Pilgrim Centres of Kerala

SABARIMALA: Kerala is a land of temples; perhaps the best known pilgrimage destination in Kerala is Sabarimala, high up in the Sahyadri Mountains(western ghats). Sabarimala Sri Dharmasastha Temple is the most famous and prominent among all the Sastha Temples. It is believed that "Parasurama Maharshi" who retrieved Kerala from the sea by throwing his axe, installed the idol of Ayyappa at Sabarimala to worship Lord Ayyappa.

The Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala, 80 kms. from the Pathanamthitta district head quarters, is a National Pilgrim Centre. This famous shrine of Lord Ayyappa is surrounded by hazardous hills like Karimala and Neelimala. Devotees visit Sabarimala after undergoing 41 days of ‘Vritha’ i.e., self-imposed devotional penance. They, with irumudikettu (bundle with offerings to Ayyappa) on their head, climb the mountain ranges and cross the forest bare footed repeatedly chanting ‘Saranam Ayyappa’ which means we seek refuge in Ayyappa. This is probably the only famous temple in Kerala, which does not restrict anybody from visiting it for not being a Hindu.

More informations availabel at http://www.sabarimala.org/


MALAYATTOOR: A a place of prayer and pilgrimage; made rich by the foot steps of St. Thomas the Apostle, who sowed the seeds of Christianity in this part of the world. Revere at his saintly footsteps clearly embedded on the rock - marvel at the Golden cross that sprang up from no where - Yes malayattoor indeed has all these and more.. It is situated 52 kms from Kochi beside the Periyar River at the top of a hill. The pilgrims can reach the place only by foot. This church which was established in AD 900 is believed to have been blessed by St.Thomas, one of the Apostles of Christ.


VARKALA: Is a small town in Kerala, South India. If you're looking for beaches and are fed up with the crowds & prices at Kovalam, then its well worth checking out Varkala. The best times to go, are of course in the season, when the beach extends out all around the cliff face for 500 meters.The beaches around this area are excellent and if you're looking for a cheap holiday Varkala should definitely be on your list. In the off season its really mellow and relaxed, swim & sleep & chill out. Only in December does it get really busy and prices start rocketing till January/February, when it starts to quieten down. But remember most 'tourist' locations in India with beaches will be busy during December, if you want to miss the crowd, head for the hills in Kodiakanal-Tamil Nadu. Varkala has been a Hindu pilgrimage site since the 12th Century. The Janardhana Temple was built during this period and many Hindu's still visit Varkala to this day, for this very reason.


SIVAGIRI: The 'Sivagiri Mutt' is a 'Ashram' founded by the great Hindu reformer and philosopher, Sree Naravana Guru.

Even decades after the Guru breathed his last here in 1928 AD, his 'Samadhi' (restling place) continues to be thronged by thousands every year. The 'Sivagiri Pilgrimage' is conducted between December 30 and January 1.

The Mutt is also the headquarter of the 'Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham', a religious organisation established by the Guru to propagate his concept of 'One Caste, One Religion, One God'. The Sarada Temple and Sivagiri Mutt set in picturesque hill of Sivagiri near Varkala have now become a place of pilgrimage with great fanfare.

Colourful processions, debates and seminars, public meetings, cultural shows, community feasts, group wedding, rituals all mark the celebrations in Sivagiri hills.

Sree Narayana Guru was one of the greatest social reformers of India and a contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi. His call for equality among people found a great following.

His teachings have had a profound effect on the caste-ridden society of Kerala and helped the state achieve great social progress when compared to the other states of India. Founded many ashrams, the most important being at Sivagiri near Kollam.

ARUVIPPURAM: is a beautiful village in the southern district of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. It is famous for the Siva temple established by Sri Narayana Guru. The Guru consecrated the Siva idol in the year 1888. Aruvippuram Sivarathri is a very popular event attended by a large numbers of devotees and followers of Guru.

