Taman Puri Saraswati,Karanganyar, Central Java, INDONESIA

Taman Puri Saraswati,Karanganyar, Central Java, INDONESIA 

Brahma Sarovar, Kurukshetra, Haryana

Brahma Sarovar, Kurukshetra, Haryana

Brahma Sarovar, as the name suggests, is associated with Lord Brahma, the creator of the Universe. Taking dip in holy water of sarover during Solar Eclipse is considered equal to the merits of performing thousands of Asvamedha Yajnas. According to Local Legends this tank was first excavated by King Kuru the ancestor of Kauravs & Pandavas. Having seen its huge water body Abul-Fazl the courtier of Mughal emperor Akbar during solar eclipse has described the vast water body of this sarovar as miniature Sea. According to the local tradition a tower was erected by Yudhistar in the island situated in the middle of sarovar as a token of his victory in the Mahabharta battle. In the same island complex lies a ancient Draupadi kupa. The shrine of Lord Shiva located on the northern bank of the sarovar is called Sarveshwar Mahadev. According to the tradition, the Shiva Linga was installed here by Lord Brahma himself. Annual Gita Jyanti celebrations is held on banks of bramsarover in November-December. Many devotees consider one prikarma of this tank equal to making one visit to all the tirth lying within the holy circuit of Kurukshetra 48 Kos

Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Temple, George Town, Penang, Malaysia

Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Temple, George Town, Penang, Malaysia

The main deity of this temple is Murugan. Visitors need to climb 513 stairs to reach the temple. It is the focal point of the Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia, after the Batu Caves. The hilltop temple, with its seven-storey 21.6m-tall gopuram (main tower), has been touted as the largest Lord Murugan temple outside India

Krishna Temple in Mexico city,Mexico

Sankirtana will always be appreciated, because it is the special blessings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu on the people of this fallen age of Kali.
_rishnam Vande Jagadgurum (कृष्णं वन्दे जगद्गुरुम्)
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The guide of the universe
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वसुदेव-सुतं देवं कंस-चाणूर-मर्दनम् |
देवकी-परमानन्दं कृष्णं वन्दे जगद्गुरुम् ||

vasudeva-sutam devam kaMsa-chANUra-mardanam |
devakI-paramAnandam kRiShNam vande jagad-gurum ||

to the son-of-vasudeva, to the god, to the killer-of-kaMsa and chANUra |
to the utter-bliss-of-devakI, to kRiShNa, praise, to the universal-guru ||

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And now the language aspects -

वसुदेव-सुतं = vasudeva-sutam = to the son of vasudeva
vasudeva वसुदेव was kRiShNa's father, and hence kRiShNa is also called vAsudeva वासुदेव . Note the first 'a' becoming 'aa' or 'A' a long vowel. See the earlier post (Salutations to Krishna - गोविन्दाय नमो नमः) for details on this.

देवं = devam = to the god, divine

this words comes from divya, which means brilliant, splendid, luminous.

कंस-चाणूर-मर्दनम् = kaMsa-chANUra-mardanam = to the killer of kaMsa and chANUra
kaMsa कंस was kRiShNa's mother's brother and for his fate, he believed a prophecy that his sister's eigthth son will be his death. purANa पुराण also tells us that kaMsa कंस and shishupAla शिशुपाल were the third and last incarnation of viShNu's gatekeepers, jaya जय and vijaya विजय . And they were cursed by RiShi-s ऋषि to go down to the mortal world, due to their rudeness to the RiShi-s. The only way for them to come quickly back was for them to be the greatest evil-doers so that viShNu himself will have to come down and kill them to liberate the earth of atrocities.

The other incarnations were the brothers hiraNyAkSha हिरण्याक्ष and hiraNyakashipu हिरण्यकशिपु (causing the varAha वराह (wild boar) and nRisiMha नृसिंह (man-lion) incarnations of viShNu) and of rAvaNa रावण and kumbhakaraNa कुम्भकरण (causing viShnu to come as rAma राम ).

देवकी-परमानन्दं = devakI-paramAnandam = to the [bringer of] supreme bliss of devakI
devakI was kRiShNa's mother.
parama = ultimate, supreme
Ananda = bliss, joy.


कृष्णं = kRiShNam = to kRiShNa
kRiShNa means dark as well as attractor (from kRiSh to attract, to pull, as a plough pulls theough the earth, tearing it, so does kRiShNa pulls you towards him, tearing all bondages.)

वन्दे = [one] salutes
i.e. salute, priase the kRiShNa

जगद्गुरुम् = jagadgurum = to the guru of the world
jagat जगत् = universe, the manifest world
guru गुरु = teacher, guide, mentor, remover of ignorance

due to sandhi rules, the trailing 't' of jagat changes, as in
jagat जगत् + nAtha नाथ = jagannAtha जगन्नाथ (protector of the world)
jagat जगत् + Isha ईश = jagadIsha जगदीश (lord of the world)
(Mexico City, Mexico) 

Temples in Kumbhalgarh fort, (Rajasthan State)

Temples in Kumbhalgarh fort, (Rajasthan State)

Kumbhalgarh Fort almost has more than 350 temples including Hindu and Jain Temples. Currently only some of major temples are in good condition with the statues. Rest of the temples were successfully restored but without the main statues.


More info:
http://thekumbhalcastle.com/temple.htm

Samui, THAILAND

A temple dedicated to Shiva is the focal point for the island’s Nepalese community and Hindu worshipers, Samui, THAILAND

Ramkot Kashmir

Amazing view of ancient Ramkot (literally meaning city of Ram), Kashmir
Dated- Excavated artifacts suggest that it was built as early as 5th century CE. Remains of ancient Shiva temple also found there