Photograph of the Bhairava Japa or ‘jumping rock’ at Girnar in Gujarat, taken by F. Nelson in the 1890s from the Lee-Warner Collection: ‘Photographs of Junagadh’. The Girnar mountain in Gujarat rises more than 900 metres above the plain and is particularly sacred to the Jains. It was an important pilgrimage centre since the third century BC as indicated by the inscriptions on a boulder with the edicts of the emperor Ashoka and the proclamations of a Kshatrapa and a Gupta ruler. Along the principal path that leads to the central peak there are gateways, shrines and tanks and the principal group consist of 16 Jain sanctuaries dedicated to Neminatha. These temples date from the Solanki period and later. In the ‘Report on the Antiquities of Kathiawad and Kachh of 1874-75′, Burgess wrote, “On it..

Karwa Chauth falls about nine days before Diwali. It is the most important fast observed by Hindu women of North India. On this day married Hindu women offer prayers seeking the welfare, prosperity, and a long life of their husbands.Though it is a day marked with neither food nor water, this festival is quite popular among the newly weds. A few days before the festival, markets are full of items needed for the festival. The preparations for this festival start a week in advance.Early in the morning they prepare food and have it before sunrise. The morning passes by in other festive activities like decorating hand and feet with heena, decorating the pooja thali and meeting friends and relatives.

History of KARWA CHAUTH
A long long time ago, there lived a beautiful girl by the name of Veeravati. She was the only sister of her seven loving brothers, who was married to a king. On the occasion of the first Karwa Chauth after her marriage, she went to her parents’ house. After sunrise, she observed a strict fast. However, the queen couldn’t stand the rigors of fasting and was desperately waiting for the moon to rise. The seven brothers, who loved her dearly, were very disturbed watching the distress of their sister and decided to end her fast by deceiving her. Then the brothers reflected a mirror through Pipal tree leaves. The sister, taken it as moonrise, broke the fast and took food. However, the moment the queen ate her dinner, she received the news that her husband, the king, was seriously ill.

The queen rushed to her husband’s palace and on the way, she met Lord Shiva and his consort, Goddess Parvati. Parvati informed her that the king had died because the queen had broken her fast by watching a false moon. However, when the queen asked her for forgiveness, the goddess granted her the boon that the king would be revived. But to achieve this, she would have to undertake the Karwa Chauth fast under strict rituals, then only her husband would come top life. Thus, by strictly following all the rituals of Karwa chauth, queen Veeravati relieved her husband. Thus the origin of this festival.

The fancy rakhi thalis and chocolates are selling in the market but it is the cosmetic items and books that have emerged as the most popular gifts for this Raksha Bandhan. From an average price range of Rs 1,500 to Rs 10,000, luxury perfumes and cosmetic gift sets are selling like hot cakes in malls and community markets.

After the ritual of tying Rakhi is over, the brothers would give their sisters some gift or money and promise them to help them when ever they need and protect them throughout their lifetime. In fact, offering gifts to sisters is a tradition of Raksha Bandhan. Year by year, the enthusiasm amongst the brothers and their sisters, to celebrate the festival, is increasing. It is clearly visible from the wide variety of Rakhi, Raksha Bandhan gifts and sweets flocking the shelves of the stores, during the holiday. The festival bears social significance, because it symbolizes the importance of relationship between siblings.

When is Rakhi / Raksha Bandhan in 2011? Rakhi 2011 is on 13th August 2009.

The materials commonly placed in the pooja thali may include a diya (earthen lamp) for performing the aarti, sweets, roli (sacred color used for tilak), rice (for Akshat) and Rakhi. The beautifully decorated Rakhi thalis gives an impression of the sister’s love and care for her brother.

Types of Rakhi Thali

Floral Thali
Place the puja items including diya, rice and roli and sweetmeat in a bronze or stainless steel thali in which petals of flowers are arranged as the base. You can decorate the puja thali with an assortment of fresh colorful flowers. Either fill the entire thali with the flowers, or decorate them only on the thali’s rim. The thali can be decorated by single color flowers also. Instead of an entire flower, make use of only the petals of the flowers, so that the thali looks pretty.

Dry-fruits Thali
Decorate your puja thali for Rakhi with dry fruits like cashew nuts, chestnuts, raisins, cocoa nut, pistachio or almond. One after another, many circles of different dry- fruits can be made in the thali, which gives a colorful look. Another idea is to make an entire base of mixed dry fruits in the thali, and then place the puja items. For the purpose, you may make use of a stainless steel thali.

