Alampur Navabrahma Temples

Alampur Navabrahma Temples are located at Alampur near Mahbubnagar. There are a total of nine temples in Alampur. All of them are dedicated to Shiva. These temples date back to the 7th century A.D and were built by the Badami Chalukyas rulers who were great patrons of art and architecture. Even after a time span of several hundred years, these grand temples still stand firm reflecting the rich architectural heritage of the country.

The temples are emblematic of the Northern and Western Indian styles of architecture. They do not reflect the Dravidian architecture as is generally common with the temples in this region. The brilliance of the artists who carved the sculptures of these temples is indeed commendable.

The Nava Brahma Temples carry the immense weight of history; the architecture hides many tales. Stories are carved on the base blocks of the temples. The Brahma temples have shikharas (spires) adorned with miniature architectural elements. The walls of the temple have rich carvings and ornate screen windows. On either side of the entrances of the temples are stone-carved dwarabpalakas (guards). The bala Brahma temple works as the main shrine and regular temple rituals are performed here; according to the locals, this temple is said to have a continuous record of ritual worship from Krishnadevaraya’s era. The Arka Brahma shrine is in ruins, but the Vishwa Brahma and Swarga Brahma shrines offer a peek at the glory of the past. Interestingly, there is also a mosque adjacent to the temples.

The Navabrahma temples are present on the left bank of the Tungabhadra River, enclosed in a courtyard. Taraka Brahma At Taraka Brahma temple, the 6th-7th century CE inscriptions present here.

Swarga Brahma

Swarga Brahma temple was built during 681-696 AD by Lokaditya Ela Arasa in honour of the queen of Vinayaditya, it is mentioned in an inscription found above the Dwarapalaka image. It is the finest example of Badami Chalukya Architecture and sculpture. This temple is the most elaborately ornamented temple. Temple with an imposing tower (Rekhanagara vimana) is the finest compared to other temples at Alampur.

Padma Brahma

Padma Brahma temple having polished stone sculpture of Shivalinga .

Bala Brahma

AS per the inscriptions, Bala Brahma temple dates back to 702 CE. It is the main shrine of worship, Shivaratri is celebrated.

Vishwa Brahma

Vishwa Brahma temple having sculptural scenes from the epics. It is one of the most artistic temple.

Garuda Brahma
Kumara Brahma
Arka Brahma
Vira Brahma

There are other temples like Suryanarayana temple dating back to 9th century. And Narasimha temple with inscriptions belongs to Sri Krishna Devaraya (Vijayanagar Empire). You are sure to be impressed by the Suryanarayana and the Narasimha temples that are also found in the same complex. The exquisite sculptures in the temple are very admirable.

ALAMAPURAM NAVA BRAHMA TEMPLES ..... THE GEMS OF BADAMI ARCHITECTURE , BEFORE QUTUBSHAHI KINGS OF GOLCONDA DESTROYED IT.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/travel/glory-of-the-past/article4630118.ece

SCIENCE OF "Om Namah Shivaya"

Know the science in the worship of Lord Shiva on Mahashivratri :

"Om Namah Shivaya"

Kailaasarana Shiva Chandramouli
Phaneendra Maathaa Mukutee Zalaalee
Kaarunya Sindhu Bhava Dukha Haaree
Thujaveena Shambho Maja Kona Taaree

Meaning: Oh, Lord Shiva, who is seated on Mount Kailas, whose forehead is decorated with the moon and the king of serpents as a crown, who is the Ocean of Mercy and the remover of delusion, You alone can protect me.
I surrender to thee.

1. Emitting waves of Knowledge, Devotion and renunciation
Predominantly 'sattva' waves of knowledge, 'raja' waves of devotion and 'tama' waves of Renunciation (Vairagya) are emitted by the 'Shivpindi'. During Mahashivratri, the emission increases by 30 percent.

2. Emission of subtle vibrations of chaitanya, bliss and peace
The 'Shivpindi' emits subtle vibrations of chaitanya, bliss and peace. During the Mahashivratri, the emission increases by 25 percent. This helps purify the subtle-body of one who worships the Shivpindi on this day. The 'sun' or the 'moon' channels in the body get activated as per necessity. The capacity to absorb the sattvaguna and chaitanya also increases. Due to the presence of the unmanifest Shiva principle in the Shivpindi and the vibrations of peace emitted, the Shivpindi remains cool and the mind too experiences peace. Worship of Shivpindi with devotion, activates the dormant Shiva principle. An offering of puffed rice and milk reaches Lord Shiva in the subtle form.

