Glimpses from Indian spirituality, mythology and way of life.

Guru occupies a very important place in the Hindu way of life. Hindu tradition gives a place of high esteem to a guru. The word cannot be easily translated though roughly it may be said that the word represents a teacher.

In Sanskrit, the word Guru is made up of two root words Gu and Ru. Gu means darkness, and Ru means remover. So, the word guru stands for the teacher who is the remover of darkness and is the harbinger of enlightenment. Since Guru leads to a path of light, Guru is the Para Brahmam, the Almighty God.

This Stotram is the one which offers prostrations at the lotus feet of the Almighty who is the highest Teacher of all beings. The author is not known but some consider that it is composed by Sage Vyasa.

The poet says ‘Salutations to you, oh my Teacher. You are the Lord of the Universe and the teacher of the Universe. You are the Self in me, and the Self in all Beings. You are the one whose form is the entire universe and by whom all the movable and immovable are pervaded. You are both the beginning and the beginningless and you are limitless. You are the Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer of the Universe. You permeate in all objects both sentient and insentient. Through a needle coated with the ointment of knowledge, you indicate the one to be known and thus remove the blindness in me which is created by ignorance. You are the one who by bestowing the knowledge of the self, burns up the bondage created by accumulated actions of innumerable births. You are the one who is rooted in knowledge adorned with the garland of Truth and is the bestower of the joy of liberation.  

O Almighty God, you alone are my mother, my father, my kinsman, and my friend. You are the source of all the knowledge and wealth. You are everything to me.

This is a very short hymn on Lord Subrahmanya, the second son of Lord Shiva, also known as Murugan in Tamil. He is also known as Guha and Karthikeya. The first two stanzas of the hymn offer prostrations to the Lord residing at a place called Kumarasaila. Murugan is considered to have six faces. He is also the commander-in-chief of the army of the celestials known as the Devas.

In the hymn, the poet says, ‘I worship the young god who dwells on Kumarasaila. He has six faces and twelve arms. He wears a crown. His faces are lovely with the brilliance cast by the gem-studded ear ornaments. He holds in his hands a spear, a powerful missile, a staff, a cock and a string of beads.

I worship that young god of Kumarasaila who is sparkling with cheer in the company of his consorts Valli and Devayani, decked with garlands of divine flowers like the jasmine. He always likes to play on the loud percussion instrument and the resonant conch.

This is a hymn said to have been composed by the great demon Ravana. Ravana committed the sin of abducting Sita and was punished by Lord Rama. We all know that. But Ravana was also a great devotee of Lord Shiva and he has composed this hymn praising Lord Shiva.

There is a story behind this hymn. It is said that on one occasion Ravana tried to lift Mount Kailash in his hand to take Lord Shiva along with him to Sri Lanka. To prevent this, Lord Shiva pressed his toe. In the process, he crushed the fingers of Ravana and Ravana cried in pain. And to escape from the act of Lord Shiva, Ravana sang this hymn and thus pleased Lord Shiva.

The hymn represents the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva that eliminates all negative energies. This contains 15 verses each describing in great detail the various qualities of Lord Shiva and his eternal beauty.

In earlier episodes, I have presented twelve chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is a simple stotram consisting of ten verses praying to Lord Rama for the removal of sufferings and agonies in life. The slokas seek removal of all types of diseases and pray for well-being and prosperity.

We are all aware of the great epic Ramayana. It is the religious text which describes and accounts the story and journey of Lord Rama, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The great epic written by Maharshi Valmiki highlights the heritage of India and is considered as an integral part of the history of ancient India.

This is a stotram on Lord Rama consisting of eight verses. The author of this stotram is not known but it is considered that it might have been composed by Adi Sankara.

In earlier episodes, I have presented eleven chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is the twelfth chapter of the book dealing with Samarth Ramadas.

Link for book

About 100 kms from the city of Chennai in Tamilnadu, there is a place known as  Kancheepuram. It is an ancient town with a lot of temples. One of the most important temples here is that of Goddess Kamakshi-The Kamakshi Amman Temple.

I am presenting here a song in Tamil on this great Goddess. It is known as Kamakshi Amman Virruttam. It is full of piety and devotion. We do not have any information on the author of this song.

The Viruttam has 11 verses each ending with the sentence, ‘அழகான காஞ்சியில் புகழாக வாழ்ந்திடும் அன்னை காமாட்சி உமையே’ meaning, ‘Oh  mother Kamakshi,  who is also known as Uma,  who lives gloriously in the  pretty town of Kanchipuram’.

