About Microblading..Page 4 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2019 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazine Why should you ...Page 3 The essence of Navratri

Navratri, also spelled or Navarathri, is a ly affairs and started practicing austere penance as an asce- 9 day long Hindu festival celebrated in almost every tic. At the same time, the gods (devas) were under an attack part of India. In most parts it is celebrated in honour of from demons () who were being led by Surapadman and Tarakasura. They had a boon that only or his off- the divine - , a re-incarnation of spring could kill them. Adi . In the southern and eastern states of India, MA KATYAYANI the Durga is synonymous with worshipping the Ma Katyayani is worshipped on the sixth day of Navratri. - Navratri, wherein goddess Durga battles She has four hands and she wields a long sword and a lotus and emerges victorious over - the in two of them. She blesses with the third hand and protects buffalo demon. In the northern and western states, the with the fourth one. festival celebrates the battle and victory of god According to the legends, there was a sage known as 'Kat' over the demon king Ravana. In both cases, the who had a son named 'Katya'. Later, a sage named 'Katyayan' took birth as his descendant. Sage Katyayan had festival celebrates the victory of the good over evil. no offspring. He observed austere penance and prayed to The 9 days of Navratri are dedicated to the worship of 9 the gods for a child. forms of the Goddess - Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Meanwhile, the demon Mahishasura was creating a lot of , Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, trouble for the gods. The gods approached to sought Kaalaratri, , Durga or ParaShakti. Here are the a way to end Mahishasura. At Vishnu's behest, Shiva and stories of each of these . joined him and then the Trinity (Vishnu, Shiva and MA SHAILAPUTRI Brahma) emitted flames which took the form of Katyayani. Ma Shailaputri (Daughter (putri) of Mountain (shaila)) A manifestation of Durga, she then took birth as the daugh- is worshipped on the first day of Navaratra. Shailaputri was ter of Sage Katyayan as a result of which she came to be the daughter of the God of Mountains, Himalaya. Popularly known as Katyayani. known as , her husband is Shiva and she has two MA KAALRATRI sons - and . In her previous incarnation, she was - the daughter of a great king, Daksha. Ma Kaalratri is the goddess who is worshiped on the sev- According to the legend, Daksha Prajapati was one of the enth day of Navratri. Kaal refers to time as well as death in sons of Lord Brahma. Hindi whereas ratri refers to night or darkness/ignorance. MA BRAHMACHARINI Hence, Ma Kaalratri is the one which brings the death of Ma Brahmacharini is the goddess worshiped on the sec- darkness or the one who ends ignorance. She is also com- ond day of Navratri. It is one of the nine of Goddess monly referred as . Durga. In this , Durga embodies tapa or penance. The Once two demons named Shumbha and Nishumbha name Brahmacharini is derived from two words - "Brahma" invaded devaloka and defeated and his army. After here means tapa or penance and "Charini" means an ardent losing his kingdom, Swarga, Indra along with all the other female follower. gods went towards the to seek help. They prayed After she immolated herself in the sacrificial fire of the to goddess Parvati and sought her assistance in getting their yagna, Durga took birth as the daughter of the King of the But after seeing Parvati's resolve to get him, Shiva relents bining the three words, one can derive the meaning of her kingdom back. Parvati created and sent her to kill Mountains, Himavan or Himalaya. She was named Parvati the demons. In the battlefield, Shumbha and Nishumbha (after the name for mountains - parvat) or and agrees for the marriage. On the day of marriage, Shiva name which means the one who is the creator of this "little reaches King's Himavan's palace in a most terrorizing form cosmic egg" called Universe. This form is a happy manifes- sent two demons . Chandi created Hemavati. another goddess, Kali, to fight Chanda-Munda. Kali killed When Parvati grew up, sage - son of Brahma, along with the strangest marriage procession. His body is tation of the goddess. both of them and thus came to be known as . paid her a visit. He told her that she did have a chance to smeared with ash, with snakes around his neck as well as in It is said that when the universe was non-existent and marry her husband from her previous birth, Lord Shiva, if the matted locks of his unkempt hair. The marriage proces- there was darkness everywhere, Ma Kushmanda produced MA MAHAGAURI she followed a path of penance. Determined to marry Shiva sion consists of ghosts, ascetics, sages, goblins, ganas, this "little cosmic egg" with her smile. The universe was Mahagauri is the Goddess worshiped on the eighth day in this birth as well, Parvati embarked upon an extremely ghouls and aghoris. Upon seeing such a terrorizing form of then filled