3. Receiving the 'tarak or marak tatva (element)' as required
There is a meeting of the evident and the unevident elements along with the 'tarak and marak tatva' in the Shivpindi. (Tarak = Saviour; Marak = Destroyer). That is how worshipers receive the required element. The temperature of the Shivpindi increases due to the emission of the marak tatva and there one experiences bliss. Similarly, when the tarak tatva is emitted, the temperature drops and one experiences peace and bliss.

Offerings made to Lord Shiva :

Bilvapatra :

It contains 2% Shiva tatva. By offering bilvapatra to the Shivpindi on Mahashivratri, the manifest Shiva tatva near the stalk of the bilvapatra gets activated. Due to this, waves of chaitanya as well as Shiva tatva are emitted by the bilvapatra. The bilvapatra attracts 20% of the Shiva tatva present in the Shivpindi towards itself.

Application of holy ash (Bhasma) :

Tripundra refers to the three horizontal stripes of holy ash applied to the forehead. These stripes symbolise spiritual knowledge, purity and penance, thus they represent the three eyes of Lord Shiva.

Ritualistic worship of the pindi :

Only cold water and bel is offered to Lord Shankar's pindi.

Circumambulation (pradakshina) :

When circum-ambulating one should begin from the left side and continue till the channel of the shalunka from where the water offered during the ritualistic bathing (abhishek) flows. The flow of a shalunka is not crossed because it affects the formation of semen and the five internal vital energies.

Chanting the Name of Lord Shiva or 'Om Namah Shivaya'

'Namaha Shivaya is Shiva's five-syllabled mantra. It means :

• na = Foremost deity of all the regions (lokas)
• ma = Bestower of supreme spiritual knowledge (gyan) & redeemer of the greatest of sins
• shi = Benevolent, serene and responsible for initiation by Lord Shiva
• va = Symbolic of a bull as the vehicle and Vasuki and Vamangi energy (shakti)
• ya = Auspicious abode of Supreme Bliss and Lord Shiva.

Om represents an unmanifest state beyond the 3 gunas (elements of sattva, raja & tama). We bow to Lord Shiva, from whom Om was created.

ANCIENT CITY OF LOTHAL

A reimagining of life in Lothal 4,000 years ago, satellite images of the town in context of today's landscape, and the discoverer, S. R. Rao's drawings of the town plan, bead factory and warehouse (6 images total). "While exploring the Sabarmati estuary an ancient mound presently known as Lothal was discovered in November, 1954," wrote S. R. Rao. "The excavation conducted here during the following seven years has brought to light the existence of a flourishing port-city of the Indus Civilization with an excellent brick-built dock and nearly laid-out streets. One comes across at Lothal the same regimentation in town planning, the same sophisticated system of public sanitation, the use of the same types of metal tools and lithic implements, the adoption of the same pictographic writing ons tone-cut seals ad the prevalence of the same artistic traditions as are noticed in the Indus cities. But underlying this homogeneity certain regional variations sufficiently indicative of originality of ideas are becoming increasingly clear from the excavations at Lothal, Rangpur and other Harappan sites in Kathiawar." (S.R. Rao, Lothal and the Indus Civilization, 1973, p. 2).

"The two major sectors of the city are the Acropolis and the Lower Town, the former comprising Blocks B, C and D, and the latter Blocks A, E, F, and G. While Block A formed the main bazaar and Block B was occupied by the ruler, the warehouse was built in Block C. The artisans, famers and merchants lived in the reamining blocks." (S.R. Rao, Lothal and the Indus Civilization, p. 62).

"The warehouse built in Block C occupies the southwest corner of the Acropolis. This impressive building stands on a 4 metre-high platform covering a floor area of 1930 square metres. Originally it supported 64 cubical blocks of mud-bricks each 3.6 metres square on plan and 1 metre high, serving as a base for a wooden canopy erected for protecting the cargo against sun and rain." (S.R. Rao, Lothal and the Indus Civilization, p. 66).