Roli-Turmeric Thali
Roli-turmeric thali is one of the basic types of puja thalis for Rakha Bandhan. Take a bronze thali. Now, mix roli with turmeric powder, so that it becomes a thin paste. The red and yellow combination of these two would give a traditional look to your pooja thali. Smear the thali with the fresh roli-turmeric paste. After the paste is dried, place the puja items in the thali, including diya, sweetmeat and rice.

Collage Thali
You may make use of different colorful paper cuttings your Rakhi puja thali decoration. Although the thali will wear a look of collage painting, it is definite that it would look unique and catch the immediate attention of your brother. Make use of paper cut outs from a magazine or newspaper, for the purpose. The papers used in such decoration could be plain papers with single color or the printed papers containing some or other pictures on them.

Choco-Toffee Thali
This Rakhi, come up with unique ideas for the puja thali decoration and please your brother, on the auspicious occasion. If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, then go for choco-toffee thali decoration. Divide the area of the thali by drawing lines of chocolates and toffees. In every division, place one puja item. This would look very different from the traditional puja thalis.

Sweets Rakhi Thali
Sweets can be used as decorative items for pooja thali. Either put full pieces of the sweets in a decorative manner in the thali, or put small pieces of sweets by cutting them into different shapes. You can also use a combination of both the ideas. Place the puja items in between the sweets.

Different Types Of Rakhi

Cartoon Rakhi
In such types of Rakhis, the cartoon characters are prominent designs over the Rakhi thread. These characters are generally popular cartons like Micky mouse, Donald duck, Tweety, Mogli, Casper, Shaktiman or any other character popular among the children. These kinds of Rakhis are meant for kids.

Sandalwood Rakhi
These Rakhis are made by using sandalwood pieces in various decorative forms. There may be small animals, flowers or some idols made of sandalwood. Sometimes sandalwood beads are also used to give an ethnic look to the Rakhis. The sweet smell of sandalwood also adds extra freshness to the Rakhi festival.

Musical Rakhi
Musical Rakhis are those which play special kind of music when touched. These consist of sensors which get active and play melodious or surprising music. These Rakhis are also a craze amongst children.

Floral Rakhi
These are the Rakhis which have a touch of ancientness. These Rakhis give a complete traditional look. Use of different colorful small and big flowers makes such Rakhis extremely beautiful. These Rakhis are naturally filled with sweet fragrance.

Zari Rakhi
These Rakhis are made of Zari threads. Apart using the zari as thread, it also uses it in making the central motif of the Rakhi. The zari is generally silver or golden therefore it appears shiny and gives a very royal look.

Resham Rakhi
Resham Rakhis or Reshami Rakhis are those Rakhis which are made by Resham (silk) threads. Such Rakhis are soft in touch and look bright. All kinds of Resham Rakhis, be it a simple Dori or a heavily decorated one, are well-liked by each age-group.

Mouli
A special kind of thread is used in Hindu Dharma rituals, for tying onto the wrists of the participants of any Hindu rites as an auspicious symbol. This special thread is also known as ‘Kalava’. This ‘Mouli’ is also used as Rakhi because of its auspiciousness.

Gold-Siver coated Rakhi
When Rakhis are prepared by using coatings of the precious metals like silver and gold then they automatically give a royal look. At times, these metals are also used in the different shapes like flowers, Indian Gods and Goddesses and even beads while preparing the Rakhis. These Rakhis also have keepsake value.

Shree-Om Rakhi
Rakhis containing the symbols of Hindu Dharma, like the ‘Shree’ sign, the ‘Om’ sign and the ‘Swastika’ signs are also in demand. Such Rakhis leave a religious impression. So, these Rakhis are especially popular among the old people.

Ram Rakhi
Sometimes Rakhis are made of simple silk threads. They are very simple Doris only with no decorations at all. Just a flower made of same thread in the middle of the Dori. .

Beads Rakhi
The Rakhis that have beads embedded into their threads or embedded on top of the Rakhi base in the middle of the Rakhi thread are put into this category. Such Rakhis give a unique tribal appearance.

Currency Note Rakhi
Such Rakhis have different denominations of currency notes like Rupees or Dollars attached to them. These currency notes can be made of plastic or even real. These Rakhis are simply used for fun.

Stones Rakhi
The Rakhis that are made by using the pieces of precious and semi-precious stones like opal, emerald, ruby or topaz are called stone Rakhis. A Rakhi decorated with various kinds of glittering stone pieces looks just marvelous.

How to Make a Rakhi? Make Rakhi at home.

