Vishu

Vishu Festival heralds the beginning of Malayalese New Year and is celebrated in a big way in the state of Kerala and the adjoining areas of Tamil Nadu. Vishu falls on the first day in the Malayalam month of Medam. As per the Gregorian Calendar Vishu falls on the 14 April, the same day when Punjab celebrates Baisakhi, Tamil Nadu celebrates Puthandu, Assam celebrates Ronagali Bihu and Bengal celebrates Naba Barsha. Auspicious day of Vishu marks the Sun's transit to the zodiac Mesha Raasi as per Indian astrological calculations. Although Vishu (first of Medam) is the astronomical new year day of Kerala, the official Malayalam new year falls on the first month of Chingam (August - September).
Vishu Traditions and Customs :
Traditional people of Kerala celebrated Vishu with lot of joy and mirth. One very interesting custom of Vishu is Vishukani or Kani Kanal (first sight). Under this tradition there is a prescribed list of items that people see first thing on a Vishu morning. The custom stems from the strong belief of the people of Kerala that good things seen on the New Year day brings good luck for the entire year. Ladies of the house make preparation for Vishukani on a previous night. They would keep prescribed items including a cadjan leaf book, gold ornaments, fresh white cloth, a measure of rice or paddy, flowers of the Konna tree (Cussia fistula), halved jack fruits, halved coconuts and yellow cucumber in a big pot (Uruli). Behind this pot is kept the bell metal mirror and a garlanded deity of Lord Krishna. Two standing oil lamps are also placed before the deity. Master of the house is the first person to take a look at auspicious things. Children are brought blind folded from their rooms to watch Vishukani. Many people in Kerala prefer to perform Vishukani in temples. Vishukani is offered to Gods and is later distributed amongst poor and needy.
Vishu Kaineetam :
Children wait eagerly for this ritual. The elders of the family starting with the grand father or father give away Kaineetam to the younger ones. The Kaineetam consists of coins , rice and the gold from the Uruli. The gold and the rice are returned to the Uruli and touch the eyes with flower. Earlier days, it was a custom to give Kaineetam to all the people associated with the house such as servants, field workers and land-tenants. The principle is the symbolic sharing of the prosperity and wishing happiness for all.
Vishu Celebrations :
To celebrate the auspicious festival of Pooram Vishu people of Kerala wear kodi vastram (new clothes). People sing, dance and make merry. Patassu (firecrackers) are also burst to mark the New Year day. Another attractive feature of the festival is the grand sadya (feast) prepared by the ladies of the house. Special dishes are prepared using jackfruits, mangoes, pumpkins and gourd besides other seasonal vegetables and fruits. Characteristic feature of a Vishu meal is that the food items consist of roughly equal proportions of salty, sweet, sour and bitter items. Popular feast dishes include ‘Veppampoorasam' (a bitter preparation of neem) and ‘Mampazhapachadi' (a sour mango soup).
TO see the Photo of Vishu Kani arrangement , check this link :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DSC087981.JPG
Source : Wikipedia

