2016 நினைவலைகள் (Ninaivalaigal)

The word Ninaivalaigal means recollection of memories, yes would like to recollect 2016 on the verge of its culmination. During one of my recent long travel a thought came to me on how can I be grateful to 2016, it will be if I gracefully accept the nostalgic moments and travel into 2017.

Let me start this from my blogging experience. When I observe the statistics it shows an interesting number, I have been blogging since 2009 but unlike previous this year the count not only stroked to double digits(22 excluding this) but it is highest. This establishes that the year 2016 was either with

• Lot of interesting events happened that warranted a sharing, though predominately the events were engulfed around travel and sports.I tried my best to share my other experiences too like updates about android apps and short write-ups on other events. OR 
• I had enough free time available at my disposal that contributed to write as many, could be true to some extent. Yes from start of 2016 reduced my TV viewing time and by the end of the year it is almost vanished that helps in channeling my resources towards my more passionate activities. OR 
• Finally could be less occupied (officially) and hence lot of reading and learning. Frequently shared the learning/ reading this year could be another factor. Will try and carry this habit to 2017

Being a sports fanatic, 2016 did not let me down either. The entire year was full of events in all sports and the major ones are

• Euro where a well-deserved maiden title to Portugal / Ronaldo that was eluding this guy for a long time.
• Olympics, though it was not a favorable one for India but enjoyed both Bolt and Phelps moments and of course Sindhu’s silver medal journey.
  

Yet another year where Roger did not carry home a GS cup is the only hitch apart from that an IPL without CSK was another. In tennis no new player erupted for this year too with same oldies like Djoker, Serena lifting the GS cup.

Politics too had its interesting moments this year, but for me the interesting pieces are those failed pre-poll surveys not only in Tamil Nadu but in US public elections too. The predictions made by the pundits were deposed by the public. Another prominent one is the attack on militants by Indian Military termed as “Surgical Attack”.

While in the field of Art and Entertainment, the remarkable moment for me was DiCaprio’s first Academy award for the film "The Revenant" though he got nominated for first time 1994, this leap year brought glory to this actor after several nominations.

In science and advancements, ISRO’s satellite launch was a commendable one. They launched record 20 satellites through a single rocket. Apple Inc foray into Wind power in partnership with Goldwind is its largest clean energy project to date, on the other side the new release of Iphone balances this project by its own way of polluting the atmosphere.

Finally the major one that appeared at the end of 2016 and will make its journey to 2017 is the demonetization by Indian Government. This one word has created estrangements in the societies which I will not penetrate into, to me personally this particular phase reiterated that any tough situations in our life could be conquered by the relationship we embrace with others. This particular trait was imparted by my father without my knowledge and would like to share my learning and experience.

During this period as a common man we would have faced 2 situations among many, one getting money from ATM and the other is to convert the Rs2000 into smaller denominations. First let me share my dad's principle with respect to relationship building that will throw some light on how I surmounted these situations with ease using those principles

Some of my Dad’s shopping habits that acted as a tool for relationship management are  

• A particular object will be bought from a specific vendor, for example he had one for coconut, one for Beetle leaves and similarly vegetables, flowers, fruits and he never invades supermarkets for his purchase. The entire shopping will be made from the road side vendor but each one will be at a considerable distance from other.
• If we misjudge the above to be a cost saving exercise then the following one will astonish, for groceries too he had Bombay Stores in T.Nagar and Jain Stores considered to be premium due to the quality/price. The monthly groceries will be personally picked from these stores and for rice we had a Andhra guy who visit our house to replenish.
• My dad had access to ATM and online banking but will personally visit the bank and have seldom used the ATM, only in case of emergency the services of ATM was received.

Though I have criticized and made fun of these habits, slowly these habits got infused into me since I used to accompany him during those days. After his departure and on my return from Hyderabad I used to shop from the same vendor and made attempt to follow him and was successful to some extent.

Since these have become habits and habits are not easy to get rid-off, these continued in Bangalore too. In the first week of the demonetization, I got Rs20/- bundle from the bank over the counter and getting smaller denominations was never a tough task since in the past I frequently visited the branch and maintained the relationship with each of them. Would like to remind you that I am not a current account holder and in case if I get Rs 2000 then my regular vendors played a pivotal role in getting smaller denomination.

Similarly the same shopping method of my dad was also practiced in Bangalore too. Would like to state 2 incidents that will stand as a testimony.

1. One of the Bangalore vegetable vendor identified me in Guruvayur temple crowd and took efforts to reach me and had a brief discussion, this definitely surprised my family.

2. Normally I use public transport to office, though options are plenty would restrict myself to selected few buses. On a particular day pooled a car and for the remaining distance boarded the bus and that happened to be my regular bus. Friend who accompanied me was astonished with the questions probed by the conductor of the bus on whether I changed my office etc., and the conversation we had.

This demonetization not only diverted the funds but the intent of my final blog of the year where I want to share my nostalgic moments of 2016 however I feel even the diversion was memorable.

              Wish You all a Wonderful & Great 2017

தொடரும் பயணம்

As mentioned in my previous post, travel has become synonymous with long weekends and holidays, for this Xmas vacation planned a short one considering my leave balance. Hence decided Kumbakonam and due consideration was given to the physical strength of Amma, Prathiba and Ananya during planning.

Want to visit this place again not because some places were left out in my last trip in early 2016 but the attraction it has endured on me is colossal. If you observe the list of places some are repeated purely due to the above mentioned reason.

Personally to me, this place Kumbakonam is like a bee hive. Typical to a hive where it is packed with dense cells in its structure and bees lives in that cell. Similarly this city consist of numerous temples densely packed around the city and HE resides in each of them. Another similarity that strikes me is that though the bees are different physically but the intent is similar for all them, which is to collect nectar from flower and help in pollination. Similarly though the name of the Lord who resides in each of the temple is different but the intent is to love and protect all living beings.

