Indian Mythology

When Arjuna was killed (Mahabharat)

Arjuna defeated and killed by another archer Sounds surprising? This is true that Arjuna was killed by his own son before revived with the help of his wife. When Yudhishthira was conducting ashwamedha yaga, Arjuna came to manipur. Babhruvahana, the son of Arjuna and Chitrangada was the ruler of this state. There was a fight […]

Weapons used in the time of Mahabharat – 1

Weapon used in Mahabharat We are continuing on from the weapons used in the times of The Ramayana. Brahmastra has been mentioned quite frequently in ancient texts and Mahabharat is no exception here. Brahmastra As described in the sastra, a Brahmastra is an astra. This is created by Lord Brahma. It is sometimes known as

Story of Barbari or Barbarika in mahabharat

Barbari – if he had fought the Mahabharat war Barbari or Barbarika has been a less written but important character of Mahabharat. He has been the illustrious son of the great warrior Ghatotkacha. Ghatotkacha has been himself the son of great Bhima and Hidimba. Lord Shiva has granted him three infallible arrows which had the

The legend and significance of Rahu and Ketu

The legend and significance of Rahu and Ketu According to legend, during the Samudra manthan, Dhanvantari came out with a pot of Amrit and immediately there was a mad scramble for it among the Devatas and Asuras. Seeing this, Lord Vishnu took the form of Mohini (a beautiful dancer) and offered her services in distributing

The story behind moon’s waxing and waning

Moon’s waxing and waning and Somnath jyotirlinga We all know that moon waxes and wanes cyclically. There is a mythological story behind this. Moon or Chandra was the son of Athvi and Ansuya. He was married to 27 daughters of Daksha (Ashwinit to Revati). Out of his 27 wives, he loved Rohini the most. Soon,

Birth of Hiranyakashyap and Hiranyaksha and curse of Jaya and Vijaya

The curse on Jaya and Vijaya There is a curse behind the birth of Hiranyakashyap and Hiranyaksha. Jaya and Vijaya were the gatekeepers of Vishnu. Once they diasllowed sanath kumaras from meeting Vishnu. Sanath Kumaras cursed them to become mortals. Vishnu provided them some relief. Later Vishnu took four avatars to relieve them of their

Pictures of Shri Krishna exploits

Shri Krishna and his exploits His teacher – Sandipani. Sage Sandipani taught Balrama and Shri Krishna. Shri Krishna and Balrama took education under sage Sandipani. There is famous story how he paid his gurudakshina to his teacher. Kansa tried hard to kill the Bal Krihsna and employed various demons. First was Pootna, who visited Nand

Mahabharat and Sholay – A resemblance

Mahabharat and Sholay (Hindi movie) There is atleast one instance, although not significant in whole scheme of things, where Mahabharat (the epic) and Sholay (hindi movie) have similarity. I am discussing the incident when Gabbar Singh killed Salim and asked the villagers to give Jai and Veeru to them.  After a bit of discussion, a decision was taken when

Japanese wedding

Japanese Wedding Japanese wedding can be either a traditional or a western one. It can be either arranged or love. But first of all the couple should be legally married by filing for the marriage at local government office. Actually the documents are required for further ceremonies to be held. In a traditional shinto ceremony

Interesting birth stories from Indian mythology

Birth of Rama, Pandavas, Jarasandh and others Indian or hindu mythology talk about interesting stories of  births as well. We find instances where great characters came to earth in different way. One common way is that eating dessert or fruit results in birth of a child. We find this once in the period of The Ramayana and once