M for Mask

M for Mask



Aditya Sinha

M for Mahavir jayanti

Mahavir Jayanti, also known as Mahavir Janma Kalyanak, is the most important religious holiday for Jains. It celebrates the birth of Lord Mahavira, twenty fourth and the last Tirthankara (Teaching God) of the present time cycle. On the Gregorian calendar, the holiday occurs either in March or April.

Most modern historians consider Vasokund as Mahavira's birthplace. According to Jain texts, Mahavira was born on the thirteenth day of the bright half of the moon in the month of Chaitra in the year 599 BCE. Mahavira was born in a democratic kingdom, Vajji, where the king was chosen by votes. Vaishali was its capital.

As a child, Mahavira was called with the name 'Vardhamana', which means "One who grows", because of the increased prosperity in the kingdom at the time of his birth. Today, though Jain families are not present at Vasokund, Mahavira is still much revered by the villagers. A place called Ahalya bhumi has not been ploughed for hundreds of years by the family that owns it, as it is considered to be the birthplace of Mahavira.

Mahavir Jayanti Procession

Mahavira was born into royalty as the son of King Siddartha of Kundgraam and Queen Trishala. During her pregnancy, Trishala was believed to have had a number of auspicious dreams, all signifying the coming of a great soul. The exact number of dreams differs according to the school of Jainism; Svetambaras generally believe that the actual number is fourteen while Digambaras claim sixteen instead. Regardless, the astrologers who interpreted these dreams claimed that the child would become either a Chakravarti or a Tirthankara. It is said that when Queen Trishala gave birth to Mahavira, the god-king Indra bathed the newborn himself with celestial milk, a ritual essentially marking him as a Tirthankara.

Celebrations

The idol of Mahavira is carried out on a chariot, in a procession called rath yatra. On the way bhajans (religious rhymes) are recited. Local statues of Mahavira are given a ceremonial bath called the abhisheka. During the day, most members of the Jain community engage in some sort of charitable act. Many devotees visit temples dedicated to Mahavira to meditate and offer prayers. Sermons by monks and nuns are held in temples to preach the path of virtue as defined by Jainism. Donations are collected in order to promote charitable missions like saving cows from slaughter or helping to feed poor people. Ancient Jain temples across India typically see an extremely high volume of practitioners come to pay their respects and join in the celebrations.

Aditya Sinha

11.04.2016

That’s for today with F. Tomorrow it would be another festival with “G”
List of Other Festivals : Anant Chaturdashi, Akshay Tritiya ,Buddha Purnima, Basant Panchmi, Baisakhi,  Chhatha, Diwali/Deepawali, Easter, Festival of Breaking Fast - Eid ul Fitr, Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Id-ul-Zoha or Bakra-Eid , Janmashtmi , Karva Chauth, Lohri

For my parallel second Challenge blog with A pls visit : Let the Soul Pour

For other A to Z challenge blogs visit : A to Z Challenge 2016

M for Monolithic temple - Masroor

This post is written for A to Z Challenge .

M for Monolithic Temple - Masroor.

Masroor is 32 km from Kangra on Nagrota Surian link road and is famous for remarkable group of rock cut temples. They form a group of 15 monolithic rock cut temples in the Indo Aryan style and are richly carved. These richly ornamented cave temples are the only rock shrines in the northern part of India.

An evening view from Masroor

The Masroor Rock Cut Temple, also known as Himalayan Pyramid and Wonder of the World. Built in 8th-century, this monolithic rock cut temple complex of 15 temples  is carved out of a single rock. The temple in the centre is carved inside while rest of the 14 temples (7 on either side of the central temple) are carved only on the outside and are reflected in the pond carved in front of these temples. 

An aerial view of the complete Temple complex 

According to a myth the Pandavas resided here during their long exile from their kingdom. In one of the areas of the temple there is a dungeon with a half built staircase.

Main Temple from one side

The local myth suggests that the Pandavas had unfolded the secret to build the stairway to heaven, but on the condition that the stairway should be built before the early morning hours. Lord Indra (the king of Heaven) was worried about this as upon the completion of that staircase the heaven would be accessible to all earthly beings without the Lord Indra's discretion.

 He disguised himself as a rooster and crowed loudly before the early dawn. The Pandavas upon hearing the rooster crowing thought that they were unable to complete the stairway before the early morning.

They left the stairway uncompleted. One can still see that uncompleted staircase at Masroor. 

Front View ( The temple being repaired)

The main shrine contains three stone images of Ram Lakshmana & Sita. The presence of the figure of Shiva in the centre of the lintel also suggests that the temple was originally dedicated to Shiva.

Entry of Main temple with shrines of Ram Lakshmana & Sita

More Ruins

The back of the main temple in ruins

( The rock-cut style of architecture started in the reign of the Pallava king Narsinghavarman I Mahamalla in early 7th Century and reached the climax in Kailash Temple in Ellora in late 8th Century. These rock-cut caves are however common in South India. Temples cut out of free standing rocks are confirmed to be only four in number-'Rathas of Mammalapuram', 'Kailashas at Ellora', 'temple-complex at Masrur in Kangra' and the 'Dharmnatha temple at Dhamnar', 65 miles to the South-East of Jhalra Patan in Rajasthan. The Rathas and the Kailashas are built in the Dravidian style, whereas the Masrur and Dhamnar ones are in the Nagara style. Masrur beats its Nagara rival in situation, size and execution. The Masrur complex has 15 temples while the Dhamnar has only 8. The Masrur group is on top of a 2500 feet high hill range while Dhamnar is in a pit.)

That's about Masroor for now. Tomorrow we would talk about N

For other posts on Himachal written as part of A to Z Challenge : List of post on Himachal Pradesh written as part of A to Z challenge.

Aditya Sinha

For other participants in the challenge visit : A to Z Challenge