Initially during this travel I thought of not to blog this travel but could not resist in sharing. I will not share all that is there in the below list but pick a few whereas for the others will provide the link to my earlier post as some are repeated in this travel too and the rest is left out considering space and time.

The list got appended with the places when I hear or read about these places hence born the below list and planned according to the vicinity of one another.

Day 1	Nachiyar Koil, Thirucherai, Srivanchiyam, Thiruvavur, Swamimalai, Thirvalanchuzi, Patteswaram, Tirukarugavur
Day 2	Thirunageswaram, Oppiliappan, Alangudi, Mannargudi,Thirukolikadu, All local temples in Kumbakonam
Day 3 (half day)	Tirubhuvanam, Thiruvidaimaruthur, Govindapuram, Tirumangalakudi

For Previous Blog click the below links

Previous 1                              Previous 2                                  Previous 3

Thirucherai

This town has both Perumal and Sivan temple both are renowned in their own. Saranatha perumal and Sara Nayaki temple should be 1000 years old and one of Divyadesham.

River Cauveri wanted her status to be equal to river Ganges and performed hard penance. She laid 3 wishes before the god. (a) O! Lord you should stay in this place for ever and ever (b) all the Jeevans in this place should attain your lotus feet (c) I should be treated as pious as river Ganges. Lord Vishnu granted all her wishes and to improvise her status further among all the other river he accepted her as his mother and crawled as a child in her hands. You could see a crawling perumal and Cauveri inside the main sanctum.

Also according to scriptures, during the Pralaya the devasting floods, Lord Brahmma took the soil of this place, made a pot and placed the Vedas in for safety. Since this placed gave the magical mud which held a lead role this place became the reason for all living things to live even after the Maha pralaya so this place is called "Sara Kshetram".

Kadan Nivartheeswarar

Ganavalli sametha Sara Parameshwar koil is known as temple for debt relief, is at a stone throw away distance from peruml temple. Sage Markandya installed and worshipped the siva lingam. The Rinavimochana Eswaran is in the outer pragaram, the general belief is that worshipping Lord Shiva here helps to improve financial status and be debt free. However there is a deeper meaning to it, debt includes financial but not limited only to it. Every human being is born with debts like Deva rina( debt to god), Rishi rina(debt to sages), Pitru rina( debt to our ancestors). If a human is not able to repay these debts in their life they will have another birth to repay.

Before we preform archanai the gurukal distributes the flower and we were asked to take sankalpam and the flowers are taken back and poured over Lord to signify that the debts are paid back to signify that there is no rebirth.

Thirukollikadu

Lord Shiva is praised as Agneeswarar as Agni Bhagwan worshipped Lord in this temple. It is said that Lord Sani was very upset for he was being held responsible for all the woes of human being. He prayed Agneeswarar at Thirukollikadu after bathing in Agnitheertham. Lord Shiva gave him the Dharsan in the form of Agni the Fire and made him Pongu Sani or Prosperous Sani. In this temple Sani Bhagavan is placed in Kubera corner where normally Mahalakshmi will be placed.

The temple has three sacred trees Vanni, Oomathai and Kondrai representing wealth, removal of mental agony and unity in family respectively.  Generally the wealthy people are praised that they attained LAKSHMI KADATCHAM. In one’s life this Lakshmi kadatcham will come and go and may not be stable. But there is an another type of wealth called “ KUBERASAMBATH” which means attaining great wealth along with a complete life which prolongs for generations. Doing poojas with “vanni leaves” (Sthala Virutcham of this temple) to Lord Saneeswara bagavan will provide us with the Kubera sambath.

But travelling to this place will be bone wrecking by our own transport but I saw people thronging this place using public transport. Since my visit was on a Saturday noon this place was full of people. Actually this place was planned for Friday but Driver adjusted and made this on a Saturday.

Tirumangalakudi

Lord Siva is called Sree Prananadeswarar, Traditionally the Linga-Bana is shorter in height when compared to the Avudayar or the seat.The Linga part is taller than the Avudayar part in this temple. Also against the tradition of celebrating the wedding festival during day time, it is celebrated during night in this temple. Married woman receive the Mangal Sutra thread from Ambica directly for a long marital life. Worship of Mother Mangalambica for five consecutive Mondays ensure safety to the Mangal Sutra blessing, relief from the adverse aspects of the serpent planets Rahu and Ketu and of Sani Bhagwan. Lord Shiva of the temple cured the disease of the planets, who have a control over the lives of humans. It is believed that the Navagrahas offered Curd Rice Nivedhana without salt on a Vellerukku leaf to Lord to get cured of diseases and similarly even today Devotees hold curd rice on Vellerukku leaves between 12-12.30 midday time, offer it as nivedhana to Lord and take part in the pujas in the prakara continuously for 11 Sundays for relief from planetary problems and remedy from all diseases.

Finally ended the travel with visit to Govindapuram on Mahaperiva Aradhanai day.

For Photos Click Here

Bhoologa Vaikuntam - 2

The travel we undertake should encapsulate your feelings and vitalize from inner and should never drain your energies, in that aspect this was refreshing due to the magnitude of these ancient temples. At the same time, attention should be provided to all in the group so that the travel is made interesting. I want Ananya to enjoy the holidays so the story of Adi Shankara and the significance of these temples were shared during our journey. Also promises like bathing in the same river where Shankara faced the crocidle and Athirappilly falls excited her and kept her in high energy.

Soon after our Nirmalaya darshan checked out and started for a long day travel to cover the places as per the plan. 