Kukke Subramanya Temple

Kukke Subrahmanya is a Hindu temple located amidst hills of western ghats , small, rural village of Subramanya in the Sullia taluk of Karnataka, and is about 100 km. far from the Mangalore city. In the past the Subramanya used to be recognized as Kukke Pattana. This temple is one of the pristine pilgrimage locations in India. Here the God - Lord Subrahmanya is worshipped for his divine power as a divine serpent. The epics relate that the divine serpent Vasuki and other serpents found safety under Lord Subrahmanya when aprehended by Garuda.
Kukke Subrahmanya is situated on the banks of river Dhara, which originates in the Kumara Parvatha (mountain) and proceeds towards western sea. It is also called as 'Kumaradhara River'.The Subrahmanya temple is situated in the heart of this village.
According to Hindu Mythology :
Lord Kumaraswamy came to this place after killing the demon rulers Taraka, Shoorapadmasura and others in a war; and Lord washed his Shakti Ayudha (a battle-axe in the shape of a bayonet) in this river. From this onwards the river is famous as Kumaradhara. After his battle with the demons Lord Kumaraswamy came to the top of Kumara Parvatha along with his brothers Lord Ganesha, Veerabahu and other aides. He was received by Lord Indra along with other Gods; pleased by the success of the war Indra prayed the Lord to be kind enough to marry his daughter Devasena. This was agreed upon courteously and the marriage took place on the banks of Kumaradhara on 'Margashira Shudda Shashti'. Lord Kumaraswamy also gave darshan to Vasuki the head of nagas, who was making a penance here.Vasuki prayed to the Lord to stay along with him permanently at this place and the Lord granted him this boon. From that time it is believed that the Lord has made his spiritual presence in this shrine along with his wife Devasena and Vasuki.
Temple :
Pilgrims going to the Temple have to cross the Kumaradhara River, taking a holy bath in it before they go on to the temple to have darshan. The devotees enter the courtyard from behind and walk around to go before the idol. There is Garuda pillar covered with silver between the sanctuary and the portico entrance. It is believed that the pillar was charmed and planted there to shield the devotees from the poison flames streaming from the breath of Vasuki who resides inside. Devotees circle the pillar. Beyond the pillar is the outer hall and then the inner hall and after that the sanctuary of Sri Subrahmanya. In the center of sanctuary is a pedestal. On the upper dais stands the idol of Sri Subrahmanya and then the idol of Vasuki and somewhat lower the idol of Shesha. Devotions to these deities take place daily.
Legend of Subrahmanya swamy:
The Skanda purana narrates that Lord shiva was married to Dakshayini (also known as Sati), the daughter of Daksha. Daksha never liked Shiva and insults Shiva in front of Dakshayini in a Yagna. Unable to bear this insult, Sati immolated herself. Shiva unleashed his fury at the death of his wife by performing the Taandav Nrithya (a violent dance). He wiped out Daksha's kingdom, undertook penance and retired to the Himalayas.Tarakasura, the demon king believes that, since Shiva was an ascetic and his earlier marriage was itself conducted with great difficulty, his remarriage was out of the question, hence his boon of being killed by Shiva's son alone would give him invincibility.The same Sati was reborn in the house of Himalaya as Parvathi (daughter of parvatha) and performed a great penance to propitiate Shiva. But lord Shiva was in a rigorous penance and even the immaculate beauty of Parvathi cannot wake up Shiva from his penance. Devas devised a plan to wake up Shiva and approached Manmatha, the god of love to execute their plan. All gods arrived to the place where Shiva is performing penance, Parvathi too arrived.Manmatha awakened Shiva from his penance, incurring his wrath by opening his third eye of destruction, and being destroyed & resurrected. Lord Shiva married Parvathi, after Parvathi pleased Shiva by performing severe penance.Though divine being free from the cycle of birth, the newly wedded couple spent a thousand divine years in marital bliss, unaware of the desire of the gods. Then all gods sent the Agni (fire god) who appeared as a dove in the bed chamber of Lord Shiva. Realizing his reason Lord Shiva gave him a part of his energy. Finding the charge intolerable, Agni deva gave it in turn to Ganga who too felt its burning effects soon and she places it on a bamboo shrub. The nucleus thus placed, took a form of male baby (Gangeya) with six faces, thus the baby is called 'Shanmukha'. Shanmukha was first spotted and cared (by feeding him) by six women (Kruthikeyaru), thus Shamukha is called as Karthikeya. As he was born in forest (vana) on reeds (Shara), so he is also called as 'Sharavanabhava'. Lord Shiva and Parvathi takes Karthikeya to devaloka called him by the following names according to the incidents of his baby hood: Shanmuka, Agneya, Gangasuta (son of Ganga), Sharavanabhava, Karthikeya and Parvathinandana (son of Parvathi).Karthikeya was taught archery and Goddess Parvathi presented him with a weapon, thus Karthikeya also called as Velayudha. He was made as Devasenapati (lord of army of devas). Karthikeya destroys Tarakasura. As this youthful saviour he is called Kumara swamy.
Sarpa Samskara / Sarpa Dosha :
Sarpa Samskara/Sarpa Dosha is one of the poojas performed at this temple by devotees to get rid of the sarpa dosha (according to belief, a person either in this birth or any of his previous births can be afflicted by the sarpa (serpent) dosha (curse) either knowingly or un-knowingly through many ways). Persons who are afflicted with this dosha are advised by the astrologers /horoscope writers to perform this pooja for their well being. Pooja can be done either by the person afflicted if he is a male and married, or through a priest. This is because the pooja involves rituals similar to the ones done in performing shrartham (death rites). Sarpa Samskara seva devotees are required to stay for two days. The seva occurs in the day time with no particular poojas in the evening. Food arrangements will be provided to the said devotees by the temple devastanam, for four persons only per seva . Due to the wide belief in the snake god in the coastal regions of Karnataka and Kerala, this pooja is performed by people from all faiths.
Source : wikipedia & http://www.karnatakavision.com/kukke-subrahmanya-temple.php
(Thanks Padma for collecting points to this topic)

