Kashmere Girls Husking Rice vintage photograph

This is Kashmere Girls Husking Rice vintage photograph in my collection.

Beautiful Hindu Temple carved with Magnificient Architecture vintage postcard

In my collection i have one Beautiful Hindu Temple carved with Magnificient Architecture vintage postcard.

In this vintage postcard the image of a Beautiful Hindu Temple carved with magnificient architecture. In the image out side of the temple 2 Elephants stands in the direction of temple. The architecture of both temple and elephants are clearly a finest example of Indian Art and Architecture.

The Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health Vailankanni vintage postcard

The Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health is located at the small town of Vailankanni in the state of Tamil Nadu. 

This Vialankanni shrine has more than 500 years of history. 

For information about The Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health Vailankanni please explore the website of Wikipedia.org and also the Official website of The Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health Vailankanni.


http://www.vailankannishrine.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Our_Lady_of_Good_Health

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velankanni_Town

In my collection i have one vintage postcard of  The Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health Vailankanni. This is my vintage postcard of Shrine Vailankanni.

Lord Vishnu on Garuda vintage postcard

The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appear in both Hindu and Buddhist Mythology.

In Hindu Religion Garuda considered as Divine and is Vahana of the Lord Vishnu.

For more information please explore wikipedia's article on Garuda. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda

In my collection i have one vintage postcard of "Lord Vishnu on Garuda". 

This is my vintage postcard of Lord Vishnu on Garuda. Back side of this postcard is plain.

Shabari Offering Fruits to Rama vintage postcard

Shabari (Sanskrit: शबरी) is an elderly woman ascetic in the Hindu epic Ramayana.According to the Ramayana, she was an ardently devoted woman who received Ram's darshan and blessing due to her Bhakthi to Him.

Story

Shabari was a hunter's daughter and belong to the Nishadha tribal community. The night before her marriage, she saw that thousands of goats and sheep were brought by her father, which were going to be sacrificed for the marriage dinner. Moved by compassion, during the early hours of the morning, she renounced the world and ran away to meet a Master. After days of traveling, she met Sage Matanga at the foot of the Mountain Rishyamukha and accepted him as guru, serving him with devotion. When her guru Matanga was about to die, Shabari—now an old woman—says that after serving him throughout her life, she wanted to reach the same "abode of peace" which Matanga reached. Thereupon, the sage said that by the virtue of her seva(service), Lord Ram shall give her darshan and asks her to wait for his arrival. Saying thus, the sage sitting in lotus posture attains Mahasamadhi. As per her guru's words, Shabari waits for the arrival of Ram.

Everyday Shabari would go out of her ashram, with the help of a walking stick and pluck berry fruits for Lord Ram. She would pluck a fruit, first taste it, and if it was sweet she would put it in her basket and discard the bitter ones. She wanted to give the good and sweet fruits to Ram. The thought never came to her that she should not taste it before it was offered to a deity. Traditional writers use this narrative to indicate that in bhakti, faults are not seen by God. Thus collecting a few fruits, Shabari went back to her ashram and eagerly anticipate Ram's arrival. Shabari is commonly used as a metaphor for an endless wait for God.

Arrival of Rama

According to the story, even though hundreds of other  yogis were waiting to receive Rama in their ashrams, Rama went only to Shabari's ashram because of her sincere devotion. On seeing Rama, Shabari became ecstatic and said, "There were so many exalted yogis waiting for your darshan, but you came to this unworthy devotee (...) This clearly shows that you will neither see whether a devotee lives in a palace or humble hut, whether he is erudite or ignorant (...) neither see caste nor color. You will only see the true bhakti (...) I do not have anything to offer other than my heart, but here are some berry fruits. May it please you, my Lord." Saying so, Shabari offered the fruits she had meticulously collected to Rama. When Rama was tasting them, Lakshmana raised the concern that Shabari had already tasted them and therefore unworthy of  eating. To this Rama said that of the many types of food he had tasted, "nothing could equal these berry fruits, offered with such devotion. You taste them, then alone will you know. Whomsoever offers a fruit, leaf, flower or some water with love, I partake it with great joy." Lakshman didn't taste the fruits. He brought them to his mouth but threw them aside considering them as impure. Pleased with Shabari's devotion, Rama blesses her with his vision. Rama notices the donas or bowls of handmade leaves in which she had offered the fruits and is impressed by the hard work Shabari has gone through to make them and hence blesses the tree, so that the leaves naturally grow in the shape of a bowl. Shabri also tells Rama to take help from Sugriva and where to find him. The Ramayana says that Shabari was a very bright and knowledgeable saint. 