Nalaambalam

Nalambalam pilgrimage is gaining more and more popularity. Nalambalam, means four temples, which are in different locations of Thrissur district.

Nalambala Darsanam involves offering prayers at the shrines of Lord Rama (Triprayar), Bharatha (Koodalmanikyam at Irinjalakuda), Lakshmana (Moozhikulam) and Shatrugana (Payammal), the celebrated quartet of the epic Ramayana respectively, on a single day. In India you will find temples for the brothers of Ram only at these places.

It is believed that the idols of Rama, Bharatha, Lakshmana and Shathrughna were the pooja idols of Lord Krishna. He worshipped these 4 idols in Dwaraka. At the end of Dwapara Yuga, Dwaraka was swallowed by the sea. These four idols floated over the sea water all together and at last reached the Cheetuva region of Kerala shore. They were duly installed in four temples at these places by Vakkayil Kaimal as directed in his dream by HIM.

It is believed, Bharata , second amongst them, is the avatar of the Panchajanya (Conch held by Vishnu) .Lakshmana is the avatar of the Adisesha, Satrughna is the avatar of the Sudarshana chakra held by Lord Vishnu.

Triprayar Temple(Temple for Ram) houses a 6 ft tall idol of the Lord, holding Shankha, Sudarsanachakra, Stick and Garland, in a very ferocious form in standing posture. When we entered we saw a grand ceremony where the Utsavar is being taken around on a Gajaraja, we followed the procession till the Garbagrha.

Koodalmanikyam Temple( Bharatha's) houses another 6 ft tall idol of the Lord,seen in ferocious form in standing posture holding the same things as seen at Triprayar. This is one of the rare temples where only one idol is there in the entire temple complex which is huge.

Moozhikkulam is the only one among the four temples which belong to the 108 Divya Desams. The temple houses another 6 ft tall idol, similar to the idol at Guruvayoor, holding Shankha, Sudarsana chakra, Mace and Lotus, in standing posture.

Payammal is the smallest temple of the four, having the smallest idol, also similar to that at Guruvayoor.

We were fortunate enough to cover all these before noon but not in the prescribed order due to the proximity of Satrughna and Bhartha, so Lakshmana was the last one we visited(Refer the map in my first part). Probably they are closer since the other two left for forest.

When we refer Adi Shankara and Lord Ram, there should be a mention about "Sri Rama Bhujanga" the great work by Shankara on Lord Ram. I love the 15th Verse for its absolute eloquence.

Shilapi thwadamgrikshama sangirenu,

Prsadhadhi chaithanya madhatha Rama,

Namasthwath pada dwandwa seva vidhanath,

                                       Suchathanya metheethi kim chithramathra?

Adi Sankara says he offers his salutations at the feet of Rama, His feet are the ones that brought Ahalya back to life. In fact, Adi Sankara says it is the dust on Rama’s feet which rid Ahalya of her curse.If even the dust on His feet can do this, is it any surprise that worshipping His feet grants salvationn?

Kalady

Kalady is the birthplace of the man responsible for the resurgence of Hindusim, AdiSankaracharya, the great Indian Philosopher who is considered responsible for rescuing Hinduism from its deteriorated state. 

There are couple of stories which I would like share before providing the details of the temple. One such story is, Little Shankara’s mother found great difficulty in walking towards the river for her daily bath, this made Shankara to request Lord Krishna to help his mother. Krishna blessed Shankara that the river will follow his footmarks thus Shankara marked a place in the soil from the main river. You can find the river bends at this place as a tributary and flows near this place.

Another story that is worth mentioning is how Sankara got his mother’s permission for Sanyasa. While bathing in the river Poorna one day, a crocodile caught hold of his leg. Shankara appealed to his mother for permission to become a sanyasi. His mother finally gave consent, only to have the crocodile let go of young Shankara.

There are two main temples on the banks of the river, one is Sringeri Mutt and another one is Sri Krishna Temple.

In the Sringeri Mutt temple premises you will find the Samadhi of Sri Shankara's mother, Aryamba. Also there is a small shrine to Lord Ganesha where Shankara used to pray daily and a shrine dedicated to Sri Shankaracharya and the other to Goddess Saradamba. The pooja rituals in these temples are done by Tamil or Kannada Smartha Brahmins, and not by Namboothiris as is the custom in Kerala.

Whereas the other temple is dedicated to Sri Krishna. This temple is known as the ancestral deity (Kula deivam)of Sri Shankaracharya, you can find this being mentioned in one of his verse in Prabodha Sudhakaram. This idol of Lord Krishna is made of Anjana stone that has high properties of iron and copper. Only Guruvayur and Kaladi temple have this idol of Krishna made of this stone.
The temple is under two Namboothiri families who had close associations with the life of Shankara. It is also the only surviving structure from the time of Shankara. The pooja rituals in this temple are conducted by Namboothiris as is the custom of Kerala. Other significant is the Crocodile Ghat.

Athirappilly falls

As mentioned earlier to make the travel a memorable picked this place and Ananya was not willing to come out even after 1 hour.   CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

Finally some observations I made during the travel which will pave way for a good debate

1. Though the people of Kerala should have some lineage to either Aryan or Dravidian races similar to other southern states of India, but the discipline I saw was awesome especially the self-managed queue system.
   
2. Couple of years ago when I visited Ananthapadmanabaswamy temple in Trivandrum, I was not pleased when I was asked to surrender my shirt in the locker cabin even though I was not wearing. I was not able to get the reason, whereas in this visit I observed most of the men especially Keralite were wearing shirt with one hand inside the sleeve (Please refer the attached photo).When the instruction was not to wear why this innovation? Now I got the reason why in Trivandrum they practice that policy.

While we do utmost planning there might be some slip due to time constraint, we also had some like Vadakkunnathan temple, Annakotta Elephant Sanctuary and Chavakkad Beach. Probably this could be the reason to visit again this wonderful place.

