The Alvars (pronounced 'aalvaars', and also spelt as 'azhvars' and pronounced 'aazhvaars') are Hindu saint-mystics of antiquity, followers of Lord Vishnu. There were twelve of them. They sang in praise of Lord Vishnu. While the Alvars are devotees of Vishnu, the Nayanmars, (pronounced 'naayanmaars') are devotees of Siva. Alvars - Imperishable legacy. The twelve Alvars and sixty-three Nayanmars, the last of whom lived in the 9th century AD – were all inspired and ardent devotees who transmitted their divin ...

Including:

• Alvars - Imperishable legacy
• Alvars - The Vedas in Tamil
• Alvars - Tiruppaavai
• Alvars - The remaining Azhvars
• Alvars - Renaissance of Bhakti
• Alvars - External link

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A Brahmin (pronunciation is Brahmann) is a member of the Hindu priestly caste. The word is related to, but not to be confused with, the Hindu religious conception of the transcendent and immanent supreme soul, "Brahman". The word Brahmin is said to literally mean One who has realised or attempts to realise Brahman. The traditional duties of this caste include studying Hindu religious scriptures of Vedas and preserving them in memory and transmitting them orally to the next generation. Additionally, they were also ...

Including:

• Brahmin - Other meanings

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Shruti Vedas Rig Veda Sama Veda Yajur Veda Atharva Veda Brahmanas Aranyakas Upanishads Smriti Itihāsas Mahābhārata Bhagavad Gītā Ramayana Puranas (List) Tantras Sutras (List) Stotras Ashtavakra GitaIncluding:

• Bhagavata purana - Significance
• Bhagavata purana - History
• Bhagavata purana - Translations

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A Jyotirling or Jyotirlinga or Jyotirlingam is a shrine where the Hindu God Shiva is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam or "Linga of light." There are traditionally twelve Jyotirlinga shrines in India. Jyotirling - The twelve Jyotirlingas. Somnath is the foremost of the 12 Jyotirlinga Shrines of Shiva, held in reverence throughout India and is rich in legend, traditions and history. It is located at Prabhas Patan in Saurashtra in Gujarat. Dwarka in Gujarat i ...

Including:

• Jyotirling - The twelve Jyotirlingas

Read more here: » Jyotirling: Encyclopedia - Jyotirling

The Satya Yuga, also called Sat Yuga, Krta Yuga and Krita Yuga in Hinduism, is the "Yuga (Age or Era) of Truth", when humankind is governed by gods, and every manifestation or work is close to the purest ideal and mankind will allow intrinsic goodness to rule supreme. It is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age." Satya Yuga - The cycle. The yugas are said to succeed each other almost endlessly. After the perfect Satya Yuga, a decline marks the Treta Yuga. Further declin ...

Including:

• Satya Yuga - The cycle
• Satya Yuga - The Satya Yuga according to some holy texts
• Satya Yuga - In Ayyavazhi

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Virashaivism is a religious movement of Hinduism in India. The adherents are known as Veerashaivas, or more commonly Lingayats. This important sect of Hinduism represents a reform movement attributed to Basavanna in the 12th century. Basavanna lived and taught in what is now Karnataka State. Some believers believe that Basavanna is an incarnation of Nandi, Shiva's greatest devotee. Nandi serv ...

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Dhristadyumna was the son of Drupada and brother of Draupadi and Shikhandi in the classic epic Mahabharata. He is appointed Commander of the Pandava Army, and is responsible for the killing of Drona. Dhristadyumna - Birth. The king of the Panchalas, Drupada undertakes a putrakami yagna, a sacrifice to please the Gods and obtain offspring by their blessing. Drupada desires a son who can kill Drona, the Kuru martial guru who had humiliated him in battle and taken half his kingdom, even though it was Dr ...