with light. It is believed that she is the source of difficult regime of penance and devotion. Lord Shiva and his strange marriage procession, Parvati's all the energy in the universe. Further, it is also believed that of the 9-day long festival of Navratri in India. Maha means mother and other relatives are left in a state of shock. Most she lives in the core of the Sun and thus provides energy to extremely and gauri means white. She is worshiped by MA CHANDRAGHANTA of them faint purely out of terror. all the beings. She is believed to provide direction to , devotees to attain loyalty in relationships and create life- On the third day of Navratri, the third Power (Shakti) of To avoid any embarrassment to her family and to Lord the Sun God. long bonds. Goddess Durga is worshipped. This avatar of Goddess Shiva, Parvati transforms herself into a terrorizing form - The story of Mahagauri has many versions. The most Durga is known and worshipped as Ma Chandraghanta Chandraghanta. MA SKANDAMATA popular is this. After killing all demons in the form of (Mother Chandraghanta). Her forehead is bedecked with Ma Skandamata is the fifth avatar of Durga and is wor- Kaalratri, Parvati was left with skin as dark as night. Her the crescent moon (Hindi: ) resembling the shape MA KUSHMANDA shipped on the fifth day of Navratri. Skanda is another husband Shiva teased her with the nickname 'Kali' (dark- of a temple bell (Hindi: ghantaa). Ma Kushmanda is worshipped by devotees on the fourth name for Lord Kartikeya (Parvati's son and Lord Ganesha's skinned). Agitated, Parvati applied to Brahma by undergo- Upon the insistence of Sage Narada, Parvati, the daugh- day of Navratri. This avatar of Adi Shakti is also referred to brother). Mata means mother and thus Skandamata means ing a severe penance lasting many days, to regain her fair ter of Himalaya observed austere penance to get Lord Shiva as the Smiling Goddess. Her name is made up of three dis- mother of Skanda or Kartikeya. As is clear from the name, skin. Pleased, Brahma advised her to take a bath in the as her consort. Shiva, after losing Sati, had become tinct words. The first word is "Ku" which means little. The she is another form of Parvati. Mansarovar River in the Himalayas (some local variants detached from worldly affairs and had retired into the second word is "Ushma" which means warmth or energy. The birth of Kartikeya is an interesting story. After Sati replace the Mansarovar River with the holy river). mountains in deep meditation, isolation and austerity. And the third word is "Anda" which means egg. Upon com- immolated herself, Shiva became detached from the world- Courtesy: https://www.tell-a-tale.com The Shrine of Bagge Waali Mata Ashok Sharma According to the priest, the shrine is centuries old and nobody knows who exactly sculpted the original idols Religion is an integral part of our culture and India is and when .The shrine has two sculpted idols of one each the land of gods,saints and seers. In , various of the Goddess and the other of Veer Langar.These idols gods and goddesses are worshipped in the shrines across remained in the open for a long time when one of the the length and breadth of our country.There are a num- great mystics and religious scholars of Udhampur, late ber of famous shrines such as Ajmer Sharief, Kedar Nath Pt. Dev Raj Sharma (Dec 04, 1912 to Dec10, 2008) who temple, Badrinath Temple, Golden temple and others had studied Sanskrit Vishard at Uttarvehni,started living which attract devotees and pilgrims from various parts at the shrine first from 1963 to 1968 and later from 1970 of our country and abroad.Like other parts of our coun- to 1978.He would remain in a hut and meditated at the try, Division of our state is known for many shrine for a long time in all types of weather.Narrating shrines such as Vaishno Devi ji Shrine, Shahdara Sharief his experiences, his illustrious son Pt Prabhakar said that shrine, Pingla Mata Shrine, Bawe wali Mata shrine the roof of his hut would be blown off by strong storms etc.Lacs of devotees visit these shrines every year to pay many a time and he would sleep in the open.He got con- obeisance and seek the blessings of Gods and Goddesses structed a small temple and the pilgrims started visiting for themselves and their nears and dear ones.One of the the shrine in large number. It so happened that In 1962 widely reverred shrines of Udhampur is the shrine of and 1971,the Indo China and the Indo Pak war erupted Bagge Waali Mata meaning'the Goddess who has lion' respectively and thousands of refugees from Pakistan located at a distance of about 30 Kilometers from were accomodated at Manwal, Kishenpur and adjoining Udhampur. Located atop a hill,it presents a panaromic villages.They lived there for a pretty long time.Many of and captivating view of the towns and villages of them too started visiting the shrine and their descen- Manwal, Battal, Kishanpur,Pinger, on one side and of dents continue to do so even when they have settled at Inner Sanctum Sanctorum of Bagge Waali Mata Rehmbal and Katra on