Bhoologa Vaikuntam

In the current scenario, Long weekend without travel will be hard to find in any family, if you spend long weekend at home then you will be g(R)azed down by your own family and friends as if you are an Alien.

To elude from these controversies, planned a short trip during one of the long weekends that followed Diwali, Nov1st being a local holiday in Karnataka. These kind of short travels helps to de-stress your mind since more time is spent with family when compared with routine day. If we are able to pick right place then it also rejuvenates you mentally and physically.

Picked a place so that it can be removed from our pending list which has occupied top of the list for a decade. When I suggested this place it was readily accepted by all and as usual planning and preparation completed. During the planning process thought of accomplishing yet another promise made to Prathiba some couple of years ago. The vow was to take her to Kaladay, where me and Ananya went to that place few years back and on that occasion both Prathiba and Amma were not able to join us. Finally the itinerary was finalized with Guruvayur and Kalady and was able to include Nalaambalam.

Guruvayoor

The Krishna temple in the town of Guruvayoor in Kerala is one of the famous Vishnu temples in India. Even though the idol in Guruvayoor is that of Vishnu it is still known as a Krishna temple since the boy Krishna is always said to be running around in the temple premises. The presiding deity is MahaVishnu, in standing posture with four hands carrying Sankhu Panchajanya, Sudarshana chakram,lotus and gada.

The presiding deity in the Garbhagraha is Mahavishnu, worshipped according to the pooja routines laid down by Adhi Sankaracharya.

Guruvayur has its own glory and greatness, mainly because of the divinity enshrined in the Sanctum - Sanctorum of the temple and the unique charm of the idol installed in it.

The idol of Guruvayur temple is unique and considered to be extremely sacred since it is carved out of "Paathalanjana” stone. This idol was once worshipped by Mahavishnu in Vaikunta and finally reached Krishna himself where he worshipped this idol in Dwaraka. At the time of Krishna's ascension to Vaikunta, he instructed Udhava to entrust Brahaspathi (the Guru of Devas) with the task of taking the idol to a suitable place where people could worship it, so as to get salvation in Kaliyuga. A deluge had closed in on Dwaraka, but Guru salvaged the idol with the help of his prime disciple Vayu. Guru and Vayu went around in search of an ideal place. They came to this place of lush green spot with a beautiful lotus tank where they felt the presence of Lord Siva. This is the place where Lord Shiva imparted the Rudrageetham and allowed to install the idol and HE left to the opposite bank, at Mammiyur. Since Guru and Vayu consecrated the idol in this place henceforth it was known as GURUVAYUR.

As the idol was once worshiped by the Lord Mahavishnu himself in Vaikunta, Guruvayur is considered to be "Bhooloka Vaikunta" - the heaven on earth.

The day of the lord begins with Vakacharthu and it is the preparation for his holy bath. The garlands, the flowers of the previous night are removed after the Nirmalyadarsanam and gingelly oil is poured over the idol. This oil collected thereafter, is considered to be very sacred.It is believe that it acquires medicinal and spiritual value.

Crowds throng the temple at 3 A.M in order to see this charming sight. Then water from the temple, consecrated with mantras is poured over the idol for his ritual bath. This holy water is then eagerly drunk by the devotees since it is said to contain a little of the miraculous properties of the stone of which the idol is made.

We landed early morning at Thrissur station and took a bus to Guruvayur, reached the home stay that was booked. Will share more details about the place of stay later.As soon as we checked in we all got refreshed and proceeded towards the temple, Mr Gopinath the owner of the property offered us to drop near the temple since we are new to the place, even though it was less than 500 mts from temple.

Being holiday the crowd was mammoth and unique to this temple we do not have any special darshan and everyone has to follow the queue to enter the temple. I asked the other 3 to wait near the gate and I stood close to 4 hours in queue where they joined me. We had a blissful darshan and after getting the Milk Kheer and butter the prasadam that was offered we headed towards the Mammiyur Shivan temple on the opposite side of the tank.

Around noon returned to our place of stay and all of us rested till evening.

Guruvayur means Nirmalaya Darshan, later on realized why it is so? We all want to experience the Nirmalaya darshan so checked with some people about the process and we were told that we need to do join the queue around 10.00 pm for a darshan at 03.00 am next day. We marked a plan, come what may, we will go to the place around 02.30 am and let us take it from there and if HE wishes we will have one. Ananya resisted for getting up early for second day consecutively, so we advised she can stay back and we will lock from outside and will be back ASAP, this was agreed.

As per the plan Me, Amma and Prathiba were ready by 2.30 am and again this time there was an offer from Mr Gopinath to drop us which was seized since it was drizzling and this will save time.

We were among the first 100 and had a heavenly darshan, even while writing this after couple days able to recollect the darshan in front of me. Since the crowd was less Amma and Prathiba want to have another whereas I headed towards the place of stay to take care of Ananya. We were able to see Nirmalya darshan and after that Abhishegam and the Gingely oil was offered as Prasadam.

I was able to return around 4.00 am whereas they returned around 4,30 and we checked out around 6.00 am with immense fulfillment of a long pending desire. 

Sri Anandan Residency

This one is a home stay and you will get top rating in almost all travel related portal like Tripadvisor etc., Mr and Mrs Gopinath are very friendly in their services, though the property is huge they have built only 4 units. Both of them were working in Middle East and returned in the year 2014 and ventured to make use of their ancestral property. The rates are highly competitive with breakfast as part of the deal and flexible check in time. Our first home-stay too was a pleasant one.

Will share about Kalady and Nalaambalam along with pictures in my final edition that will follow soon.....

