7 step guide to Game of Thrones

Season 7 of the hugely popular Game of Thrones is out and if you haven't watched the series till now you may be wondering why all your friends have been going gaga about it!

Well, GOT is not just any series rather it is one of the most popular television programs of all time, and as an ardent fan, I thought of writing this article for those who haven't watched it yet. I shall try to give you the basics in 7 steps, introducing you to the plot and the major characters so that it is easier for you when you do start watching! So here we go :)

Number 1 -  Game of Thrones is set in a fictional world and is the saga of the power struggle between different ruling houses that exist there. The series revolves around the dynamics between these families and their efforts to occupy the fabled 'Iron Throne' that gives lordship over all seven kingdoms.

The Iron Throne

Number 2 - The major kingdoms exist on the fictional continent of Westeros. On the Eastern side of this continent is another landmass called Essos. All seven kingdoms are located on Westeros while Essos is inhabited by other tribes.

 Click on the image to zoom

Number 3 - On the extreme north of Westeros is the land of perpetual cold just like our own polar regions. This 'Land of Always winter' is separated from the lower kingdoms by a massive wall of ice. Towards the southern end is King's Landing, from where the Monarch of the Seven Kingdoms rules.

Westeros Detailed Map

Number 4 - Know the major ruling houses that occupy center-stage - the Baratheons of King's Landing, the Starks of Winterfell, the Lannisters and the Targaryens. The first season begins with a visit to the family of Starks in the north, by the House of Baratheons that rules the seven kingdoms currently.

The third important House is that of the Lannisters who are joined to the Baratheons by marriage - the ruling King Robert Baratheon is married to Cersei Lannister (now Baratheon). Below is the family tree of the Lannisters whose head Tywin is a shrewd and powerful man. Be warned, there's plenty of incest in this family ;o)

The Fourth House of consequence is that of Targaryans who are closely associated with the race of dragons and can withstand any assault by Fire. Their erstwhile leader was the original king of the seven kingdoms and Robert Baratheon overthrew him to become the king.

Number 5 - As the story unfolds we are introduced to the characters and their different personalities - Ned Stark is faithful to a fault and his family seems to come across as a nice bunch of people whereas the Lannisters are shown to be rude, manipulative and power-hungry. The most interesting characters in the two families are John Snow, the bastard son of Ned Stark and the dwarf Tyrion Lannister who is perhaps the most witty and entertaining.

Number 6 - While the first three houses are involved in internal politics, the Targaryans that had been written off, are waiting to avenge their fathers death. Their prince is desperately searching for allies & doesn't hesitate to offer his sister, the princess Daenerys Targaryan, to the leader of the tribe called Dothraki. Daenerys is referred to as the future 'Mother of Dragons'.

Number 7 - While all these are locked in the power struggle for the Iron Throne, there is another threat slowly but surely creeping towards the kingdoms of Westeros. These are the White-walkers whom many in the seven kingdoms mistakenly believe to be mythical creatures. They are kept at bay by protectors known as the Night's Watch who have set base at the massive wall dividing the seven kingdoms from the frigid polar region.

The White walkers bring with them a fierce winter, destroying everything that crosses their path, turning men and animals into zombies. Perhaps now, the phrase that you hear from your GOT lover-friends 'Winter is coming!' would start making sense!

Last bit of advice before I wrap this post - Have PATIENCE! 

There are many other characters that you shall get to know as you start watching and you may feel overwhelmed at times. But that is the beauty of GOT, the stories of multiple characters entwining in such a fashion that you can not stop after watching just one episode. The series is probably the most expensive production ever in the history of television and the sets, the characters, the special effects, the brutal honest-to-life cinematography, the numerous battle scenes, everything is top notch!

So go ahead and enjoy the show and when you have watched it do let me know if this article was useful :)

And remember - Winter is Here ;o)

Akshay Tritiya - Not just a Shopping Festival!

Akshay Tritiya is here and you must have seen jewelry stores and car show-rooms around your area flashing special offers and discounts so much that it may seem that the day is only about buying stuff. But there’s more to this festival than just buying gold or expensive assets! 

