photos from the week that was!

A week-old shire horse foal rest her head on her mother Orla at Cornwall’s Crealy Adventure Park near Wadebridge, England.

Once a common sight in the United Kingdom, shire horses are now classed as “at risk” by the Rare Breed Survival Trust.

The yet-to-be-named filly foal, bred in a breeding programme by the adventure park as part of a endangered species prtotection project, will be one of less than 300 predicted to be born in the country this year.

A man collects water as he bathes in an industrial waste-foam polluted section of the Yamuna River, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

The Yamuna River, holy to Hindus, traverses various urban centers like Delhi, Mathura, and Agra. These large urban centers draw fresh river water for various activities. In return, almost the entire waste water generated by these centers is disposed off into the river.

This is the prime reason for deterioration of Yamuna River water quality, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

source::::rediff.com

Natarajan

Stunning Images of The Week !!!

Trail to the heavensThe European Space Agency’s Ariane 5 rocket launches from Kourou, French Guiana. It will resupply the ISS with more than six tonnes of stores.

 

Sunburst in spaceThe sun’s rays are caught by a member of the International Space Station as it orbits above the United States.

 

Magnetic presenceThe new maglev train “L0 series” on an experimental track in Tsuru, Japan. Central Japan Railway aims to launch the service between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027.

 

Burst banksThe eastern German city of Riesa lies flooded after heavy rain. The Elbe and Vltava rivers flooded, causing death and damage across central Europe.

 

Fiery forestFlames erupt from a forest fire near Lake Hughes, California. Covering nearly 80 square kilometres, it was fought by more than 1,000 firefighters.

 

Down to the groundThe Solar Impulse aircraft in a special inflatable hangar at Lambert-St Louis International Airport in Missouri, after a flight from Dallas, Texas.

 

Aerial controlA firefighting helicopter drops fire retardant at the ongoing 30,000 acre blaze near Lake Hughes, California.

 

source::::::bbc.com

Natarajan

Message For The Day….A True Guru is like A Lotus in Full Bloom …

Even in selecting a Guru, use your discrimination. Not all clouds are rain bearing. A true Guru will be able to attract His seekers from afar, merely by His personality. He need not be talked about in glowing terms. His presence will be felt and aspirants will rush towards Him like bees towards a lotus in full bloom. Take up the path of spiritual practice, very enthusiastically. Half-hearted halting steps will not yield fruit. It is like cleaning a slushy area by slowly moving a stream of water. If the currents in the stream flow slowly, the slush cannot be cleared. The stream of water must flow full and fast, driving everything before it, so that the slush is cleared completely– 

Divine Discourse Aug 2 1958  

Sathya Sai Baba

“Parabrahmam in Vibuthi Snaanam ” ….A Beautiful Painting !!!!

I am pleased to share with you the photo of my latest colour painting of Mahaperiava. I went through the report on the celebrations organised by our forum at Sri Padhmanabaswami temple in Adyar. I did not have the ‘Bagyam’ of participating in it; however, I celebrated it my own way by painting His image on that day.

Looking at the image, my thoughts ran like this:

We have very often heard the word Parabrahmam; He Himaself had talked about it many a times in His discourses. Another thought that occurred to me was the five types of ‘SNAANAA’ ( BATHING) He talks about ( DHEYVATHTHIN KURAL—-Vol. 3–pp 499 to 502). One of them happens to be ‘VIBHUTHI SNAANAM’

Looking at this image, I am overwhelmed by the sight of HIM , His body fully soaked in Vibhoothi and sitting as a Parabrahmam, meditating for the good of this world!

Hope you like the picture.

Painting By Kanchi Periva Forum member Sri Anusham 163….Shri.B.Narayanan

source ::::periva.proboards.com

Natarajan

Read more: http://periva.proboards.com/thread/4454/mahaperiava-jayanthi-2013-25th/#ixzz2VWR1Udb1

 

“No” From IIT -JEE … But Big “YES” from Stanford University !!!

Visually impaired Delhi student Kartik Sawhney has repeatedly been denied permission to appear for the IIT-JEE in the past three years because of his disability. However, in March 2013, he was awarded a fully funded scholarship to pursue engineering at Stanford University in the US. This is his story.

On May 27, 2013, when 18-year-old Kartik Sawhney scored 96 per cent in his Class 12 CBSE examination, he became the country’s first ever visually impaired student to have achieved the feat in the science stream.

Appearing from Delhi Public School, RK Puram, he scored 99 in computer science (his favourite subject) and 95 each in English, mathematics, physics and chemistry; his total is 479 out of 500.

Recalling some of the challenges, he says, “Studying with normal students wasn’t easy, and neither was choosing a stream of my choice.”

Determination and perseverance are the key factors to his success — he simply would not take no for an answer.

“A lot of people think that disabilities limits you from doing certain things. But I think success comes to those who believe in their strengths,” he states.