TNEPDS

This is in continuation to my earlier article on the App TNEPDS, which you can download from Google play store. This is going to be used for Public Distribution System in TN.

As I shared earlier using this App you can update the Aadhaar card details to link your card and no need to visit the shop.

Now let us get a glimpse of some features on this App.

You will get a password to your registered mobile and in Tamil it is called (உள்நுழைவு), I like the Tamil word for password.

Using the password we need to login and the landing screen looks like the one on the left.

The first is your eligibility for a month and it is called உரிமம் and it list down the articles you are eligible.

It has a place to register a compliant through this App and also the working time of the shop with holiday list.

I found a particular option useful and that is the stock list of the shop, this brings in transparency.

The transactions for the month and previous months are available under the head பரிவர்த்தனைகள்

The profile page has got all the details and this is similar to your first page of your erstwhile Card.

Finally lot of questions are to be answered 

1. Do everyone is expected to have a smart phone.

2. Does this really arrest the bogus cards

Definitely this is a welcome move but this can be improved by bringing in additional controls.

One thing I would love to bring as part of an enhancement is to pick the age of the head of the family and if they are senior citizens then deliver the goods at their address. 

Currently in the profile page we are not able to upload our photo, this should be enabled that too a family picture has to be there in place and a rule that the distribution of articles will be made only to those in the picture. These small things will save lot of resources to Goverment and the ROI on this feature will be high and recoup of investment will be in lesser time.

It is still in the nascent stage and hope all the feedback are taken into account to make this more user friendly and also use control measures to prevent fraud. 

Hope for the best!!!!

God's Particle

Recently the term CERN has been ringing in my ears very frequently which I have never heard of before and that created some interest in learning about CERN. The term CERN came into me when I was reading about Nataraja (Lord Shiva at Chidambaram). Later when googled came to know that the term CERN is associated with Physics and this subject is several light years ahead from me as I always treated that subject like an alien. 

Are you interested in finding the link between CERN and Tillainathar? Similar to me, you will get plenty when you google it, will try to consolidate my reading here.

My association with the subject “Physics” concluded with my graduation where I took this as an ancillary subject. Similar to Thirukural, I was keen on reading from the perspective of scoring marks and the intent was never to do a deep dive to understand the related intricacies. Off-late realizing the importance of Kural and now after comprehending the relation between Physics and Hinduism and the significance provided by western scientist make me feel crestfallen.

Will share my findings and learning, also make sure that less of deep physics is imparted as part of this article and people interested can further google to find out more elaborate sections.

Understanding 4 major fragment and the linkage of each on other will help and hence the flow is….

CERN 

The acronym CERN originally represented the French words for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research), established at Geneva (France and Swiss border) by 12 European governments in 1952. The laboratory was originally devoted to study of atomic nuclei, but was soon applied to higher-energy physics, concerned mainly with the study of interactions between subatomic particles.

On June 18th 2004, a 2 meter tall statue of Lord Natarajar was installed in the premises of this organization, the plaque alongside the statue states
“In the Hindu religion, this form of the dancing Lord Shiva is known as the Nataraja and symbolises Shakti, the belief is that Lord Shiva danced the Universe into existence, motivates it, and will eventually extinguish it. It is the clearest image of the activity of God which any art or religion can boast of.”

Nataraja 

Several thousand years ago this form of dancing Shiva was conceptualized by us, now the modern scientist says "every subatomic particle not only performs an energy dance, but also is an energy dance; a pulsating process of creation and destruction…without end” 

The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology and modern physics.

God’s particle ( Sub Atomic particle)

Before this study, I have never heard of this term too. I never knew that for the year 2013 the Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded for the invention of God’s particle. Yes, it was awarded to Peter Higgs and Francois Englert for invention of ‘Higgs Boson’ particle that was nick named as God’s Particle. Why only Higgs name is being associated with this and why not the other and what is Boson? The same set of questions came to my mind and further study revealed interesting facts and association of an Indian to this invention.

Term Boson was derived from Satyendra Nath Bose (1894 to 1974), from a tiny village in west Bengal he reached pinnacle in Physics. His article on quantum physics to Albert Einstein in 1920s paved way for Bose-Einstein partnership and that resulted in famous Bose-Einstein condensate, there was immense contribution by this theory towards this invention. Initially I was surprised that in those era of pre-independence with limited availability of resources how someone could contribute to quantum physics. Later on realized that we have contributed to the same subject several thousand years ago by creating a form of Shiva called Nataraja.

Currently CERN’s infrastructure is being used to prove the existence of this subatomic particle. As with any scientific discovery, God’s amazing creation of universe becomes more and more impressive as we learn more about it.

String Theory 

String theory is one of the most famous ideas in modern physics, but it is also one of the most confusing. Recently lot of studies on this theory is undertaken and CERN plays vital role in these studies. 

 This theory in lay man term defines that every single particle in universe is connected to other particle through a string which cannot be seen through instruments. Simple example could be, We see earth rotating around sun, both celestial body are connected to each other and are joined by strings that hold them together.

Though the first study on this subject erupted in 1960s, still this theory is evolving and the research on this subject is being greeted by scientist and have already been applied to variety of problems in black hole physics, nuclear physics etc., The attached relationship diagram of this theory depicts our findings several thousand years ago and close resemblance to the statue.

The intent of this article is to share my learning and astonishment and not to impart any ideologies. The astonishment is several here and the foremost is that every matter consist of atoms which cannot be either seen or felt but these atomic particles are governed by subatomic particles that has been christened as God’s particle.

Karuvelli - Navarathri Festival

During and after independence there were exodus of people from villages to cities in search of government jobs or in quest for upgrading their life style. This continuous migration of previous generation lead to huge vacuum in small villages and in turn it impacted the temples that prevailed for centuries before.

