Indian Culture

Madurai has several epithets - Athens of the East, Temple city, Sleepless City Madurai is perhaps among the oldest cities in the world and in India after Kasi, Varanasi with a recorded history a history of over 3000 years. Travellers in Ancient Greece, Rome, China have recorded Madurai for its wealth, spices, trading links. As early as the 3rd century BC, Greek traveller Megasthanes visited Madurai It is known as the "Athens of the East" because of its similarities to Athens, Greece including Elevated structures. The Gopurams of the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple are visible from anywhere in the city, similar to the Greek Pantheon in Athens.Its Rich cultural heritage and architectural splendor. It's one of India's most popular Hindu pilgrimage centers and is home to many notable sites. And its origins date back to the Sangam period, OVER 3000+ years, a golden age of Tamil literature, and it's thought to be one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world.  Madurai

In Tamil language, "Anbe Sivam", means "Love is God" meaning, being compassionate, loving and serving fellow human beings is considered akin to God.  Tiruvannamalai is a beautiful and ancient temple town dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is named after the central deity Annamalaiyar or Lord Arunachalam. Its in Tamil Nadu, about 200kms south east of Bangalore and 100kms west of Pondichery. It took me almost 8 hours to drive on my motorbike slowly from Bangalore in day and night through forested areas with lots of breaks. The temple complex covers an area of 25 acres, and is one of the largest temples in India. It houses four gateway towers known as gopurams. The tallest is the eastern tower, with 11 stories and a height of 66 m (217 ft), making it one of the tallest temple towers in India. How ancient is this location? It predates Lord Rama in Tretha Yuga. Conservatively speaking over 10,000 years old. Tiruvannamalai has been ruled by the Pallavas, the Medieval Cholas, the

All of us are fortunate to have daily food, clothing, and a roof over our head. Have you ever thought about the poor, old, homeless, and starving people on the streets?  Nara Seva is Narayana seva. Service to fellow human, is service to the almighty God. This was said by my Guru Bhagwan Sathya Sai Baba. More importantly he was the finest example in practice. The basic needs of man are access to good food, drinking water, affordable education and medical care. The work of Sathya Sai institutions, in the above 4 areas in building across the country, schools, colleges, basic to super specialty medical institutions, bringing Krishna river water to parched Chennai have stood the test of time and continues to provide immense benefit long after he left his physical presence on earth. Today August 4th 2024, we celebrated the 15th anniversary of Narayana Seva in Sai Gitanjali, in JP nagar Bangalore. Narayana Seva is the act of serving freshly made, home cooked food ALONG WITH LOVE to the homele

Fortunate to have visited another 108 Divya Desam - Thiru Neer malai in June 2023. Thiruneermalai, a suburb of Chennai, has a 2000 year old temple, dedicated to the Hindu deity Vishnu, regionally referred to as Neer-vanna Perumal and Ranganatha.  The mountain (Malai in Tamil) is surrounded by water (Neer in Tamil), this sthalam is named as "Thiru Neer-Malai" in Tamil. In Sanskrit its called, "Thothadri Kshetram" Thoya means "Water" and Adhiri means "Mountain" (malai).  It's a very unique temple, as Lord Maha Vishnu Perumal gives his seva in four different positions as below. Neervannar – Nindran - Standing  Lord Narasimhar – Irundhan - Sitting Lord Ranganathar – Kidanthan - Reclining Lord Thiruvikrama – Nadanthan - Walking  In this temple, Muni Valmiki, who wrote The Ramayana, worshipped Eari Kidantha (Aranganathan), Iruntha (Narasimar), Nadantha (Thiruvikraman) Kola seva of the Perumal. After worshipping all the 3 sevas, he came down from