Eulogising the Goddess with various forms of praise the author says, ‘Oh great Goddess! Though I was born  and then grew up in this world, I do  not know any great religious places. I do not remember whether at any day I saw  at least a few of the  many great people and praised them. I do not remember whether at any time I sung from my mouth and praised you as  Vaami and Shivakami. I do not remember whether at any time I prostrated at the feet  of my mother and my father. I have never saluted  by falling at the lotus like feet of any great religious leader.

Have you seen a greater  fool than me on this earth? Yet, oh Goddess Kamakshi, I know that you will pardon me for all my mistakes and shower your grace on me. So, I am seeking refuge in you. Why is it that in spite of coming  before you and seeking protection relating all my problems to you, you are confused and behave harshly  with me by keeping   poverty on  me? Does not the mother  tell good advices even if the son is bad? Does not even a ghost  bring up with love the child  born to it ?

You are the mother who would remove  all  pains of those who come   and see  you on Fridays. You would remove the sorrows of those  who prostrate at your feet even in their thoughts. Except you, I do not see  any  one to protect me in this world. Oh mother, I do not know how many births I have taken in this earth. At least now take mercy on me and  protect me by not making me take another birth and give me salvation’.

The Atmaarpana Stuthi is a hymn in Sanskrit language composed by Appayya Dikshitar, one of the great saints and proponent of Advaita Philosophy after Adi Sankara. It is a hymn in praise of Lord Shiva and is also known as ‘Unmattha Panchaa Shath’.

Once Dikshitar felt that he has to put himself to a test as to whether his devotion to Lord Shiva was indeed true. He thought, ‘Suppose I become insane, will my mouth utter the name of Lord Shiva. If that be so, then it must be real.’ So, he embarked on an experiment. He made a paste of Datura seeds. These seeds are poisonous and if taken in, will make a person insane. He also prepared an antidote to this poison.

He called his disciples. He gave them the poisonous paste and the antidote. He told them to give him the first potion for a week and write down whatever he said in that state of mind. After recording this, they have to give after a week, the antidote that would bring him back to normalcy. Indeed, it was a remarkable experiment to find out how serious he was about Shiva.

The experiment started. The disciples recorded what he said during that time. It was this hymn on Lord Shiva consisting of fifty verses. ‘Panchaa Shath’ means 50 and ‘Unmattha’ means “one who has lost his mind”. So, it is 50 verses composed during the period when he lost his mind.

Link for the Book and the audio book

Book

In earlier episodes, I have presented ten chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is the eleventh chapter of the book dealing with Sri Aurobindo.

Link for book

The Atmaarpana Stuthi-Verses 11-20

The Atmaarpana Stuthi is a hymn in Sanskrit language composed by Appayya Dikshitar, one of the great saints and proponent of Advaita Philosophy after Adi Sankara. It is a hymn in praise of Lord Shiva and is also known as ‘Unmattha Panchaa Shath’.

Once Dikshitar felt that he has to put himself to a test as to whether his devotion to Lord Shiva was indeed true. He thought, ‘Suppose I become insane, will my mouth utter the name of Lord Shiva. If that be so, then it must be real.’ So, he embarked on an experiment. He made a paste of Datura seeds. These seeds are poisonous and if taken in, will make a person insane. He also prepared an antidote to this poison.

He called his disciples. He gave them the poisonous paste and the antidote. He told them to give him the first potion for a week and write down whatever he said in that state of mind. After recording this, they have to give after a week, the antidote that would bring him back to normalcy. Indeed, it was a remarkable experiment to find out how serious he was about Shiva.

The experiment started. The disciples recorded what he said during that time. It was this hymn on Lord Shiva consisting of fifty verses. ‘Panchaa Shath’ means 50 and ‘Unmattha’ means “one who has lost his mind”. So, it is 50 verses composed during the period when he lost his mind.

I am presenting them here in a series of five sections. This is the second section dealing with verses 11 to 20.

Link for the Book and the audio book

Book

In earlier episodes, I have presented nine chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is the tenth chapter of the book dealing with Sri Raghavendra Swami.

Link for book

The Atmaarpana Stuthi-Verses 1-10

The Atmaarpana Stuthi is a hymn in Sanskrit language composed by Appayya Dikshitar, one of the great saints and proponent of Advaita Philosophy after Adi Sankara. It is a hymn in praise of Lord Shiva and is also known as ‘Unmattha Panchaa Shath’.

Once Dikshitar felt that he has to put himself to a test as to whether his devotion to Lord Shiva was indeed true. He thought, ‘Suppose I become insane, will my mouth utter the name of Lord Shiva. If that be so, then it must be real.’ So, he embarked on an experiment. He made a paste of Datura seeds. These seeds are poisonous and if taken in, will make a person insane. He also prepared an antidote to this poison.