Materials Required

* 1 Silk Thread Reel (color of your choice, preferably red or green)
* 1 Cotton Thread Reel (matching to the silk reel color)
* 1 Toothbrush (an old one)
* Scissors
* Glue
* 10-12 small Artificial Pearls

Method

* Take the silk thread reel and cut its 20-25 pieces, each one around 25 inches long.
* Hold all the pieces in such a way that both of their ends meet each other and then fold the entire bundle of threads at the mid point.
* Take the cotton reel and tie the bundle with the help of cotton thread just 4-5 inches below the mid point.
* Divide the longer portion of the thread bundle into two equal parts.
* Plait both the divided portions separately and tie a small piece of cotton thread at both the ends leaving a margin of 2 inches. Thus the longer portion makes the string part of Rakhi.
* The smaller part of the Rakhi is still in loops because of the fold. Take the scissors and cut the loops right at its center. This will make the central part of the Rakhi.
* Take the toothbrush and comb that central part in all the directions in such a manner that a circle of the tiny threads is prepared.
* Both the ends of the strings must also be brushed. Brushing the threads will make it even softer and give it a feathery look.
* Finally stick the small pearls on the central part of the Rakhi with the help of glue.

From July, 50 paise is the smallest denomination of Indian currency. But what about those who have collected those 25 paise for their daily food? Given the inflation in the country and constant devaluation of the currency, this move may not be a surprise to many. But means to many!

In today’s World it’s hard to get one Time food in Rs 25 so No Issues in banning 25 paisa.

June 2011
Puri Rath Yatra – 3 July, 2011
July 2011
Vyas Purnima, Guru Purnima – 15th July, 2011

August 2011
Raksha Bandan – 13th August, 2011
Sri Krishna Janmashtami – 22nd August, 2011

September 2011
Ganesh Chaturthi – 1st September, 2011
Onam – September 9, 2011
Pitru Paksha Shradh – 13th September, 2011 to 27th September
Navratri Begins – 28th September, 2011

October 2011
Durga Ashtami – 4th October, 2011
Maha Navami – 5th October, 2011
Vijaya Dashami – Dussehra – 6th October, 2011
Karva Chouth – October 13, 2011
Deepavali – Diwali – 26th October, 2011
Gujarati New Year – 27th October, 2011

November 2011
Sabarimala Mandala Kalam begins – 16th November, 2011

December 2011
Sri Dattatreya Jayanti – 09th December, 2011

So be Ready to Enjoy All these In y

Bura jo dekahn mein chala, bura na milya koi,
Jo mun khoja aapna to mujh say bura na koi

Chalti chakki dekh kay diya Kabira roay
Doi paatan kay beech mein sabut bacha na koay

Kaal karay so aaj kar, aaj karay so ab,
Pal mein pralay hogayi, bahuri karogay kab

Bada hua to kya hua jaisay paid khajoor,
Panthi ko chhaya nahin, phal laagen ati door.

Saayin itna deejiye jaa mein kutumb samaaye,
Main bhi bhookha na rahoon, saadhu na bhookha jaaye

Mayaa mari na mun mara, mar mar gaye shareer,
Aasha trishna na mari, keh gaye das Kabir.

Dukh mein simran sab karen, sukh mein karay na koye
Jo sukh mein simran karay, to dukh kahay ko hoye.

Aisee vani boliye, mun ka aapa khoye,
Apna tun sheetal karay, auran ko sukh hoye.

Jaisay til mein tail hai, jyon chakmak mein aag,
Tera saayin tujh mein hai, tu jaag sakay to jaag

Dheeray dheeray ray mana dheeray sub kuch hoye,
Maali sainche sau ghada, ritu aaye phal hoye.

Jaati na poocho saadhu ki, pooch lijiye gyaan
Mol karo talwar ki padi rehen do miyaan.

Jeevat samjhe jeevat bujhay, jeevat hi karo aas,
Jeevat karam ki phaans na kaati, moye mukti ki aas.

Maangan maran samaan hai, mut koi maangay bheek
Maangan say marna bhala yeh sat guru ki seekh

Kabeer mun nirmal bhaya jaisay ganga neer
Paachhe paachhe har phiray kahat Kabeer Kabeer

—————————Just4lovers—————————–

The meaning of some difficult Hindi words that are underlined in the above text are as follows :

Kahu : someone (koi in Urdu)
Pralay : delay, being too late, also interpreted by some as the doomsday
Bahuri : how
Panthi : traveller, vagabound
Ati : much, very much (bahut in Urdu)

Kutumb : clan, family
Shareer : body, the physical being
Trishna : thirst, eagerness
Simran : invokation, remembering God
Sheetal : pure, clear
Auran : others (aur in Urdu)
Chakmak : stone to light fire (match)

