Latest Posts by hamaarmaati - Page 7

Mata Saraswati at a temple in Prayagraj

Devi Saraswati in her river form meets the divine rivers Ganga Maiya and Yamuna ji at Prayagraj marking the confluence known as Triveni Sangam.

Blessed to have taken a snan at Triveni at Maha Kumbh

I feel like this is heavily plagiarised

Vasantapuja

This puja is mentioned in the Ishanashivagurudeva Paddhati, and is a festival celebrating the spring season along with Damanakotsava , the associated festival of love, dedicated to Kama. In this puja, the season of spring is treated and worshipped as a goddess.

In case anyone is not aware, Vasanta, the god of spring and flowers, is the best friend of Kama (and Rati). He was mentioned to have been born from the sigh of Brahma in the Kalika and Shiva Puranas.

Vasantaradhana is one of the favorites of Shiva. The important part of worship in this festival held during the spring season (Vasantartu) is the Damanaka Puja, wherein Damanaka is an aromatic plant, and special to Kama since it was this plant that turned out to be the object of his Sapamoksha. Siva also blessed Kama, saying that whoever worships him with the Damanaka plant along with Vishnu, Brahma and other Devas will have all their wishes fulfilled. The author further states that those who do not strictly adhere to the Saivite modes of worship as stated above are, in effect, rejecting the basic tenets of Saivagama (traditionally communicated wisdom).

How The Puja Is Carried Out

For the details related to Vasantapuja and Damanakotsava, the author of the Paddhati has relied on 'Svacchandatantra' (official book of Kashmiri Shaivism) and 'SomaSambhupaddhathi' (another manual for Shaivite rituals).

Rites and rituals:

The venue for Vasantapuja has to be a garden that abounds in Damanaka creepers and Asokavrkshas (Ashoka trees). Puja is begun with the invocation and Aradhana of Ganesh in Nirti angle and Guru in Isana.

It is under the shade of an Asokavrksha that Puja takes place. Two pots of sanctified water are placed at the foot of the Asokavrksha. The one on the right side is meant for Vasanta and that on the left for Kama. The presence of their consorts, Kusumavati and Padmavati respectively, have also to be kept in mind. In the middle of the Pujavedi, the Asokavrksha is conceived as Vasanta in the guise of a vibrant youth, golden in complexion, and is to be invoked and offered Gandha-puspa-nivedyantapuja. The nine powers of Vasantartu are Ahladini, Gandhavati, Surabhi, Malini, Madira, Madayanti, Rama, Pushpavati and Vasanti.

Next is the worship of the Damanaka plant, during which the Bhairava form of Siva has to be conceived in mind. Kama has also to be conceived as remaining seated along with his consort Rati on his right thigh and holding Puspasara in his right hand. He is served on all sides by a group of beautiful and shapely maidens. The Saktidevatas of Kama may also be conceived and offered Gandhadhupa-nivedyantapujas. The Gayatrimantra of Kama is also given.

The important feature of the festival on the second day is the collection of the Damanaka plant (the whole plant including the roots) from the garden in a pot, offering of Puja, followed by the ceremonial procession carrying the three pots (Damanaka, Kama and Vasanta) on an elephant in Nagarapradaksina, to the accompaniment of Nrtta-vadyasangita-ghosas. On conclusion of the procession, the pots are placed beside the idol of Shiva after which Homavidhis, Sampatasparsa, Bali, prayer and Archana are performed. The other customary acts like Dakshina and gifts to the priests are also recommended. The Patala concludes with the following observation by the author. 

ittham vasantavihitam savasantayagam proktam tadantamiha damanakam hi parva| yadvad vasantatilakam sumanobhiramam tadvanmaunobhisitan phalatiha kaman |

Though this festival is no longer celebrated in Kerala, another festival called Vasanta Panchami, also known as Sri Panchami, is observed religiously, mainly as Saraswati Puja and also as worship of Kama, Rati, Indra, Varuna and Brahma, on a grand scale, especially in Bengal, Punjab and most of North India. The legend also bears close resemblance to that of 'Vasantotsava' described in Isanasivagurudeva-paddhati. Legend has it that on this day Shiva turned Kama into ashes.

Humare prabhu Shri Ram ji Mata Sita ji ke swayamvar me

There is just a good bunch of songs and folk songs in awadhi dedicated to this particular event in Ramayan.

Sri Rama and Sita

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.

Sri Rama Setu

You guys do understand that it's a translation from either modern time or the 20th century.

Translation is the key word here

Girl I was going through Brahma Vaivarta Puran and the description of the ladies of golok made me grimace internally ....

I-

WHY .

I'm so confused cuz wtf is THAT 😭😭😭😭

Everything was fine untill that made them uneasy line came in...