Even now the impact is being felt in several villages where we can see lot of temples in dilapidated and ruined condition. This according to me is no different from the ruins created by Moghuls and British during their reign where they demolished lot of Hindu temples and ransacked the available treasure.

The Current generation have realized the loss and started tracing the history of ancestors and their association with temples. Few of them have joined as part of the village team that reconstruct those temples which are good signs that will save and restore our culture and lost inheritance.

One such village is Karuveli near Kumbakonam and the temple is called “Sarguneswar Temple”. The presiding deity is Lord Shiva in the form of Sarguneswaran and his consort is Sarvanga Nayagi.

Similar to other temples this one too was in a neglected and was in ruined condition till 1990, then with efforts from Shri V Krishnamurthy former chairman of BHEL, Maruthi and SAIL and his brother Shri Vaidhyanathan president of Kalki group of publications took efforts to reconstruct this temple, whose forefathers hailed from this village. Mahakumbabishegam was performed in 1997 and slowly the temple is being restored to its past glory.

Recently got an invitation(refer the above picture) through a common friend of them asking to participate in the Navarathri festival where they perform LAKSHARCHANA for Goddess Sarvanga Sundari. Thought of sharing the invitation to a bigger group and help in mobilizing some fund that will help their efforts that are planned for ongoing temple maintenance. I would suggest not only to contribute but personally participate and get the blessing during festival.(Tap on the invitation to get enlarged picture and bank/contact details)

About temple – The temple is believed to be 1300 years old and according to the sthalapurana it is one among the 51 Shakthi Peedams. After the humiliation incident of King Daksha, the Goddess has to take rebirth and got united with Shiva in her next birth. During the time of separation Lord Shiva did severe penance and saw Parvathi here and they both danced in ecstasy. After marriage both stayed in this village and the story further states that whoever comes and offers prayers at this temple will not be subjected to next birth and get only Motcham. Worshipping in this temple will have the eternal happiness of total salvation. 

Hence the place came to be known as Karu Illai meaning that there would be no entering into a womb (Karu) again. In other words an unseen fence (VELI) will be installed to prevent one to become a fetus (KARU) again. Thus, the village got the name Karuveli. Even the divine Mother had to be born again to get back Her Lord so that she would not have to be born again.

The place is believed to help one to retain all his/her noble traits for ever and also reform him/her completely from previous wicked qualities. The Lord therefore is praised as Sarguna Nather. Sargunam-noble traits.

Lord Siva with the best of his known soft behaviors resides at the temple as Sarguneswarar (self-manifested lingam) and the most beautiful Parvathi as Sarvanga Sundhari. Mother Sarvanga Sundari, as the names suggests looks superlatively beautiful with four hands. 

The idol is 5.5 feet tall. The face of the Amman reflects only peace and a disposition to free you from all the stress or emotion. The mental status and inner feelings of any one who stand before the deity cannot be explained in a few words and it is to be felt in person to know it.

Sri Sarvanga Sundari, consecrated on Yogagni peeta, blesses all devotees.When Goddess Parvathi came to know that Lord Shiva is in penance at the forest on the banks of river Harisruta (Arasalaru) appeared before Lord Shiva in penance with all her beauty only in order to make Her Lord return to family life. She danced before Lord Shiva, married Him and at the request of all Devas and Rishis the divine couple stayed permanently at Karuveli where the present temple stands.Devas and Rishis prayed that whoever comes and offers prayers at this temple will not be subjected to the tangle of birth & death.

Yama Raja constructed a temple tank opposite to the temple and offered prayer to Lord Shiva after taking a dip in the tank to get solace and overcome a curse. The tank is still called as Yama Theertham.

The amount that has been fixed for this event is less than the cost we will incur if a family of 3 go out for a movie.Would request people to come forward and join hands in uplifting the old temples to regain its glory.

D(igital)- Connection

Off late you will be observing that a lot of writing from me, would like to reveal the secret behind this. The tutor role that is being played by me helps in discovering lot of spare time, where I give some exercise to Ananya and during her execution of those exercise will browse, read and write these blogs.

Since started with Ananya studies, will share some recent experience received from her school as part of this version.

In this electronic age if you are not adopting the technology that prevails in the market you will definitely succumb to your competition. In case of the education it is more relevant as these institutions are being set up with profit motive and survival depends on surpassing other schools.

Recently received a SMS from Ananya’s school which had a link that guided me to Google play store’s App. Leisurely googled about the details of the App before downloading, will share some of my experiences on this subject.

The App name is Tenoapp( Teacher’s note), this acts as a medium of communication between a school and parents. Later on realized that there are lot of such Apps available to cater this area and depends on the school to pick an effective one.

Let me drift away to a generic topic and return back to this particular App.Normally in our routine life we encounter lot of problems, we have options either to reside with the problem or identify solutions to those. These App developers are of second category where they identify and come up with a solution and use them to earn money(ATM machine). They develop an App with features that address the problem and market them, later with the feedback received enhance the product features.

The TenoApp developers too fall under this calssification, where they connect School and parents digitally and for every download they get paid.

If the problems of a parent or child are to be listed in relation to communication with school it will run into pages but few critical ones are

1. Teachers could be met only on a particular day and several hours are squandered in travel for a few minutes of meet.

2. Child misplacing the school diary due to which a possibility of not completing the project on the scheduled date.

3. Not able to reach school authorities to know about holiday in case of emergency like rain or bandh

Advantages are many in case of these Apps to both the parties, in case of school

1. Group Communication with resend option or communication targeted to specific group like higher class

2. One way and Two communication, can be used from Principal desk or from class teacher

3. Attachments both Voice and pictures can be sent

Primary advantage for parents is that the communication is made easy not only with Class teacher but with other Parent’s of same class to get more opinions.