Including:

• Dhristadyumna - Birth
• Dhristadyumna - In the War
• Dhristadyumna - Killing Drona
• Dhristadyumna - Death

Read more here: » Dhristadyumna: Encyclopedia - Dhristadyumna

In Hinduism, diksha is the ritual of initiation into the worship of some deity by a guru (diksha guru) who bestows mantra(s) and takes the karma of the initiate - at least in case of Vaishnava diksha, as per Hari Bhakti Vilasa 1.70: raji catmatyaja dosah patni-papam sva-bhartari tatha sisyartjitam papam guruh prapnoti niscita "The faults of the counselor fall on the king, and the sins of a wife fall on her husband. In the same way a spiritual master attains the sins of his disciple. That is certain." Diksha primarily means a transfer of spir ...

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Swami Chinmayananda (स्‍वामी चिन्‍मयानन्‍द) (May 8, 1916 - Aug 3, 1993) was born Balakrishna Menon (Balan) in Ernakulam, Kerala in a very devout Hindu family. Graduating from Lucknow University, he entered the field of journalism where he felt he could influence political, economic and social reform in India. But his life was changed when he met Swami Sivananda at Rishikesh and ...

Including:

• Chinmayananda - Related links

Read more here: » Chinmayananda: Encyclopedia - Chinmayananda

Harihara is a term used to denote the unity of Vishnu and Shiva as one and the same with Hari being the name of Vishnu and Hara that of Shiva. This is a popular concept, especially among those trying to bridge the gaps between Shaivism and Vaishnavism. Smartism holds this concept as a tenet. There is scriptural support for those assertions as both the Shri Rudram and Vishnu sahasranama indicate that Vishnu and Shiva are one. As Swami Sivananda discussed, in his book, All about Hinduism, " A bigoted Virasaivite ent ...

Including:

• Harihara - Geography

Read more here: » Harihara: Encyclopedia - Harihara

Nirguna Brahman, stresses the Ultimate Truth which exists and pervades through the Universe. It is considered without any form in Advaita and without material form in Dvaita schools of philosophy. In either case, it is considered beyond sensory and mental comprehension of humans. Advaita philosophers say that for human eyes Nirguna Brahman is viewed as Saguna Brahman, or Brahman with personal attributes, and is c ...

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Patañjali (Devanāgarī पतञ्जलि) is the compiler of the Yoga Sutra, a major work containing aphorisms on the practical and philosophical wisdom regarding practice of Raja Yoga. ("Yoga" in traditional Hinduism involves inner contemplation, a rigorous system meditation practice, ethics, metaphysics, and devotion to the one common soul, God, or Brahman/Atman.) Virtually nothing is known about the life of Patañjali, and some scholars believe he is entirely mythical. Various references suggest he lived between ...

Including:

• Patañjali - Yoga Sutras of Patañjali
• Patañjali - The Mahābhāṣya

Read more here: » Patañjali: Encyclopedia - Patañjali

A Mandir is a Hindu temple. It is usually dedicated to a primary deity, called the presiding deity, and other deities associated with the main deity. (In the US though, most mandirs are dedicated to multiple deities.) Most practising Hindus maintain a mandir in their homes for daily worship and meditation. Mandir - Prana Pratishta. Prana Pratishta is the ceremony to invoke the divine spirit/energy into the statue made in God's form. Once this ceremony has been performed the murti (or 'icon' NOT 'idol ...

Including:

• Mandir - Prana Pratishta
• Mandir - Elements of Worship
• Mandir - Mandir Construction
• Mandir - Basic norms to be followed in a mandir
• Mandir - Local village deities and temples
• Mandir - Management

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In Hinduism, a Rishi (ṛṣi) is a sage and/or seer who "heard" (cf. shruti) the hymns of the Vedas from the Supreme Being Brahman while he was in deep meditation. A rishi can be regarded as a combination of a patriarch, a priest, a preceptor, an author of Vedic hymns, a sage, a saint, an ascetic, ...

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In Hinduism, Prajapati is Lord of Creatures, thought to be depicted on ancient Harappan seals, sitting in yogic posture, with an erection and what appear to be bison horns. Like the Biblical Adam, he is in close communication with Nature and Nature revolves around him. In the Vedas, Prajapati is the name of God as the sustainer of all beings. This would identify him with the later Hindu god Vishnu. Prajapati has also been associated with the non-Aryan Shiva. The presence of hundreds of what appear to be shivalinga discov ...

