One of my good old colleagues in NLB does a great job for living. Apart from his regular digitisation work, He also helps and conducts exhibitions mostly around Indian influences in South East Asia.
One of his popular contributions was evident in the "Kaalachakra" exhibition.
Over a coffee he had asked me to translate few sanskrit terms that were in a book called -
"Temple consecration rituals in ancient India. text and archaeology" By Reknowned Indologist, Anna A. Ślączka.
Anna holds a Ph.D. (2006) in Indology, from Leiden University, in the Netherlands. She was a research fellow at the Research School for Asian, African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS) and is an affiliated fellow at the International Institute of Asian Studies (IIAS) in Leiden. She presented several papers on consecration rituals of South and Southeast Asia.
I got a chance to skim through the book and was amazed at the amount of research the author had undergone. I was enlightened and ashamed to the fact that I dint know anything about the rich architectural science Indian scholars had left behind for us.
I was trying to help my friend in interpreting the "box" which is laid during the temple construction. the book describes it fantastically. I googled for him before reading the book and sent him an excerpt from a blog article published in http://www.sulekha.com/ by Shri Sreenivasa Rao that describes Temple architecture in the common man's language.
"As per the tradition of Vedic worship, the rituals of Vastupujan, Bhumipujan, Bhumishodhan, and Shilanyasa are performed at an auspicious time before commencing the construction of a building.
Vastu Shastra is counted among the sixty-four principal faculties of knowledge which emanated directly from the Vedas. Several hymns or formulae in the Rigveda and Yajurveda pertain to the origin of Vastukala (architectural and constructional art).
Like the four Vedas there are four Up-vedas, namely, Gandharveda, Dhanurveda, Ayurveda and Sthaptyaveda. Of these, as mentioned in our introductory article, the last one happens to be what was developed as the Vastu Shastra in the successive ages – the periods of the vedic scriptures like the Brahmans, Aranyaks, Upanishads and Puranas. The subsequent post-vedic times of the Ramayana and Mahabharata are believed to be the periods when this knowledge (of Vastu) was deciphered and disseminated in its most evolved and practicable form. The planning and architecture in the grand cities of Lanka, Ayodhya, Hastinapur, Dwarika in that era are regarded as exemplary monuments of Vastukala
Garbhadhana, Shilanyasa is the ceremony for laying foundation stone. It is the laying of the first stone (square in shape) or a brick signifying the start of construction. It is laid in the north-western corner of the building plan, drawn on the ground. After this, the construction of the foundation is taken up. The foundation is built and the ground filled up, up to the plinth level, except in the middle portion of the garbhagraha area, which is filled up three-fourths.
The Brahmasthana , the principal location in a temple where the Garbagraha will eventually come up, is the nucleus of the Vastu Purusha Yantra. At the brahmasthana, as drawn on the grounda ritual is performed called garbhadhana, inviting the soul of the temple (Vastu Purusha) to enter within the buildings confines. In this ritual, a golden box is imbedded in the earth. The interior of the box is divided into smaller units exactly resembling the vastu-purusha-mandala. All the units of the gold box are first partially filled with earth. In the thirty-two units representing the nakshatras (lunar mansions), the units of Brahma and the twelve sons of Aditi, the priest places an appropriate mantra in written form to invoke the presence of the corresponding divinity .An Image of Ananta , the hooded serpent , is also placed in the box. Ananta, meaning eternal or timeless, also represents the energy that supports the universe. The box also contains nine precious stones - diamonds, emeralds, rubies, pearls, yellow sapphire, and blue sapphire, red coral, cats-eye and jade – to appease the nine planets.
The whole thing is covered by another stone slab called Brahmasila, over which the image of the deity will later be established.
Once the garbhadhana and agni-hotra ceremonies are complete the actual construction of the temple commences according to the plan. When the foundation is finished the vertical structure is raised. The external features of the temple are brought to life through finely sculpted figures and paintings. The art and sculpture frequently portray the forms of divine entities and the different stages of consciousness in the gradual evolution of life throughout the universe.
It is believed that the Vastu Purusha sleeps during Bhadrapada, Ashviyuja and Karhika months facing east. During Margashira, Pushya and Magha months he sleeps facing south; In phalguna, Chaitra and Vaishaka, he sleeps facing west. And, in Jeysta Ashada and Shravana, he sleeps facing north. The doors facing towards those directions are fixed in the respective months."
Its amazing that an Indian temple is not just a symbolic place of worship. but its architecture is dedicated to the Brahman aka the human form itself.
