Female priests look after Jammu's Lord Krishna temple
Jammu, Sep 1: A temple devoted to Lord Krishna, which is also called 'Baion ka Mandir' here is looked after by a group of female priests, who offer daily prayers and perform rituals.
The priestesses say they want to spread the message of women empowerment through religion in the society.
They maintain that women and men are equal, as both are children of God.
"Lord Krishna has said in the holy scripture 'Gita' that there is no difference between a man and a woman, whether they are from different castes or class. No matter how a person is, they all have equal rights," said tapasvi Sadha Bai, a priestess.
"To worship God, everybody has the right. In terms of worshipping God, a woman is considered untouchable and low but God has given each one of us equal rights," she added.
The temple is 200 years old and it was built by Ananda Bai, who devoted her life to the service of the temple.
One of the devotees also noted that Lord Krishna himself stated that there is no difference between a man and a woman.
"A soul, which is there in a man, the same soul is in a woman. This is what our God has said. Lord Krishna, has from the very beginning, said that women should be treated equally. That is why we are continuing with the tradition," said Mahatma Arvind Muni, a devotee.
Devotees visiting the temple say that the priestesses carry out all the rituals of the temple, and also make clothes for the god's idol.
"I have been coming here for the last 40 years. Priestesses have been handling the temple ever since I began to come here. The priestesses offer prayers and service to God, and make dresses for God. These priestesses also bathe the statues of the gods. Religious sweet offerings are also given by the priestesses," said Sneh, a devotee.
The priestesses, who are also known as 'Bai Ji' (Sister), live very simply and wear pink attire. They also shave off their heads and do not wear any ornament except for holy beads. (ANI)
Procession held to mark 406th ceremony of installation of Guru Granth Sahib
Amritsar, Sep 1: A colourful 'Nagar Kirtan' procession was taken out by Sikhs here, to mark the 406th ceremony of the installation of their holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib on Wednesday.
Five priests, also known as 'Panj Pyare', led the colourful procession.
"The fifth Guru (Arjan Dev), our supreme Guru Nanak Devji...for the welfare of the human beings, he collected all the sayings of the guru and compiled them into a scripture, and that scripture was installed at the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) and ordered that all should follow the scripture," said Manpreet Singh, a devotee.
Devotees carrying brooms swept the roads before the procession. They believe that voluntary service amounts to God's service, and would help them rid their sins.
The procession passed through various bazaars of Amritsar before concluding at Akal Takht, the primary seat of Sikh religious authority and the central altar for Sikh assembly, at the Golden Temple.
A large number of devotees converged for the procession to pay their obeisance to the Guru Granth Sahib that was carried in a flower-bedecked palanquin.
"Like every year, this year also I have come with the entire congregation to celebrate the installation ceremony. We take the holy Guru Granth Sahib to the Harmandir Sahib gurudwara every year on this occasion. I have come here to witness the love amongst the congregation. I am very happy and I wish them all the luck at this occasion," said Ravinder Singh, a devotee. (ANI)
Temples across India deck up to celebrate Janmashtami
Mathura/ Imphal, Sep 1: Temples in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura city have been decorated for Janmashtami celebrations on Thursday.
Lord Krishna temples in the town are being decorated with flowers, cut-outs and lights for the prayers.
"On the occasion of Janmashtami, the dresses that have been stitched for the deity are mostly of yellow colour, because yellow colour is the favourite of Lord Krishna. All the other accessories that have been used for the god are mostly of yellow colour," said Ashish Goswami, a priest.
"For the lighting and decoration in the temples, we have kept in mind that yellow colour is used. The jewellery used for Lord Krishna is also of yellow colour; all the stones used in the jewellery are of yellow colour," he added.
The ISKCON (The International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple in Imphal is also decorated with lights to welcome the devotees.
"We are preparing two days' festival and on Janmashtami day, we are having students' painting competition and a seminar on science and spirituality for peace, and Janmashtami's special Raas leela dance. This year, we have one special item, that is 'Krishna leela'," said Ajit Prabhu, President of the ISKCON temple, Imphal. (ANI)
BlackBerry users rejoice, as it gets two-month Govt. extension to set up servers in India
Bangalore/Kolkata, Aug.31: BlackBerry users in different parts of the country rejoiced on Tuesday as its makers got an extension of 60-days from the Government of India with affect from Aug.31, 2010 to set up their servers in India.