In general these paperless communication helps in saving environment as these will definitely get rid of School diary in the future.

See the attached picture from my phone where we have 1. Principal Message 2. Message from Class 7B teacher and 3. Message among parents of class 7.

You may ask about the disadvantages associated with these kind of Apps.

In general I do not see any disadvantage with this App, but fathers will have one, on a lighter note though, they will not be able have a glimpse of school teachers or can’t chat with class teacher of their kid. கடலை போடமுடியாது !!

Golden Rain

Recently during my internet browsing, I came across Sri Kannadasan’s “ பொன் மழை”, in that he explains Adi Sankaracharya’s Kanakadhara Stotram in his own style. Got motivated to share my learning in this forum.

Merely reciting these slokas will not help, personally I feel we will be able to relish if we understand the meaning of all the slokas that are written in Sanskrit. If that happens to be from the King of Tamil poetry then it will be a jewel in the crown. I will pick the best of the 21 slokas that I liked most and for the rest you can get a copy of his book.

For those who are not aware of the origin of this slokam the following hindsight will help.
Normally Sankaracharya will visit houses in Kalady to take bhiksha(food). On one such occasion, He came across a hut and asked for bhiksha. The women inside the house was embarrassed since she is so poor that nothing was available in her house. On her search she found an old Amla fruit. She thought that giving the amla fruit as bhiksa is not best but she had immense devotion and don’t want to send Sankara empty handed. She offered the amla fruit to Sankara with embarrassment.
Sankara realized the women’s devotion and accepted the fruit. He immediately started singing 21 slokas praising Goddess Mahalakshmi, praying her to bless the poor women and grant her riches.

Mahalakshmi response was that the lady has not done any good deeds in her previous birth so she doesn't deserve riches and is destined to suffer in poverty. Adi sankara accepted the argument about previous birth but said though the poor lady din't do any good deeds in previous birth whereas in this birth, she has such a kind heart and great devotion. Finally Goddess heeded to Sankara and blessed the old lady with showers of Golden amla fruit.Imagine, rain of golden fruit showering from sky

Adi Sankara has sung this "Kanakadhara stotra" for welfare of everyone who is suffering from their past karma and suffering in poverty.

I have attached Sanskrit version as a PDF file also the audio file for reference. For best results, after the reading the Tamil text go through the Sanskrit version with audio, you will relish in joy.Now let us travel to the book from Kannadasasan, once again I reiterate this is his translation and may not match the conventional translated version. So no fault finding exercise rather enjoy his skills as I did. 

These verses are beauty, that describes in getting a glimpse of Goddess Mahalakshmi and are my favorites and do not want to skip. Considering the space I have captured the rest in the attached PDF.
For Full Text file Click Here  

For Audio File click here - By MS

aṅgaṃ hareḥ pulaka bhūṣaṇa māśrayantī
bhṛṅgāṅga neva mukulā bharaṇaṃ tamālam |
aṅgī kṛtākhila vibhūti rapāṅga līlā
māṅgaḻya dā'stu mama maṅgaḻa devatāyāḥ ‖1‖

மாலவன் மார்பில் நிற்கும் மங்கலக் கமலச் செல்வீ!
மரகத மலரில் மொய்க்கும் மாணிக்கச் சுரும்பு போன்றாய்
நீலமா மேகம் போல நிற்கின்ற திருமாலுந்தன்
நேயத்தால் மெய் சிலிர்த்து நிகரிலாச் செல்வம் கொண்டான்!
மாலவன் மீது வைத்த மாயப்பொன் விழிஇ ரண்டை
மாதுநீ என்னி டத்தில் வைத்தனை என்றால் நானும்
காலமா கடலில் உந்தன் கருணையால் செல்வம் பெற்று
கன்ணிறை வாழ்வு கொள்வேன் கண்வைப்பாய் கமலத்தாயே

Lotus mother, who resides in the heart of MahaVishnu. He is thrilled with your grace and got showered with prosperity. Could you please set those golden eyes on me too that you grace HIM so that I will also get abundance in my life.

mugdhā muhur vidadhatī vadane murāreḥ
prematrapā praṇi hitāni gatāgatāni |
mālā dṛśor madhu karīva mahotpale yā
sā me śriyaṃ diśatu sāgara saṃbhavāyāḥ ‖2‖

நீலமா மலரைப் பார்த்து நிலையிலா(து) அலையும் வண்டு

நிற்பதும் பறப்ப தும்போய் நின்விழி மயக்கம் கொண்டு
கோலமார் நெடுமால் வண்ணக் குளிர்முகம் தன்னைக் கண்டு,
கொஞ்சிடும், பிறகு நாணும் கோதையார் குணத்தில் நின்று!
ஏலமார் குழலி அந்த இருவிழி சிறிது நேரம்
என்வசம் திரும்பு மாயின் ஏங்கிய காலம் சென்று
ஆலமா மரங்கள் போல அழிவிலாச் செல்வம் கொண்டு
அடியவன் வாழ்வு காண்பேன் அருள்செய்வாய் கமலத்தாயே !

Here Vishnu is being depicted as blue flower and Mahalakshmi’s eyes as bees that hover around the flower. On looking the face of Lord the feel of shy captures you but you are tempted to look again at HIM but shyness prevents. Hence you temporarily shift your glance at the moment of shyness, even that small divine glance at me during that time will bless me with prosperity.

