Thursday 7 July 2011

Victory of Prabhu Ramachandra over Ravana :

Victory of Prabhu Ramachandra over Ravana :

On this day in the Treta Yug, Shri Ram (7th incarnation of Vishnu), killed the great demon Ravan who had abducted Ram's wife Sita to his kingdom of Lanka. Ram, along, with his brother Lakshman follower Hanuman, and an army of monkeys fought a great battle to rescue his wife Sita. The war against Ravan lasted for ten days.

Rama had performed "Chandi Hom” and invoked the blessings of Durga to kill Ravana. Durga blessed Rama with the secret to kill Ravana. Ravana was defeated in his own kingdom of Lanka by Rama & the vanarsena. Rama with Sita & Laxman returned victorious to his kingdom of Ayodhya on the Ashwin Shukla dashami. This victory of Rama is since then celebrated as “Vijaya Dashami”.

So also prior to the defeat of Ravana, when Rambhakt Shri Hanuman went to Lanka to search Sita, he found her on the day of Ashvin shukla dashami.







The Ravana Palace which was burnt by Hanuman -Ashok vatika where Ravana kept Sita







Sitadevi was kept in queen Mandothari’s palace until she was moved to Sita Kotua and then on to Ashoka Vatika. The remains that are found are the remnants of later civilizations. This place is now called Sita Kotuwa which means ‘Sita's Fort’ and got its name because of Sitadevi's stay here.



 



The Sita tear pond is believed to have been formed by the tears of Sitadevi and has not dried up since, even during severe droughts when the adjoining rivers dry up.



 







Rama Sita Lakshmana and Anjaneya carving inside Sugriva cave.









This carving is carved on a rock on the Ella – Wellawaya road. It is visible from the main road if one takes an interest in locating it. It was discovered recently. Getting closer is not safe as the surroundings are full of wasps. This carving has lot of similarities to Rishi Pulasthi’s statue. This is the only historical caving of Rawana available globally.







Sanjivani Mountain from where Sanjivani Booti was acquired to save Lashman which has many exotic herbs even now









Laggala- It is here that King Ravana was killed by Lord Rama’s Brahmaastharam. The top of Laggala is flat and is believed to have been hit by the Brahmaastharam.





During these 10 days of Dasha-Hara, huge idols of Ravana, Kumbhakarna (brother of Ravana) & Meghanad (son of Ravana) are erected and are set on fire by the enthusiastic youth at the sun set.
 After Dasha-Hara, the hot weather of the summer ends, especially in North India and as the winter starts, the cold weather becomes breeding ground for many kinds of infections. Hence burning huge Ravana statues filled with the crackers containing phosphorous purifies the atmosphere. At the same time the temples perform Chandi Homa or Durga Homa which also helps in purifying the atmosphere.







Many houses also perform Aditya Homa as a Shanti Yagna and recite Sundara Kanda of Srimad Ramayana for 9 days. All these Yagna Performances are to create powerful agents into the atmosphere surrounding the house so as to keep the household environment clean & healthy.

The purpose of performing these homas is also to kill & sacrifice the 10 bad qualities, which are represented by ten heads of Ravana as follows:

(1) Kama vasana (Lust), (2) Krodha (Anger), (3) Moha (delusoion), (4) Lobha (Greed), (5) Mada (Over Pride), (6) Matsara (Jealousy), (7) Manas (Mind), (8) Buddhi (Intellect), (9) Chitta (will) & (10) Ahankara (Ego).









Rama sethu

Some houses perform Yagnas 3 times daily along with sandhya vandana, called as Aahavaneeya Agni, Grahapatya Agni, Dakshina Agni. In addition to this, the Aditya Homa is performed with the Maha Surya Mantras and the Aruna Prapathaka of the Yajurveda. The effect of these mantras is to keep the heart, brain and digestive functions of the body in balance. The imbalances in these occur in the absence of adequate sunlight in the winter months.

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