Diwali

[Jainarayan]

Beautiful idols, beautiful flowers. Yes, it is not fair to celebrate Diwali alone.

I fell asleep in front of the display while it was still lit. At least I did put it up again. I like the way it turned out, so maybe that will be the little effort I give each year. I could even follow the same format for the other festivals…. Rāmnavami, Saraswati Puja, Janmashtami, Durga Puja by setting up a little table, a framed picture (I have plenty) lights, flowers. I don’t like celebrating festivals by myself, which is why I tend to not do it. But this could be my tradition.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Happy Govardhana Pūjā to all who observe it!

In my in-laws place, we (closest four families) and friends of my brother-in-law celebrated 'Annakoot' (lit. 'inexhaustible store of food) today. This means puris and a veg. preparation (no gravy) with all types of vegs available in the market, somewhere between 25 to 30. It is delicious and done only once a year. The trick is when to put in various vegs. The hardest to cook go first. It contains a variety ranging from lotus stem (a Kashmiri favorite) to water chestnut to bitter melon. I wonder if any other community in India has this tradition.

 

[ameyAtmA]

Tell us about this Sharayu and why you are hearing this name too often?
No malafide intention, just fun, not even curiosity.

Sorry to disappoint you but where this jiva's manifestation in this lifetime is from, it is common to name baby girls Sharayu. I may have heard of at least 5 or 8 Sharayus so far...

Sharayu is close to Sharanya (in refuge of the lord). May be her people named her with this intent.

Interesting and informative, agreed. Sharayu is SharaNAgat to her Lord (Swami).

Hey JustGeorge! Pradakshina 108 times! That is a bit too much. We do it here just once, and probably the most devout will do it three times, but certainly not 108 times. Keep ready, you are going to recive a prize from the Lord.

3 PradakshiNA around Devi (Shakti tattva) , and GaNapati maybe.
1/2 or preferably none around Shivling/ Shiv tattva

11 around VishNu tattva which can be reduced to 4 i.e. if not 11 then 4

108 around the Shrimad BhAgvat grantha and VyAspeeth.
(Shri BHagavat BhagavAn ki hai Arati...
yah amar grantha yeh shAnti mantra / mukti pantha , yah panchaM veda nirAlA ...
Hari nAma yahi Hari-dhAma yahi, jag ke mangal ki aarati...
Shri Ram yahi GhanashyAm yahi.,
yah sukhakaraNi yah dukhaharaNi
hai ye Shri MadhusUdan ki Arati...
)

 

[Viraja]

In my in-laws place, we (closest four families) and friends of my brother-in-law celebrated 'Annakoot' (lit. 'inexhaustible store of food) today. This means puris and a veg. preparation (no gravy) with all types of vegs available in the market, somewhere between 25 to 30. It is delicious and done only once a year. The trick is when to put in various vegs. The hardest to cook go first. It contains a variety ranging from lotus stem (a Kashmiri favorite) to water chestnut to bitter melon. I wonder if any other community in India has this tradition.

I am Tamil and we do not have such a thing like annakoot mentioned above in our tradition. So nice to know!

 

[ameyAtmA]

Annakut is celebrated on DeepAvali PAdwA (Merchant New Year) - because it is Govardhan PujA day.

On Govardhan Puja day in Dvapar yug, Indra made the heavy rainstorm and Shri KRshNa held the Govardhan on His pinky finger.
All the food naivedya that the Gopi mothers had cooked for the puja was then offered to the 7 year old KRshNa - their savior, by the overwhelmed VrajavAsis. My darling KAnhU.

This is annakut. anna = food kut = mix it all up / share , pot luck
( -- Shri KRshNa was the pioneer of this concept at age 5 - the cowherd boys went on a picnic and KRshNa suggested they collect everyone's lunch in the center and share. So a poor cowherd who brought buttermilk and rice was not shy to share his , while he got to eat kachoris that Yashoda sent. )

All food offerings from the entire village gets offered to Govardhan-GiridhAri (KRshNa) , aNyor! aNyor!

8 prahar (8 mini kid meals ) X 7 days of rain with no food = 56 bhog

----
@mangalavara , yes, Yama deep daan is in the observations but not many observe it. One lady I know says of all the numerous oil-lamps (paNati) one lights in DeepAvali, place one flame facing south for Yama -- this is Yama deep daan. (Savitri fought Yama for her husband's life. That is what this is about).

 

[ameyAtmA]

Shubha DeepAvali to all
Wait till you taste the Govardhan...

 

[Aupmanyav]

Ayodhya this evening. 1.5 million earthen diyas light up the Saryu river bank, in presecne of Prime Minister Modi and State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

 

[Viraja]

Happy Diwali, the occasion of good winning over evil! Cheers all!

 

[Vinidra]

Happy Diwali, everyone!

 

[Aupmanyav]

 

[Aupmanyav]

Participated in the puja. Told my daughter in law that in 15 years, she will be conducting the puja with her two daughters in laws.
The younger one is 12, so in 15 years, he will be 27 and probably married.
Old go, new ones come.

 

[ajay0]

I consider the act of lighting lamps in Diwali as a metaphor for lighting the lamp of self-awareness within oneself.

Being self-aware enables one to realise our present defects and vices, and replace them with virtues and correct actions.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Today, Annakoot - Annual lunch at in-law's place, with a veg preparation of 25-30 vegetables (all mixed together) with puris. Very delicious. Dinner with some 35 of our clan for Bhai Dooj (brother sister festival).

 

[The Crimson Universe]

Today, Annakoot - Annual lunch at in-law's place, with a veg preparation of 25-30 vegetables (all mixed together) with puris. Very delicious. Dinner with some 35 of our clan for Bhai Dooj (brother sister festival).

What's Annakoot?

 

[ameyAtmA]

What's Annakoot?

I explained it last year in Post #65

What is interesting is that many Krishna devotees observe Govardhan Puja but they do not know this native word Annakoot which is anna (food) + kuT = mixture, blended, broken and ground and mixed... etc.
The concept comes from 5 year old KRshNa's pioneer effort to share all picnic food this way -- collect all food from the gwal baals (cowherd boys) and mix it mash it into One.

 

[mangalavara]

This was my second Diwali. It was better than the first one, spiritually speaking. I did not do anything on the first day of Diwali this year because I had forgotten about the date. On the second day, which I personally observe as Yama Deepam, I had not yet received a small oil lamp that I had ordered, so I lit a red tealight in a small silver bowl and placed it in the southernmost part of my apartment: the kitchen. Simple homage was paid to Yama. Then, much śānti was unexpectedly felt in the apartment. The next morning, while it was still the second day of Diwali, I purchased a new set of pajamas and a box of masala chai on Coupang. (Actually finding masala chai in Korea was a 'Diwali miracle' for me. Lol.) Soon, on the third day of Diwali, Lakshmi Puja, I did puja for Lakshmi and Ganesha at night while wearing my best outfit. It involved offering mango candies to Ganesha, offering milk to Lakshmi, chanting the 108 names of Lakshmi, and doing arti for both deities. On the fourth day, Balipratipada, all I did was listen to an audio of the 1000 names of Vishnu. Nothing special was done on the fifth day of Diwali.