TERRACOTTA ART OF BENGAL-RADHA KRISHNA LEELA

 There are beautiful sculptures found of Radha-Krishna all over Bishnupur, Malda ,Bankura, Bardhaman regions of bengal which have been made with the available alluvial+laterite soil.

These sculptures symbolise the Bhakti movement and Gaudiya Vaishnavism in Bengal.

This terracotta art is called Ras-Chakra and it depicts the Ras-leela.

As mentioned in the Bhagvat Purana and Jayadeva’s Geeta Govinda,the ras leela consisted of many gopis who used to encircle Krishna and Radha and used to dance and celebrate the love of Radha and Krishna.

There are many such sculptures found all over bengal for example at the Shyamrai temple at Bishnupur,

and Brindaban Chandra math at Kalna,

Some sculptures include:-

What are some of the unsolved mysteries of space?

 Here are some unsolved mysteries:

(1) The great attractor

There is something really attractive 220 million light years away which is pulling us and all the galaxies near us closer to it. Our galaxy is movig toward it at 1.4 million miles per hour. We can’t see it because our own galaxy is blocking the view of that attractor. Scientists don’t know what it is.

(2) Black knight satellite

Black knight satellite is a mysterious spacecraft alleged to be of alien provenance and covered up by nasa for more than 60 years. It was caught changing direction by ISS . Scientists are not sure that whether it was alien spaceship or just space debris.

(3) Mysterious knocking heard in a chinese spacecraft.

During 21 hour mission of chinese spacecraft, astronaut Yang Liwei said that he heard a strange knocking noise like someone was hitting the body of the spaceship. He tried to figure out what it could be but found nothing. No one could explain what had actually happened.

(4) wow! Signal

It is a strong radio signal received in August 1977 by astronomer Jerry Ehman. It was received from constellation sagittarius where the centre of our galaxy located. It lasted for 72 second. But it has not been detected again after several subsequent attempts by Ehman and others. Many hypothesis have been made about the origin of signal but none of them satisfy. So it remains mystery.

Why did pooja Gandhi vanish after delivering a massive hit in Kannada, mungaru male?

 After starring in a block-buster romantic Kannada film Mungaru Male in 2006, Pooja Gandhi became a very popular and highest paid actress in the Kannada cinema. It was her Kannada debut film, this film gave her an immense success and she became an overnight sensational star in the Kannada film industry.

Ganesh and Pooja Gandhi starred in Mungaru Male which became the first Indian film to get screened continuously for one year in a multiplex and it was screened for over 865 days. It grossed over 75 crore and became the highest grossing South Indian film of that time.

After Mungaru Male she starred in several hit films in Kannada such as Milana opposite Puneeth Rajkumar, it was her second film in Kannada and it was screened over 500 days in the theatres.

Her third film in Kannada was Krishna opposite Ganesh and it was also a commercially hit film, it completed 100 days. This film has become her hat- trick 100 days film in Kannada.

Until 2008 her career was good in the Kannada film industry as acted in super hit films like Taj Mahal and opposite Upendra in Budhivanta both were released in 2008.

2009 onwards most of her films failed at the box office. In 2009 she acted in 12 films in different languages including Kannada.

In 2010 she acted in her third Hindi film I Am alongside Juhi Chawla, it received positive reviews and also won National Film Award for Best Film.

In 2012 she made her comeback with Kannada film Dandupalya in a non glamorous get-up. It was a crime, female orientated film and was a box-office hit and completed 100 days and collected 40 crore againt 3 crore budget. She gave an exceptionally good performance in a realistic way and she won SIIMA Award and was nominated for Filmfare Award South for Best Actress in a Negative Role.

But Pooja Gandhi got criticised from social activists of some groups for exposing in a particular scene in the film Dandupalya, they called it an offense. Some groups demonstrated against it in Bangalore for depicting anti social activities in the film.

In 2012 she joined Politics by joining JDS but in 2013 she contested Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections for the seat in Raichur from BSR Congres but she couldn't win the seat .

In 2015 she acted and also produced Kannada film Abhinetri.