Akshay means undiminishing and Tritiya implies the third day of the bright half of the Hindu month of Vaishakh. The beginning of this month was celebrated by Punjabis as Baisakhi, Bengalis as Pohela Boishakh, Biharis as Satuani and as Bihu by the Assamese. The Tamilians celebrate it as Puthandu, Malyalis as Vishu, and Odiyas as Vishuva Sankranti. Needless to say this month is extremely important for many people in the country and Akshay Tritiya also happens to be an important day of this month.

It is considered auspicious for starting new ventures as anything that is initiated today is expected to grow exponentially. This is the reason you see people going on a shopping spree since they believe accumulation of wealth would attract more of it in the future!

If we move away from the materialism and come to the spiritual significance of the day, Akshay Tritiya is believed to be the day when Lord Parshu-Raam, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu was born. We know Raam-Navmi and Krishna-Janmashtami fairly well but the birthday of this particular Avatar of Lord Vishnu somehow doesn’t find that much importance today. One reason for this may be that Lord Parshu-Raam is associated with a lot of carnage and bloodshed, which is difficult for an ordinary person to digest. But if we actually analyze his life, we realize that this simple Brahmin boy had no option but to turn into a killing machine, for the purpose of ridding the earth of a race of corrupt and tyrant rulers.

 {Check out his inspiring story here - https://amzn.to/2HxYG5h}

Lord Parshu-Raam was born in the Treta-Yug, the second age in the Hindu cycle of time that consists of Satyug, Treta, Dwapar and the current Kaliyug. He was the son of a Saptarishi called Jamdagni, and his wife Renuka. Again while we know the birth place of Shri Raam as Ayodhya and that of Shri Krishna as Mathura, many people do not know where Parshu-Raam was born. The son of Jamdagni and Renuka was born in a small Ashram at the top of a hill called Janapav, near the city of Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

Unlike the bustling cities of Ayodhya and Mathura, Janapav is located on an obscure hill that is covered with lush green forests that give rise to the river Chambal. There is a small temple at the top and a new, bigger one is coming up with the help of donations by the few people who visit it infrequently. {You can check out this place here - Finding Parshuraam}

Another important aspect of Akshay Tritiya is that Rishi Ved-Vyas is believed to have started reciting the Mahabharat on this day. Vyas did not write the epic himself but took the help of Lord Ganesh to pen it down while he himself dictated. It makes sense that the learned sage would have chosen this auspicious day for beginning his mega epic as this is one of the three days of the Hindu calendar when you do not have to wait for a specific muhurat to start something new.

The day is also associated with another character from Mahabharat – Shri Krishna – who helped his poor friend Sudama this day. The story is a beautiful reminder of the special bond that friends share irrespective of their social status and sets an ideal for friendship in today’s materialistic age. Shri Krishna helped his poor childhood friend in a way Sudama couldn't even have dreamed of and it is an inspiring lesson for all of us.

There are other important events associated with the festival as well but let us limit ourselves to these for today. As I mentoned above, Akshay Tritiya is also one of the three days including the day of Yugadi and Vijay Dashmi that are considered auspicious for any new activity irrespective of the muhurat.

So today, don’t just buy expensive stuff and instead take the initiative to finally start the project you have been postponing for a long time. May this day be auspicious for all your beginnings!

Aum Shanti: Shanti: Shanti:

The Other Kailash

So here I am writing a new post on this blog after more than a year.. What can I say, the usual travel and work related stuff perhaps kept me away plus I am more active on my FB Page nowadays {https://www.facebook.com/Dr.Vineet.Official/}. Have hardly been getting any time for elaborate articles lately but there is no way I could have kept myself from doing this one!

When I was a kid, like many other Hindu children, I knew that KAILASH was the abode of Lord Shiva. During all these years, the name brought in front of my eyes images of a beautiful pyramidal peak in the Himalayas, kissed by the clouds and adorned by golden rays of the rising sun.

The majestic Mount Kailash

It was only a few years back that I came to know of the existence of the other Kailash, a man-made architectural wonder in the heart of Maharashtra. Of course I had read about Ajanta & Ellora caves in school but never gave them much thought. It was only because of someone who came in touch with me through my other blog on mythology {Decode Hindu Mythology} that I was reminded of it again. Christel Pilz, the lady I am talking about, is a senior journalist from Germany who is now retired and settled in Thailand and is extremely passionate about the Kailash Cave Temple. She has become a dear friend over the years and is responsible for igniting the spark for this magnificent place in my mind.