āmīli tākṣa madhigamya mudā mukundaṃ
ānanda kanda manimeṣa manaṅga tantram |
ākekara sthita kanīnika pakṣma netraṃ
bhūtyai bhaven mama bhujaṅga śayāṅga nāyāḥ ‖3‖

நற்குடி பிறந்த பெண்கள் நாயகன் தனைப் பார்த்தாலும்

நாணத்தால் முகம்புதைத்து நாலிலோர் பாகம் பார்ப்பார்!
பற்பல நினைத்தபோதும் பாதிக்கண் திறந்துமூடி
பரம்பரைப் பெருமை காப்பார் !
பாற்கடல் அமுதே! நீயும் அற்புத விழிகளாலே
அச்சுத முகுந்தன் மேனி அப்படிக் காண்பதுண்டு
ஆனந்தம் கொள்வதுண்டு !
இப்பொழு(து) அந்தக் கண்ணை என்னிடம் திருப்பு தாயே !
இருமையும் செழித்து வாழ இகத்தினில் அருள்வாய் நீயே !

Pure women who are born in good family will feel shy if their husband look at them continuously. Normally these women will have subtle look at their husband with half closed eyes when he is not noticing and get delighted. You will also do the same with Vishnu. It is enough if you could look those momentary look at me to get blessed with abundance and auspiciousness in my life.

Once again would like to quote that these may be different from conventional version. The intent of this sharing is "யாம் பெற்ற இன்பம் பெருக இவ்வையகம்"meaning I got Pleasure and making that available to all is the motto here.

Change = k

The intent of writing in this forum by me is to share my experience on topics of my interest, this one too falls under that category but of a different classification.

Recently one of my ex-team member called me for a career guidance on his forthcoming new employment offer and off-late I am getting calls seeking direction on their presumption ( better term is ignorance) that I will be able to add value.

Normally I will never influence a person’s decision whereas discuss all the positives and shortcomings and leave the art of decision making to the owner.

During and after the discussion, I find a common issue among seekers,where the resistance to change supersedes the decision making of the individual, here the change not only refer to new job but all those that requires any shift from present. Thus arose this under the header borrowed from Greek philosopher.

Vairamuthu in Kochadaiyan" மாற்றம் ஒன்றுதான் மாறாதது ; மாறுவதெல்லாம் உயிரோடு; 
மாறாததெல்லாம் மண்ணோடு"

Change is necessary for ALL, that includes Living, Non-living and natural things. Is required both at work and at home. But you can feel the change only if you change.

Everything and everyone experiences change at some point of time and with respect to something. I agree that destiny determines but that alone cannot retard this major decision making exercise.But before indulging the current state, we need to ruminate lot of questions like

How to Change? Why to Change? And When to? These questions helps to embrace change and its impact. Let me identify some generic answers…that does not restrict to..

Change is fused with time and time stops for no man it marches forward and drags change along with it and if you fail to follow then you have to repent the decision. I believe that we must adapt better, if we are to succeed else the failure is inevitable. Of course, it’s difficult to change our routines initially but, once we take the first courageous steps to change, a bright and challenging future awaits. Once you are ready and completed your upskilling you have to march ahead. Embracing change without upskilling is asking for failure.

Numerous examples can be cited where big organizations have nosedived due to the failure in identifying solutions for the above 3. These have to live on their past glory. Nokia is great example.

So when we probe further on the failure to identify the need for change, the foremost one to prop up is fear associated with change. Everybody likes permanency in their life, often permanency is marked with stability and change is marked with mystery. But usually what follows permanency is monotony and what follows change is revolution. I agree that with permanency, an air of stableness is maintained but for how long does that stableness last?

Embracing and welcoming change is what makes people leaders and winners. Because they understand the fact that nothing stays forever and even if it stays forever it loses its charm it once had.

Change at first instance may not seem good, but it has hidden treasure. We need to be a little braver and a little more experimental you would find yourself at ease with change. Change brings people together, makes us smarter, opens up our minds and broadens our vision. Change brings with it opportunities to rise and shine. Change is good, so embrace it, love it and make it yours.

The best example for change which we all embraced throughout our life is our own physical change. We undergo various change physical, mental, social etc. We don’t look the same all our life. We grow in height till a certain age, intelligence, changing waistlines, greying hair etc., we learn and experience a lot with time. Socially we change a lot, meet new people every day and with present day socializing ways (Facebook), our social status changes by leaps and bounds. Some changes are by nature and some we equip ourselves and some we get infused knowingly or unknowingly.

I quote myself as an example, if someone had told me about my present stature a decade ago the first one to laugh would be me followed by my teen hood associates . Even now some heart specialist can try by sharing my current state with my teachers, sure they get lot of customers.

Options are vested with us, it is we who decide. A larva cannot taste a honey if it was to stay forever as larva or associate with change process and become a beautiful butterfly from an ugly larva. The premium we pay for the jewelry when compared to gold bar is the price for the change it embraced from goldsmith.

We will be compelled to adopt some changes, for example the oldies have started adapting to computer, smart phone and applications associated with it. Though various reasons are associated for these adoption the primary one being the fear of left in deep jungles in this communication era.
“Change is difficult not changing is fatal”.

When they can adapt for few why not experiment more to embrace?

Would like to end with Thirukural
செய்தக்க அல்ல செயக்கெடும் செய்தக்க
செய்யாமை யானுங் கெடும்.

Meaning- செய்யக்கூடாதவற்றைச் செய்தாலும் செய்ய வேண்டியவற்றைச் செய்யாமல் விட்டாலும் அழிவு வரும். One will perish if he/she does, what is not fit to do by them and also perish if they fail to do what is fit for them.

எண்ணித் துணிக கருமம் துணிந்தபின்
எண்ணுவம் என்பது இழுக்கு.

Meaning - ஒரு செயலைச் செய்து முடிக்கும் வழியை அறிந்து தொடங்குக. தொடங்கியபின் அது பற்றி எண்ணிக் கொள்வோம் என்பது குற்றம்.. Consider and then undertake a decision; after having undertaken it, to contemplate is stupidity.