Sawhney, who comes from a middle class family — his father Ravinder Sawhney is a businessman and mother Indu Sawhney a homemaker — confesses that aiming high and making tough decisions at every stage was still easier than executing them.

For three years in a row, he has been denied permission to appear for the IIT-JEE; he was told that there is no provision for blind students to take the competitive exam. But he did not lose hope and applied to universities abroad.

And in March 2013, Sawhney received a fully funded scholarship to pursue a five-year engineering programme at Stanford University. Once armed with this degree, he intends to “improve the condition of visually impaired back in India”.

Kartik Sawhney

Karthik Sawhney


Image: Kartik (second from left) displays the certificate announcing his first place victory at the Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities in South Korea in November 2012; seated to his right is mother Indu Sawhney and to his left, Delhi Public School, RK Puram principal Dr D R Saini and vice principal Shobha Mehta
Photographs: Courtesy Delhi Public School, RK Puram

source::::rediff.com

Natarajan

501 Reasons Why Brian Lara was the Best !!!.. 6 June 1994..A Date To Remember !!!!

Cardiff, June 6 — Nineteen years ago to the day, Brian Lara authored one of the greatest moments in the annals of cricket. Edgbaston, June 6, 1994. If that doesn’t mean anything to you, you probably don’t qualify as a cricket nut.

In this part of the world, the cricketing slang Nelson (derived from the one eyed, one armed, one legged English Admiral Nelson) evokes a great deal of trepidation. It applies when a batsman or a team is on 111. Lara, of course, wasn’t one for superstitions.

Full Nelson

The Trinidadian started the day unbeaten on 111, after rain washed out the third day’s play and following a customary rest day on Sunday. By lunch he had already raced well past 250. Gladstone Small, his Warwickshire teammate, recalls the instant when Lara made his intentions clear. “We were sitting in the dressing room at lunch.me, Brian and Keith Piper (the wicket-keeper). He said, ‘I’m going for the record’. I asked, ‘What the 375?’. He said, ‘No. Hanif Mohammad’s 499’. I asked him ‘Are you serious? You’re still 250 runs away’. He said, ‘You watch me’,” recalled Small.

As a plethora of records fell by the wayside, the teammates began to take notice. By the time tea was taken, he was just 82 shy. “We then realised that Durham could walk away 30 minutes before the end of play, because the match was heading to a draw,” remembered Small.

Nick of time

As Lara reached 497, two runs shy of Mohammad’s 36-year-old record, the fact just dawned on him. John Morris, a part-timer who had hit a double ton for Durham, was bowling the over.

“The fourth ball of the over he bowled a bouncer that hit him on the head. The next ball, he hit a beautiful off-drive, and we declared the innings. If he hadn’t hit those runs, Durham would have walked off. As soon as he hit the boundary, skipper (Dermot Reeve) declared the innings,” said Small.

The legendary moment would have never arrived had it not been for a bit of luck early in his innings. Lara was bowled off a no-ball when he was on 12, but the decisive moment came on 18. “The form Lara was in that season was just unbelievable. I reckon he must’ve edged just 3 or 4 balls all season. For an attacking left-handed batsman that was incredible. But on 18, he nicked one and the Durham wicket-keeper Chris Scott dropped it. He said at the time, ‘I hope he doesn’t get a hundred’.”

A century, of course, was the least of his concern. The innings capped a memorable 50 days for Lara, who since he broke the Test world record with 375 against England in Antigua, went on a run of 7 hundreds in 8 first-class innings. Bradmanesque!

The other love

The season was also a defining one for Lara, his first in English cricket. Warwickshire won the treble, and he found his other great sporting passion – golf. “The Belfry Golf Course (which has hosted the prestigious Ryder Cup) is on the outskirts of Birmingham. At the time, Lara had never played golf. Brian was one of those guys where batting was the only thing he did left-handed.

He bowled right-handed, signed autographs right-handed, he even played golf right-handed. He had a twenty handicap, but he played so much golf that year. His great Trinidadian friend Dwight Yorkewas with Aston Villa (Birmingham based) at the time and two would always head to Belfry when they would get time off. Roger Twose, the New Zealander, was also in our team and he played lefty. His golf clubs were also left-handed. Brian borrowed his clubs, but he couldn’t play golf that well as a southpaw,” recalled Small.

A day after the match Lara headed to London to do the breakfast show circuit, many interviews were lined up and he spent a good part of the day there. In the night he went out partying to celebrate the momentous feat. The next day, Warwickshire were playing a domestic limited over match. “He was really tired, he could barely keep his eyes open.

He asked the skipper to be put on the boundary. That didn’t work out. He then asked to be put at slips. He just couldn’t keep his eyes open and he asked the umpire to go off the field. We were set a target of over 250. We lost a few early wickets, he somehow managed to get it all together, and went out to bat. He got 70-odd and we won. What a player!”

Indeed. What a player!!!!

 

source::::Hindustan Times.com

Just to take a break from IPL stories going round these days, a real  gentleman cricket story on a Cricket Hero !!!!

Natarajan