Rama's discourse to Shabari

Rama delivers his discourse on nava-vidha bhakti (ninefold devotion) to Shabari,

Such pure devotion is expressed in nine ways, . First is satsang or association with love-intoxicated devotees and righteous people. The second is to develop a taste for hearing My nectar-like stories. The third is service to the guru (...) Fourth is to sing My Kirtan (communal chorus) (...) Japa or repetition of My Holy name and chanting My bhajans are the fifth expression (...) To follow scriptural injunctions always, to practice control of the senses, nobility of character and selfless service, these are expressions of the sixth mode of bhakti. Seeing Me manifested everywhere in this world and worshipping My saints more than myself is the seventh mode of bhakti. To find no fault with anyone and to be contented with one's lot is the eighth mode of bhakti. Unreserved surrender with total faith in My strength is the ninth and highest stage. Shabari, anyone who practices one of these nine modes of My bhakti pleases Me most and reaches Me without fail. That which is most difficult for the greatest yogis was easily attained by you, Shabari, because of your sincere devotion.

Shabari redirects Ram and Lakshman towards Hanuman  and Sugriv.

These are Shabari and Rama statues at Gangadhara in Simhachalam.

These are Shabari offering fruits to Lord Sri Rama and Lakshmana watching the same images.

The above text courtesy and images of Shabari offering fruits to Rama are from the website of Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabari

In my collection i have one vintage postcard of Shabari offering fruits to Lord Sri Rama. 

This is my vintage postcard of Shabari offering fruits to Rama.

Beautiful Kalamkari Painting Images

Kalamkari (Telugu: కలంకారి) or Qalamkari is a type of hand-painted or block- printed cotton textile, produced in parts of India. The word is derived from the Persian words kalam (pen) and kari (craftsmanship), meaning drawing with a pen.

The Machilipatnam Kalamkari craft made at Pedana near by Machilipatnam in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh State, evolved with patronage of the Mughals and the Golconda Sultanate.

There are two distinctive styles of kalamkari art in India - one, the Srikalahasti style and the other, the Machilipatnam style of art. The Srikalahasti style of Kalamkari, wherein the "kalam" or pen is used for free hand drawing of the subject and filling in the colours, is entirely hand worked. This style flowered around temples and their patronage and so had an almost religious identity - scrolls, temple hangings, chariot banners and the like, depicted deities and scenes taken from the great Hindu epics - Ramayana, Mahabarata, Purnaas and the mythological classics. This style owes its present status to Smt. Kamaladevi Chattopadhayay who popularised the art as the first Chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board. Only natural dyes are used in Kalamkari and it involves seventeen painstaking steps.

The above text courtesy on Kalamkari paintings from the website of Wikipedia.org.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalamkari

Recently i received a book on Kalamkari alongwith some greeting cards on Kalamkari from Mr.Srinivas Krothapally of Chroma Academy as a gift. 

Srinivas sir thank you very much for sending me a copy of your book and greeting cards as a gift and also many thanks for sharing your beautiful kalamkari images to me and giving permission for sharing them in my Heritage of India blog.

The Chroma Academy http://www.thechromaacademy.com/ began its activities in the year 2000 with the aim of being a nodal centre for promotion, development and training of motivated individuals who are keen to sustain and enrich our heritage. It is a place where one gains knowledge of basic skills in drawing old and modern methods of painting, whether drawing, sketching or painting. One can also pick up modern, traditional and abstract paintings and interact gainfully in modern trends. The ChromaAcademy is also a place of social interaction with like minded thinkers.

These are some beautiful Kalamkari images of Mr.Srinivas Krothapally of Chroma Academy,Chennai.

Please look into these beautiful kalamkari images as each of these image represent and share the rich art and cultural heritage of Kalamkari traditional designs and patterns.Further these beautiful images also explain the history of our Epics and Puranas which people need them in the current generation.

Palace of Ahmedshaha Bhadar Ahmedabad vintage postcard

This is Palace of Ahmedshaha Bhadar, Ahmedabad vintage postcard in my collection.

This vintage postcard printed in Saxony.