He called his disciples. He gave them the poisonous paste and the antidote. He told them to give him the first potion for a week and write down whatever he said in that state of mind. After recording this, they have to give after a week, the antidote that would bring him back to normalcy. Indeed, it was a remarkable experiment to find out how serious he was about Shiva.

The experiment started. The disciples recorded what he said during that time. It was this hymn on Lord Shiva consisting of fifty verses. ‘Panchaa Shath’ means 50 and ‘Unmattha’ means “one who has lost his mind”. So, it is 50 verses composed during the period when he lost his mind.

Link for the Book and the audio book

Book

This is a story based on Hindu mythology and is a mixture of facts and fiction. Yathni is a little girl studying in Fifth Grade and she is a devotee of Lord Ganesha. Ganesha takes her on an excursion to the legendary mountain of Kailash. How was this excursion, what are the things which she saw and how was her meeting with Lord Shiva. These are the things covered in the story.

The main book titled ‘Yathni’s Travel to Kailash’ was published in the year 2012. While giving a number of anecdotes from Hindu mythology, the story takes one to the North Pole, the Moon and the outer space and beyond. In this process matters of educational interest like climate change, bio-diversity, space science etc have been dealt with. These are given with colourful illustrations. Subsequently, an abridged edition was published in the year 2020. An audio book has also been published.

This is the fourteenth episode of the story from the audio book. The earlier episodes had been published as follows:

First episode - 5th August 21.

Second episode -3rd September 21

Third episode -15th September 21

Fourth episode -22nd October 21

Fifth episode -16th November 21

Sixth episode – 24th December 21

Seventh episode – 10th January 22

Eighth episode-11th February 22

Ninth episode-18th March 22

Tenth episode- 12th April 22

Eleventh episode- 27thMay 22

Twelfth episode- 12th August 22

Thirteenth episode- 14th September 22

Links to the audio book.

In earlier episodes, I have presented eight chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is the ninth chapter of the book dealing with Dayananda Saraswati (Arya Samaj).

Link for book

This is a story based on Hindu mythology and is a mixture of facts and fiction. Yathni is a little girl studying in Fifth Grade and she is a devotee of Lord Ganesha. Ganesha takes her on an excursion to the legendary mountain of Kailash. How was this excursion, what are the things which she saw and how was her meeting with Lord Shiva. These are the things covered in the story.

The main book titled ‘Yathni’s Travel to Kailash’ was published in the year 2012. While giving a number of anecdotes from Hindu mythology, the story takes one to the North Pole, the Moon and the outer space and beyond. In this process matters of educational interest like climate change, bio-diversity, space science etc have been dealt with. These are given with colourful illustrations. Subsequently, an abridged edition was published in the year 2020. An audio book has also been published.

This is the thirteenth episode of the story from the audio book. The earlier episodes had been published as follows:

First episode - 5th August 21.

Second episode -3rd September 21

Third episode -15th September 21

Fourth episode -22nd October 21

Fifth episode -16th November 21

Sixth episode – 24th December 21

Seventh episode – 10th January 22

Eighth episode-11th February 22

Ninth episode-18th March 22

Tenth episode- 12th April 22

Eleventh episode- 27thMay 22

Twelfth episode- 12th August 22

Links to the audio book.

Namadeva

In earlier episodes, I have presented seven chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is the eighth chapter of the book dealing with Namadeva.

Link for book

This is a story based on Hindu mythology and is a mixture of facts and fiction. Yathni is a little girl studying in Fifth Grade and she is a devotee of Lord Ganesha. Ganesha takes her on an excursion to the legendary mountain of Kailash. How was this excursion, what are the things which she saw and how was her meeting with Lord Shiva. These are the things covered in the story.

The main book titled ‘Yathni’s Travel to Kailash’ was published in the year 2012. While giving a number of anecdotes from Hindu mythology, the story takes one to the North Pole, the Moon and the outer space and beyond. In this process matters of educational interest like climate change, bio-diversity, space science etc have been dealt with. These are given with colourful illustrations. Subsequently, an abridged edition was published in the year 2020. An audio book has also been published.

This is the twelfth episode of the story from the audio book. The earlier episodes had been published as follows:

First episode - 5th August 21.

Second episode -3rd September 21

Third episode -15th September 21

Fourth episode -22nd October 21

Fifth episode -16th November 21

Sixth episode – 24th December 21

Seventh episode – 10th January 22

Eighth episode-11th February 22

Ninth episode-18th March 22

Tenth episode- 12th April 22

Eleventh episode- 27th May 22

Links to the audio book.

Ramana Maharishi

In earlier episodes, I have presented six chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is the seventh chapter of the book dealing with Ramana Maharishi.

