Wishing Happy New Year

Happy New Year 2013

Hindu Festival

Date	Day	Festival
Jan14,2013	Monday	Makarsankranti/Pongal
Feb14,2013	Thursday	Vasanth  Panchami
March 10,2013	Sunday	Maha Shivarathri
March 27,2013	Wednesday	Holi
April 11,2013	Thursday	Hindi New Year
April 11,2013	Thursday	Telugu New Year/ugadi
April 14,2013	Sunday	Tamil New Year
April 14,2013	Sunday	Baisakhi/Vishu
April 15,2013	Monday	Bengali New Year
April 20,2013	Saturday	Ramanavami
April25,2013	Thursday	Hanuman Jayanti
May13,2013	Monday	Akshaya  Tritya
Jun08,2013	Saturday	Savitri Pooja
Jul 10,2013	Wednesday	Puri Rath Yatra
Jul 22,2013	Monday	Guru Purnima
Aug 11,2013	Monday	Nag Purnima
Aug 20,2013	Tuesday	Raksha Bandhan
Aug 28,2013	Wednesday	Krisha Janmashtami
Sep 09,2013	Monday	Ganesh Chaturthi
Sep 16,2013	Monday	Onam
Sep 20,2013	Friday	Ptir-paksha Begins
Oct 04,2013	Friday	Pitr-paksha ends
Oct 11,2013	Friday	Durga Puja Begins
Oct 13,2013	Friday	Lakshmi Puja
Oct 22,2013	Tuesday	Karwa chauth
Nov 01,2013	Friday	Dhan Teras
Nov 03,2013	Sunday	Diwali
Nov17,2013	Sunday	Kartik Poornima

Why The World Will Never End in Year 2012 (Based on Hinduism & NASA(National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Question (Q): Are there any threats to the Earth in 2012? Many Internet websites say the world will end in December 2012.

Answer (A):The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.

Q: What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012?

A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012 and linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 -- hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.

Q: Does the Mayan calendar end in December 2012?

A: Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 -- another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.

Q: Is NASA predicting a "total blackout" of Earth on Dec. 23 to Dec. 25?

A: Absolutely not. Neither NASA nor any other scientific organization is predicting such a blackout. The false reports on this issue claim that some sort of "alignment of the Universe" will cause a blackout. There is no such alignment (see next question). Some versions of this rumor cite an emergency preparedness message from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. This is simply a message encouraging people to be prepared for emergencies, recorded as part of a wider government preparedness campaign. It never mentions a blackout.

Q: Could planets align in a way that impacts Earth?

A: There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. One major alignment occurred in 1962, for example, and two others happened during 1982 and 2000. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.

Q: Is there a planet or brown dwarf called Nibiru or Planet X or Eris that is approaching the Earth and threatening our planet with widespread destruction?

A: Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an Internet hoax. There is no factual basis for these claims. If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth in 2012, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. Eris is real, but it is a dwarf planet similar to Pluto that will remain in the outer solar system; the closest it can come to Earth is about 4 billion miles.

Q: What is the polar shift theory? Is it true that the Earth's crust does a 180-degree rotation around the core in a matter of days if not hours?

A: A reversal in the rotation of Earth is impossible. There are slow movements of the continents (for example Antarctica was near the equator hundreds of millions of years ago), but that is irrelevant to claims of reversal of the rotational poles. However, many of the disaster websites pull a bait-and-switch to fool people. They claim a relationship between the rotation and the magnetic polarity of Earth, which does change irregularly, with a magnetic reversal taking place every 400,000 years on average. As far as we know, such a magnetic reversal doesn’t cause any harm to life on Earth. Scientists believe a magnetic reversal is very unlikely to happen in the next few millennia.

Q: Is the Earth in danger of being hit by a meteor in 2012?

A: The Earth has always been subject to impacts by comets and asteroids, although big hits are very rare. The last big impact was 65 million years ago, and that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Today NASA astronomers are carrying out a survey called the Spaceguard Survey to find any large near-Earth asteroids long before they hit. We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs. All this work is done openly with the discoveries posted every day on the NASA Near-Earth Object Program Office website, so you can see for yourself that nothing is predicted to hit in 2012.

Q: How do NASA scientists feel about claims of the world ending in 2012?

A: For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and for all the fictional assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, we cannot change that simple fact. There is no credible evidence for any of the assertions made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.

Q: Is there a danger from giant solar storms predicted for 2012?

A: Solar activity has a regular cycle, with peaks approximately every 11 years. Near these activity peaks, solar flares can cause some interruption of satellite communications, although engineers are learning how to build electronics that are protected against most solar storms. But there is no special risk associated with 2012. The next solar maximum will occur in the 2012-2014 time frame and is predicted to be an average solar cycle, no different than previous cycles throughout history.