In 2017 she starred in Dandupalya 2 and in 2018 in Dandupalya 3 and in both the films she performed brilliantly and more confidently.

In 2023 she got married with Vijay Ghorpade. When we refer to her background she is from a Punjabi family, she was born in Meerut, UP and brought up in Delhi. She began her career as a model and then acted in some television series. She made her filmy debut at the age of 18 with the Bollywood film Kathron Ke Khiladi in 2001. She then acted in a Bengali film in 2003 and in a Tamil film Kokki in 2006. Kannada film Mungaru Male made her a big star. After Dandupalya 3 she didn't appear in any Kannada film. In 2022 she acted in a Telugu film in a supporting role. After her marriage she didn't act in any film.

Pooja Gandhi might have lost her popularity when she entered into politics in 2012, it might be her wrong decision, she failed in politics and also lost her filmy career. In 2012 she got engaged with industrialist Anand Gowda but it got ended in a month. She also got criticised when she took part in Kannada Bigg Boss Season 3. But Pooja Gandhi is happy with her filmy career, she feels that she didn't appear in the same type of roles, she gave big hits and also big flops but she doesn't have regret because she feels that it was all the part of making her what she is today. She says that a film can be a flop but an actor can never be a flop.

Pooja Gandhi gave many block-buster films but even for today she is famous for her role Nandini in Mungaru Male, the audience liked her very much in that role. She is popularly known as Male Hudugi (Rain Girl) in the Kannada film industry. She acted in over 50 films in a decade in 5 languages and she mainly worked in Kannada films.

What is the difference between the object in the upper part and the one in the lower part of the image?

 None! Both actually show NGC 1566, a magnificent spiral galaxy about twenty million light-years from Earth in the Dorado constellation. What changes between the two parts of the photo is the observation wavelength. The upper part of the photo was obtained in the visible spectrum by the Hubble Space Telescope, showing how the galaxy would appear to our eyes if we were located nearby. The lower part, on the other hand, shows NGC 1566 captured in the infrared by the James Webb Space Telescope. The Hubble photo allows detailed recognition of the structure of NGC 1566. At its center lies a small nucleus composed of old yellow stars. Two powerful spiral arms extend from it, containing young blue stars and pink stellar regions. Dust is also visible, appearing dark brown as it blocks the light from the background stars. In the image obtained by the James Webb, both the young blue stars and the star-forming regions have disappeared. The spiral arms are now outlined by the dust, shown in red, which is the true protagonist of the shot as it emits most at these wavelengths. The stars in the nucleus are still visible, but their brightness is nothing compared to that of the dust.

THE NGC 1566 GALAXY CAPTURED BY WEBB AND HUBBLE!

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee (STScI), T. Williams (Oxford), R. Chandar (UToledo), D. Calzetti (UMass), PHANGS Team.

Rigvedic Saraswati the lost river

 Saraswati is among the most discussed rivers in the context of Indian history, the waters of which once flowed from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea, separate from the other historically famous Indus(Sindhu) river. More than five thousand years ago, The mighty river Sarasvati was flowing in full strength through the arid desert of Western Bharat into the Arabian Sea.

Sarasvati is mentioned in Rig Veda and ancient sanskrit text, the oldest being the, Rig Veda, the Saraswati is described as the best and the purest among all rivers, which is fast-flowing and ocean-like, and it flows from the mountains to the sea. The later text epic Mahabharata too mentioned the Saraswati as lost in the desert sands, and then reappearing at different places in its downstream course, thus making it clear that the composer was aware of Saraswati losing its flow strength. According to the Sattelite image of ISRO, The Ghaggar Hakra river is identified was indeed the Vedic Saraswati River mentioned in the Rig Veda. several European scholars, as early as 1810s, reported that in the couplets sung by the common people in Rajasthan, the depopulation in the desert areas was blamed on the absorption or disappearance of the Saraswati or Ghaggar-Hakra.

