Yes, So Astronomically/astrologically(it's The Same In Our Religion Anyway), Whenever The Sun Passes

Today is Makar Sankranti, Sun enters the sign of Capricorn(Makar) today. And Sun begins its northward journey called Uttarayan, indicating warmer days are ahead.

In Awadh and Uttar Pradesh, we celebrate Makar Sankranti as Khichdi Parv. We prepare it with freshly harvested rice, adding some urad daal and sesame seeds, along with some seasonal veggies like cauliflower, peas, carrots and pepper.

Join me as I explore more about Awadhi culture, language, and traditions through Awadh ke Maati.

How did you celebrate Makar Sankranti today? Share your stories and let's celebrate together.

Wow how well manufactured this is smh

Nearly ten days after the Pahalgam attack, watching the various responses to said attack...part of me is shocked, and another confused. Yet another thinks that something like this is inevitable.

Too many people reacted to what is undoubtedly a terrorist attack by channelling their rage and grief into persecuting innocent people because the terrorists asked those they killed to recite the kalma, undoubtedly being Islamic in their origin.

Yes, they were Muslim. Does that mean there should be violence against innocent Kashmiri students because 'Hindu khatre mein hain"? No. Do you know why? Because a large part of why such Islamic organisations sway local sympathies towards them is by the catchphrase "Islamiyat khatre mein hain." Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Why wouldn't it? We've heard an alternate religion version of it over TV channels and so-called "news" and "leaders of the free world" screaming Hindu khatre mein hain, khatre mein hain, after all.

So many of us believe it, too.

Why, some of us may ask, shouldn't we believe so? We are Hindus, and we aren't safe even in our own land, our own country. Perhaps we should look deeper into the 'why' of it. So much of violence against us is by ourselves, for daring to be different. Lynching, beating, far more for far too less. So what if someone eats meat? They aren't stopping you from living your life. Why should you put an end to theirs?

But, then, as people who hold power today ask, what about the invaders who invaded India 1000 years ago, 1200 years ago? People whose descendants divide the country today, covet its assets for themselves? Including Kashmir, the jewel of India?

To that is my answer: If that is what you believe, then we should all leave this land. Most of us, at least. None of us are indigenous to the land we live in, except perhaps the tribes in Sentinel island. Other than that, all of us, except for the populations that are tribal/adivasis, probably migrated from somewhere else, simply some time longer ago than 1200 years.

But then, argue some, what about religious texts that speak to tens and thousands of years of ancestry? The Mahabharata, the Itihasas, the Puranas?

In that case, well, might I remind you that Sanskrit is not the single sole classical language that speaks of thousands of years of history? There is the matter of at least one other culture and language that exists alongside. The Sangam literature too speaks of thousands of years. Three whole Sangams, might I mention.

Almost every single ancient culture claims grandiose descent. We do not know how much credence should be given to any of these claims, but, if we are giving credence to one claim, why leave the others behind? Give equal credence, why don't you?

Coming back to 1200 years of "slave mentality" and "coveting territory" I will be paraphrasing words written nearly a 100 years ago by a man who identified as Kashmiri, if not perhaps Hindu, though he rather did admire the title Pandit. He very famously preferred to be known for his scientific temper, possibly a reason why today's rulers loathe this man.

He said, and I paraphrase, that those rulers are not considered foreign rule because there was marital intermixing of races and blood relations, because whatever money was made was spent inside India, because it did not go to another country (Ghori and Ghazni aside, the temple was rebuilt within 50 years, though the 'collective trauma' was first heard of in the British parliament sometime in the 19th century)

People have a beautiful tendency to syncretise, to meld with each other, to form cultures of harmony. Look at each state of India, the cultural plurality (that a homogenous overarching 'desi' identity cannot and will not encapsulate, but this discussion is for another post) especially Kashmir. There is amazing cultural syncretism in their literature, art, architecture, even notions of Kashmiri identity.

There is a unity in diversity. When is this threatened? When a section of the population felt trampled on by the 'high-handed' handling of things (in their own words) by the 'elected' powers (there is widespread allegation of electoral rigging over the years in Kashmir)

In the '80's and '90's it comes in the form of 'Islamiyat khatre mein hain' because at that point, they felt they weren't given the opportunities they should by the Indian Government. There was liberal support from external organisations, and insurgency flourished. The Kashmiri Hindu exodus takes place in these decades, and there is an element of "Hindu khatre mein hain" which is fanned by the government. The following two to three passages are from a report by Human Rights Watch in 1992, during said exodus.