Do read parts 1-7 from Shri Sreenivasarao's blog, its enlightening indeed.
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Saturday, November 24, 2007
ROI & R2I - Return of Indians & Return to India
Besides getting poked at and turned into a zombie, I really appreciate FB's BlogFriends app.
Tonight when I was exploring the recent blogs on my FB app. I came across something interesting that really made me forget it was 2 am and I couldnt resist the itch to read and blog it immdtly.
I was reading a blog called - An American Holiday and a Desi Dilema by Snigdha Sen, although the post was speaking about Thanksgiving day which is the biggest festival now in the US of A. Snigdha mentioned a report on wharton by eminent newspaper columnist Shoba Narayanan.
The report kept me awake. I know of people who made it to their american dream. I know the families who proudly flash their american relatives and the gifts.
What happened in the early 90's was the 2nd big flood of Indian Brain-Drain. (excuse my ignorance I was too young if something similar happened before)
Talent of all sorts was being whisked away and Indians (especially the IT folks) saw America as the promised land. where a Srinivas from Kuchipudi village landed in a job with a local IT company that greedily traded him as a consultant to Detroit.
Ok, it was not so bad as I just described but the bulk of the IT force which was employed were Indians and Indians who survived in a very different country with a strange culture.
All of them are now well settled, flash a green card and are overall doing great. India in the early 2K saw a great wave of enterpreunership, great flagships like Infosys, Wipro and Reliance earned a respectable place in the world forum.
This made a lot Indians abroad start dreaming about going back and there was a small wave called ROI - Return of Indians.
I do not have the statistics nor would dare to say the numbers were large. but still it was a good thing that happened. The Returning Indians brought back immense talent, knowledge and revolutionised the work culture in India.
Hyderabad & Banglore were known to be sleeping cities before 2K, but now you would be amazed that these cities do not sleep at all. we have major IT hubs, Call centers and reasearch being delivered from here.
The report by Shobha Narayanan is really a story of cross cultural dilema.
Considering our Hero even though he survived America, got a good dowry and a beautiful bride in a couple of years and yeah had a couple of kids thereafter.
He had been remitting like a loyal Indian would do for his parents, his kid brothers extravagance or his sisters marriage whatever. had now a family of his own.
While our Hero had seen his kids growing up and turning American everyday. raising them was a parental nightmare. so what does he do..he starts dreaming of R2I - Return To India.
His family was used to getting these nice gifts from him and wanted him to stay there successful forever..how hypocritical we can be.
Well, with this struggle of acceptance (a sort of) and his phobia that his kids might get the wrong culture ingrained. He starts loosing his patience.
he experiments by coming down for vacations, social events in the family - offcourse He realises that he has to buy few cartons of mineral water to avoid diahorrea and also gets the vibes of hypocrisy around him.
His relatives expect a lot from him, he has to bribe them with imported gifts and what not.
So our Hero and his alikes are as confused and troubled as those aspiring to get the american visa.
Human beings are such a disillusioned lot, we want things that we might soon repent & discard.
Tonight when I was exploring the recent blogs on my FB app. I came across something interesting that really made me forget it was 2 am and I couldnt resist the itch to read and blog it immdtly.
I was reading a blog called - An American Holiday and a Desi Dilema by Snigdha Sen, although the post was speaking about Thanksgiving day which is the biggest festival now in the US of A. Snigdha mentioned a report on wharton by eminent newspaper columnist Shoba Narayanan.
The report kept me awake. I know of people who made it to their american dream. I know the families who proudly flash their american relatives and the gifts.
What happened in the early 90's was the 2nd big flood of Indian Brain-Drain. (excuse my ignorance I was too young if something similar happened before)
Talent of all sorts was being whisked away and Indians (especially the IT folks) saw America as the promised land. where a Srinivas from Kuchipudi village landed in a job with a local IT company that greedily traded him as a consultant to Detroit.
Ok, it was not so bad as I just described but the bulk of the IT force which was employed were Indians and Indians who survived in a very different country with a strange culture.
All of them are now well settled, flash a green card and are overall doing great. India in the early 2K saw a great wave of enterpreunership, great flagships like Infosys, Wipro and Reliance earned a respectable place in the world forum.
This made a lot Indians abroad start dreaming about going back and there was a small wave called ROI - Return of Indians.
I do not have the statistics nor would dare to say the numbers were large. but still it was a good thing that happened. The Returning Indians brought back immense talent, knowledge and revolutionised the work culture in India.
