I read a very beautiful line about Shiva and Shivaratri somewhere, I love to quote here.
The word Shiva consists of word "Shav" , which is dead body and "i" is "Shakti" -- the force which runs creation. This force needs a vehicle or a body to manifest into, so shav becomes "Shiv" and a child is born. The night of Shivratri has the power to give birth to your thoughts.
This is a temple in Mangalore, Kudroli Gokarnath Temple, built by Saint Narayan Guru in 1912 and was renovated in 2011.
A pond is built in the vicinity of Temple. On each of the four sides of Temple a Statue of Shiva arms vide open and fountains over his head depicting the Ganga is fabricated.
For a small time all the four fountains are open, throwing tons of water into the pond and some splash here and there, making the atmosphere quite cool.
The change in the colour of lights turns the atmosphere quite colourful
Sri Narayana Guru also started an educational foundation, I believe.
ReplyDeleteDidn't you feast on the famous Mangalorean cuisine or was it just a meditation into the Lord Shiva!
There is another angle you know, out of all the gods in the Hindu pantheon, Shiva is considered to be the epitome of an ideal husband and millions of unmarried girls observe fasts and go through all the rites associated with Shivratri to secure an ideal husband. Why Shiva, the penniless mendicant who doesn't even have a set of decent clothes and is perpetually doing his penances in some remote corner of the Himalayas! Any ideas?
No I didnot try any of Mangalorian cuisine. The Hotel I was staying in, was celebrating the Rajsthani week so I gulped Rajsthani cuisine only. However, No Idea about his penances in Himalayas.
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