Hindu Temples I have visited (Part-V)

Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, Varanasi (Banaras): Blessed to have visited one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. The Original Temple was founded by Adi Shankaracharya but was destroyed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who built a mosque on the ruins of this temple (which is visible in the background). Presently seen Kashi Vishwanath temple was built by Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore in 1717 and was adorned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Panjab with 820 kg gold in 19th century. Om Namah Shivay!

Ganga Aarti in Varanasi: It is performed at the Dashaswamedh ghat on the banks of Ganga every evening at 7pm. It is a wonderful ritual to observe. A lot of foreign tourists also come to witness it. Some people sit on the stairs while some watch it from the other side from the boats in the river! This is just another example of how Hinduism is so close to nature and today I think perhaps only Hindu saints are trying to save the Ganga from pollution and destruction... Jai ma Gange!

Durga Mandir, Varanasi: This is a grand temple of Durga ji which is also nearby Tulsi Manas Mandir and Sankat Mochan Mandir. Whole structure is built in red color and there is a big pond besides the temple. It is a wonderful temple to visit. Jai Ma Durga!

The famous Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple of Varanasi. It also has a temple of Lord Ram inside this temple complex. Hanuman ji is directly facing Ram, Sita and Laxman...

Shani Signapur Mandir, Shani Dham, (Maharashtra): is a unique and famous temple of Shani Dev. There are very few Shani Temples and this is one of those. Devotees offer mustard oil to the god. A unique aspect of this place is that no temple structure houses  Shani Dev. There is only a simple platform on which stands the swayambhu idol, in black stone. We visited it on the way to Shirdi. Most people plan a single visit to both Shani Signapur and Shirdi Sai Baba Mandir.

Shiva Mandir near Muzaffarpur Around the time of Maha Shivratri at big Mela is organized near this temple

Ram Mandir near Muzaffarpur: Heard that recently people donated money and constructed this beautiful temple of Lord Ram

Swami Narayan Temple, very near to Mahalakshmi Temple, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai

Trayambakeshwar Mahadev Mandir, very near to Mahalakshmi Temple, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai: Never expected such a beautiful, serene and spacious temple complex in the middle of hustles of the city. 

In the Same Series:

Hindu Temples I have visited (Part-I)

Hindu Temples I have visited (Part-II)

Hindu Temples I have visited (Part-III)

Hindu Temples I have visited (Part-IV)

Some Movies and Moments

We watched the movie Himmatwala (2013) starring Ajay Devgan. It is of genre comedy. We enjoyed the portions of the movie which can be called comedy a lot. The whole theatre also enjoyed it. But there were portions in the movie which were painful to watch because of emotional content. I felt sad to see that the audiences in the theatre were laughing also during the scenes which were painful to watch and brought tears to our eyes. Like the emotional scenes where mother begs goddess Durga to save Ajay Devgan from the hands of villains. I did not understand how people could laugh at such scenes. It seems this happened because the movie was comedy and hence people would also laugh during the portions which were not really comedy. But it seemed very insensitive to us and we wondered if movies and our film industry is training us to be insensitive and to laugh at others plight and tragedies? 

'Wanted' has a very touching aspect in story line. A young corporate professional is wrongly informed by a secret fraternity that a man had murdered his father and hence he goes on a drive to kill this man. The man had an extraordinary reflex powers; which even this boy had. In the end he kills the man and then gets to know that this man was actually his father! His father tells him before dying in his hands, "Everything they told you was a lie. You are my son." When the boy asks his guide Angelina Julie why she told him a lie, she replied, "Because we know that you are the only one he won't kill!" Such brutal mind game and treachery that it sends shivers down the spine...

Watched ‘Zila Ghaziabad’ and enjoyed it a lot. It has flavors of half ‘Dabang’ and half ‘Raktcharitram’. In fact if it was released earlier as planned, Dabang-2 won’t have been such a hit! Sanjay Dutt plays the role of a good-bad super Cop while one of my favorite actors Vivek Oberoi is back through ZG into powerful role of an avenging angry young man. It is amazing to see that Vivek has not aged even a bit and looks 110% fit – he has come back after a brief break. Perhaps his newly born kid from his marriage would prove lucky for him. This movie also features Chandrachood Singh; we were wondering over the years where did he go after a few flicks and hits? He has a very brief role. Zila Ghaziabad also has very soulful role for Arshad Warsi. It is a delight to see him on screen, even if he plays a negative character. This movie is a strange combination of action thriller and comedy. One more thing to mention is that its dialogues are so powerful. Whoever wrote them did a great job!

Happened to watch Hindi movie Fatso! It is a story of love which transcends horizons of body and this material world. A boy dies leaving his girlfriend alone who gets into depression. But as it happens, this boy had died without destined and hence gods send him back to the earth. But the condition is that he has to get back life in the body of one of their common friends who was in fact Fatso. He (his soul) comes to Fatso’s house and waits for the “event”. Fatso comes back home while being wet, talks to his mother and then sits on a chair. He feels problems in respiration and feels uneasy. He calls his mother but she is busy in household chores. All this happens in front of his friend’s eyes (his friend’s soul’s eyes) who loves Fatso and wants to help but there is no way he can help him. In a very touching scene he looks while Fatso breathes his last… (After some time he enters his body and wakes up live).

