Waiting for a blessing

When was the last time that you went to a temple?
When was the last time that you went to a Church?
When was the last time that you went to a Maszid?

When was the last time that you said "I love you " to your wife
When was the last time you kissed your daughter love with than with a habit of doing so?
When was that you sat beside your parents, held their hand and said "Thanks for bringing me up"?
When was the last time that your whole family sat together for dinner?

When was the last time that you took a check at your child's report card?
When was the last time that you brought the sweet that your mother loved a lot?
When was the last time that you went to your brother/sister's house ?
when was the last time that your brother/sister's visited your house ?

You are still thinking and trying to recollect the answers for the above questions!!!
Life is small and life keeps us busy making us run after the money to stay happy when we become old.
But we all are missing the actual essence of life, and the truth that every moment is to be enjoyed

Cheer yourself and come on enjoy the life to the fullest.
Pray the almighty to bless us all with the energy and time and bless us all with wonderful moments which help us to keep ourselves active

Hyderabad Bloggers meet

Hi Friends, There is a bloggers meet for the Hyderabad Bloggers on 13-Mar-2010. This is being organised by one of my friend

Mail us at theindianlifestyle@gmail.com to join us for the meet

God of the Week : Sun

Almost all of the early civilizations in the world had the Sun as the God.
They all believed that Sun is the eternal truth and his(and in some regions it is her) power lead the universe and all other creatures.

So let us know some facts and forms in which the Sun is called and named across all the civilizations.

Aditya or the Sun God according to the Hindu religion

Sun God at the Konarak temple in Orissa

In the Sanskrit Vedas, numerous hymns are dedicated to Surya/Mitra dev, the Sun personified, and Savitr, "the impeller", a solar deity either identified with or associated with Surya.

Even the Gayatri mantra, which is regarded as one of the most sacred of the Hindu hymns is dedicated to the Sun. The Adityas are a group of solar deities, from the Brahmana period numbering twelve. The ritual of sandhyavandanam, performed by some Hindus, is an elaborate set of hand gestures and body movements, designed to greet and revere the Sun.

Statue of Hathor - Luxor Museum

Wall hanging representation of Sun God according to the Hindu religion

The Sun God in Hinduism is an ancient deity, worthy of immense worship. The Sun is referred to in Sanskrit as "Mitra" or "Friend" down to the invariable warmth, life-giving nature and optimism its light brings to mankind. He is called "Prati-Aksh Devta" meaning "The Seen Divinity" and worthy of much worship and reverence.

The famous Wheel of the Aditya Rath at the Sun temple in Orissa

The Mahabharata describes one of its warrior heroes Karna as being the son of the righteous queen Kunti and the Sun. The Ramayana has its protagonist Rama as being descended from the Surya Vansh or the clan of kings as bright as the Sun.

The Sun God is said to married to the beautiful goddess Ranaadeh, also known as Sanjnya. She is depicted in dual form ("jor"), being both sunlight and shadow, personified. The goddess is revered heavily in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The charioteer of Surya is Arun, who is also personified as the redness that accompanies the sunlight in dawn and dusk.

Tonatiuh as depicted in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis.

The winged sun was an ancient (3rd millennium BC) symbol of Horus, later identified with Ra

In India, at Konark, a town in Orissa, a temple is dedicated to Surya. The Konark temple has also been declared a UNESCO world heritage site. Surya is the most prominent of the navagrahas or nine celestial objects of the Hindus. Navagrahas can be found in almost all Hindu temples. There are further temples dedicated to Surya, one in Arasavilli, Srikakulam District in AndhraPradesh, one in Gujarat and another in Rajasthan. The temple at Arasavilli was constructed in such a way that on the day of Radhasaptami, the sun's rays directly fall on the feet of the Sri Suryanarayana Swami, the deity at the temple.

The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is believed to be a sculpture illustrating the sun, an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology

Chhath (Hindi: छठ, also called Dala Chhath) is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity, unique to Bihar, Jharkhand and the Terai. This major festival is also celebrated in the northeast region of India, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Chhattisgarh.Hymns praying to the sun can be found in the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism. Practiced in different parts of India, the worship of the sun has been described in the Rigveda.

This months Festival : Diwali

This month's festival is Diwali. This is celebrated across India to mark the win of truth over darkness and bad.