Computer

Before Buying a Computer

In the initial stages of determining what sort of computer you need to get, at some point you need to ask yourself, what am I going to be using the computer for? Whether you intend to write papers for class, surf the World Wide Web, or just play computer games, you need to have an idea of what the minimum requirements the computer needs to have. If all you intend to do is just write letters using a DOS based word processing program, a 386 or 486 system with a couple megabytes of memory is more than adequate

If you want to use a Windows version of some word processing program, then your requirements go up a bit, particularly on the amount of RAM memory and hard disk space. If you want to be able to surf the Web and play some of the multimedia on-line virtual reality games, then you need a higher-end system, with more memory, more disk space, and a modem or network card to connect to the Internet.

Once you determine what you need the computer for, the next question that you need to ask yourself is how much money I can afford to spend.Buy as much PC as you can afford. Don't cut corners on the main system unit (monitor, processor, memory, disk space, etc.). If you are short on cash, hold off on the printer or a software application or two that you really don't need right away. Remember, this system is going to last you at least 2 or 3 years or more and you don't want to start running out of disk space or memory in the first week that you have it because you trimmed down the amount of memory or got a smaller hard drive so that you could afford to buy 18 different versions of a screen saver program!

Remember, you get what you pay for. If the price is cheap, most likely the components are cheap.

Hardware

There are literally hundreds of manufacturers for computers, monitors, printers, and other components. My advice to a first time buyer is to stick with a brand name. Getting that first computer can be very exciting, but the excitement can quickly dwindle to sheer terror and frustration if there are compatibility problems between the components and the software.

The basic components of a computer system are the motherboard (containing the processor and memory), keyboard, mouse, monitor, diskette drive, CD-ROM drive, and hard drive. In addition to these, there are several other types of devices that you may or may not want to include in your computer purchase, such as a trackball, joy stick, modem, tape drive, zip drive, printer, plotter, scanner, sound card and speakers, TV card, video capture card, power supply backup, and surge protector. Whether you need any of these other devices or not will depend on which software applications that you intend to use. Also, if you are short on money when you buy your computer or decide that you need one or more of these items later on, you shouldn't have any problem installing these after the original purchase has been made, just make sure you buy components that are compatible with your system.

How intelligent you are ?

*Below are four (4 ) questions and a bonus question. You have to answer them instantly. You can't take your time, answer all of them immediately.

OK?*


*Let's find out just how clever you really are.... *

*

**Ready? GO!!! **


**FIRST QUESTION:**

**Y** ou are participating in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?**

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*Answer:** If you answered that you are first, then you are absolutely wrong! If you overtake the second person, you take his
place, so you are second!

Try not to screw up next time.

Now answer the second question,

but** **don't** take as much time as you took for the first one,**

**OK** ?*

*



**SECOND QUESTION:**

**I**f you overtake the last person, then you are...?

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*Answer:** If you answered that you are second to last, then you are wrong again. Tell me, how can you overtake the LAST Person?**

**You're not very good at this, are you?*




*THIRD QUESTION:**

**V**ery tricky arithmetic! Note: This must be done in your head
****only**.

Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator. Try it.

**




**Take** **1000** and add** **40** to it. Now add another**
**1000** **. Now

add** **30**.

Add another** **1000**. Now add** **20**. Now add another**
**1000**

**Now add** **10** . What is the total?**




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**Did you get** 5000** ?**



**The correct answer is actually 4100.**



**If you don't believe it, check it with a calculator!

Today is definitely not your day, is it?

Maybe you'll get the last question right....

...Maybe.**






**FOURTH QUESTION:**



**Mary's father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4.
Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?**

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**Did you Answer** Nunu?**

**NO!** Of course it isn't.

Her name is** Mary.** Read the question again!**





**Okay, now the bonus round:**


**A** mute person goes into a shop and wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing his teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.*

***

**Next, a blind man comes into the shop who wants to buy a pair of sunglasses; how does HE indicate what he wants?** *



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*He just has to open his mouth and ask...

It's really very simple.... Like you! * * ** *

Taj Mahal

For centuries, the Taj Mahal has inspired poets, painters and musicians to try and capture its elusive magic in word, colour and song. It is one of the most flawless architectural creations of the world. Since the 17th century, travellers have crossed continents to come and see this ultimate memorial to love, and few have been unmoved by its incomparable beauty.