They also observed high quality antique structures buried in sand which perished as the river dried up. several research papers published at the time and later identifies the Ghaggar-Hakra stream as the erstwhile river Saraswati. The identification of a river Saraswati in the region was well-accepted since the time of the British Raj and the argument that the river is just a poetic figment of imagination, came later by AIT/AMT proponents.

Drying of river Saraswati a time frame-

1. 2700 BCE - Kalibangan earthquake. This led to creation & activation of Yamuna tear faults in the Siwalik hills.

2. 2200 BCE- Second earthquake in Dholavira, which led to the next episode of tectonic shifts and creation of new faults lines.

3. 2000 BCE- Yamuna moves eastward towards Ganga, abandoning Saraswati that loses >50% of its water volume and Sutlej turns westward, abandons Saraswati, and joins Sindhu (Indus). Now Saraswati loses almost its entire volume of the glacier waters.

4. 1800 BCE- By this time the river stopped flowing into the sea at Rann of Kutch, from being a perennial ice-fed river, Saraswati now becomes a weak rain-fed stream.

5. Between 600-500 BCE, Unfortunately, owing to the monotonic weakening of Monsoons in the Siwalik areas that had set in long back, the rain-fed stream could not retain the previous heavy flow.

6. Further tectonic activities that created ridges (across Haryana and Rajasthan) turned this already dying rain-fed stream into a series of lakes & pools (the water bodies are still visible from flights). As the mighty Saraswati dies, people migrate to the Ganga Yamuna doab areas.

Ghaggar (the upper part of saraswati as it is named now) is still there as a thin monsoon time stream. It was the remnant of the Rig Vedic Saraswati river, which used to be a mighty river once which flowed all the way to the modern day Arabian sea. Rig Veda does not mention the drying of the Saraswati River - we can say that the Rig Veda was composed sometime atleast by 2000 BCE, So the forced dating of Rig Veda to1500 BCE is also incorrect.

What Bharat had lost!!

 Restoring an ancient monument means you will be destroying the original monument. Preserving the originally built structure and archeological efforts will not happen.

But similar structure can be brought back near to it. So that we have the archaeological evidence as well as new one which is living Mandir.

We lost the beautiful architecture.

When did Lord Ganesha show his Panchmukhi form?

 Vedic Gods always exists.

They show themselves based on a devotees Sadhana or their requirement in a cosmic situation in sustaining the universe.

Most of stories in Purans have happened a number of times in different Kalpas and Yugas with some Variations. These have happened already and even Will happen in the future again and again.

So coming to question: There were 3 Asuras who were Son's of Tarakasura.

Tarakaksha, Kamalaksha and Vidhyunmali

They performed Thapas and as a boon got 3 fully facilitated and equipped Cities made of Gold, Silver and Iron. All three have the ability to fly in Space and never come in a straight line.

So their condition for their Death Wish was. The Man who is King of all Gods. Should come on a chariot that never existed, A Bow that was never built and an with an Arrow that was never made before. Using these tools the King of Gods should hit the three Cities when they come in one straight line.

So Bhrama, Indra and other Gods made bought the essence of 14 lokas into Earth and made it as chariot. The power of Sun and Moon as two wheels. 4 Vedas as horses. Bhrama as the coach man. Pranava [Om] As a whip.

They made Meru Parvatha (Golden Mountain) as bow and Adhisesha as the Bow string. Vishnu + Agni + Soma became an Arrow.

Invited Shiva and requested him to get on the chariot and finish the Demon Kings.

So Shiva has entered the chariot reached into space and waited for a long long time for the three Cities to come in one straight line which they never came. After thinking for himself Shiva Realized that He has to please Ganesha for this obstacle to be removed.

So Shiva sat in a meditative position and went deep inside. After a while from the 5 Faces of Shiva came out a light and formed a 5 Elephant headed Boy with three eyes on each face and Moon on each crown. Shiva opened his eyes and both smiled and each other.

Shiva pleased Ganesha with a 1000 names which famously available as Ganesha Sahasranamam. Useful for Sadhana for Ganesha's devotees. Then Ganesha promised that this time the three Cities will come into a line.