Thus everyone light up their homes with Diyas and mark the day with the Lakshmi pooja. The festival of lights is celebrated for two days according to the Hindu calender.

The day before the Diwali is called the Naraka Chaturdasi, the day on which the Narakasura has been killed by Satyabhama the wife of Lord Krishna.
This festival is the 4th largest festival in India with most of the houses celebrating by acquiring not just new clothes but also many other new materials.
Generally all the homes believe in buying Gold, new automobiles, cell phones in trend with the new generation patterns.

A lot of sweets and hots are made at homes. Children buy crackers and blast them after the lakshmi pooja is done in the evening.

Krishna Floods and leaves thousands homeless

The heaviest flood in over a hundred years hit the Prakasam barrage on Krishna river threatening several villages downstream even as

people of Vijayawada city clung on to a faint hope on Monday.

The toll in the heavy rains and rampaging floods in the state rose to 52. The Krishna was all furious as a record 11.03 lakh cusecs of floodwater reached Prakasam barrage. However, there was no threat to human lives as 2.5 lakh people of Krishna and Guntur districts have already been shifted to relief camps.

The situation in lanka villages — island villages where the Krishna meets the Bay of Bengal — however was grim as more than 50,000 people were trapped in floodwaters. Many colonies along the left bank of the Krishna in Vijayawada city submerged as the water level touched 6 feet in the evening. "The situation will remain grim till Wednesday as the flood discharge at Prakasam barrage will continue to be around 11 lakh cusecs," an official said.

With nearly 11 lakh cusecs of water in the swollen Krishna cascading from the Prakasam barrage, there was a concern on the ability of the flood banks to withstand the fierce pounding by the swirling river. However, engineers have assured the public that the flood banks were designed to take 11 lakh cusecs of water and that they have strengthened the weak points in the flood banks. This is the heaviest flood in more than 106 years as the previous record was 10.30 lakh cusecs in 1903, irrigation authorities said.

The water level touched 21.9 feet as all the 72 sluice gates were lifted to let out the execess waters. The discharge from Nagarjunasagar is expected to remain constant (10.17 lakh cusecs) at least for the next 24 hours and the outflow from Prakasam barrage will be around 10.87 lakh cusecs. With the floods receding in Kurnool and Mahbubnagar, water management at Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar and Prakasam barrage are being done in tandem to minimise the losses downstream, irrigation officials said.

Indian Origins find New genes and Divide gets Smaller : CCMB

The Indian traditional habit of marrying within one's caste or community leads to genetic mutations, thus explaining why certain
diseases are concentrated only in a particular pocket of the population in India.


The research paper that restructures the Indian population history carries important findings that have medical implications. That many modern groups of people in India have descended from a small number of people is what scientists technically describe as a "founder event'' -- a rampant Indian practice of people marrying within small group of people.







Senior scientist with Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Kumarasamy Thangaraj says that because of this "high endogamy'' within the country, a practice that dates back to several thousand years, makes these pockets genetically unique. "Because of this, there may be mutation in the gene that leads to various diseases,'' Thangaraj says.


And thus recessive hereditary diseases (single gene disorders that occur when person carries two abnormal or malfunctioning copies of a disease causing gene) are seen among Indians who have descended from a small group of founder individuals. Thallasaemia is a case in point wherein a couple (both carriers) carrying one abnormal and normal gene each pass on the abnormal ones to the child.

Researchers say similar founder events seen in other groups, such as Finns and Ashkenazi Jews are well known to increase the incidence of recessive genetic diseases. The new study predicts that the same will be true for many groups in India. "Further studies of these groups should lead to the rapid discovery of genes that cause devastating diseases, and will help in the clinical care of individuals and their families who are at risk,'' said the study's co-author David Reich, an associate professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Researchers say there is a certain genetic mutation seen specifically in the Indian sub-continent alone, which they have been able to connect with the cardiac condition. "The study gives us an understanding why the incidence of cardiac disease is different in the Indian sub- continent from the rest of the world,'' says Thangaraj. He says there would be similar diseases that can be understood genetically.

Maharnavami : The 9th Day in Dasara

Maharnavami is the 9th day in the festival days of Dasara. This day along with Durgashtami and Vijayadasami are considered to be the most auspicious and most of the Dasara activities and special puja's are done.