Ritu : season
Jeevat : living, alive
Moye : to me, I have (mujhe in Urdu)
Mukti : freedom, salvation
Nirmal : soft, tender
Bhaya : is, has been
Neer : water, flowing river
Paache : following, behind

- यदि आपने कोई नशा जैसे शराब, सिगरेट, ड्रग्स इत्यादि ले रखा है तो गुरुद्वारे में प्रवेश कतई ना करें। यह गुरुग्रंथ साहिब के प्रति असम्मान दिखाता है।

- गुरुद्वारे में अपने साथ कोई हथियार ना ले जाए।

- गुरुद्वारे में प्रवेश से पूर्व सबसे पहले अपने जूते-चप्पल इत्यादि बाहर ही निकाल दें, साथ ही मौजे भी। कुछ लोग मौजे सहित ही गुरुद्वारे में प्रवेश कर जाते हैं। उससे उनके मौजे की बदबू से गुरुद्वारे का वातावरण प्रदुषित होता है, अत: मौजे भी बाहर ही निकाल देना चाहिए। इससे गुरुद्वारे की पवित्रता और सफाई बनी रहेगी।

- जूते उतारने के पश्चात अपने हाथ-पैर अच्छे से धो लें। ताकि आपके हाथ-पैर पूर्णरूप से साफ और स्वच्छ हो जाए।

- अपने सिर को कपड़े से ढंक लें। यह गुरुग्रंथ साहिब के प्रति सम्मान व्यक्त करता है। सिर पर कपड़ा ढंकने के कुछ और भी फायदे हैं जैसे सिर के मध्य भाग स्थित दशम द्वार को ढंकने से हमारा मन अंयत्र नहीं भटकता। क्योंकि दशम द्वार का संबंध हमारे मन से होता है।

- गुरुद्वारे में किसी भी परिस्थिति में अपने पैर गुरुग्रंथ साहिब की ओर करके ना बैठे। यह असम्मान की भावना व्यक्त करता है।

- चूंकि गुरुद्वारे के फर्श पर श्रद्धालु मत्था टेंकते हैं अत: फर्श को बिल्कुल गंदा ना करें क्योंकि ताकि अन्य श्रद्धालुओं के सिरों पर गंदगी ना लगे।

- गुरुग्रंथ साहिब और गुरुद्वारे की परिक्रमा घड़ी की सुई जिस दिशा में घुमती है उसी के अनुसार करें।

- गुरुद्वारे में कहीं भी बैठे अपना मुख ग्रंथ साहिब की ओर रखें।

- सभी गुरुद्वारों में लंगर चलाए जाते हैं जहां सभी को समान रूप से प्रसाद दिया जाता है। जो कि जातिभेद और ऊंच-नीच जैसी भावनाओं को मिटाता है। अत: वहां समान रूप से भोजन प्राप्त करें।

Crawlindia Thanx PunjabiMohalla for this article…

One Universal Creator God. The Name Is Truth. Creative Being Personified. No Fear. No Hatred. Image Of The Undying, Beyond Birth, Self-Existent. By Guru`s Grace ~

The founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak was born on April 15, 1469 in the Western Punjab village of Talwandi.Followed by nine other sikh gurus

· Guru Angad Dev ji
· Guru Amar Das ji
· Guru Ram Das ji
· Guru Arjan Dev ji
· Guru Hargobind ji
· Guru Har Rai ji
· Guru Harkrishan ji
· Guru Tegh Bahadur ji
· Guru Gobind Singh ji

Guru Arjan Dev ji, the 5th Guru, compiled all the hymns of first four Gurus and himself into Adi Granth.”Guru Granth Sahib Jee”

Golden Rules of Shikhism as Mentioned in Guru Granth Sahib Jee

Ø The oneness of God,
Ø The oneness of humanity,
Ø Equality of women,
Ø Tolerance towards other religions,
Ø Service to humanity.

The Making of the Khalsa
Guru Gobind Singh was the last Guru of the Sikhs ,created the Khalsa,

5K’s
*Kesh – uncut hair and beard, as given by God, to sustain him or her in higher consciousness; and a turban, the crown of spirituality.

*Kangha – a wooden comb to properly groom the hair as a symbol of cleanliness.

*Katchera – specially made cotton underwear as a reminder of the commitment to purity.

*Kara – a steel circle, worn on the wrist, signifying bondage to Truth and freedom from every other entanglement.

*Kirpan – the sword, with which the Khalsa is committed to righteously defend the fine line of the Truth.

Thanx to our partner http://punjabimohalla.com for this Support and Article