Shiva went back and stood on the chariot with his Bow and Arrow. Ganesha invisibly grew his Trunk and make three space Cities hold in one straight line. Shiva shooted Vishnu in the form of Arrow and the Asura, thier followers and the three Cities burnt to Ashes within seconds.

This is the instance through Shiva - Ganesha showed his Panchamukhi Form.

In Mantra Shashtra this form is called as “Herambha Ganapathi”. Herambha - means

Deenaradha vachako Hescha, Rambha palaka vachakaha! Palakam deenalokanam Herambham pranamamyaham!!

Which means he is the God who protects the weak and helpless.

Sri Ganeshaya Namha

What is the most illogical scene in a movie that you can't help but ignore?

 You know it:

Superman: The Movie, 1978.

Lex wins, nuclear missile hits, Lois dies, Superman screams.

So he takes off, flies fast, flips Earth’s rotation, turns back time and everything is great again.

Nope.

Just nope.

Listen, I love Superman, I love Christopher Reeve, I am willing suspend science and critical thought for an Alien who looks like a human, flies, is impervious to weapons, has super strength, is not corrupted by it, has ice breath, laser eyes and finds Margot Kieder attractive. I can even do the red underwear over the pants thing.

HOWEVER!

This scene is beyond stupid.

Let’s break it down:

1. Superman flying really fast around the Earth would not change the direction of its turn on its axis. It just won’t. Something flying around isn’t what causes the Earth to turn. So this wouldn’t work… But let’s say that it did…
2. Even if superman managed to stop Earth spinning and then caused it to turn on its axis the other way round… What the fuck does that have to do with time?! Time wouldn’t move backwards. Nothing about the events thus far would change… But let’s say that it did…
3. Wait? Superman can time travel? Then why not prevent Lex from messing with the missiles in the first place? And you know what? This guy Jonathan Kent could really benefit from a fast trip to the ER. Not to mention Jor El and Lara… I guess Superman didn’t really like his parents…But let’s say that he did…
4. Superman just killed everybody on Earth and destroyed every building on the planet. I mean, sure, Lex killed some people, people but Superman killed ALL the people! I’m sorry but suddenly stopping and reversing the Earth's rotation would cause cataclysmic damage. Everything and everyone not anchored to the bedrock would be instantly subjected to immense forces due to inertia and if that catapulting didn't kill you, then the massive winds, tsunamis, earthquakes, and the total collapse of all structures, would likely result in global extinction… But - man, this is a tough one - let’s say that it didn’t…
5. Superman double tapped humanity. He killed everyone, but he needed to make sure. So he stopped the Earth again (!) and then flipped the rotation again. Why does he hate us? Lex at least got a real estate deal done, but Superman? Why?! A potntial hookup? And not a very good one at that. For Miss Teshmucker maybe,… mmmm, Miss Teshmucker… No, focus! Please Batman, stop him! He murdered everyone!… But let’s say that he didn’t…
6. It wouldn’t matter. If Superman turned back time, it wouldn’t just reverse the Missile hit and Lois’s death, it would place the missile back in trajectory. In a couple of seconds the missile hits again, Lois dies again and if Superman stops it… Well, bye bye Hackensack, New Jersey, the target for the other missile. So… what’s the point?

So in the name of Truth, Justice and the American way I ignored it.

But, seriously, there could have been another way - Superman flies so fast that he just barely manages to stop the 2nd missile, somehow that speed jeopardizes Luis but he manages to - scream, of course and then - get her to a hospital in time, to finish this with dramatic effect and without killing humanity for one reporter. With the most annoying voice ever recorded.

Why was Krishna so lustful? He married 16,000 wives, had 80 children, and he never married Radha?

First of all let me clear that Krishna was never lustful. In SriKrishna Ashtottarashatanama he is called as Anaadi Brahmachari which means “he is in ever brahmacharya”. He doesn’t possess materialistic qualities like lust. Remember one thing. Krishna doesn’t need anyone for his happiness. He is happy within himself. He is anandaparipoorna and swaramana. He doesn’t even needs Lakshmi devi for his ananda. That’s Krishna’s love for Lakshmi devi. Krishna never marries anyone except Lakshmi devi. Either it should be Lakshmi devi or Lakshmi sannidhana, then only Krishna will marry them. Otherwise, except Lakshmi, Krishna will not even touch any parastree.