Debunking Indiana Jones

Unfortunately, the little most Westerners know about the Hindu Goddess tradition is what they learn fiction Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Horrison Ford is called upon to rescue struggling victims about to be sacrificed to a horrible, multi armed female deity. There is no way to sufficiently express how offensive this depiction of Goddess spirituality is to Hindus!

Europeans of the Victorian era also mistakenly believed that Shaktas engage in drunken sex orgies. No such luck! These myths got started from rumors based real tantric practices, though. A Shakta would purify himself or herself for weeks, fasting and chanting a Goddess mantra millions of times. Then under the close supervision of a Shakta master, the aspirant would drink high-proof liquor, strong enough to knock the socks off even the sturdiest drinker, much less a teetotaler like most Hindus.

The point of the practice was to learn to face death consciously. Most people die in a state of unconsciousness, which is bad news from a Hindu point of view because you want to be alert so that you can direct the stages of the after-death process. By learning to maintain awareness despite the stupefying effects of strong liquor, the Shakta is training to remain conscious during the process of death itself. 

Shaiva Siddhanta : Loving Shiva

Shaiva Siddhanta also shows more flexibility in matters of caste, gender, and ethics than the generally more socially conservative Vaishnavas. It is the most commonly practiced form of Shaivisim in south India today. Devotees of this tradition value the Tiru Murai even more than the Veda. This exquisite collection of Tamil hymns to Lord Shiva was compiled by Nambiyandar Nambi in the eleventh century.

Shaiva  Siddhanta is famous for its 63 Nayanars, Tamil poet saints who lived between 700 and 1000 C.E. Their poetry extols Shiva's extraordinary grace and compassion. Until their arrival on the scene, both Buddhism and Jainism had made substantial in roads in South India. The Nayanars won back the hearts of the people and reestablished Lord Shiva as South India's premier god. Let me introduce you to a few of these exceptional saints :

< Appar (600-681) converted from Jainism to Shaivisim. The local Jain king had him thrown into a vat of poison, tried drowning him, and drove an elephant to attack him. But by remembering the holy mantra

" Nama Shivaya", Appar survived every assault. The king was so impressed he converted to Shaivisim himself.

< Sambandar (644-660) was known for the miracles he accomplished in Shiva's name. It was said he was so adept he could raise the dead even after they were cremated! Like Appar, he taught that ultimately Vishnu and Shiva are the same Divine Being.

< Sundar (716-735) went blind as a young man. He complained angrily to Shiva who, after all, according to myth, had three good eyes! Shiva restored his eyesight. In fact, Shiva loved the boy saint so much he is said to have shared his wife, Parvati, with him!

Shaktas : " Jai Ma"!

There's famous saying in India. " When you're in public, be a Vaishnava. When you're in private, be a Shaivite. But in your heart, always be a Shakta". The advice is to behave like a conventional religious person with its masses. With a circle of friends you may explore your more radical spiritual insights. But when all is said and done, there ain't no lap more comfortable that Mom's!

Shaktas worship the Mother of the Universe as both the Supreme Consciousness itself and its power. Its power is the will and energy that creates, nutures,and finally dissolves away the worlds. Some Shaktas, called Kaulas, engage primarily in ritual practice. Others, in the meditatively oriented Samaya tradition, focus exclusively on inner work. The Mishras do some of both : ritual to channel one' s physical energy and focus the mind, and meditation to plunge into the inner depths where Devi, the "radiant goddess", resides.

In heavily Shakta of India, like Bengal or Assam, you'll hear Hindus shout "Jai Ma"! It literally means 

" Hurray for Mom!" and has an energy something like " Hallelujah!" Worship of Divine Mother permeates every aspect of Hindu spirituality. Even Vaishnavas and Shaivities don't worship a male God exclusively like Christians and Muslims do. The feminine divine is always also honored even when the male aspect of the Supreme Being is emphasized. 

Kashmir Shaivisim : The Naked Lady

Kashmir Shaivisim is the best known form of Shaivisim in the West today. It was popularized here by Swami Muktananda and his successor Gurumayi Chidvilasananda in the second half of the twentieth century. It emphasizes that we're already enlightened. We just need to remember that.

Pratyabhijna mans recognizing ones true identity and is the key to the Kashmiri system. At the center of our being lies undying divine awareness. When we clear the impurities out of our minds and stop being distracted by our desires, the light of pure awareness shines through. Then we experience our real nature as Shiva.

Lalleshvari (fourteenth century) is one of the best-known saints of this tradition. She walked out of an abusive marriage and spent the rest of her life wandering naked through the countryside, absorbed in love for Shiva and performing advanced yogic practices.