Goddess Anapoorani

Annapoorna is the Hindu Goddess of nourishment. She is the consort of Shiva. Anna means food and grains. Purna means full, complete and perfect. Annapurna is the respected Supreme Goddess who is full, complete and perfect in food and grains. She is the symbol for the One who grants nourishment on every level. Annapoorna is Kasi's queen , the Supreme Goddess of the city of Kasi (now known as Varanasi, U.P., India). Kasi is the City of Light. Ka means the cause, a means the manifestation of consciousness, sa means peace and I is the causal body. Kasi is also the place which causes consciousness to manifest the highest peace of the causal body. She is known in the Kasi Khanda as Bhavani, the female shakti of Bhava, "Being," one of the names of Shiva. She is called the "Mother of the Three Worlds,"

Iconography :

Physically, Goddess Annapurna is described as holding a golden ladle adorned with various kinds of jewels in her right hand and a vessel full of delicious porridge in her left. She is seated on a throne and in some depictions Lord Shiva is shown standing to her right with a begging bowl begging her for alms . It is said that she does not eat a morsel unless all her devotees have been fed in her temple.

Evolution and Legends :
Once Shiva told his consort Parvati that the world is an illusion and that even food is just part of this illusion (Maya). The Divine Mother who is worshipped as the manifestation of all material things, including food, became angry. To demonstrate the importance of her manifestation of all that is material she disappeared from the world. Her disappearance brought time to a standstill and the earth became barren. There was no food to be found anywhere and all the beings suffered from the pangs of hunger. Seeing all the suffering, Mother Parvati was filled with compassion and reappeared in Kasi and set up a Kitchen. Hearing about her return, Shiva ran to her and presented his bowl in alms saying, "Now I realise that the material world, like the spirit, cannot be dismissed as an illusion." Parvati smiled and fed Shiva with her own hands. Since then Parvati is worshipped as Annapurna, the Goddess of Nourishment.

Another legend says :

When Vishnu adopted the Vamana avatar, the sky provided him the umbrella, Kubera provided him the bowl and Goddess Annapoorna, the gracious hostess herself, offered bhiksha to Him. The idol of Annapoorna always has a small vessel/ladle containing Annam (food) signifying that the

worshipper is assured of food throughout his/her life time.

The other legend is as follows :

The origin of Goddess Annapurna is related to the mythological tale of Lord Brahma and Vishnu being worried about the extinction of food from earth resulting in perishing of many human beings. These gods pleaded to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva made an agreement with Goddess Annapoorna that she look after life before death, ensuring that no one went hungry in the sacred city of Kasi, while he would ensure they received moksha (freedom from the cycle of birth & death).

Worship :

Annapurna Puja is dedicated to Goddess Annapurna and is a major ritual in eastern parts of India, especially in West Bengal. The puja is mainly performed by women and it is dedicated to Goddess Annapurna an aspect of Parvati, which nourishes the world through food. It is observed during the waxing phase of moon (Shukla Paksha) in Chaitra month as per Bengali calendar. In 2009, the date of Annapurna Puja is April 3.

Annapurna Jayanti is a festival dedicated to Goddess Annapurna . It is observed in North India , on the full moon day , in the Margashirsh Month (December).

Annapurna has many names. The Annapurna Sahasranam presents her one thousand names and the Annapurna Shatanama Stotram contains 108 of her names. Sri Annapurna Ashtakam composed by Shankaracharya is chanted by several devout Hindus around the world as a prayer for nourishment, wisdom, and renunciation. Before partaking of any food, Hindus chant the following prayer:

"Annapoorne sada poorne sankara prana vallabhe Gnana vairakya sowbagya sidhyartham biksham dehicha parvathi"

Meaning :

“Oh Annapurna, who is always full, complete, and perfect. Beloved energy of Lord Shiva, for the attainment of perfection in wisdom and renunciation, give me alms, Parvati. "

She is variously described as:

• She who is full, complete and perfect with food and grains
• She who gives nourishment
• She who is the strength of Shiva
• She who is the grantor of knowledge
• She who takes away all fear
• She who is the Supreme welfare
• She who manifests truth and efficiency
• She who is beyond Maya
• She who is the cause of creation and dissolution

Temples :
The most well-known temple dedicated to Goddess Annapurna is in Varanasi, U.P., India. Adjacent to the Sanctum of the Goddess is the Kasi Viswanath temple. The two are separated only by a few yards. In the temple, at noon time, food offerings to the Goddess are distributed to the elderly and disabled daily. During the Autumn Navaratri food is distributed on a larger scale.
Source : wikipedia , http://www.festivalsinindia.net/