Like how Lakshmi devi is Pativrataa in the same way Krishna or Lord Vishnu is Patnivrata. Thats why everything he accepts only when Lakshmi devi gives him. During Krishnavatara, SriRukmini devi and SriSatyabhama devi were saakshaat Mahalakshmi avatara (Sridevi and Bhudevi). Rest wives like Jambavati, Mitravrunda, Lakshana, Bhadra, Kalindi, Neela, Nagnajeeti etc. had the sannidhana or special presence of Lakshmi devi in them. Out of these queens Jambavati had the very special presence of Lakshmi devi in her.

Coming to the 16,000 queens, there are two reasons why Krishna married them:
1. These queens were kidnapped by Narakasura and were kept as prisoners in his kingdom. After Krishna killed Narakasura and crowned his son Bhagadatta as the king of Pragjyotishapura (now in Assam), he released all the 16,000 princesses. Now, no one would marry them because they stayed in Narakasura’s kingdom. Therefore, in order to save them from this insult, Krishna married them.

2. This reason is the most important reason. I have heard many people saying that if this was the case then was it neccessary for Krishna to marry them? He could have treated them as sisters too. But that wasn’t the case. SriMadhwacharya reveals it. These 16000 princesses were the sons of agnideva. They had done penance to please Brahma. Brahma pleased by the devotion appeared infront of them and asked what they wanted as boon. They asked Brahma to bless them with stree janma so that they can marry Krishna. At this Brahmaji said, “So be it.” All this Agniputras were born as princesses. Now as Krishna released them, Lakshmi devi entered each of them and they had the presence of Lakshmi devi in them and hence Krishna married them.

Now, coming to Srimati Radharani ji. She is the wife of SriKrishna Paramatma. Krishna in Vrindavana married the Gopikas who did Katyayani Vrata to get Krishna as their husband. The Gopikas’ relationship with Krishna is spiritual, devotional, and transcendental, not worldly or lustful. The Gopikas too had Lakshmi sannidhana in them, thats why Krishna married them. The “marriage” with the Gopikas is understood as spiritual union, reflecting their Lakshmi sannidhana and Krishna’s eternal nature. So, as per me, Srimati Radharani is the head of all the Gopikas. So, if Krishna married the unmarried Gopikas then its obvious he married Srimati Radharani. Srimati Radharani is best among the devotees of Lord SriKrishna in Vrindavana. So, there is no chance of Krishna leaving Srimati Radharani. Thats why he is also known as Radharaman laalju and Radhavallabh lalju in Vrindavana. At last SriKrishna gave moksha to all the Gopikas.

Now coming to Krishna’s sons, he had 10 sons from each of his wives. All these sons were devatas who by their will and by Krishna’s grace incarnated as Krishna’s sons. For example, Pradyumna is the son of Krishna and Rukmini devi and is the incarnation of Kaamadeva. Charudeshna was another son of Rukmini devi and Krishna who was the incarnation of Lord Ganesha. Like this all the sons were devata amshas.

So, in a nutshell, Krishna is not lustful. He marries only Lakshmi devi or Lakshmi sannidhana. The Gopikas of Vrindavana led by Srimati Radharani, other six queens led by Jambavati and other 16,000 queens had Lakshmi sannidhana in them thats why Krishna married them. Rukmini and Satyabhama were saakshat Lakshmi avataras.

Hope this helps!
Jay SriRam!
ShriKrishnarpanamastu!

Which Bollywood movie was the first to be fully shot in a foreign country?

 Though Bollywood is a term coined in the 70s, the question here means the first movie to be entirely shot abroad. There is little evidence of movies shot abroad (especially prior independence), still India in Africa a.k.a. Africa Mein Hind can be called as the first Indian film to be entirely shot abroad (Africa). The movie was released in 1939.