The Ellora Cave Temples of Maharashtra are amongst the biggest rock-cut religious complexes in the world. They are a UNESCO World Heritage site that shelters over 100 Hindu, Buddhist and Jain caves out of which 34 are open for public viewing. Ellora itself is located about 30 Kms from Aurangabad which also happens to be the nearest airport as well as the biggest city in the vicinity. If you are coming by road, Aurangabad is roughly 330 Kms from Mumbai and there are a few train options available as well. I stayed at Aurangabad with my good friend Tanmay who was kind enough to take me to this wonderful place, but you can also opt to stay at Ellora at the govt. guest house.

How to reach Ellora

Map of Ellora Caves

(Click on the image for better resolution)

While the historical value of all these caves that served as resting places for monks of three different religions can not be undermined, out of all these, the cave number 16 is undoubtedly the most magnificent and is known as the KAILASH TEMPLE. 

Kailash Cave Temple - Cave No. 16, Ellora

{Image courtesy Ganesh Umrikar}

None of the other caves come even close to the grandeur of Kailash and if the image above didn't fill you with curiosity yet, let me tell you a little more about it in the following paragraphs. As you pass through the common ticket counter and move towards the dusty brown caves, KAILASH appears right in front of you, a dark rock-cut structure contrasted by the green lawns in front of it. But here lies the catch, it is NOT a rock-cut temple like any other that you may have seen!

Entrance of the Temple

Unlike other cave-monasteries or temples that explore only a part of the original structure, and are worked upon from bottom upwards or inwards, KAILASH has been given shape by hundreds of artisans, painstakingly chiseling out an entire mountain from top to bottom over a period of more than 200 years. Some legends talk about the temple being constructed by Vishwakarma, the architect of the gods in a single night while others mention that its construction happened in a span of 18 years perhaps by the hands of aliens!

A Video on the mysterious Kailash Temple

Most historians believe it is more likely to have taken at least ten generations for the work to get over. This implies, that even while the kings changed, dynasties changed and even the artisans changed, the work on KAILASH did not stop. Surely, there was something that kept them going on? Perhaps, the desire to recreate the sylvan abode of Lord Shiva in the completely opposite environment of Marathwada. Without getting into the debate of who constructed it and when, for there are numerous YouTube videos you can watch on the topic, I wish to focus only on the beauty of the temple in the current post. Before entering, I would urge you to get an outside view by climbing on the hill from which it has been carved out. Trust me the real grandeur of the structure can be witnessed only from an altitude.

View of the temple from above 

Climbing down from the other side, you are now ready to truly appreciate the magnificent art of Kailash starting with the entrance. The massive structure resembles a chariot that is designed to carry the main deity to whom the temple is dedicated. I was lucky to have Yogesh Joshi, a local Indologist to take us through the significance of every single sculpture, and I advise you to take a guide if you truly wish to understand what it all means. 

As one moves towards the entrance from the left hand side, the Ashta-dikpals or the Eight Guardian Deities greet the visitors. For those who do not know, these eight keepers of the directions are:

1. INDRA - Guardian of the East

2. AGNI - South-east

3. YAMA - South

4. NIRRIT - South-west

5. VARUN - West

6. VAYU - North-west

7. KUBER - North

8. ISHAN - North-east

On the right wall are heavily damaged sculptures of Lord Vishnu's incarnations like Varah, and Narasimha. It is said that the fanatic Mughal king Aurangzeb (who gave his name to the nearby city and is also buried close by) tried his best to demolish this temple but did not succeed in causing any permanent harm. 

Lord Vishnu's sculptures on the outer wall

As we enter the gates, we are flanked by the statues of Rishis Ved-Vyas and Valmiki on the left and the right respectively. It is important to note this because the left side wall of the main temple inside is decorated with panels from Mahabharat which was written by Vyas, while the right wall has depictions of the Ramayan composed by Valmiki - such attention to detail! 

The very first sculpture that you notice as you enter is the Gaja-Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune flanked by elephants showering her with holy water. Although again heavily damaged, the beauty of this panel is that the elephants are shown in motion, their ornamental chains swaying with their movement as they pass on the vessels of water to each other!

