Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi

Hi Readers,

Today, I am going to write about Hinduism, our belief and my findings of yet another form of Devi or Shakti. As we all know Hinduism is a religion that does not have a specific founder. It has evolved over the years and will continue to do so. People following Hinduism does not worship one god and has 3600 gods and goddesses. Basically,  Hinduism is divided into major three groups the Shaivism ( followers of Lord Shiva), Vaishnavism ( followers of Lord Krishna or Vishnu) and Shaktism ( followers of Shakti or Devi). However, there is no restriction to follow any God or Goddess and people generally choose their main deity as for their family hierarchy or as per their own belief.

It will be easier to understand Hinduism if you know the Law of Conservation of Energy.
" Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed. Only one form of energy can be transformed into another. The sum total of all the energy remains same in universe. "

Similarly, as per Hindu belief, human body is perishable but the soul is immortal. The soul is subjected to continuous birth and  rebirth. The soul changes bodies as a living person changes clothes. So, after death the soul changes bodies like transformation of energy from one form to another. The cycle continues births after births and the suffering continues endlessly." So, the ultimate goal of a Hindu is to attain salvation that is also called as Moksha or Nirvana.

It most be very confusing for one to understand how we Hindu remember so many Gods and Goddess, even though, we do not follow a strict rule unlike other religion to worship or study our holy scripture. Generally, other religion have only one holy scripture, where as in Hinduism we have many. The Bhagwat Gita, Vedas, Purana, Upanishads, Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Yes, worshiping or visiting temples is never mandatory for a follower of Hindu. Reading scriptures and confining our belief to any form of God is also a freewill. Still, almost every Hindu believes in many more than one God and Goddesses. We celebrate many festivals in mark of our religion and beliefs. Now, I am going to introduce you to a rare and fierce form of Shakti or Mother Goddess. Hinduism not only beliefs in praying to different form of god but also worships, trees, mountains, rivers, cow and many more.

Shri Maha Pratyangira Devi

Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi, originated form Lord Shiva's fierce form Sarbeswara (Sharabha). The mythological story goes like this.

Lord Shiva in form of Sharabha or Sarabeswara

When Lord Vishnu in the form of Narashimha ( Narashimha Avtar or Vishnu) killed Hiranyakashypu by tearing his body apart and drank his blood, He became too fierce and aggressive. It was not possible to suppress his anger and then all gods prayed to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva took the form of Sharabha or Sarbeswara. That is half lion and half bird with eight legged. It is mightier than lion and elephant and could kill a lion. However, when he came in front of Narashima , Lord Narashimha took the form of Ganda-Berunda i.e. the ferocious two headed bird to combat Sharabha. At this time, from one wing of Sharabha or Sarabeswara the Shakti in form of Pratyangira originated. She is a combination of lion and human. With a lion head and body of a beautiful women. She is also called Narashimhika. She was able to combat the anger and ferocious Narashimha. She was able to calm Narashimha by sitting on his lap.

Ganda-Berunda form of Lord Narashimha

Shri Maha Pratyangira Devi

Sri Pratyagira Devi is also associated with shri Chakra. She is considered to be powerful repellent of influences generated by witchcraft.Pratyangira Devi has also mention in Ramayana. Indrajit was performing Nikhumbala Yangya in which he worshipped Sri Pratyangira Devi. Hanuman came down to stop him from completing this Yagnya which otherwise could have made him invincible.

It is also believed that Lord Shiva in form of Sharabha or Sarabeswar had worshipped the Trishakti's ( Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati) and in their combined form incarnated in Sharabha Pakshi, He then changed his form to Bhairava and from his third eye appeared a huge fearful Goddess called Pratyangira.

There are only few temples in India where Devi Pratyangira is worshipped in this form. She is also worshipped in another form Sri Atharvana Bhadrakali.

She is goddess known to combat black magic and witchcraft.

My obsession continued with Brazilian embroidery

Hi friends,

If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you must have come across my last post about my obsession with embroidery. I have made a few embroidery patterns with different Brazilian embroidery techniques. As I have already said its not with the rayon thread, its better to call this as Brazilian dimensional embroidery.

I learnt Spiral trellis stitch, cast-on stitch, double cast-on stitch, bullion stitch, fly stitch, feather stitch to name a few. Here, I present you with pictures of my two more pot holders of size 20X20. Have a look and I welcome all your esteemed feedback.

