Neha Mangal Mata Kushmanda is the fourth face of the Mother Goddess and is worshipped on the fourth day of Navratri. She possesses eight arms, holds weapons like trident, discus, sword, hook, mace, bow, arrow and two jars of Amrut (Elixir), blood and a mala. She mounts on a tiger and emanates a solar aura. […]Read More
Neha Mangal MAA CHANDRAGHANTA is the third form of Goddess Durga and is worshiped on the 3rd day in Navratri . Those who worship Devi Chandraghanta get eternal energy and strength. She is the Goddess of Manipura Chakra located at the Navel. Although Parvati was determined to have Lord Shiva as her husband, Shiva told […]Read More
Neha Mangal The 2nd day of Navratri is dedicated to Goddess Brahmacharini or Brahmacharini Maa, the second one shaped as Divine Maa Parvati. Brahma means penance and ‘Charini’ method whose achar (conduct) is that. So Maa Durga’s manifestation as the one who does penance or tapasya interprets as Brahmacharini Maa. Brahmacharini Maa is also referred […]Read More
Neha Mangal The nine-day festival of Shardiya Navratri is here and Maa Durga devotees are busy making preparations for fasting be it buying kalash for Ghatastapana. Navratri is celebrated in different ways across the country. The colourful and vibrant venues of Garba and Dandiya in Gujarat, majestic pandals for Maa Durga in West Bengal or […]Read More
In last column, I had focused on symbols in Indian culture. What is India’s one symbol that is pan Indian. It is Nataraja now. No wonder when the mandarins of ministry of culture thought what to put in front of spaceship called Bharat Mandapam they first thought of some sculpture. Then the idea of pancha […]Read More
Benoy K Behl Chandragupta-1 founded the Gupta empire in the year 320 AD. His capital was at Pataliputra, in present-day Bihar. He ushered in an age of well-being and prosperity: an age in which all aspects of culture flowered. It was one of the finest periods of mankind, when great thinkers attained noble heights of […]Read More
Team L&M Soon, you will see gift shops in the premises of various monuments maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) across the country. Apart from benefitting visitors, this will create an opportunity for the cultural and creative Industries to work closely with the monuments. The ASI intends to leverage souvenirs for generating interest […]Read More
Parduman Suri Shradh aka Pitru Paksha, a significant period in the Hindu calendar, is a time to remember and pay respects to one’s ancestors. It carries deep spiritual and cultural significance and involves specific rituals and guidelines. This year, Pitru Paksh will begin on September 29, 2023 and end on the Amavasya Tithi of Krishna […]Read More
Yogi Ashwini The soul incarnates into a physical body which is made up of the five elements in various permutations and combinations, reincarnating several times depending on the kind of karmas which one does in a lifetime. There are certain souls who do not reincarnate, either because they are finished with their karmic cycle of […]Read More
Team L&M The fourth Nadi Utsav being organized by the National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM) of IGNCA and the Janapada Sampada Division, began today on the banks of Yamuna in Delhi. The three-day festival includes a variety of events, including scholarly discussions with environmentalists and scholars on various subjects, screening of films, presentations by […]Read More