Blackberry sellers in Bangalore said they were happy with the extension, as it has again boosted the sale of the phone.
" The fact is that by doing this extension there is a little craze amongst the customers that there is a hope for blackberry to be in India still and by this, the sale is boosted again, it's not come down. Till now we have not got any false reaction from this statement at all. So I think it will be better still," said Raghav, a BlackBerry seller.
Many Blackberry users said they were delighted with the decision.
"I think it's a nice decision from the Government that they have extended the validity, I mean the period and it's a nice phone I mean we go ahead with the BlackBerry," said Sam, a customer.
Some of the BlackBerry users also said they were not that bothered about the security concerns.
"60-days extension and all I don't think that would create any problem because decryption of their mails or something like that is the government's rule. We cannot go beyond the government's rule. So I don't think that a problem and my company would also accept me using the same BlackBerry handset for my office push mails. That's not a problem," said Shonkho Das, a BlackBerry user in Kolkata.
On Monday, an official spokesman said that BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has come up with an interim solution to prevent India from shutting down its Blackberry services, which would have affected one million smartphone users.
The Canadian company has decided to give India access to encrypted smartphone data, starting September 1.
The decision came after weeks of discussions.
The Canada based wireless giant has more than a million BlackBerry subscribers in the world's second fastest growing economy.
Though RIM has already made BlackBerry Internet, voice calls and messenger available to the authorities, India is seeking access to its unique encrypted service for business and corporate clients, that is routed through RIM's own servers based in the UK and Canada.
India wants access to all encrypted communications as the terrorists involved the 2008 Mumbai attack, communicated with each other by using sophisticated technology.
Therefore, it wants the Canadian company to install a server in India to monitor this service.
On the other hand, RIM is not willing to compromise on the privacy of this encrypted service, which has made its phones smart and a darling of the business class.
The two months relaxation period is expected to give RIM some breathing room. (ANI)
Theatre festival features 'terrorism and peace'
Jorhat, Aug.31: A two-day drama festival was held at theater hall here recently, highlighting various issues of public interest. The one that drew maximum attention was based on the theme of "terrorism and peace".
The event was organized by Asom Jatiyabada Yuba Parishad (AJYP) in memory of Late Manash Pradin Borah, former Secretary of the Parishad, Jorhat Unit.
At least 10 groups from different parts of upper Assam like--Margherita, Sivasagar, Duliajan, Bokakhat, Tinsukia, Moran and others-vyed with each other during the event.
Majority of the plays tried to highlight how youngsters were drawn to enjoy temporary pleasures and easy money by taking to habits of abduction, hooliganism, robbery and terrorism.
"My main moto was to popularise drama, as it is now not a popular media among the youth. So I appeal to the youth, please make this culture proud. Terrorism is the main problem of the North East and all over India. I appeal to that type of people that this not the way to protest something about or appeal something. Please make our country, our State peaceful," said Parnam Bikas Baruah, a young artiste.
"We are actors, we are cultural people so I always demand that we should always live peacefully. And, terrorism is not a solution [for anything]," Baru added.
Though most of the participarting youngsters were inexperienced in acting and choreography, they managed to captivate the attention of Jorhat residents.
Their performance appealed to the viewers.
The participating groups sought to spread message of peace among all with an appeal to end violence in the North East.
"We are getting a good response to this drama competition.......I believe after including the district administration, a peaceful meeting should be organised to find out how terrorist problem could be solved in Assam. An effort should be made to know and understand each other's demands to reach a solution. After taking the public support, a solution must be reached," said Palash Dev Baruah, General Secretary of the Asom Jatiyabada Yuba Parishad, Jorhat Unit.
The artistes also drew the attention of the people to the destruction caused by terrorism in the country.
"To unite and face any eventuality regardless of region, community, class and caste, we have to build a strong nation and to live in a very peaceful environment is the focus of the plays," said one of the artistes.
Militant groups have been indulging in extortion in different states of Northeast.
They are even killing innocent people.
Today, nobody wants to visit crowded or deserted areas even during the day. People remain indoors after sunset.
The message of the festival was that people should work for establishing permanent peace in the North-east region. (ANI)