the other side.According to the other places like Jamm and other places.Pandit Dev Raj priest of the shrine, Pandit Shankar Dass, the Goddess, Sharma motivated them to donate labour and carry some formed at some points amidst singing of Kaaraks.The connectivity and water facility to the shrine for the pil- who is the presiding of Darsoo and other adjoining material such as brick, stone, sand etc as they came to devotees stop there for the night and in the morning, the grims and provide viewpoints,toilets, gardens and parks, villages and who is reverred in this shrine had its abode visit the shrine. In this way he got constructed a small Jaatar is resumed after taking bath and purifying them- construct shelters along the track in order to ensure in Himachal Pradesh.About twenty generations ago ,the temple and resculpted the idols as the old ones had been selves.The Jaatar is performed for a long time and final- pleasant and comfortable journey of the pilgrims. local Thakur families migrated from Darsoo to Chamba broken and disintegrated.Pt Dev Raj was an ardent devo- ly the goat is sacrificed at the auspicious time but not As the shrine is located atop a pictursqe hill amidst in Himachal Pradesh perhaps due to turmoil and tee of the Mata and it is believed that he had a Darshan later than midday.According to the locals, it invariably coniferous trees, presenting a panaromic and breathtak- unfavourable conditions and settled there. But soon of the Deity.As goats were offered at the shrine, he rains there on the day on which the offering is made to ing view of many towns and villages, there is huge poten- they started suffering in various ways.Some of them fell installed an idol of Mata Vaishno Devi ji there but it is the Goddess. tial for tourism in the region.Moreover,rural and eco- ill while others died.Mata came to one of the members said that the Goddess expressed her anger and the old Ths famous shrine attracts a large number of devo- tourism can also be promoted in the area and pilgrims tees through out the year but during Navratras, heavy in a dream and told him that she wanted to come to a practice of offering goats at her altar was reverted to pro- can be motivated to stay at the houses of local people as rush of pilgrims is witnessed.On the eve of each place near the village of Darsoo.The said Thakur made pitiate the Deity but it is ensured that the the goats are Paying Guests and study their social life from close quar- up his mind to return back and started his long journey Navratra, religious rituals are performed with havan and sacrificed outside the temple and the idol of Goddess ters.Besides, tourist circuits and package tours can be on foot.It so happened that as he moved , a goat with an Vaishno Mata is properly covered to prevent any drop of Community feast (Bhandara) is organised day and promoted in the region to highlight the archaeological , iron chain tied to its back symbolising the Goddess on its blood to fall on it.Local people offer goats at the altar of night.But the priest at the shrine rued that there is lack back moved,ahead of him.Two sculptors walked behind the goddess on special ocassions such as marriage of the of facilities such as water and approach road to the holy historical and aesthetic importance of the region as the Thakur.Walking on and on , the goat reached the vil- eldest son or the birth of a child.They also sacrifice goats shrine as a result of which many sick and infirm devotees world famous Surinsar and Mansar lakes, archaelogical lage and stood on a stone for some time.The sculptors as half yearly and yearly ritual.Generally what they do is can't visit the shrine..A three story building to provide monuments at Manwal, famous Chountra Mata shrine , started sculpting the idol of Mata but then the goat sud- to take a goat one day before the day of sacrifice is shelter to the pilgrims at night as well as during rain is Narsingh Dev ji temple at Jansal and the temple of Lord denly started moving ahead.As the goat reached the site made.The goat is taken through the way on which the under construction but it involves a lot of carriage Jagan Nath ji at Thial are other major tourist and reli- where present shrine is located,it dropped the iron chain goat is believed to have walked originally.The goat is charges due to lack of road connectivity.Similarly, there gious spots within a distance of about thirty Kilometers and disappeared mysteriously never to be found taken amidst beating of drums and reciting the bhajans is shortage of drinking water at the shrine.Sometimes, from the shrine, where the pilgrims visiting Bagge waali again.The sculptors started sculpting the idols of Mata in praise of Mata and eulogosing her glory.As the proces- the water has to brought on the mules from a long dis- Mata can be taken and their journey made memorable. tance, the priest said.So there is need to provide road and the shrine came into existence. sion moves ahead, Jaatar in honour of the Deity is per- (The writer is serving as lecturer in English, Govt.HSS, Thial (Udhampur).