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The Temple of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, India, is the world's wealthiest and most visited temple. People flock here from all parts of the world to catch a fleeting glimpse of the self-manifested icon of Lord Venkateswara and submit their woes at his lotus feet. As the pilgrims stand for hours waiting for their chance to draw near, groups of pious priests and temple servants move about unhindered. Who are these privileged people? Rather than discussing the Lord Venkateswara, the topic of most books on the Tirumala Temple, this unique book focuses on those who perform the worship, revealing the remarkably efficient ancient system of checks and balances regulating rituals performed by the families of priests and functionaries who have been dedicating their lives to the temple throughout generations stretching back a thousand years. The Priests of Tirumala is organized into three main sections that tell the fascinating stories of the Mirasi Archaka families, Jiyangar matham, and Acharya Purushas. The book offers a wealth of painstakingly collected details on the temple's history about the way rituals are conducted by different functionaries inside the sanctum-bringing to light the inner workings of this intriguing institution like never before.
The book provides personal account and experiences of the author who visited devasthanam. They should worke interest and devision among the reades and reverance of the deity. The book deals with eternal questions like Is there God? If there is, how does He look? Have you seen Him? Or the seekers of truth who ask, How much of faith one should repose in God to earn His Support for Human endeavors? This book, perhaps has answers for such question.
The temple for the Lord of Vengadam in Tirumala (Andhra Pradesh, India) is one of the richest places of worship in the entire world with ever-increasing popularity, the footfall of devotees on the Seven Hills touching a whopping figure of seventy thousand on weekdays and one hundred thousand during the weekends. The Temples annual budget hovers around 25 billion rupees. This world record to fame and riches is not without its flip side. The temple has become the focal point for a variety of controversiessome created by the political class, some by historians with an axe to grind, and some more by Hindus with a sectarian outlook. The never-ending dispute is over the identity of the idol as a result of the age-old conflict between the worshippers of Siva and Vishnu, the two most important deities of the Hindu pantheon. Taking their cue from this, Neo-Buddhists joined the fray with the claim that the temple was a Buddhist shrine and that it was converted into Vishnu temple by wily Brahmins. The book aims to unravel the mystery over the history of the temple, providing a historical perspective to the issue and thus establishing the real identity of the Lord, which is indisputably that of the Vishnu.
In this innovative study, Gita V. Pai traces the history of the Pudu Mandapam (Tamil, 'new hall') – a Hindu temple structure in Madurai – through the rise and fall of empires in south India from the seventeenth century to the present. This wide-ranging work illustrates how south Indian temples became entangled in broader conflicts over sovereignty, from early modern Nayaka kings, to British colonial rule, to the post-independence government today. Drawing from methodologies in anthropology, religious studies, and art and architectural history, the author argues that the small temple site provides profound insight into the relationship between aesthetics, sovereignty, and religion in modern South Asia.
Started in 1958, Sanathana Sarathi is a monthly magazine devoted to Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanti (Peace) and Prema (Love) - the four cardinal principles of Bhagawan Baba's philosophy. It is published from Prasanthi Nilayam (the Abode of Highest Peace) and acts as a mouthpiece of Baba's Ashram as it speaks of the important events that take place in His sacred Abode, besides carrying Divine Messages conveyed through Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The word meaning of Sanathana Sarathi is the 'Eternal Charioteer'. It signifies the presence of the Lord in every being as the atma guiding their lives like a charioteer. It implies that he who places his life, the body being likened to a chariot, in an attitude of surrender in the hands of the Lord, will be taken care of by the Lord even as a charioteer would take the occupant of his chariot safely to its destination. The magazine is an instrument to disseminate spiritual knowledge for the moral, physical and mental uplift of humanity without any discrimination as the subject matter discussed therein is always of common interest and of universal appeal. The fifteen Vahinis - streams of sacredness - known as the Vahini Series comprising annotation and interpretation of the Upanishads and other scriptures, Itihasas like the Ramayana, the Bhagavatha and the Mahabharata, and authentic explanations on Dhyana, Dharma, Prema, etc., have been serially published in this magazine as and when they emanated from the Divine pen of Bhagawan Baba. This magazine is published in almost all Indian languages, English and Telugu from Prasanthi Nilayam and others from respective regions. Every year Sanathana Sarathi comes out with a special issue in November commemorating the Divine Birthday. The English and Telugu magazines are posted on the 10th and 23rd respectively, of every month, from Prasanthi Nilayam. This magazine has wide, ever increasing circulation in India as well as abroad, as the study of it brings the reader closer to the philosophy of the Avatar in simple understandable language THUS SPAKE SAI... Discoursing during the launch of Sanathana Sarathi... From this day, our Sanathana Sarathi will lead to victory the cohorts of truth - the Vedas, the Sastras and similar scriptures of all faiths, against the forces of the ego such as injustice, falsehood, immorality and cruelty. This is the reason why it has emerged. This Sarathi will fight in order to establish world prosperity. It is bound to sound the paean of triumph when universal Ananda is achieved.
In India, Hindu images have been cast for millennia through the lost wax process and brought to life by priests--becoming not merely venerated icons but actual embodiments of gods. Second and third generation Hindu Americans have increasingly adopted a more worldly perspective toward religious objects, viewing them as symbolic rather than actual presences of the deity. The author traces the origins of this important shift, and examines Western attitudes regarding sacred objects, as well as the complex layering of traditional and modern Hindu attitudes in a globalized world.
Horror is not something we create, nor is it something that jumps out of a closet in a dark room at an ungodly hour. Horror is not something which always advertises its presence with things falling down, windows banging shut or lights going off. It is something far more subtle, more real, more sinister like your shadow, imagine if it were to grow in length every day even if you stood at the same spot, at the same time of the day and when the lighting is similar. The shadow that grows like a cloak on your back on a day by day basis proportionate to the debauchery and evil you engage in, until it grows to such an extent that it engulfs you, sunlight is blotted out of your life and you are condemned to live in eternal darkness, is the essence of horror. Something that enters your life as a small vice, stays on as a companion, then grows as a master in whose clutches you are until it obliterates “you”. Horror is that which will sink deep roots into your subconscious and change you from within to such an extent that you will appear alien to yourself.