The film was directed by Hirendra Kumar Basu (Hiren Bose) and starred B. Nandrekar, Urmila Gupta and Vidya Devi. It was an action film.

After Africa Mein Hind, Ashok Kumar starrer, Naaz had a few scenes which were shot in Cairo, London and Egypt.

Ten years later in 1964, Raj Kapoor shot a few scenes and songs in Paris and Switzerland. The film was Sangam. The film starred Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Vyjantimala in lead roles.

Image(s) Courtesy: Google

What are some unknown facts about the Tirupati Balaji Temple?

 Hare Krishna!

When we search for ‘Top secrets/facts about Venkateswara swamy', we get a list of 10 or 12 facts (which are not actually facts). Let's see about those in this answer.

1. Flowers offered to the Lord, after removing are thrown behind the mulamurty without seeing that side which appear somewhere else. Also, archakas do not see behind the deity that day after throwing (similar to some sampradayam that is followed after one's death)

How far is it true? It is not at all! Because there is a flower well(poola bavi) inside the temple itself which was meant for throwing the nirmalyam (flowers offered to the Lord and other deities) of the temple. But as so many flowers are offered in temple, that well was almost full. So, they are throwing somewhere else in a good place where no one steps on the flowers. Even that has become a problem for TTD as flowers are decorated twice everyday. There are many temples under TTD and flowers of that temples. So, they are doing innovative things with nirmalyam like paper weights, photo frames, etc. Having all these proofs how can we say that they throw flowers behind the mulamurty? Comparing it with some sampradayam followed after one's death is not at all correct.

2. Secret village from which milk, butter milk, flowers, etc are brought to Tirumala and no outsider is allowed to that village except that villagers

TTD has Goshala and gardens. Milk and milk products are from Goshala and flowers from TTD gardens & Anantalwar garden. But flowers are also offered by many devotees. There are different sources of flowers for alankaram. For pushpayagam, flowers are offered by many. During brahmotsavam, Malayappa is decorated with the garland of Andal sent from Tamilnadu (probably Srivilliputtur). As said by one of the archakas at Tirumala temple, there is no such village.

3. The main deity is not in the middle of the garbhalayam!

Some say that the mulamurty is not in the middle of the garbhagriham but slightly to the right corner! No, he is in the Brahmasthanam (middle of the garbhagriham)!

4. The Lord has real hair and nails😅

His mulamurty is not like of ours. It is divine. Does that mean archakas cut his nails, if it grows!?? No, it is not. He is Avyaya, Achyuta. He doesn't have all those like our human body. It is totally wrong.

5. The temple was closed for 12 years!

No, the temple was not closed for 12 years. Vyasaraya tirtha performed pooja for that 12 years in the temple and that is the reason there is a small room type construction to the North of pushkarini where he did sandhyavandanam, etc.

6. Chandanam is applied to the chin of the Lord

Anantalwar went to Tirumala with his wife to grow a garden there and offer garlands to alankarapriya Venkatachalapati. But he didn't want to take the help of others. Only he and his wife wanted to do. Though his wife was pregnant then, she helped him. Venkateswara felt pity on them and went to help as a child. Even after Anantalwar refused his help, silently he helped. After knowing this, Anantalwar got angry on that child and ran towards him. He threw the crowbar on the child and later he got to know that it was Venkateswara! Then he applied karpooram to his mulamurty. So, it is actually paccha karpooram that is applied to chin of the Lord and not chandanam.

7. The upper body of the idol is covered with saree and the lower body is covered with a dhoti and this alankaram is done daily.

No, it is not true. Vastralankaram is not done daily to the main deity. It is done only on Fridays. It is not done with a saree. Two clothes with different measurements are used for vastralankaram.

8. Sound of ocean that is being heard at the back of the mulamurty is also not true.

I don't know why and who told all these. Maybe, because of devotion many believe these as true. But those facts which are believed to be true are not true. The reason I posted this is just to clear some misconceptions but not to hurt any devotee who feels these as true..

Om Namo Venkatesaya!!!