What kinda men writting woman trend is this 😭😭😭😭😭

AND DON'T GET ME STARTED WITH WHAT'S WRITTEN BELOW THAT I'M IN TEARS WTF

😭😭😭😭

Why would an Asuri attack Swarga if an Asuri already rules it as Devrani? (Asuris are girl's girls)

Shachi is an asuri. She is called Poulomi after her father Asur king Pouloman

So

Ik we shouldn't always make the Ashurs villain (cuz all of them are not the villains and I'll yell this till the end)

But why we never have any Asuri being a villain??? (Other than Mahishi ofc)

Why no Ashuri wants to conquer the universe or swarga or have some beef with Indra or any of the Gods

Why non of them are asking for any vardaan from either Brahma or Shiva

I feel like then Parvati/Vishnu will have to find even more complicated ways to defeat them 🗿

THAT'S WHAT IM SAYINGGGGGGGG

This is why Mahishi my beloved

I mean hey I support women's rights but also women's wrongs yanno

Mahishi is so cool hsjskskd also im glad she doesn't get any of those Ovidish Medusa treatment in our mythology

She's a straight up beast and she knows it 💅

We need more evil Asuris frrr

Can I join whatever this conversation is. I'm a devotee of Maa Saraswati. I'd like to learn more about her

What if Kanya-Saraswatism Tantra had it's own set of Mahavidyas, said to be forms of Saraswati?

Bhadrakali, Neela Saraswati, Kameshwari, ,,, Vac devi, Matangi, Kamale Kamini

OMG YEAHHHH

Wait does that means Brahmani or Ugra Kaushiki would also be considered Mahavidyas or are they separate???

Also how many Mahavidyas exactly???

Also Gayatri and Savitri??? Or are they different in this???

Sant Tulsidas (2/2)

Sant Tulsidas’ influence extended far beyond literature.

He is often credited with popularizing Ramlila, the dramatic retelling of the Ramayana. Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas, and the language of choice Awadhi, inspired its widespread adoption, making it a central part of cultural and religious celebrations across India.

Monuments dedicated to Tulsidas, such as the Tulsidas Smarak Bhavan in Varanasi and the Tulsidas Temple in Ayodhya, stand as tributes to his lasting legacy.

Tulsidas’ works, especially the Ramcharitmanas and Hanuman Chalisa, are still widely referenced in pop culture, from television shows to films and music.

+ Mata Anusuya, Arundhati, Shanta(Dashrath and Kaushalya's daughter), Mata Shabri

“women weren’t allowed to study in Vedic times” crowd has never heard of Gargi, Ahalya, Maitreyi, Lopamudra, Ghosha, Swaha, Haimavati, Uma , Gautami, Hemalekha, Sita and it’s a shame

Resource Masterlist: Indian Art

Cheap/Free resources:

Wkipedia:

Wikipedia of Indian Art: I'll recommend reading the subtopics from bottom up; it seems more relevant that way!

Wikipedia of Indian Painting: once you go through this article you should further look into whichever style you like, and learn it in depth. It also has links to vernacular art.

Rasa: the classical theory of Indian aesthetics

From Archive.Org (maybe scholarly and/or illustrative. In case illustrations are not there, simply Google them for reference):

Stone Age Painting in India by Romert Brooks

The arts of India from prehistoric to modern times by Ajit Mookerji (If you have no idea about Indian arts, START HERE; it's a short book full of illustrations)

Rajput painting : romantic, divine and courtly art from India by Ahluwalia, Roda

Indian Painting by C Sivaramamurti

South Indian Paintings by C Sivaramamurti

Approach to nature in Indian art and thought by C Sivaramamurti

[There are many books on Indian art, architecture and sculpture by C Sivaramamurti on Archive.org. It's basically a goldmine.]

Kalighat : Indian popular painting, 1800-1930 by Balraj Khanna

Art of modern India by Balrak Khanna [Again, you can check out other titles by Khanna.]

Indian Textiles by John Gillow

Traditional Indian Textiles by John Gillow

South-Indian images of gods and goddesses by HK Sastri

Myths and symbols in Indian art and civilization by Heinrich Zimmer (no illustrations)

The art of Indian Asia, its mythology and transformations by Heinrich Zimmer (with illustrations)

History of Indian and Indonesian art by Ananda Coomaraswamy

A Concise History of Indian Art by Roy C Craven

Deccani Painting by Mark Zebrowski

Indian Folk Art by Heinz Mode; Subodh Chandra

Women of India by Otto Rothfeld (this isn't about art but has few informative illustrations on regional costumes of women)

Dress And Ornaments In Ancient India by Mohini Verma and Keya Bawa

Classical dances and costumes of India by Ambrose, Kay

Cultures and Costumes of India and Sri Lanka by Kilgallon, Conor (o course i had to see other books on costumes)

Studies In Indian Painting by DB Taraporevala

Five Thousand Years of Indian Art by Hermann Goetz

Indian Painiting by Philip Rawson

The Art of Tantra by Philip Rawson

MS Randhawa (different books on Punjabi paintings Basohli, Kangra, Guler and General Themes in Indian Painting)

The imperial image: paintings for the Mughal court by Beach, Milo Cleveland

Wonders of nature : Ustad Mansur at the Mughal court by Dāśa, Aśoka Kumāra

Imperial mughal painting by Welch, Stuart Cary

Painted delight : Indian paintings from Philadelphia collections

India : life, myth and art by Ram-Prasad, Chakravarthi

The heritage of Indian art by Agrawala, Vasudeva Sharana

The adventures of Rama : with illustrations from a sixteenth-century Mughal manuscript

Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills by WG Archer

Art in East and West by Rowland Benjamin

Stella Kramisch (An American art historian and curator who was a leading specialist on Indian art, including folk art, for most of the 20th century. Also a Padma Bhushan awardee.)