A climactic scene from the movie Inglorious Bustards became very touching. The movie is about an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler by a Jewish girl. The Jewish has planned the assassination plot well- she was to burn down the closed theatre in which Hitler and his Nazi colleagues were watching a propaganda movie. A German Nazi soldier loves her but she has been rejecting his feelings. In the climax, just before she was to blow the hall, he comes to her and starts talking about his love. She tries to send him away but he doesn’t go back. When his back is towards her, she shoots him with her Pistol! He falls down on the ground… In a moment, the rather cold girl sees him and is filled with a pain. At that moment, he cries slowly in pain and she comes to him to check him. Then he turns back and shoots her dead! The soldier loved her immensely but he remembered that she was to harm his nation and its leaders and hence shoots her down. She, the first mover, hated Nazi Germany so much that she didn’t think twice before shot down the only man alive who loved her… The potent struggle between emotional love and hardbound duty is depicted wonderfully and leaves us in ponder…

Note: Views are personal and do not represent views of any organization associated with the author. [Detailed disclaimer]

New Cadbury Silk Ad: Dirty

If you watch TV in India, I am sure you must have watched this new Cadbury Silk Ad. It features a lady ‘eating’ Cadbury Silk chocolate. To say she is eating is a simplistic statement because she is basically ‘playing with’ the chocolate. That was perhaps what the ad-gurus wanted to make out – that even though you are grown up (all ladies featured are not kids or even teens), you can still “play with” chocolate. Perhaps you were not allowed by your parents to play with (which means mess up) chocolate when you were kids, and now that you are grownup and can spend money (these chocolates are not usual Cadbury Daily Milk but costlier ones without much value add) you should use the opportunity to rub yourself with chocolate now! Sounds great? Not really!

Who in his or her right mind plays with chocolate (or anything for that matter) in this manner? It looks too muddy and unclean! In one ad, the lady drops the chocolate on her clothes and then goes on to lick it; the chocolate keeps dropping everywhere and she goes licking everywhere just like dogs and cats! 

Even the lyrics playing with this ad is not appropriate for being played at all places; the lyrics as follows:

"Kiss me, Close your eyes

Miss me, Close your eyes

Kiss me

I can wet your lips, and your fingertips

And happiness, in your eyes

Kiss me, Close your eyes

Miss me, Close your eyes"

One of my colleagues in office has made this the ‘ringtone’ of his cell phone and it sounds weird every time in a professional environment! 

I think the most mediocre ad-men would use such insinuating and overt tricks to sell some more chocolates or get some more eyeballs. Not only is the song played with this ad is overt, the visual showing a lady messing up with chocolate is filthy and I am surprised how this ad is being played day in and day out on all TV channels! 

I would request Cadbury to stop this series of ad immediately and get back to serious business. I understand Cadbury’s need to position its product for the grownup customers as against for children alone but it does not need such sly tricks. Before this, Amitabh Bachchan was featured in a series of ads and he was positioning Cadbury as an essential part of “family” celebrations; which was good. If Cadbury is bothered by the continuous trend of gifting “imported” chocolates especially by the generation X and Y, it should improve quality of its chocolates and packaging to get the sales. I think none of those imported chocolates advertise such filthy ads and yet get the premium customers, so Cadbury should also focus on the “real” reason why people choose an imported chocolate over its Silk brand of chocolate. And making it “softer” like silk does not really help. If Cadbury does some market research to find out what really Gen-Y wants in a chocolate he or she chooses for girlfriend or boyfriend, it will get to know the real aspects to improve. It will save the company from some hard earned money and also criticism from sensible TV viewers who find its Ads annoying!

- Rahul 

Note: Views are personal and do not represent views of any organization associated with the author. [Detailed disclaimer] 

New Vedic Cultural Centre (ISKCON, NVCC) - Pune

A Temple of 2 Lakh Sq. Ft. built over 6 acres of land - ISKCON is inviting all to the Grand Inauguration of New Vedic Cultural Centre (ISKCON, NVCC) & installation of holy idols on 24th February 2013. 

For more details, check out: 

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/ISKCONNVCC

Website: http://www.iskconpune.in/

Promo Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3_5wnRniTw 

Jai Shri Krishna! 

Happy Vasant Panchmi and Saraswati Puja!

Happy Vasant Panchmi! 

Goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful woman dressed in pure white often seated on a white lotus, which symbolizes that she is founded in the experience of the absolute truth. She is mainly associated with the color white, which signifies the purity of true knowledge. Her four arms represent the 4 Vedas and also four aspects of human personality in learning: mind, intellect, alertness and ego. She holds a book in her book - representing Vedas meaning knowledge; a maaala representing the power of meditation; a pot of sacred water representing creative powers; a veena representing perfection of all arts and sciences. A hansa or swan is often located next to her feet which if offered a mixture of milk and water is said to be able to drink the milk alone - thus symbolizes discrimination between the good and the bad or the eternal and the evanescent. The peacock represents arrogance and pride over its beauty and by having a peacock as her mount, the Goddess teaches not to be concerned with external appearance and to be wise regarding the eternal truth.

Symbolism of Ma Saraswati taken from my blog post: http://rahulbemba.blogspot.in/2010/05/brahma-saraswati-and-symbolism.html

Hrithik Roshan Vs Shah Rukh Khan

May be I should say a 'King Size' Sorry for making 'SRK Fans' feel belittled :)

Thank you Hrithik Roshan for freeing Indian Film Industry from Mediocre "Super Heroes"!

I am a Hrithik Roshan Fan!

- Rahul