jan 13th
tomorrow is makara sankranti and i wish you all a happy sankranti day.
it is also the day of the divine light, makara jyoti, at sabarimala. hail to lord ayyappa, hari-hara-suta, the son of siva and vishnu (as mohini).
achinese traveler, hsiuen tsang, describes going to sabarimala many centuries ago. he talks about the place as being in rough mountainous terrain. it was called 'potala' then, he says, meaning 'bright light' in old tamil. the deity worshipped there was siva (by hindus) and the avalokitesvara padmapani (the bodhisattva of compassion, by buddhists).
intriguingly, the dalai lama is an incarnation of the avalokitesvara padmapani, and his palace in tibet is called the 'potala'.
you might find my 1997 article about this interesting: http://www.rediff.com/news/dec/31rajeev.htm
5 comments:
Hi all!
Makara Sankranti is also know as Lohri in the north.
Wish you all a very happy Lohri/Makara Sankranti.
its pongal in tamil nadu, so may i wish you all a happy pongal/lohri/makara sankaranti.
oh yes, i remember mattu pongal, kanum pongal etc. such a festive time in tamil nadu. isn't this when there is jallikettu (bullfights) as well? happy pongal to all tamils.
and lohri (new word for me) to north indians.
makara sankranti is the beginning of auspicious uttarayanam. this is the day for which the aged warrior bhishma waited on his sara sayya (bed of arrows); he did not wish to die when the sun was in the southern hemisphere. and of course he had the varam that enabled him to choose the time of his own death.
what wondrous fables we have in our epics!
i am reminded of the less-edifying tale of faustus in christist mythology: the guy sells his soul to the devil so he could choose to freeze time whenever he wants. but he is so grasping and unsatisfied -- typical -- that he could never decide what that moment was that he wanted to dwell in for eternity. and this is supposed to be philosophical?
really, christism is so pathetically shallow! but then it is a mostly tool for white-guy imperialism, so who cares about deep meaning? they can obviously never say, 'enough! i am satisfied'.
yes buddy, you are right. it is during pongal that the tamils have jallikattu, taming the bulls.
see the below link for a brief explanation of how pongal is celebrated
http://specials.rediff.com/news/2006/jan/13sld1.htm
also, after deepavali, pongal is the most popular festival for tamils. particularly for villagers and vuzhavars, meaning farmers. since i come from this community we celebrate this festival here in the us with much fanfare. even though none of us here are not vuzhavars anymore, i mean not involved in farming anymore.
i would also like to point out that our community is one of those that protects cows, even some times violently. cows are called as go matha. a cow is a part of the family, they are never sold even when they age. old cows will retire and will just graze and live in the cow shed until they die of old age. it is considere as a sin to sell cows and bullocks once they are past their prime. but nowdays not all family follow this tradition. some have started selling their cows, after their prime, to be slaughterd. people say they can see the cows cry when they are sold and about to be taken away. because of this there is some backlash against those selling their cows. how wide spread is not known. however, there is some hope since some people of my younger generation, in their late 20s, are actively involved in this issue and are stopping this practice.
anyways pongal o pongal to all.
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