What is Kojagari Paurnima?

Hello friends, welcome!

How are you all?

Today is another full-moon day or Paurnima.

Just as we have Guru Paurnima,

Today is Sharad Paurnima/ शरद पूर्णिमा.

This festival is celebrated in India.

It is also called as शरद पूर्णिमा/Sharad Paurnima.

On this night of Paurnima, under the bright moonlight, it is believed that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, appears in the sky and asks, kon jagarti? (Who is awake in my devotion?)

This festival is celebrated in Maharashtra, Odisha/Orissa, Gujarat and west Bengal.

During this night, under the sky filled with the brightness of the full-moon,

People drink hot/cool milk.

The milk is thickened and several dry fruits, which are together known as Khir,

Is drunk by looking at the moon.

The milk is kept covered by a thin cloth beneath the night-sky.

For it is said that on the night of the Paurnima, the rays of the moon have healing properties.

In Gujarat, Kojagiri Paurnima is also known as Sharad Poonam.

It is celebrated by doing Garba and Dandiya.

In the state of Odisha, Sharad Paurnima is known as Kumar Paurnima.

On this day, a type of holy food, known as Chanda chakata is prepared.

It is made by using khaee, jaggery, banana, coconut, ginger, sugarcane, talasajja, cucumber, ghee, honey and milk

In the state of west Bengal, the Paurnima is known by the name of Lokkhi Pujo.

The spiritual importance of 'Jaagrati' (Or being awake) Is,

“To remain vigilant.

Every moment in our lives requires vigilance

Just as the night sky of Sharad Paurnima is clear and suffused with lunar resplendence, one should similarly endeavor to purify his 'antahkaran/inner mind.

Reference. Gita chapter 18, shloka54.”

 

So do enjoy the night of Paurnima.

I wish the best for all of you.

See you soon!

Modak. A unique type of food Which I and my friend Ganesha love

Hello friends. Welcome!

What’s up?

To tell from my side, enjoying life to its fullest!

So anyway,

In the festival of Ganapati/Ganesh uchhav, a popular sweet is made.

Which is known as Modak.

During the worship of god ganesha at the beginning of the Ganapati festival, 21 Modaks are offered as Prasadam or the holy food.

The most favorite type of Modak made during Ganesh Chaturthi is the Ukadiche Modak.

They are prepared from rice flour,

With the mixture of grated coconuts and sugar or jaggery.

But, how does it taste?

In my opinion,

Modak is not food.

It is the blessing of god Ganapati disguised as Prasadam/the holy food.

It’s so sweet, so delicious that one can only get the experience of it by eating it.

The ones which my mother makes,

 Are just beyond description.

As there are many names of my friend Ganesha like Ganapati and vighna harta,

There are also various names for the Modak in many languages.

In Marathi and Gujarati it is known as मोदक

In Konkani, the language of the people of the western coastline of India, Konkan, it is known as the same.

While in Malayalam, Kozhakkatta കൊഴുക്കട്ട, Modhaka or Kadubu in Kannada. Modhakam or Kozhakkattai in Tamil and Kudumu in Telugu.

Along with the Ukadiche Modak, there are also fried Modak.

This type of Modak is fried in oil and taste a little different than the Ukadiche Modak.

The fried Modak lasts longer than the Ukadiche Modak.

Along with these 2 types, there are other varieties of Modak as well.

such as chocolate Modak, Kesar Modak or Saffron Modak, Mava Modak which is made of milk solids, Gulkand, Mava Modak, and many more!

So saying गणपती बाप्पा मोरया! Ganapati Bappa Morya!

See you soon!

A beautiful and exciting trip with you!

Hello everyone, welcome!

So! What’s up?

^{I hope all is well.}

^{You know what? I recently wanted to go for some outing.}

^{So, let’s go!}

^{So , me and a few of my family members decided.}

^{Yes, my dear readers, of course, you also are with me!}

^{we booked the train tickets to our destination, Shegaon (Marathi} शेगांव).

^{mainly known for the temple or Samadhi of gajanan Maharaj, it’s a town in Maharashtra, India.}

^{so we boarded the train and the journey started.}

^{we were having lots of fun!}

^{talking of here and their things, cracking jokes, or sometimes making on somebody, laughing our hearts out!}

^{eating, watching the people on the stations getting out or into the train, different kinds of languages and dialects, etc.}

^{the surprising thing about Maharashtra or I must say about India is that every 15 to 20 KM, there is some or the other difference in the language of people, in their way/stile of speaking it.}

^{And it’s fun!}

^{we reached shegaon at around 5 or 6 AM, IST.}

We had arranged restrooms beforehand, so went in and had a nice, 1/2HRS of nap.

Refreshed, we went to the temple entrance.

Oh sorry, did I say The temple entrance? no no, to the entrance of a line stretching to the temple.

of the few temples I have visited till now, i think that Shegaon was the cleanest.
Now, the people who devotedly work/serve here do not tell there name.

They all only have one name in here, mauli. Meaning mother.

Whoever it may be.

And it took us nearly 5 hours to cross through the mandap/the path to the temple’s inner passage.

गण गण गणात बोते.

Or gan gan ganat bote, the mantra/devotional recitation of the gajanan maharaj.

when I reached to touch the feet/paduka of the Samadhi, I can’t tell you the divine, soothing, peaceful feeling,

as if in a moment all my worries, sadness, everything just vanished into nothingness.

I felt light, relieved.

Then we ate the Prasad or the divine food.

In the evening, we went to watch the famous fountain show!

And my god! it’s just to be experienced.

Water falling and rising in different shapes, fire, arrows, just fantabulous!

A must watch, breathtaking, eye-gluing spectacle.

Then in the night of course, we all dined and sank into a divine, beautiful sleep.

The next day, we again visited the temple. This time, we reached the Samadhi within 4 to 5 minutes!

No long lines, no weighting, a quiet darshan/prayer.

Then we went to the famous park of ^{shegaon, anand sagar. In Marathi/Hindi,} आनंद-सागर, means the ocean of happiness.

Really, it’s not as big as the sea or the sagar, but it definitely gives immense joy while wandering around!

As we walked around the garden through the warm sunshine,

we were able to hear the sweet chirping of birds.

Later on, to our pleasant surprise, the churping of birds was coming from the small speakers that were installed along the path.

Simple, but nice. Isn’t it?

Then, we played on the slides, swings, rolled on the lawn, etc.

yes, there was also a children’s play area.

Had a lot of fun!

Then we took the round of the anand-sagar in a train. There is a train which takes you on a round of the park, which is beautiful.

It takes the riders on a jungle safari. Of course, on an artificial jungle safari.

Beautifully created statues of the tiger, giraffe, zebra, etc.

After the train trip, we all had a nice, tasty lunch.

Then, saying goodbye to ^{shegaon, taking a quick distant} darshan of the temple, we left with delightful, divine memories.

Thank you.