Thanks

Footwear

Hi Readers,

Today, I want to dedicate this page to footwear. Footwear or shoe is not allowed inside Indian kitchen and in temples, other than this it has a very special place in trade,tradition and protest. Footwear has given someone his daily bread and someone its a means to protest. Throwing shoe at the victim of protest or making a garland of shoe and placing it around the effigy is a mark of protest. After China, India has gained a special position in shoe manufacturing. However, we still have thousands of people who have never used a pair of shoe in their lifetime. Footwear has many story linked to it, however it has only one aim that is to serve mankind.

When was shoe invented? To keep feet warm and protected it was first invented nearly 20 to 40 thousands years ago. However, Indian mythology suggest its use even much earlier. Earlier shoe was made up of wood or leather, in 20th century the use of plastic, rubber and synthetic polymer in manufacturing shoe was started. In year 1840 the first footwear design specifically for ladies started with the footwear of Queen Victoria.

Prativa Ray , Odia author with a story linked with footwear was able to get goose bumps in all her readers. The story was about a uncle and his nephew. The uncle who with utmost difficulty was able to make his nephew a much educated and established person, had one wish, that is to wear a pair of slippers. However, the nephew who had settled in city and was obsessed with his work had completely forgotten his uncle's wish. When he remembered about it, it was too late. Like the character of "Uncle" who knows if many would have still the same dream of wearing a pair slipper.

India is second largest manufacturer of shoe in the world after China. Almost all the well known brands have started manufacturing from India after getting license. In whole world except India, the footwear industry make a more production of women footwear. However, in India it is The reverse case. India produces most for men footwear.

Odisha had earned great reputation at the time of independence for shoe making. Madhusudan Das ( Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das) had set up a Shoe manufacturing company which had around 100 cobbler and 300 helper. These workers were so linked with Madhusudan Das that they were able to impress Mahatma Gandhi . This organisation was able to leave its footprint in Gandhi, and he had set up a tannery unit in his Sabarmati Ashram. One day, Madhusudan Das found a small hole in one of the shoe produced by his organisation Utkal Tannery. He never wanted to cheat his customer and thought the leather must not be in good condition due to which there was a hole. So, he had burnt all the shoe produced out of the same leather.  People still talk about his patriotism and noble  attitude.

Obessions

I always find myself obsessed,emerged and enthralled by something or the other.For past couple of weeks it's been two things: embroidery and food. Embroidery because I really love the tiny work with perfection. Though I must admit I am a learner, now I am obsessed to learn Brazilian embroidery techniques. It has driven me crazy as whenever I apply a new technique it comes out to be so beautiful. However, I must not call it Brazilian embroidery as I don't get the correct set of floss here.

Still, I am loving to learn these fine technique, which appear to be so sophisticated until you actually try them. Yes, Embroidery requires a lot of patience. And sometimes it's really hard to concentrate on same project that last long.

And the second thing that has kept me busy is my love for food. Well, I tried many new dishes in last couple of weeks. My husband loved them, that satisfies me when he says,"Oh! its really good to taste." I wish he would give me a certificate instead. Ha Ha Ha... All this has kept me so busy that I forgot to write. Though I could upload the pictures of all my embroidery anytime. I am feeling sad that I didn't took a bit to take few shots of my food.

Anyway, I will present my embroidery collection recently. Here, is a picture of Kamal Kadai or weaving stitch. I will be posting the other pictures soon.

The picture below is when i converted this sampler into a 20X20 pot holder.

Solar Tower for Rio Olympic

Brazil is the next host of Olympic 2016. Brazil has already started to prepare its city Rio De Janeiro to host this event. Whenever any big event like Olympic is organised, special care is taken to check the availability of electricity. Electricity is the most important factor in organising a event, and without it nothing can go on smoothly. Hence, before the commencement of Olympic, Brazil government has decided to use water and solar power.Brazil government has confirmed that they are not going to adapt any method that will lead to pollution.

The construction has already started for the Solar tower at Cottonduba Island near Rio De Janeiro, this tower has two features that will enable to provide enough electricity to host first ever Carbon free Olympic. It has solar terminals that will provide power during the daytime and a large man made waterfall that will be able to supply power in night.

It will not only supply power to Olympic event but also will be efficient to supply power to the entire city of Rio De Janeiro. Brazil is sending a message to the whole world to think of alternatives post petroleum era. Switzerland's RA FAA  has taken this project into their hand. The tower design is made in such a format that it will enable to perform many task at a time. The tower has amphitheater,indoor stadium and a market complex. It will also have a cafeteria located near the Waterfall to give a magnificent view.

Cottonduba Island is the mandatory approach for aircraft landing. Thus, this Solar tower will seek to become a symbol for those arriving Rio by Air or Sea.