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In North india, most Aarthis follow the format of 'Om Jai Jagadeesahare' meaning ' Hail Protector of the Universe'. This Aarthi is often ascribed to Lord Vishnu. Several other Aarathis are ascribed to other deities. They are very popular and used in worships, festivals and even in Bollywood. What makes them so unique is the universal theme in the prayers as well as simple lyrics in Hindi Aarti performed at South Indian Temples mostly follows the above mentioned fashion only that it is more elaborate in the way it is p ...

See also:

Aarti, Aarti - Aarti in Hindu temples, Aarti - Aarti Lyrics, Aarti - Aarti in South Indian temples

Read more here: » Aarti: Encyclopedia II - Aarti - Aarti in South Indian temples

Professor Eileen Barker refers for more information about the DLM to an article by the student Wim Haan in the Dutch version of her book Introduction new religious movements. In that article that appeared in the official magazine of the Vrije Universiteit about religious movements, Haan writes that the DLM hardly had a philosophical background and that its central items of faith were summarized in its aarti song. 5 text of the song. Haan wrote this article while he was a student of theology at a Pastoral and Theology school ...

See also:

Divine Light Mission, Divine Light Mission - Mission's succession rift, Divine Light Mission - Hindu traditions in the DLM outside India, Divine Light Mission - Beliefs practices and behavioral standards outside India, Divine Light Mission - Millennium festival in the Houston Astrodome, Divine Light Mission - Psychological changes in students outside India, Divine Light Mission - Bibliography

Read more here: » Divine Light Mission: Encyclopedia II - Divine Light Mission - Hindu traditions in the DLM outside India

Uraeus [from Greek ouraios of the tail]

Refers to the sacred serpent of Egypt (aar, aart, aartu in Egyptian); usually only the head and neck of the serpent are represented by the ancient Egyptians in the headdress of many divinities, and in the headdress of royal persons as a symbol of power, both occult and temporal. Egyptologists state that the physical basis of the symbol is supposed to be the Egyptian asp or cobra -- Naja haje, naja being closely akin to the Sanskrit naga: "Occultism explains that the uraeus is the symbol of initiation and also of hidden wisdom, as the serpent always is" (TG 355). Generally, the representation of the sacred uraeus in headdresses -- before the symbol became degraded into a mere ritualistic, formalistic emblem -- meant that the individual wearing it had become an initiate and bore the badge of wisdom. Two deities in particular were always represented with the uraeus, Isis and Nephthys (Neith), therefore they were termed by the Egyptians snake goddesses (aarti). The uraeus crown itself was named tept.

Sometimes the uraeus is represented with a circle over its head, and again with the winged solar disk, a variant of the serpent and egg symbol met with in so many forms among ancient peoples. Egyptologists interpret the uraeus placed on either side of the winged solar disk as emblematic of the supremacy of the sun, of good over evil, or of Horus over Set; but also the uraeus is associated with the immortal human principles, for one of its identities in The Book of the Dead is the flame. In Aanroo or Aaru -- one of the divisions of the underworld -- the soul of the spirit is devoured after death by the uraeus (ch 99). Blavatsky in explaining this verse speaks of the uraeus as "the Serpent, Son of the earth (in another sense the primordial vital principles in the sun)," and says further that "the Astral body of the deceased or the 'Elementary' fades out and disappears in the 'Son of the earth,' limited time. The soul quits the fields of Aanroo and goes on earth under any shape it likes to assume" (SD 1:674n).

In its universal aspect the uraeus is the serpent emblem of the cosmic fire -- thus, in its universal aspect, being a symbol either of kosmic mahat (kosmic mind) or of fohat (kosmic vital-electrical fire).

(See also: Uraeus, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

The date of Diwali is based on the Hindu calendar, which has solar sidereal years and lunar months. It falls in the month of Kartika according to the Purnimanta calendar (Northern India): कृष्ण कार्तिक पक्षस्य चर्तुदश्याम् निशात्यये - (Uttara Purana) and in Ashwayuja, according to the Amanta calendar. Further informa ...