The transformation of nature in art by Coomaraswamy, Ananda K

Books available on Libgen:

Art Of Ancient India : Buddhist, Hindu, Jain by Huntington and Huntington

The New Cambridge History of India, Volume 1, Part 3: Mughal and Rajput Painting

Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization by Heinrich Zimmer

Four Centuries of Rajput Painting: Mewar, Marwar and Dhundhar Indian Miniatures from the Collection of Isabelle and Vicky Ducrot

Ajanta by Yazdani

The Aesthetic Experience Acording to Abhinavagupta

TheHeritageLab is a free website to connect you to cultural heritage through stories, public engagement programs, campaigns, and free-access content.

Also if you're in Delhi, do consider getting a membership of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) library.

Folk art:

Folk art is an entirely different area that deserve a post of its own. But i love them so here is a long list by Memeraki.com. You can Google each and then look more into what you like. This website also offers very cheap courses in traditional Indian arts by the hidden and disenfranchised masters themselves! It's doing a great work in giving them a platorm. I myself have taken the Mughal Miniature course here. You can consider it.

Illustrated Books:

Note: These are coffee table books with beautiful illustrations that you'd love to looks at.

The Night Life of Trees: In the belief of the Gond tribe, the lives of humans and trees are closely entwined. A visual ode to trees rendered by tribal artists from India, this handcrafted edition showcases three of the finest living Gond masters. THIS YOUTUBE LINK shows the making of the book. The channel also features other works of Gond art.

An Unknown Treasure in Rajasthan: The Bundi Wall-Paintings:  This book celebrates the surviving wall-paintings at Bundi by presenting a stunning photographic survey

Painting In the Kangra Valley: Painting in the Kangra Valley is an attempt to survey the painting styles of Guler and Kangra, which flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries. The painting activity began with Kashmiri painters (...)

Indian Painting: The Lesser Known Traditions: India has an astonishingly rich variety of painting traditions. While miniature painting schools became virtually extinct with the decline of aristocratic patronage, a number of local vernacular idioms still survive and continue to develop.

Madhubani Art: Indian Art Series: Madhubani art's origin is believed to go back to the ancient era of the Ramayana, when the town was decorated by inhabitants of the region for the wedding of Lord Rama and Sita with elaborate wall paintings and murals (...) Primarily a significant socio-cultural engagement for the womenfolk of Bihar, this art was a welcome break from their daily drudgery.

Reflections on Mughal Art and Culture: Enter the splendid world of Mughal India and explore its rich aesthetic and cultural legacy through fresh insights offered by 13 eminent scholars.

Monsoon Feelings: A History of Emotions in the Rain: Through a series of evocative essays exploring rain-drenched worlds of poetry, songs, paintings, architecture, films, gardens, festivals, music and medicine, this lavishly illustrated collection examines the history of monsoon feelings in South Asia from the twelfth century to the present

Sita's Ramayana shifts the point of view of the Ramayana - the saga of a heroic war - to bring a woman's perspective to this timeless epic. Illustrated with Patua painting.

Adi Parva: Churning of the Ocean: a graphic novel that is a revisionist retelling of some of our oldest tales which have inspired and guided generations of people.

Ajit Mookerji, Sivaramamurti and Craven Roy's books are concise from where one can begin and then delve deeper into the subject of interest. Reading history and myths behind the work for context and listening to music from the given time/region alongside will make the exploration even more enjoyable!

Sant Tulsidas (1/2)

I personally have great respect for him. And since I'm talking about the land of Awadh, I wanted to celebrate the great poet and saint, Sant Tulsidas.

Although not born in the Awadh region, Tulsidas spent much of his life in the cities of Ayodhya and Kashi, where he composed much of his work in both Brajbhasha and Awadhi.

The Ramcharit Manas and Hanuman Chalisa, both written in Awadhi language, are two of his most famous works. Ramcharit Manas, retells the Ramayana in a way that resonated with common people of Uttar Pradesh at that time, making the epic’s teachings accessible to all.

This choice not only made the story of Shri Rama and Mata Sita widely known, but it also helped elevate Awadhi, spreading its use across countless Hindu households in India.

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.

|| श्री गणेशाय नमः ||

Welcome to Awadh ke Maati! This is my journey back to my roots, celebrating the rich culture, language, and art of Awadh and Uttar Pradesh. As someone who has faced challenges embracing my regional identity, I created this space to reclaim and honor the beauty of Awadhi heritage.

Whether you're from Awadh and disconnected from your roots or simply curious about the Awadhi culture, this is a place to explore and connect.

I’d love for you to be part of this journey. Together, let’s keep our heritage alive.