monkeyshines

by a Thinker, Sailor, Blogger, Irreverent Guy from Madras

Happy Deepavali 2017


Wish everyone a very happy Deepavali, and a prosperous year ahead.

diwali-doodle-2017

original image courtesy dreamstime.com
Read More

Saraswati Ayudha Pooja procedure in Tamil 2017


Tomorrow 29 Sep 2017 is the ninth day of Navratri or Dussehra, when the Tamil tradition is to assemble the books, and the working tools of the family, and do a pooja on them, for the knowledge, service, and wealth they have given over the days and will do so for the future.

It is also customary to leave the assemblage idle for the day, and commence the reading, working, only on the next day, the day of Vijayadashami, when another smaller pooja is done before starting the symbolic work.

On this Saraswati Pooja or Ayudha Pooja day of 2017, the optimum time to perform the pooja is between 06:00 to 09:00 IST.  The procedure in Tamil for the Saraswati Pooja or Ayudha Pooja is available as FREE PDF download, for ease of pooja.

saraswati-ayudha-pooja-Tamil-2017

The full Saraswaati Ayudha Pooja 2017 Tamil PDF can be downloaded from
------------------------
downloads page
------------------------
Tags: navratri, dussehra, ayudha pooja, saraswati pooja
Read More

Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rico


A merge of two graphics with additional inputs shows the extent of damage caused by Hurricane Maria to the US Island territory of Puerto Rico.  Even more funnier is the comments section in the CNN.  One idiot comments that let the fittest survive. Why did not the Puerto Ricans equip themselves with generators, and water purification plants/tablets.

The problem is the island is completely out of petrol or gas as the bubbas call it.  There is no petrol or diesel in the whole island for the consumers.  The ports are in disarray so import of fuel would take some time. Since there is no electricity, because of shortage of fuel, water pumping stations are down. And even if there is petrol in the underground tanks in petrol stations, it cannot be pumped for the same reason.

Since it is an island, supplies cannot be driven in, but either flown in – and the airport is a mess – or shipped in, which will take time.  BTW it is much the same in all the Caribbean islands affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, but I take the example of Puerto Rico, because it is one of the better economies, not solely dependent upon tourism, or offshore banking in the region.

puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-sep-2017

BTW the basic graphic is from Washington Post, with the additional information on flooding warning from NWS.

Read More

Navratri Nitya (daily) Pooja procedure in Tamil 2017


From day after tomorrow, 21 Sep 2017, the Navratri (நவராத்திரி) or Dussehra (தசரா) festival commences.  Navratri is divided into sets of three days to adore three different aspects of the supreme goddess.

Traditionally (in Tamil) the goddess is worshipped as Durga during the first 3 days, as Lakshmi during the middle three and as Saraswati during the final 3 days.  The 10th day - Vijaya Dashami - literally the tenth day of Victory is celebrated as the day when the goddess killed the demon Mahishasura.

The ninth day of Navratri is celebrated as Saraswati Pooja or Ayudha Pooja, as has become (expected ?) the practice, we will upload the full Saraswati Pooja or Ayudha Pooja on 29 Sep 2017 procedure in Tamil within the next few days.  And this year, we will add the punar pooja to be done on Vijayadashami day 30 Sep 2017 too.
This year we have added two more free PDF downloads,
  • one of which specifies the particular flowers for pooja and Carnatic raga to be performed on each of the 10 days
  • the second specifies the particular neivedhyams and sundal to be preferable made on each of the 10 days
The download links for those will be posted shortly.
Meanwhile, here is Nitya Pooja or daily pooja procedure for the 8 days.  As usual it is uploaded as a Navrathri Nitya Pooja procedure in Tamil for free PDF download.
Here is the snapshot of the page displaying the thithi, varam, and nakshatra for each of the 10 days.
navratri-dussehra-nitya-pooja

The full Navrathri Nitya Pooja 2017 Tamil PDF can be downloaded from
------------------------
downloads page
------------------------
Read More

Mahalaya Amavasya Tharpana Sankalpam Tool 2017


Tomorrow, 19 Sep 2017 is one of the most important Amavasya or New Moon days of the Hindu calendar.  Even those who do not observe the ancestral worship on normal Amavasya or start of months do observe the Mahalaya Amavasya.

The much neglected Amavasya Tharpana Sankalpam generation Tool has been updated to version 0.9 beta.  The tool now has the option to select the Sankalpam in either Tamil, Sanskrit or English (IAST) scripts.

The Amavasya Tharpana Sankalpam generation Tool will be further updated to include other options like modifications for Mother Alive, Yajur, Rig, Sama vedis, and Vadakalai and Thengalai in further editions, which we aim to complete within Oct 2017.

For the moment here is the snapshot of all the Amavasya Tharpana Sankalpams in 3 languages.

mahalaya-amavasya-2017

If you liked this, please share with a TWEET

Mahalaya Amavasya Tharpanam Sankalpam Tool can be accessed on line at

----------------------------

Downloads page

----------------------------

Read More

Mahalaya Gajachaya Tharpanam in Tamil




This year, the Mahalaya Amavasya falls on 19 Sep 2017.  What many do NOT know is that unless one performs the Mahalaya ‘paksha’ Tharpanam for all the 15 or 16 days, one shpuld NOT perform the Mahalaya Amavasya tharpanam on the Amavasya day.  Instead they should do the normal tharpanam'.  Persons who do the Mahalaya Tharpanam in 2017 on one single day can do it on

  • their father’s thithi
  • the ‘mahabharani’ or when the star of the day is Bharani (10 Sep 2017)
  • the ‘madyashtami’ or when the ashtami thiti occurs (13 Sep 2017)
  • the ‘mahavyadheepadam’ which occured on Thursday (14 Sep 2017) &
  • the ‘Gajachaya’ day which occurs tomorrow, Sunday (17 Sep 2017)

Hence we have put together the Mahalaya Tharpanam for Gajachaya day, that is 17 Sep 2017, and uploaded it yesterday.


As usual, it is a Free PDF download, of Mahalaya Tharpanam in Tamil 2017, and avilable at the


------------------


Downloads page


------------------




mahalaya-tharpanam-2017

Read More

Support - Donate

Your Blog is

Donate thro ECWID

Contact Form