"A mud-brick structure consisting of a central courtyard and elven rooms of varying sizes was built in Block F on the western flank of the Acropolis. It served as a bead factory where several lapidaries worked together on a central platform and lived in the rooms built around it. A couple of store-rooms and a guard room were also provided within the factory premises." ((S.R. Rao, Lothal and the Indus Civilization, p. 68)

A Walk Through Lothal at http://www.harappa.com/lothal/index.html

Brihadeeswara Temple, Thanjavu

Brihadeeswara Temple, Thanjavur Built in 1010 AD during the Chola rule and now part of the Unesco listed Great Living Chola temples, the 'Big Temples'.
No concr...ete, no steel frame, no anti corrosion chemicals - made entirely of granite and stands proud even after a 1000 years.
Marvel the beauty!

NAGA ~ THE SNAKE WORSHIPPERS

NAGA ~ THE SNAKE WORSHIPPERS WERE REVERED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD !!!
In Genesis the Serpent is a Naga who instructs the new infant (humanity) in what is called the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Christian church has, unfortunately transformed the Initiate-Teacher into a tempting and negative demon-character.
The snake or serpent was worshiped as a representation of the great god,lord Sun, along with fire. The spiritually advanced and realised people whose KUNDALINI was awakened were called "NAGAS" and this was spread throughout world and so we find shnake worship all places in the world even where there are no snakes like IRELAND & TIBET.
Many examples of Nagas appear on the walls and along an avenue leading to the temple of Ankhor Wat in Kampuchea (formerly, Cambodia) and also in Buddhist temples in Shri Lanka (formerly, Ceylon.)
1. In the Mahabharata the Naga Kingdom is the territory of a hardy and warlike tribe called Nagas. They were also considered as one of the supernatural races like the Kinnaras.
2. GREECE :Apolloniy Tiansky - contemporary of Jesus Christ, the main representative of new Pythagorean school - had been trained magics by Nagas of Kashmir.
4. MEXICO: In Mexico, we find the "Naga" which becomes "Nagal."
5. CHINA: In China, the Naga is given the form of the Dragon and has a direct association with the Emperor and is known as the "Son of Heaven". The Chinese are even said to have originated with the Serpent demi-gods and even to speak their language, Naga-Krita.
6. EGYPT: In Egypt the same association is termed "King-Initiate".
7. TIBET: For a place that has no serpents, Tibet, they are still known in a symbolic sense and are called Lu. Nagarjuna called in Tibetan, Lu-trub.
8. GREECE: In the Western traditions we find the same ubiquity for the Naga, or Serpent. One simple example is the Ancient Greek Goddess, Athena. She is known as a warrior Goddess as well as the Goddess of Wisdom; her symbol being the Serpent as displayed on her personal shield.
9. IRELAND : The serpents was worshipped and deified in IRELAND .
10. AFRICA : Africa the chief centre of serpent worship was Dahomey, the cult of the python seems to have been of exotic origin.
11. IRAQ: Ancient Mesopotamians and Semites believed that snakes were immortal
12. ISRAEL: Before the arrival of the Israelites, snake cults were well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age, for archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo,one at Gezer, one in the sanctum sanctorum of the Area H temple at Hazor, and two at Shechem.
13. SYRIA : A late Bronze Age Hittite shrine in northern Syria contained a bronze statue of a god holding a serpent in one hand and a staff in the other.
14. MESOPOTAMIA[ TODAY'S IRAQ] : In sixth-century Babylon a pair of bronzer serpents flanked each of the four doorways of the temple of Esagila.
15. MESOPOTAMIA[ TODAY'S IRAQ] : At the tell of Tepe Gawra, at least seventeen Early Bronze Age Assyrian bronze serpents were recovered.
16. EGYPT: Ancient Egyptians worshiped snakes, especially the cobra. The cobra was not only associated with Ra, but also many other deities such as Wadjet, Renenutet, and Meretseger. Serpents could also be evil and harmful such as the case of Aapep.
17. GREECE : we learn from Herodotus of the great serpent which defended the citadel of Athens. The Roman genius loci took the form of a serpent. A snake was kept and fed with milk during rites dedicated to Potrimpus, a Prussian god.The oracles of the Ancient Greeks were said to have been the continuation of the tradition begun with the worship of the Egyptian cobra goddess, Wadjet.
18. On the Iberian Peninsula there is evidence that before the introduction of Christianity, and perhaps more strongly before invasions of the Romans, Serpent worship was part of local religion.
19. AUSTRALIA : In Australia, the Aboriginal people worship a huge python, known by a variety of names but universally referred to as the Rainbow Serpent, that was said to have created the landscape, embodied the spirit of fresh water and punished lawbreakers. The Aborigines in southwest Australia called the serpent the Waugyl, while the Warramunga of the east coast worshipped the mythical Wollunqua.
20. CAMBODIA: An Indian brahmana named Kaundinya came to Cambodia, which at the time was under the dominion of the naga king. The naga princess Soma sallied forth to fight against the invader but was defeated. Presented with the option of marrying the victorious Kaundinya, Soma readily agreed to do so, and together they ruled the land. The Khmer people are their descendants.
21. KOREA: In Korean mythology, Eobshin, the wealth goddess, appears as an eared, black snake. In Jeju Island, the goddess Chilseong and her seven daughters are all snakes.
22. AMERICA : In America some of the Native American tribes give reverence to the rattlesnake as grandfather and king of snakes who is able to give fair winds or cause tempest. Among the Hopi of Arizona the serpent figures largely in one of the dances.
23. AMERICA : The rattlesnake was worshipped in the Natchez temple of the sun and the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl was a feathered serpent-god.
24. PERU: The tribes of Peru are said to have adored great snakes in the pre-Inca days and in Chile the Mapuche made a serpent figure in their deluge beliefs.
25. COLOMBIA : Lake Guatavita in Colombia also maintains a Cacique legend of a "Serpent God" living in the waters, which the tribe worshiped by placing gold and silver jewelry into the lake.
26. Norse : Jörmungandr, alternately the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent, of the Norse mythology, is the middle child of Loki and the giantess Angrboða.
27. Carvings about 70,000 years old on a snake-like rock in a cave in Botswana indicate that Stone Age people developed religious rituals far earlier than previously believed.

