QUES ANSW DIVINE 04-2022-09 Dearfriends,
Theseare information compiled as QA by me in 1998’s-2014’s and stored in mycomputer. They are posted by very learnt members. BEINGCOMPILATION THERE MAY BE ERRORS. Sincerely, R.Gopalakrishnan, 78, dated 10-04-2022 Q1 What are theattributes of Omkareswara temple? A1Omkareshwara is situated on an island in the middle of the river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh. The Shiva is here is alsoknown as Mamaleshwara. Once the celestial sage Narada had gone on a visit tothe mountain known as Vindhya.The sage knew that the mountain waspuffed up with pride so in his usual bantering fashion he told Vindhya thatthe mountain Sumeru was superior to it. Vindhyadecided to become the equal of Sumeru and started doing tapasya to Lord Shiva. When Shivarevealed himself, Vindhya begged him to remain there all the time so that it would be the equal of Sumeru. Omkaresha is the place whereVindhya did tapasya. Q2 What was theperiod of Jagath guru Sankaracharya ? How was his end? A2 There isstill an unsettled question on the time whenShankara's incarnation took place, butmost people believe that he was living between 788 to 820 AD. It isbelieved that Shankara entered a cave near Kedarnath and disappeared and therewas a shivalinga there afterwards. Q3 What arerarest gems and do they exist? A3 We all atsome point of our lives have heard about the rarest and priceless gems like Nagmani (snake jewel), Gajamani(elephant jewel), Nilmani, (blueprecious stone)- But they really exist.???.. The maintreasury 'mul dhukuti' of Pashupatinath is believed to contain priceless items, including Nagmani (snakejewel), Gajamani (elephant jewel),Nilmani, (blue precious stone). Q4 Where isPasupathinath temple ? What are its attributes? A4Pashupatinath, or Pashupati, is a Hindu temple on the banks of the Bagmati River in Deopatan, a village 3 km northwest ofKathmandu. It is dedicated to a manifestation of Shiva called Pashupati. Pashupathinath is the guardian spiritand the holiest of all Shiva shrines in Nepal. Lord Shiva is known by many different names; andPashupati is one. Pashu means living beings, and Pati means master. In other words Pashupati is the master of all living beings of the universe. This is how lord Pashupati is eulogized in the Vedas, Upnisada and ohter religiousbooks. Regarded asthe most sacred Hindu temple of Lord Shiva in the world, Pashupatinath Temple's existence dates back to 400 A.D. Thousands of pilgrims from allover the world come to pay homage to this temple, that is also known as 'The Templeof Living Beings'. PashupatinathTemple, which is considered one of the most sacred and divine temples of Pashupati that you couldever go to is one of the oldest LordShiva temples in the world. It is only accessible to those ofthe Hindu faith, for those who are notthey must be satisfied with viewing the temple from a distance. Even from a distance it isworth viewing the gold and silver temple glittering in the sun. Q5 What is theimportance of Arya ghat near the Pasupathinath temple?What are the otherimportant ghats? A5 ThePashupatinath Temple is situated in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal near the Bagmati River which has highly sacred properties. Thus the banks are lined with many ghats (bathing spots) for use bypilgrims. Renovating orfurnishing these sites has always been regarded as meritorious. Near the river is where you willfind Arya Ghat where most of the dead are taken and cremated Arya Ghat, dating from the early1900s, is of special importance because it is the only place where lustral water for Pashupatinath Temple can be obtained and it is where members of the royalfamily are cremated. The main cremation site is Bhasmeshvar Ghat, which is the most-used cremation site in the Kathmandu Valley. The preferred bathing spot for women is the Gauri Ghat, to the north. Q6 What are thelegends about Pasupathinath temple? A6 Accordingto a legend recorded in local texts, especially the Nepalamahatmya and the Himavatkhanda, the Hindu god Shiva once fled from the other gods in Varanasi to Mrigasthali, the forest on the oppositebank of the Bagmati River from thetemple. There, in theform of a gazelle, he slept with hisconsort Parvati. When the gods discovered him there and tried to bring him back to Varanasi, heleapt across the river to the opposite bank, where one of his horns broke into four pieces. After this,Shiva became manifest as Pashupati (Lord of Animals) in a four-face (chaturmukha) linga. There aremany other