And no, I am not getting paid to write this. Again, this is just part of the research for my India trip. Butt’s houseboats have had some VERY famous guests, including Ravi Shankar, Galbraith, Rockefeller, and Yehudi Menuhin! Don’t you wish you knew the recommended place to stay in one of the most beautiful places on earth? Now you do.

The pictures are all in black and white, which does not reduce their beauty one bit. Prashant speaks throughout the show explaining what it means to participate in the “largest celebration on earth”. Enjoy!

Simple things like walking in the morning sun, looking at a lit candle at eye-level, washing your nose with saline solution and gently rubbing your forehead are all described. I wish I would just start practicing half of what’s in the guide – it’s not like it is the hardest thing in the world. The slideshow really, truly made my day!

Turns out the search for a Parsee fire temple led to a Hindu temple, where they worshipped the fire. The fire was kept lit by the natural gas emanating from the ground. How the Hindus got there is a different story – back in the past, in the days of silk-route trade, a lot of Indians used to travel far and wide, and some of them must have ended up in Baku, and set up the temple there. The “Jwalaajee” in Baku is supplemented by another, minor, jwala:

When I visited the Kangra Valley in the Himalaya Mountains some 25 years ago (1900 A. D.), I was told that the current Aatash Kadeh was considered as a Hindu Temple by the Hindu friends I met there. In the year 1900 A. D., I was not well from the after effects of the Cholera I contracted years ago. Hence, I traveled with my relative, Jamshedjee Eruchjee Modi, to the hill town of Dharamshalla in Punjab as guests of his relatives Faraamroj and his brother Naadirshaw Khajooree, for rest and change of climate. After a few days of rest and relaxation, we visited the valleys of Kangra and Kulu by the way of Paalanpoor and Baeznaath. That time I heard that there is a village called Jwaalaajee where at one place natural gas emits from earth, night and day, and the Hindu worshippers throw clarified butter (Ghee) on it so that the fire lights up like a huge fire ball. I went there after hearing about it and saw the place of this burning substance (Jwaalaajee). Talking to the Hindus there, they call this Small Jwaalaajee and stated that their Big Jwaalaajee is in Baku, Aazerbaizaan.

Also, from the story we learn that the name Azerbaijan might have derived from Parsee words:

The origin of this country’s name, Azerbaijan, is from our own word “Aazar” or “Aatar” meaning fire, because in ancient times, there were a number of Aatash Kadehs in this country similar to the natural gas fire in Baku and in other places.

It saddens me greatly that the Parsee religion and way of life is slowly being lost to the world, they are fascinating.

Interestingly, the Wikipedia article on Baku calls the same temple structure the “Maiden Tower“, and has no mention of it having been a Hindu temple, or a Fire temple in the past. How could it be lost on everyone, especially seeing as the inscriptions in Sankrit/Devanagiri over the entrance? However, the Maiden Tower is widely known in Azerbaijan as a national symbol – found on Currency Notes and other official papers.

Director of Interfaith Relations of the Hindu Temple of Northern Nevada Rajan Zed chanted the prayers to open the session on Monday.
Wearing saffron robes, ‘rudraksh’ necklace and traditional sandal paste ’tilak’ on the forehead, Zed began with a hymn from the Rig Veda.

What’s even better is that from the article I learnt the source of the following prayer:
Om saha naavavatu,
Saha nau bhunaktu,
Saha viiryan karavaavahai,
Tejasvi naavadhiitamastu,
Maa vidvishhaavahai,

which means “May we be protected together, may we be nourished together, may we work together with great vigor, may our study be enlightening, may no obstacle arise between us.”

The prayer/quote is from the Taittiriya Upanishad. This is one of the few sanskrit shlokas I remember by heart.

May “Christiannity” pardon the Indian spelling

The article proposes the hypothesis that Sabarimala is actually a Buddhist pilgrimage(monastery). Some of the salient points are given below, which are really thought provoking. It makes sense, on some level.

