Deva Snana Poornima is an important ritual in the build up to the Annual Car festival of Lord Jagannath. For the un-initiate, on this day the idols of Sudarshana, Ma Subhadra, Lord Balabhadra and Lord Jagannatha are taken out to the 'Altar of Bathing' inside the temple premises. An elaborate bath is given which can … Continue reading Deva Snana Poornima – the ritual and its significance
Tag: Odisha
Gita Govindam – the ultimate romance
As I do a little research now to refresh my knowledge about Jayadeva and his Gita Govindam it comes as a pleasant surprise to know that Guru Granth Sahib has some of his verses even though these are not from Gita Govindam for which he is primarily known. There is no dispute over the facts … Continue reading Gita Govindam – the ultimate romance
My Village My Country – the book
After being a part of Blogchatter e- book carnival 2020, 'My Village My Country' has been shifted to Amazon. This book is a compilation of all the articles I wrote for the Blogchatter A to Z blogging challenge. April is the month when Indian blog aggregator site Blogchatter organizes AtoZ blogging challenge. Barring the Sundays, … Continue reading My Village My Country – the book
Sri Jagannath: beyond myths and miracles
No religion or spiritual sect is complete without myths and miracles. Stories of miracles abound around Lord Jagannath. Being the Kaliyuga form of Lord Krishna even though he is primarily a Vaishnav God, his devotees have come from diverse sects and religions over the past millennium. After all, the deity is none other than Jagannath … Continue reading Sri Jagannath: beyond myths and miracles
A Crusade against Wrong Attribution
You say what is in a name? Whether that spongy syrupy round sweet that you ate was r-a-s-a-g-o-l-a or r-o-s-o-g-o-l-l-a will depend upon where you ate it. It was not so until 29.07.2019 when 'Odishara Rasagola' got the GI tag to end the century long war between Odisha and West Bengal over the origin of … Continue reading A Crusade against Wrong Attribution
Odisha and its People : the Unknown, the Unique and the Ugly
Where is Odisha? To write about unknown Odisha is a difficult proposition because, for someone not from Odisha everything about Odisha may be unknown. In my interactions with common men during my travels in India I have found that the North Indians think it is somewhere in South India and the South Indians think it … Continue reading Odisha and its People : the Unknown, the Unique and the Ugly
Nua Mahulia
Nua Mahulia - this word which has strange rhyming resemblance with the word Oumuamua* is not any interstellar object. Nor is it any Greek or Latin word for a legal term. It is the name of my native village. The theme of this present series of blogs being mera gaon mera desh, a post about … Continue reading Nua Mahulia
Kaveri connections
Since childhood I have a fascination for rivers. Both mine and my maternal uncle’s villages where I spent most part of my childhood were surrounded by rivers. I can write volumes about my adventures and playful activities associated with rivers. The story of the river is also the story of its people. All ancient civilisations … Continue reading Kaveri connections
From Jagannath to Juggernaut
Google's dictionary gives the meaning of the word Juggernaut as follows: When you try to find out the word origin, the first page of google search results is full of links to sites run by established dictionary publishers like Macmillan, Webster etc. Of course wikipedia also finds a place. The explanation of wikipedia is much … Continue reading From Jagannath to Juggernaut
The Missing History of Hindustan
In my first article of this series I have mentioned about the tradition of Boita Bandana and Bali Jatra that commemorate the glorious maritime adventures of Odias in South East Asia. The businessmen who engaged in such maritime trade were known as sadhabas. There is a popular folk tale in Odisha about one of sadhaba … Continue reading The Missing History of Hindustan
PEBBLES AND WAVES 