Hyderabad & Banglore were known to be sleeping cities before 2K, but now you would be amazed that these cities do not sleep at all. we have major IT hubs, Call centers and reasearch being delivered from here.
The report by Shobha Narayanan is really a story of cross cultural dilema.
Considering our Hero even though he survived America, got a good dowry and a beautiful bride in a couple of years and yeah had a couple of kids thereafter.
He had been remitting like a loyal Indian would do for his parents, his kid brothers extravagance or his sisters marriage whatever. had now a family of his own.
While our Hero had seen his kids growing up and turning American everyday. raising them was a parental nightmare. so what does he do..he starts dreaming of R2I - Return To India.
His family was used to getting these nice gifts from him and wanted him to stay there successful forever..how hypocritical we can be.
Well, with this struggle of acceptance (a sort of) and his phobia that his kids might get the wrong culture ingrained. He starts loosing his patience.
he experiments by coming down for vacations, social events in the family - offcourse He realises that he has to buy few cartons of mineral water to avoid diahorrea and also gets the vibes of hypocrisy around him.
His relatives expect a lot from him, he has to bribe them with imported gifts and what not.
So our Hero and his alikes are as confused and troubled as those aspiring to get the american visa.
Human beings are such a disillusioned lot, we want things that we might soon repent & discard.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Chiu Tai, Chiu Tai - where have you gone ?
I remember there was a poem in Marathi (one of the Indian Languages spoke in the State of Maharashtra) which i learnt during my primary school days.
It was a rhyme by a kid asking Chiu Tai (common house sparrow) where it has gone.
it brings a lot of nostalgia to me personally as the poem influenced us to observe and care for the sparrows. I also faintly remember how a sparrow would get into my room the moment it found the windows open and then peck at its refelected image on the mirror.
The sparrow is a feeble bird, the gender of its kind can be distinguished by the dull woody brown - Male and the dark reddish brown-Female.
They collectively build a nest from hay & twigs and the female lays around 3-4 eggs at a time. The venue for the nest is usually at the loft or in the unreachable spots of an structure like an apartment. unlike the weaver birds, the sparrow's nest is a bit clumsy structurally and built to just to fit the need.
I am no Ornithologist nor did i do any reasearch on birds. but i think this might be one of the reasons it got its name as the common house sparrow as it prefers to stay close to us - Humans.
let me ask you my dear friends - When did you last notice the Common House sparrow in India.
answer - a year back or maybe when you were hit by someone and you saw stars and chiu tai singing around your head !
nah.jokes apart, I was shocked when I heard this news but its true.
Pls read the article in the following link. http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/aug/env-sparrow.htm
Its pathetic we (humans) have sucessfully wiped out yet another of the species.
It high time we care for such beautiful creatures around us !
we will have rhymes but would be in a dilema if our little ones ask us the same question back....Chiu Tai, Chiu Tai - where have you gone ?
regards,
Ganesh
It was a rhyme by a kid asking Chiu Tai (common house sparrow) where it has gone.
it brings a lot of nostalgia to me personally as the poem influenced us to observe and care for the sparrows. I also faintly remember how a sparrow would get into my room the moment it found the windows open and then peck at its refelected image on the mirror.
The sparrow is a feeble bird, the gender of its kind can be distinguished by the dull woody brown - Male and the dark reddish brown-Female.
They collectively build a nest from hay & twigs and the female lays around 3-4 eggs at a time. The venue for the nest is usually at the loft or in the unreachable spots of an structure like an apartment. unlike the weaver birds, the sparrow's nest is a bit clumsy structurally and built to just to fit the need.
I am no Ornithologist nor did i do any reasearch on birds. but i think this might be one of the reasons it got its name as the common house sparrow as it prefers to stay close to us - Humans.
let me ask you my dear friends - When did you last notice the Common House sparrow in India.
answer - a year back or maybe when you were hit by someone and you saw stars and chiu tai singing around your head !
nah.jokes apart, I was shocked when I heard this news but its true.
Pls read the article in the following link. http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/aug/env-sparrow.htm
Its pathetic we (humans) have sucessfully wiped out yet another of the species.
It high time we care for such beautiful creatures around us !
we will have rhymes but would be in a dilema if our little ones ask us the same question back....Chiu Tai, Chiu Tai - where have you gone ?
regards,
Ganesh
Friday, October 12, 2007
Foreigners flock to India for good jobs
Foreigners flock to India for good jobs
For a change this is a reverse trend of RFs (Resident Foreigners) or firangs coming to India to work not to rule or setup a mission.