Taj Mahal stands in the city of Agra, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on the banks of the Yamuna River. It was built in the memory of the beautiful Arjumand Bano Begum, who won the heart of a Mughal prince. She was married at 21 to Emperor Jahangir’s third son Prince Khurram and stayed loyally by his side through good times and bad: in the luxurious royal palaces of Agra as well as the transient tents of war camps.

In AD 1628, Khurram became king after a bloody battle of succession: he took the name Shahjahan or “King of the World” and showered his beloved begum with the highest titles. She became Mumtaz Mahal, the exalted of the palace and Mumtaz-ul-Zamani, the exalted of the Age. But Mumtaz Mahal was not destined to be queen for long.

In 1631, Shahjahan went on an expedition to the south and, as always, Mumtaz Mahal accompanied him. But she died in childbirth at Burhanpur. She had borne Shahjahan fourteen children, of whom four sons and three daughters survived. When Mumtaz Mahal died, she was just 39 years old. Shahjahan was inconsolable and contemporary chronicles tell of the royal court mourning for two years. there was no music, no feasting, and no celebration of any kind.

Ayurveda

Ayurveda is an intricate system of healing that originated in India thousands of years ago. We can find historical evidence of Ayurveda in the ancient books of wisdom known as the Vedas. In the Rig Veda, over 60 preparatison were mentioned that could be used to assist an individual in overcoming various ailments. The Rig Veda was written over 6,000 years ago, but really Ayurveda has been around even longer than that. What we see is that A yurveda is more than just a medical system. It is a Science of Life. We are all part and parcel of nature. Just as the animals and plants live in harmony with nature and utilize the Laws of Nature to create health and balance within their beings, we, too, adhere to these very same principles. Therefore, it is fair to say that Ayurveda is a system that helps maintain health in a person by using the inherent principles of nature to bring the individual back i nto equilibrium with their true self. In essence Ayurveda has been in existence since the beginning of time because we have always been governed by nature's laws.

Ayurveda is made up of two Sanskrit words: Ayu which means life and Veda which means the knowledge of. To know about life is Ayurveda. However, to fully comprehend the vast s cope of Ayurveda let us first define "Ayu" or life. According to the ancient Ayurvedic scholar Charaka, "ayu" is comprised of four essential parts. The combination of mind, body, senses and the soul.

Marriage

A marriage is a relationship between or among individuals, usually recognized by civil authority and/or bound by the religious beliefs of the participants. The fact that marriage often has the dual nature of a binding legal contract plus a moral promise, can make it difficult to characterize.

In one form or another, marriage is found in virtually every society. The very oldest records that refer to it speak of it as an established custom. Despite attempts by anthropologists to trace its origin (such as the hypothesis of primitive promiscuity), evidence is lacking.

In Western societies, marriage has traditionally been understood as a monogamous union, while in other parts of the world polygamy has been a common form of marriage. Usually this has taken the form of polygyny (a man having several wives) but a very few societies have permitted polyandry (a woman having several husbands)

Kerala, God's Own Country....

KERALA, the land of trees. A big, spreading tree purifies as much air as a room air-conditioner. And the former is never switched off. The prolific, bustling, vegetation acts like a massive, biological, air-filtration plant working round the clock, round the year. Hence spending days in Kerala countryside is as if spending in an air- purified environs; some times better than it. So is the rejuvenating effect of the lush greenery of the state.

Kerala is a land of rivers and backwaters. Forty-four rivers (41 west-flowing and 3 east-flowing} crisscross the state physique along with countless runlets. During summer, these monsoon-fed rivers will turn into rivulets especially in the upper parts of Kerala.

Kerala is a green strip of land, in the South West corner of Indian peninsula. It has only 1.1 8 per cent of the total area of the country but houses 3.43% of the the country's population.


Some specialities of Kerala

Banana...


Boat Race...


Chinese Fishing Nets...


Jack Fruits...


Dance...


Festivals...


Houseboats...


Tea Plantations...



Kadhakali...


Vegetables...


Kanikkonna...


Sadhya...


And more..........