legends describing as to howthe temple of Lord Pashupatinathcame to existence here. Some of them are narrated below:- The CowLegend:Legend says that Lord Shiva once took the form of an antelope and sported unkown in the forest on Bagmati river'seast bank. The gods later caught up withhim, and grabbing him by the horn, forced him to resume his divine form. The broken horn was worshipped as alinga but overtime it was buried andlost. Centuries later an astonished herdsmen found one of his cows showering the earth with milk. Digging deep at the site, he discovered the divine linga ofPashupatinath. Q7 What are thedetails of Pasupathinath temple in Kathmandu? A7 Theoriginal temple was destroyed several times until it was given its present form under KingBhupalendra Malla in 1697. PashupatiTemple stands in the center of the town of Deopatan, in the middle of an opencourtyard. It is a square, two-tiered pagoda temple built on a single-tier plinth, and it stands23.6 meters above the ground. Richly ornamented gilt and silver-plated doorsare on all sides. On both sides ofeach door are niches of various sizes containing gold-painted images of guardian deities. Inside the templeitself is a narrow ambulatory aroundthe sanctum. The sanctum contains a one-meter high linga with four faces (chaturmukha) representingPashupati, as well as images of Vishnu, Surya, Devi and Ganesh. The priests ofPashaputinath are called Bhattas and the chief priest is called Mool Bhatt or Raval. The chief priest is answerable only to the King of Nepal and reports to him on templematters on a periodic basis. The strutsunder the roofs, dating from the late 17th century, are decorated with wood carvings of members ofShiva's family such as Parvati, Ganesh, Kumar or the Yoginis, as well asHanuman, Rama, Sita, Lakshman and other gods and goddesses from the Ramayana. Q8 What is theimportance of Vasuki temple in the premises of Pasupathinath temple? A8 In thenortheast corner of the temple courtyard is the small pagoda temple of Vasuki, the King of the Nagas. Vasuki has the form of a Naga (mythical snake) from the waist upwards, while thelower parts are an intricate tangle ofsnakes' bodies. According to local belief, Vasuki tookup residence here in order to protectPashupati. One can often see devotees circumambulatingand worshipping Vasuki before entering the main sanctum. Q9 DoPasupathinath temple has more attributes to mention? A9 PashaputiTemple's extensive grounds include many other old and important temples,shrines and statues. South of the temple, for instance, is Chadeshvar, an inscribed Licchavi linga fromthe 7th century, and north of the templeis a 9th-century temple of Brahma. On the south side of Pashupati temple is theDharmashila, a stone where sacred oaths are taken, and pillars with statues of various Shahkings. The templeof Lord Pashupatinath stands in the middle of an open courtyard. It is a square shaped pagoda templebuilt on single platform measuring23.6 meters from the ground. Situated onthe south side, is a depiction of Shiva as Yogeshvara, Lord of yogis. There aregold gilt doors on all the four sides of the temple. Inside the temple there is a narrow walk engulfing thesanctum from where one can have closerview of Shivalinga. On the bothsides of each door of the temple thereare artistic niche of different sizes containing attractive images of Apsara, Ashtha Bhairava and othergods and goddesses. These images andniches, painted with gold enhance the grandeur of the temple. The latticedwindows below the roof are another elements of attraction. The struts supporting the roofs and depictingthe image of different postures areequally alluring. The gold gilt images of birds in flying posture in all the four corners of the roofand the winged images of lion, griffin, Ajarapurusa and Mahanaga on the strutsin all the corners of the temple gies soaring beauty to the temple. Onthe upper part of the struts supporting the lower roof, the images of moon, sun and a Purna-Kalashaare carved out. This Purna Kalasha is worshiped as a symbol ofGuheshwori. The western door has a statue of a large Bull,Nandi, is ornamented in gold. This blackstone idol, about 6 ft in height and circumference, adds to the beauty and charisma of thetemple. The two levelroofs of the temple are embellished with gold and the four main doors are adornedwith silver. The temple is famous forits awe-inspiringand astounding pagoda architecture. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1878439547.243029.1649603797293%40mail.yahoo.com.