Gajalakshmi facing the entrance

The right panel of the entrance sports an image of Mother Durga chastising the demon Mahishasur while the left panel shows a massive Ganpati. We moved in a clockwise direction and were greeted by another better preserved image of the fight between the forces of darkness and Durga followed by a set of unlikely sculptures in a Shiva temple - a panel depicting Kamdeva and Rati, the Hindu god of Love with his consort. It may be worthwhile to remember that it was Lord Shiva who had burnt the Hindu version of cupid to ashes for daring to disturb Shiva's meditation so his presence here was entirely unexpected for me!

 Goddess Durga battles the demons

An unexpected panel

One can't help but notice the attention to detail as you move along the perimeter coming to the shrine of the three rivers. To my knowledge, this is the only ancient temple that depicts such life-like statues of Ganga, Yamuna & Saraswati together! The fluidity of their bodies and the movement of their clothes is mesmerizing and they stand together as one, river goddesses blessing a land that has seen some of the worst droughts in the country.

Saraswati, Ganga and Yamuna river goddesses together

Further moving along the left perimeter, we see a pillared walkway that continues all the way to the opposite side housing within it multiple sculptures depicting stories of Shiva as well as Lord Vishnu's ten incarnations, the Dashavatar. While they are worth exploring for sure, what arrested my attention is the outer wall of the main sanctum that is embellished with some finely executed artwork. The Vijay Stambh or Victory Tower flanked by a broken elephant catches your attention and at various places you can also notice paint that has been washed off by years of rains and exposure to the elements. 

The Dancing Shiva - Nataraja

All along the base of the shrine there are massive elephants and Yalis supporting the structure above them. I also spotted a few Sphinxes or Purush-mriga as they are called in Sanskrit, and marveled at the amount of precision required to carve such huge animals right next to each other from a single rock. Did I mention earler that KAILASH is also the BIGGEST MONOLTHIC STRUCTURE in the WORLD! None of the sculptures that you see have been added later rather everything, from the angels flying above to the elephants below has been carved out of the same rock with painstaking precision.

The Elephant Plinth

The actual shrine is on the first floor and houses a massive Shivalingam - the aniconic symbol of Shiva who had for the very first time appeared as a pillar of fire. Inside you can also find a well-preserved painting of Nataraj done on the ceiling and even though it is quite small, it is absolutely gorgeous. On the right outer wall of the shrine there is another intriguing sculpture that has given rise to another ancient aliens theory. It is a sculpture of Ravan carrying Sita ji away in his Pushpak Viman which surprisingly shows Pushpak not as a spacecraft, but as a jetpack! Again there is a video on this and I am sharing the same with you here.

Ravan flying on jetpack confronted by jatayu

Video on this particular sculpture

There are numerous mysteries surrounding KAILASH and many people believe that the temple was built not by humans but by extra-terrestrial beings. The top of the Shrine supports an X shaped structure flanked by four lions which is visible from the sky. Some people claim that it was a sign for guiding ancient aircrafts to land while others talk about the numerous underground tunnels that exist below the temple and wonder what they contain. 

Whatever be the truth, the KAILASH of Ellora is certainly as mysterious as the Kailash of the Himalayas & one can only imagine how this place would have looked when it was first created. We can get a glimpse of that from a recently released Malayalam movie - Veeram and I share a few stills that capture the mood of the era brilliantly.

There are many other images that I can share with you to show the beauty of this stunning feat of ancient architecture but I would limit myself here to one last image of Shiva, the patron deity of the temple shown as Bhairav, the terrible one. DO visit Ellora at least once in your lifetime, for places like KAILASH do not just belong to one region or religion but hold the deep mysteries of humanity's past.

For all those who are interested in knowing more about this historical as well as mysterious heritage, do check out the page SAVE KAILASH created by Christel Plz, myself and our friend Avimanyu  - {https://www.facebook.com/groups/SaveKailash/}. You can also sign the below petition that we have started to bring the Indian government's attention to this structure and the need to restore it back to its original glory.

{PETITON TO SAVE KAILASH, THE LARGEST MONOLITHIC STRUCTURE IN THE WORLD}

Aum Namah Shivaye!