Tuesday, 16 May 2017

Kali Devi Mandir, Patiala

Good morning.

Kali Devi Mandir, Patiala


One of the consecrated place of worship for the Hindus, the Kali Devi Mandir in the city of Patiala, Punjab, is devoted to the Hindu goddess Durga – an incarnation of Kali Mata (Mother Kali). Located on the Mall Road of this city, the magnificent temple lies just in front of the Baradari Garden next to the Rajendra Tank. The Patiala Kali Mata Mandir was built by the late Maharaja Bhupinder Singh in 1936. The Maharaja brought the six-foot idol of Kali Devi and the “pawan jyoti” (sacred flame) from the East Indian city of Calcutta. The temple is an architectural wonder from the great days gone by when the city was ruled by the great Patiala Maharajas, who were great promoters of art and culture.


TEMPLE HISTORY

Kali Puja is celebrated with a lot of gusto and fanfare in Bengal after Durga Puja during the time of Diwali. It is believed that Maharaja Krishnan Chandra of Nawadweep was the first to celebrate Kali Puja in his territory. Everyone was ordered to celebrate Kali Puja and thus 10,000 images of Kali were worshipped. Ratanti Kali Puja was celebrated in ancient times before the present Kali Puja. It is believed that the present form of Kali is due to a dream by a distinguished scholar of Indian charms and black magic (‘Tantra’) and the author of Tantric Saar, Krishnananda Agambagish. He was also a contemporary of Lord Chaitanya. In his dream, he was ordered to make her image after the first figure he saw in the morning. At dawn, Krishnananda saw a dark complexioned maid with her left hand protruding with her right making cow dung cakes. Her body was glowing with white dots. The vermillion spread over her forehead while she was wiping the sweat from it. The hair was untidy as well. When she came face to face with an elderly Krishnananda, she bit her tongue in shame. This posture of the housemaid was later utilized to envisage the idol of Goddess Kali. Thus, the image of Kali was formed.

Monday, 15 May 2017

Mukteshwar Mahadev Temple,Pathankot on Shahpur Kandi Dam road.

Good morning.

Mukteshwar Mahadev Temple is a popular shrine of Lord Shiva and is known as Mukesaran Mandir – located near Pathankot on Shahpur Kandi Dam road. It is the holy temple of the Hindu religion, where the idols of Lord Ganesha, Lord Bramha, Lord Vishnu, Lord Hanuman and Goddess Parvati are present. This temple is one of the most sacred places around Pathankot. There are some caves which date to the time of the Mahabharata.

 According to a legend, the Pandavas stayed in those caves for a night during their exile (Agayatwas).

These caves are on the way to Shahpur Kandi and are situated on the bank of the River Ravi, 22 km from Pathankot City in Shaupur Kandi at Doongh village.
History of this historical ancient temple says, it is 55 hundred years old temple, whose existence is known from the time of Mahabharata. According to Hindu Mythology, Shakuni “the maternal uncle of Duryodhana”, devises a scheme to rob Yudhisthira (The Eldest from Pandavas) of his kingdom and wealth by defeating him in a game of dice, which Shakuni cannot lose in due to his special dice. Unable to resist the challenge, Yudhisthira gambles away his entire kingdom, his wealth, his four brothers and even his wife, in a series of gambits to retrieve one by staking another. So Pandavas lost their kingdom and get the exile (Vanvas) of 12 years and 1 year Incognito (Agayatwas) – in which they have to be live unrecognized.

During this 1 year Incognito, All five pandavas with their wife Draupadi stayed in the form of sage, Brahmins and Hermits and visited unrecognized at different places. During the time of incognito, they reached cooast of ravi river in a state of five rivers (Punjab). Here they built the four caves and one lord shiva temple at the hilltop.

They stayed here in this temple for six months. They crafted the Shivlingam present in the temple and worshipped the lord shiva here. The Havan Kund made by them, is still present there in temple. The Shivling at the Mukteshwar Mahadev temple is surrounded by the idols of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Goddess Paravati, Lord Hanuman and Lord Ganesha

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