What is quiet interesting is the geographical locations and domains is not the most sought for,
HR and Customer services executives, managers and other specialists in the globalisation effected markets like FMCG and Hospitality are the attraction factors.
To Indian businessmen this means having a Firang greeting rich desi's and making them feel good about it. giving whatever the service is a 'pohren' touch.
I like the idea, and would love if the government by some magic can lure skilled workers in domains like oil exploration, medicine, electronics and fabrication to name a few, into seeking jobs here in India.
The initiative that some governments like Singapore employ is to get the best talent from around the world and tie them down so tight that they contribute back the profits both to the community as well as the government in form of ERP, Professional TAX or GST. at the sametime they reduce the burden on Lower income sections, provide more relaxation to the Aging citizens.
I know some of you might snigger i am comparing a drop of water (Singapore) to the ocean (India).
But IMAHO- good things come in small sizes and can come from the tiniest to the youngest.
India as a nation drastically needs to improve on its wealth - manpower, human investment, living conditions, health, security.
Thinking and converting everyone who read this blog is the only thing I can do now, when I meet a group of like-headers, My vision is to go ahead with the planning, logistics and implementation.
More of such news articles are predictable. After all who can ignore the fact that we are the 2nd largest population on this planet.
Lets make it a place that more of us and our future generations can prosper on.
ciao.
For a change this is a reverse trend of RFs (Resident Foreigners) or firangs coming to India to work not to rule or setup a mission.
What is quiet interesting is the geographical locations and domains is not the most sought for,
HR and Customer services executives, managers and other specialists in the globalisation effected markets like FMCG and Hospitality are the attraction factors.
To Indian businessmen this means having a Firang greeting rich desi's and making them feel good about it. giving whatever the service is a 'pohren' touch.
I like the idea, and would love if the government by some magic can lure skilled workers in domains like oil exploration, medicine, electronics and fabrication to name a few, into seeking jobs here in India.
The initiative that some governments like Singapore employ is to get the best talent from around the world and tie them down so tight that they contribute back the profits both to the community as well as the government in form of ERP, Professional TAX or GST. at the sametime they reduce the burden on Lower income sections, provide more relaxation to the Aging citizens.
I know some of you might snigger i am comparing a drop of water (Singapore) to the ocean (India).
But IMAHO- good things come in small sizes and can come from the tiniest to the youngest.
India as a nation drastically needs to improve on its wealth - manpower, human investment, living conditions, health, security.
Thinking and converting everyone who read this blog is the only thing I can do now, when I meet a group of like-headers, My vision is to go ahead with the planning, logistics and implementation.
More of such news articles are predictable. After all who can ignore the fact that we are the 2nd largest population on this planet.
Lets make it a place that more of us and our future generations can prosper on.
ciao.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Varna's aka Vedic Caste System
Hi Folks,
Sharing a short story which I had read during my school.It is a letter being written by an old man to his grandson, demystifying why do we need to earn money and make profits.
I have to put in a disclaimer - this is my personal view, not meant to be read as an output from research nor based on any facts.
The old man explains in his letter about an mystic village in the pre-historic age.
where the population of the village is a one hundered human beings, who all do the same things over and over again.
he explains this by narrating their daily routine.
The villagers wake up every morning and start their daily chores by gathering food and water for the day's consumption.
Each family of villagers does this. So to fetch water from a brook which lies on the other side of the valley where the village lies. everyone lines up with a vessel and crosses the mountain seperating the village and the brook. this daily activity takes them almost half a day.
but human as they were who could not survive without the basic needs. they had no choice but to undergo this painful task.
one of the villagers - the dreamer as they would call him, starts thinking about a way to minimise this daunting task. He observes the mountain highs and lows, steep curves and bends. He makes note of his observation and starts digging a channel from the brook to the village. The channel gets filled with water and ends into a pond near his hutment.
this channel has costed him few extra hours daily, he would digg before he reached the brook, so in a way he worked backwards from destination to source.
And when the villagers started noticing him lazing and dreaming with abundant water at his disposal they started to envy him.
one of the villagers approached the dreamer and asked him if he could fetch water from his pond instead.
The dreamer allows him to do so but with a condition that, he should spare 5 minutes of his time to work for the dreamer everyday.
The happy villager readily accepts the offer, he has just profited from half-a-day's toil.