ISLAMIC CONQUERORS CENTRE OF LEARNING

ISLAMIC CONQUERORS CENTRE OF LEARNING
  Nalanda (Sanskrit: नालंदा Nālandā) was an acclaimed Mahāvihāra, a large Buddhist monastery in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India. The site is located about 95 kilometres southeast of Patna, and was a religious centre of learning from the fifth century CE to c. 1197 CE.Historians often c...haracterize Nalanda as a university as the school attracted scholars and students from as far away as Tibet, China, Korea, and Central Asia.

Nalanda flourished under the patronage of the Gupta Empire as well as emperors like Harsha and later, the rulers of the Pala Empire.
The destruction of Nālandā is in one of the greatest acts of cultural vandalism by Muslim invaders of India. The final dissolution of this once outstanding international university was evident in the 13th century when the world lost an unparalleled and inimitable institution of the ancient world that promoted globally, the path of virtue, compassion and wisdom.
In the year 1193, these invaders led by Mohammad Bakhtiar Khilji, attacked and burnt down and demolished this great Centre of Learning that existed for some 700 years. They destroyed its magnificent buildings and massacred its inmates, who at the time were mostly Buddhist monks.
Mirjah-i-Siraj the famous Persian Muslim historian in his chronicle Tabaquat-I-Nasiri has left a detailed horrid account of Khilji’s vandalism and violence. He reports that the gigantic library complex of Nalanda containing a total of over 9 million invaluable treasures of books, mostly manuscripts were set on fire and the burning continued for over six months.
He says that "…smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills”. This invaluable collection of works that were destroyed was the products of centuries of scholastic studies. A few monks managed to escape with a few manuscripts to Tibet, Nepal and other neighboring countries.
Mirjah-i-Siraj reports that thousands of Buddhist monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded as Khilji who tried his best to uproot Buddhism and plant Islam by the sword. He says that Buddhism virtually disappeared under the brutal impact of Muslim fanaticism. Nalanda which was a true spearhead of Buddhist learning in the world for several centuries became a deserted and desolate place and its ruins were covered by jungle.

Q. WHAT WAS THE LANGUAGE SPOKEN BY MITTANI'S IN ANCIENT IRAQ ?...

A. SANSKRIT .... THE DEGRADATION STARTED WITH ISLAM