See also:

Diwali, Diwali - Date, Diwali - Significance in Hinduism, Diwali - The Five days of Diwali, Diwali - First day, Diwali - Second day, Diwali - Third day actual day of Diwali, Diwali - Fourth day, Diwali - Fifth day, Diwali - Diwali in Sikhism, Diwali - Diwali in Jainism, Diwali - Diwali in other parts of the world, Diwali - Notes

Read more here: » Diwali: Encyclopedia II - Diwali - Date

Khatu town is situated in the Sikar Dist., Rajasthan, India. Shyamji's temple, constructed of the famous Makrana marble, lies in the heart of the town. Shyamji is considered to be the God of the Kaliyuga. Shyamji is synonymous with Krishna and thus, he is worshipped in the same form also. Khatushyamji - Nearest Places. P.O.: Khatu Shyamji, District: Sikar, State: Rajasthan, Khatu: 17 km from Ringas. Ringas: 63 km from Jaipur on Jaipur-Sikar highway. See also:

Khatushyamji, Khatushyamji - Introduction, Khatushyamji - Some popular names, Khatushyamji - Location, Khatushyamji - Nearest Places, Khatushyamji - In and around the temple, Khatushyamji - Brief of the deity, Khatushyamji - Architecture of the temple, Khatushyamji - Important architectural characteristics, Khatushyamji - Religious aspects of temple, Khatushyamji - Unique features of the temple, Khatushyamji - Temple timings, Khatushyamji - Around the temple, Khatushyamji - Festivals, Khatushyamji - Ekadashi / Dwadashi, Khatushyamji - Shri Shyam Stuffs, Khatushyamji - Devotees, Khatushyamji - Singers

Read more here: » Khatushyamji: Encyclopedia II - Khatushyamji - Location

Shri Shyam Vinati - English Version. Haath Jod Vinati Karoon, Sunajyo Chitta Lagaay| Daas Aa Gayo Sharan Mein, Rakhiyo Isaki Laaj|| Dhanya Dhundharo Desh Hai, Khatu Nagar Sujaan| Anupam Chhavi Shri Shyam Ki, Darshn Se Kalyaan|| Shyam Shyam To Main Ratoon, Shyam Hai Jeevan Praan| Shyam Bhakta Jag Mein Bade, Unako Karoon Pranaam|| Khatu Nagar Ke Beech Mein, Banyo Aapko Dhaam| Fagoon Shukla Mela Bhare, Jai Jai Baba Shyam|| Fagoon Shukla Dwadashi, Utsav Bhari Hoy| Baba Ke Darbaar Se Khaali Jaay Na Koy||See also:

Shri Shyam Vinati, Shri Shyam Vinati - Introduction, Shri Shyam Vinati - Request, Shri Shyam Vinati - English Version, Shri Shyam Vinati - Hindi Version, Shri Shyam Vinati - Translation

Read more here: » Shri Shyam Vinati: Encyclopedia II - Shri Shyam Vinati - Request

There are millions of devotees who worship Shyamji throughout the world. A great number have devoted their whole life to the cause. Their devotion being so divine and pure, that they themselves have been considered as cult figures and are worshipped too. Some of his devotees who have devoted their lives in the name of Shyam Baba are : Lt. Shree Shyam Bahadurji Lt. Shree Alu Singhji Lt. Shree Shiv Charanji Bhimrajka Lt. Shree Sanwalramji Lt. Shree Manglaramji Lt. Shree Matriduttji. Shree Chandraji Sharma The list is endless and we hope that more an ...

See also:

Khatushyamji, Khatushyamji - Introduction, Khatushyamji - Some popular names, Khatushyamji - Location, Khatushyamji - Nearest Places, Khatushyamji - In and around the temple, Khatushyamji - Brief of the deity, Khatushyamji - Architecture of the temple, Khatushyamji - Important architectural characteristics, Khatushyamji - Religious aspects of temple, Khatushyamji - Unique features of the temple, Khatushyamji - Temple timings, Khatushyamji - Around the temple, Khatushyamji - Festivals, Khatushyamji - Ekadashi / Dwadashi, Khatushyamji - Shri Shyam Stuffs, Khatushyamji - Devotees, Khatushyamji - Singers

Read more here: » Khatushyamji: Encyclopedia II - Khatushyamji - Devotees