This duration of 48 minutes, i.e, 24 minutes before Ashtami tithi ends and 24 minutes after Navami tithi begins is considered to be the most auspicious and potent period of the Navratri. It is believed that the efficacy of chanting of mantras and...

A fortnight after Deepawali, on the auspicious tithi of Kartik Purnima that signifies the end of the celestial month of Kartik, the ghats of Varanasi come alive with more than a million lamps or diyas, amidst chanting of vedic mantras, ringing of...

Have you noticed that the flavour of food cooked on a festival day can never ever be replicated on an ordinary day! Our pujas, their rituals and their festivities add the greatest zing to our lives and will continue to do so for generations to come...

BAEL: (Aegle marmelos) Family: Rutaceae Sanskrit name: Bilva Hindi name: Bel The great night of Siva is the most sacred time for fasts, prayers, and offerings, when even the most involuntary acts, if pleasing to Siva, are made holy. There was a poor...

Every year between the months of January/February, Basant Panchami heralds the beginning of spring. As the sun makes it’s northerly ascent, and nature awakens to a spectacular dance of regeneration, the pure and new dawn expresses the beauty...

As a society, people today feel the need for self-projection more than they have ever felt before, what with the insane competitiveness and one-upmanship across every segment of society. Not many really feel the need to go through the laborious...

 To kill Hiranyakasyapu and to protect his devotee Prahlada, Lord Vishnu took the awesome form of Narasimha (half lion and half man) and came out of a pillar. He took Hiranyakasipu to the main door of the palace and killed him on its steps. Then he...

Bhasmasura was a cunning and wicked demon. He had only one aim in life-to become the most powerful being on earth. He wished everyone else to be afraid of him and to acknowledge him as the king. However he had neither the courage nor the strength to...