1. The austerities followed by the Iyyappa devotees are similar to the vows, known as ashta-shilas, taken by Buddhists
2. The Iyyappa temple in Sabarimala was built by a Pandalam king. The Pandalam dynsasty is an offshoot of the Pandya dynasty of Tamil Nadu. And the Pandalam king who built the Iyyappa temple was not a Hindu. He was a Buddhist.
3. (They) never bother to think how Iyyappa who is supposed to be the son of Shiva and Vishnu, could have possibly met got help from a Muslim who lived just a few hundred years ago.
4. The pilgrims’ chant of ‘Swamiye Saranam Iyyappa’ is similar to the Buddhist chant of ‘Buddham Saranam Gachhaami’. In no other Hindu temple is the word ‘Saranam’ used in a chant.
5. The Makara Jyoti which appears mysteriously in the Sabarimala forests on the Makara Sankranti day gave it the name Potalaka. The surprise: The Dalai Lama’s palace in Lhasa is called – Potala!
6. Hsuen Tsang refers to Avalokitesvara* on the Potala in the following words, summarised by Waters (1905): “In the south of the country near the sea was the Mo-lo-ya (Malaya) mountain, with its lofty cliffs and ridges and deep valleys and gullies, on which were sandal, camphor and other trees. To the east of this was Pu-ta-lo-ka (Potalaka) mountain with steep narrow paths over its cliffs and gorges in irregular confusion…”
7. Iyyappa is also known as Dharma Sasta, and “Shastha” is mentioned elsewhere as a name for the Buddha.
8. Iyyappa has the vajradanda, a crooked stick in his right arm. The vajra is a characteristic weapon of Bodhisattva.

Today we look at the judicial definition of “Hindu”.

The Supreme Court of India defines the qualities of a Hindu in the ruling of the case, “Bramchari Sidheswar Shai and others Versus State of West Bengal“. The full text of the ruling is available here. The case was regarding declaring Ramakrishna Mission as a non-Hindu, minority religion, under the Indian constitution. So without further ado, here is the relavant portion of the proceedings, which defines the characteristics of a “Hindu”:

The Court Identifies Seven Defining Characteristics of Hinduism and by extension Hindus:

1. Acceptance of the Vedas with reverence as the highest authority in religious and philosophic matters and acceptance with reverence of Vedas by Hindu thinkers and philosophers as the sole foundation of Hindu philosophy.
2. Spirit of tolerance and willingness to understand and appreciate the opponent’s point of view based on the realization that
   truth was many-sided.
3. Acceptance of great world rhythm, vast period of creation, maintenance and dissolution follow each other in endless
   succession, by all six systems of Hindu philosophy.
4. Acceptance by all systems of Hindu philosophy the belief in rebirth and pre-existence.
5. Recognition of the fact that the means or ways to salvation are many.
6. Realization of the truth that Gods to be worshipped may be large, yet there being Hindus who do not believe in the worshipping of idols.
7. Unlike other religions or religious creeds Hindu religion not being tied-down to any definite set of philosophic concepts, as
   such.

Read that last one again. I was left wondering if that did not annul the first six Hinduism is really difficult to define. So then, how do you convey a whole picture of what it is to be a Hindu? You present all the facts and thoughts, you provide access to history, and you let the other person form a picture for himself. Given the vast streams of thought in Hinduism – his picture will fit into what Hinduism is. I consider my idea of Hinduism conveyed if the recipient understands that there is no one definition, and also understands the spirit of Hinduism. I think Hinduism is the longest surviving “natural” or “pagan” religion.

Commentary is cheap, and I shall contribute no more cheap junk to this post. In the coming articles in this series, I will try to define Hinduism from various different angles, hoping to let you gain the perspective and 3-dimensional depth that viewing it from different angles will provide!

Samskrita Bharati started as an experiment in 1981 in Bangalore, India to bring Samskritam back into daily life. Not surprisingly, they offer live courses in the US and India, and supplement it with an excellent correspondence course on Sanskrit.

The course assumes no prior knowledge of Sanskrit, and starts from the very basics. They make good use of audio cassettes(though maybe it is time to move up to Audio CDs ). In addition, they have a neat feature where one can call a telephone number in the USA and leave a voice message with a question, and have a volunteer answer it, for free!

Learning is accomplished through four “grades”. The fee for each grade is a paltry $100!! Each grade consists of 12 lessons with tests to measure comprehension. Passing a grade will get you a certificate and the right to enter the next grade.

For details on this correspondence course, visit the Samskrita Bharati correspondence course page.

Option One.

Samskrita Bharati. (www.samskrit-bharati.org), offers Sanskrit lessons, via
correspondence both within India and abroad.

Post enrollment, I have just received my first set of lessons, which are both in
booklets and in casettes. We are encouraged to follow the text in the booklet,
listening to the casette. There are four level, each having a duration of 6
months. After completing each level, the student is expected to mail the
completed exercises back to S-B for verification and subsequent certfication.

I am currently in Atlanta, and have enrolled myself in the first i.e. Pravesha
Level, of the said course.