A number of Hindu refugees from Kashmir have subsequently denounced the government for encouraging them to leave under false pretenses. In a letter to the editor of Alsafa in October 1990, some 20 Pandit refugees alleged that: There can be no dispute about the fact the Kashmiri Pandit community was made a scapegoat by Jagmohan, some self-styled leaders of our community and other vested interests ... [T]he plan was to make the K.P.'s [Kashmiri Pandits] migrate from the valley so that the mass uprising against occupation forces could be painted as a communal flare up.... Some self-styled leaders of the Pandit community... begged the Pandits to migrate from the valley. We were told that our migration was very vital for preserving and protecting 'Dharm' [religious integrity] and the unity and the integrity of India. We were told that our migration would pave the way for realizing the dream of Akhand Bharat [undivided India].... We were made to believe that our migration was very important for Hinduism and for keeping India together.... We were fooled and we were more than willing to become fools.205

At the same time, it is clear that many Hindus were made the targets of threats and acts of violence by militant organizations and that this wave of killing and harassment motivated many to leave the valley. Such threats and violence constitute violations of the laws of war, and Asia Watch was able to document many specific cases. • On September 20, 1989, O.N. Sharma, a 47-year-old travel agent from Srinagar found a letter written in Urdu in his mailbox, signed by the JKLF. Sharma told Asia Watch that the letter was addressed to him by name and it referred to him as an "Indian dog." The letter told Sharma to leave the valley by September 27, or he and his family would be killed. At the time, Sharma was living with his wife, two children and his mother.

Again paraphrasing words written very soon after Indian independence. "Minority communities should feel secure in their rights as Indian citizens and that is the part of the majority to ensure. Communalism in all forms is the greatest danger to Indian sovereignty as a whole."

Even today, Kashmiri rights are not ensured. The Indian Army and militant/terrorist bodies have both behaved horribly with Kashmiri women over the years with multiple documented cases of rape still pending action (Human Rights Watch has multiple reports on such cases) and so...such boiling over feels inevitable, on some counts.

The Kashmiri people deserve a voice in their own fate.

@scribblesbyavi bhaiyya, you may like to read this.

Does that lie help you sleep better?

India violated the ceasefire as expected

I'm just so sad

Wait wasn't Kuber ji a stepbrother of Ravan?

Also who handled the treasury before him?

Lord Shiva blessing Kuber

This story narrates the origin of Kubera. One of the stories in Shivpurana which emphasizes the importance in worship of Lord Shiva. It also says even the unwitting worship of Lord Shiva can bless you.

A pious and faithful Brahmin called Yajnadutta lived in Kampilya, a long time ago. That Brahmin was blessed with a promising son whom the happy father had named Gunanidhi, literally meaning ‘repository of fine attributes’. After the boy’s sacred thread ceremony (Upanayana) he was sent to a guru to learn letters and gain wisdom. The boy progressed into youth but unfortunately fell in a bad company and picked up all bad and vice habits. Yajnadutta had been too busy to notice the degeneration of his son. The mother was blind in affection for her son to see anything going wrong.

Spoil rotten, Gunanidhi took gambling and womanising. All the money he laid his hands on went into those vices. Then, needing more money he began to thieve and sell the stolen goods. Once he gambled away all he had made. Meanwhile, his father, while going to river to take his bath entrusted his precious gold ring to his wife. The wife placed it in a niche of a wall. The son, Gunanidhi saw her doing that and stole the ring. He sold it to a man and gambled away the proceeds. Incidentally, Yajnadutta ran into the person who was wearing the ring his wife had lost. Upon enquiry the man revealed that he had bought the ring from a young man named Gunanidhi.

Yajnadutta now realised that what lately he had been hearing bad things about his son were true. The son learnt that his father had come to know of his misdeeds. Gunanidhi fled to avoid being confronted by his anguished father.

Gunanidhi went hungry for a couple of days. He flopped under a tree famished and exhausted. Suddenly flavours of richly cooked food wafted into his nostrils. A faithful was carrying some food offering to the nearby Lord Shiva temple. He waited at some distance for an opportunity to steal the offering. He saw the worship and prayers being sung. When the devotees fell asleep he sneaked into the sanctum where in front of Lord Shiva idol offerings were placed. The wick of the lamp had slipped into the oil and flame was about to flicker off. Gunanidhi quickly tore a strip off his kurta, dipped in oil, lit it and put it into the lamp to serve as substitute wick. Then he tried to hurry out with the bundle of stolen food offering. But he happened to stumble against a sleeping devotee who screamed in fright. The devotees woke up and grabbed the thief. Gunanidhi got beaten up and a blow of a thick stick smashed his skull. He died instantly.