Slowly everyone realises that they can save time and energy. everyone approaches the dreamer and offer their five minutes. The dreamer welcomes all and is happy that he has got literally nothing to do. He carried on dreaming and worked on inventing few more things which would help not only him but all of his fellow villagers. He became powerful and his booty was abundantly filled. The village profited from each other and everyone led a happy and prosperous life.
wow ! what a tale.
This was explained by the narrator, our old man to his grandson in his letter.
Now to the other angle to this story. I interpret this story as the very begining of community and caste system - Varna in Sanskrit in ancient India.
The dreamer is the Brahmin who focusses on invention, remedies, medicine, science and discovery.
He employs various skilled craftsment who are sub divided into Shudra's.
The intial belief was all Shudra's are artisans and craftsmen beyond compare. their alienation and decline in social strata is the degeneration history of the caste system. I would not delve into that now.
The accountants and traders were the Vaishya's. who would classify, maintain, log and distribute the benefits amongst everyone fairly.
When the bounty, crop or wealth whatever you call it was abundant. There was a need to protect, secure and save the bounty from man, animal and nature.
The protectors were the Kshatriya's. Their strength and valor was counted for.
In this distribution each individual contributed to the well being of the system and the equation worked well for one and all.
I am sure that you might feel I am crazy but this is a hypothesis and I want to believe in the noble cause which might have helped design the Varna in Hindu system.
I want to believe that there is a much better reason for being a Brahmin because I am born as one. I want to believe that I am what I am not by birth but by pure virtue alone.
Pls let me know your comments on my thoughts.
Sharing a short story which I had read during my school.It is a letter being written by an old man to his grandson, demystifying why do we need to earn money and make profits.
I have to put in a disclaimer - this is my personal view, not meant to be read as an output from research nor based on any facts.
The old man explains in his letter about an mystic village in the pre-historic age.
where the population of the village is a one hundered human beings, who all do the same things over and over again.
he explains this by narrating their daily routine.
The villagers wake up every morning and start their daily chores by gathering food and water for the day's consumption.
Each family of villagers does this. So to fetch water from a brook which lies on the other side of the valley where the village lies. everyone lines up with a vessel and crosses the mountain seperating the village and the brook. this daily activity takes them almost half a day.
but human as they were who could not survive without the basic needs. they had no choice but to undergo this painful task.
one of the villagers - the dreamer as they would call him, starts thinking about a way to minimise this daunting task. He observes the mountain highs and lows, steep curves and bends. He makes note of his observation and starts digging a channel from the brook to the village. The channel gets filled with water and ends into a pond near his hutment.
this channel has costed him few extra hours daily, he would digg before he reached the brook, so in a way he worked backwards from destination to source.
And when the villagers started noticing him lazing and dreaming with abundant water at his disposal they started to envy him.
one of the villagers approached the dreamer and asked him if he could fetch water from his pond instead.
The dreamer allows him to do so but with a condition that, he should spare 5 minutes of his time to work for the dreamer everyday.
The happy villager readily accepts the offer, he has just profited from half-a-day's toil.
Slowly everyone realises that they can save time and energy. everyone approaches the dreamer and offer their five minutes. The dreamer welcomes all and is happy that he has got literally nothing to do. He carried on dreaming and worked on inventing few more things which would help not only him but all of his fellow villagers. He became powerful and his booty was abundantly filled. The village profited from each other and everyone led a happy and prosperous life.
wow ! what a tale.
This was explained by the narrator, our old man to his grandson in his letter.
Now to the other angle to this story. I interpret this story as the very begining of community and caste system - Varna in Sanskrit in ancient India.
The dreamer is the Brahmin who focusses on invention, remedies, medicine, science and discovery.
He employs various skilled craftsment who are sub divided into Shudra's.
The intial belief was all Shudra's are artisans and craftsmen beyond compare. their alienation and decline in social strata is the degeneration history of the caste system. I would not delve into that now.
The accountants and traders were the Vaishya's. who would classify, maintain, log and distribute the benefits amongst everyone fairly.
When the bounty, crop or wealth whatever you call it was abundant. There was a need to protect, secure and save the bounty from man, animal and nature.
The protectors were the Kshatriya's. Their strength and valor was counted for.
In this distribution each individual contributed to the well being of the system and the equation worked well for one and all.
I am sure that you might feel I am crazy but this is a hypothesis and I want to believe in the noble cause which might have helped design the Varna in Hindu system.
I want to believe that there is a much better reason for being a Brahmin because I am born as one. I want to believe that I am what I am not by birth but by pure virtue alone.
Pls let me know your comments on my thoughts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