The agents (dootas) of death arrived to despatch the sinful soul of Gunanidhi to burning hell. But ganas (elite guards of Lord Shiva) intervened saying that Gunanidhi had earned a place in the divine domain of Lord Shiva by participating in Lord Shiva worship, lighting the lamp after fasting for two days before his death, although done unwittingly yet the reward stood granted by the grace of lord. He had been salvaged.

Rebirth of Gunanidhi as Kubera:

As the son of the king of Utakala, Gunanidhi took rebirth by a new name Damana. Damana lived a life of piety, devotion and nobility. In his next birth he was born as the son of the grandson of Brahma. He had brought forward goodness of his previous life and by the grace of Lord Shiva, remembered all about his past lives.

He remained all his life as an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. On the bank of Ganga he planted a holy lingam and penance on empty stomach. His shrivelled skin draped his skeletal emaciated body. Propitiated with his intense devotion Lord Shiva appeared to him along with his divine consort. They blessed their faithful with the boon of a divine body and renamed him ’ Kubera’. By the grace of divine couple, Kubera later gained the rule of Alkapuri. Lord Shiva went to live near Alkapuri when Kubera wished for his proximity on a boon.

In his new domain Lord Shiva rattled his ’ hand tambour’ (Dumroo). It’s fierce beat echoed through the cosmos. All celestial beings rushed to Lord Shiva to have his darshan. So did sages, holy men, faithful’s and hosts of his own ganas led by their chiefs with folded hands praying and making their obeisance. The celestial builder instantly created palaces to host them all. Lord Shiva duly settled in his adobe. Later, all the guests returned to their own adobes. Thus, Lord Shiva granted his proximity to his favoured faithful Kubera who became the lord of the divine treasury.

This sounds like "I'm friends with black people, so I can't be a racist".

Also, he might have actually fooled her into being with him, and since he said "my girl was", I'm going to assume she left him after seeing his real face. And the whole "relationship" must have lasted just a day. And who knows he might have intentionally sought her out to claim that "oh I dated a kashmiri pandit once" and then spew his own views and opinions.

????

Does this person has any thinking skills at all?

Oh I once had a romantic relationship with kashmiri pandit girl so it means i can't be hinduphobic!!!

......

Idk if he is trying to be dumb because his interactions with my friend Rhysaka proves he probably doesn't have any reading comprehension whatsoever. Here, he proves it yet again, for anyone that's curious, this is the post that he is referencing.

HE THINKS HES SMART CUZ HE DOESNT EVEN KNOW IF THERE ARE ANY OTHER LOK THAN MRITYU LOK OMGGGGGGGGG...

I'm genuinely laughing so hard 😆🤣🤣😭🤣🤣😭🤣

Every post of his is one embarassment after another! each sentence of this grown man is so damn ignorant, that his entire point becomes laughable. Sorry, I just can't take him seriously and would advise everyone else to do the same. He isn't worth engaging with.

Recent terrorist attack on Hindu Tourist (after confirming they're Hindus) should really tip you off, right? Or are you gonna find another way to blame attacks on hindu on Hindus yet again? But because you used to have a Kashmiri Girlfriend it exempts you from being a hinduphobe.

We have a family from UP doing "Shiv charcha" today and I can't get enough of it🥰😇

They've called all families in our society who are from UP and everyone's singing bhajans and kirtans in bhojpuri and awadhi. By everyone, I mean, it's all the women. My mother's also there. And hearing it all feels so good. It is because it's quite rare that this kind of event happens. And yeah connecting to the language is an added benefit here.

Does anyone know what a "Shiv charcha" is though?

Their source is a random x/twitter post. The xenophobia is so evident here.

Indian lies exposed by a plethora of international audiences, all singing praises of PAF and the befitting response it gave to the bleak Indian cunts.

India has now broken their ceasefire after begging U.S. for one (source: https://x.com/sumonkais/status/1921255188800958668?t=dq3PuFCIOmcqcLbNduigZQ&s=19) and attacked further airbases. Pussies. Asked for the CF and then stabbed again.

Reblog if you are desi i wanna see how many desi people are using Tumblr

को नहि जानत है जग में कपि

संकट मोचन नाम तिहारो

Veer Hanuman

I have been thinking about this and realised that we don't actually have a deva or devi for beauty. People think it is Mata Lakshmi but it's not true. None of her Ashtalakshmi forms also have her represent beauty. Mata

The sibling pairs have different skin colours — Vishnu-Parvati are dark skinned, Shiv-Saraswati are fair skinned, Brahma-Lakshmi are golden skinned — and all of them are called beautiful.

So where does this concept of beauty even come from? That fair is beautiful and dark skinned is not? Does it come from the west? From goddesses like Aphrodite, Venus or Freya? Or were they also made to represent beauty in the modern world to suit white people's beauty standards?