Link for book

This is a story based on Hindu mythology and is a mixture of facts and fiction. Yathni is a little girl studying in Fifth Grade and she is a devotee of Lord Ganesha. Ganesha takes her on an excursion to the legendary mountain of Kailash. How was this excursion, what are the things which she saw and how was her meeting with Lord Shiva. These are the things covered in the story.

The main book titled ‘Yathni’s Travel to Kailash’ was published in the year 2012. While giving a number of anecdotes from Hindu mythology, the story takes one to the North Pole, the Moon and the outer space and beyond. In this process matters of educational interest like climate change, bio-diversity, space science etc have been dealt with. These are given with colourful illustrations. Subsequently, an abridged edition was published in the year 2020. An audio book has also been published.

This is the eleventh episode of the story from the audio book. The earlier episodes had been published as follows:

First episode - 5th August 21.

Second episode -3rd September 21

Third episode -15th September 21

Fourth episode -22nd October 21

Fifth episode -16th November 21

Sixth episode – 24th December 21

Seventh episode – 10th January 22

Eighth episode-11th February 22

Ninth episode-18th March 22

Tenth episode- 12th April 22

Links to the audio book.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

In earlier episodes, I have presented five chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is the sixth chapter of the book dealing with Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

Link for book

Shirdi Sai Baba

In earlier episodes, I have presented four chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is the fifth chapter of the book dealing with Shirdi Sai Baba.

Link for book

This is a story based on Hindu mythology and is a mixture of facts and fiction. Yathni is a little girl studying in Fifth Grade and she is a devotee of Lord Ganesha. Ganesha takes her on an excursion to the legendary mountain of Kailash. How was this excursion, what are the things which she saw and how was her meeting with Lord Shiva. These are the things covered in the story.

The main book titled ‘Yathni’s Travel to Kailash’ was published in the year 2012. While giving a number of anecdotes from Hindu mythology, the story takes one to the North Pole, the Moon and the outer space and beyond. In this process matters of educational interest like climate change, bio-diversity, space science etc have been dealt with. These are given with colourful illustrations. Subsequently, an abridged edition was published in the year 2020. An audio book has also been published.

This is the tenth episode of the story from the audio book. The earlier episodes had been published as follows:

First episode - 5th August 21.

Second episode -3rd September 21

Third episode -15th September 21

Fourth episode -22nd October 21

Fifth episode -16th November 21

Sixth episode – 24th December 21

Seventh episode – 10th January 22

Eighth episode-11th February 22

Ninth episode-18th March 22

Links to the audio book.

Sri Vallabhacharya

In earlier episodes, I have presented three chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is the fourth chapter of the book dealing with Sri Vallabhacharya.

Link for book

This is a story based on Hindu mythology and is a mixture of facts and fiction. Yathni is a little girl studying in Fifth Grade and she is a devotee of Lord Ganesha. Ganesha takes her on an excursion to the legendary mountain of Kailash. How was this excursion, what are the things which she saw and how was her meeting with Lord Shiva. These are the things covered in the story.

The main book titled ‘Yathni’s Travel to Kailash’ was published in the year 2012. While giving a number of anecdotes from Hindu mythology, the story takes one to the North Pole, the Moon and the outer space and beyond. In this process matters of educational interest like climate change, bio-diversity, space science etc have been dealt with. These are given with colourful illustrations. Subsequently, an abridged edition was published in the year 2020. An audio book has also been published.

This is the ninth episode of the story from the audio book. The earlier episodes had been published as follows:

First episode - 5th August 21.

Second episode -3rd September 21

Third episode -15th September 21

Fourth episode -22nd October 21

Fifth episode -16th November 21

Sixth episode – 24th December 21

Seventh episode – 10th January 22

Eighth episode-11th February 22

Links to the audio book.

Sri Madhavacharya

In earlier episodes, I have presented two chapters from my book titled ‘Great Saints of India’.

This is the third chapter of the book dealing with Sri Madhavacharya.

Link for book

Ardhanariswara Stotram

This is a beautiful hymn composed by Adi Sankara offering salutations to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi in the form of Ardhanariswara. Ardhanariswara is a form of Shiva combined with his consort Parvathi. Literally, it means half female deity. The form of Shiva here is depicted as half-male and half-female, equally split down vertically in the middle. The right half is generally that of Shiva, and the left that of Parvathi. The form is stated to represent the synthesis of Purusha and Prakrti. It represents the synthesis of Matter and Spirit or the masculine and feminine energies of the universe and illustrates how Shakti is inseparable from Shiva. In the hymn, the word Shiva represents both Shiva and Parvathi. ‘Shivayai’ is feminine representing Parvathi and ‘Shivaya’ is masculine representing Shiva.

In this hymn Adi Sankara picturises this form.

The phalasruti says that those who chant or hear this Stotram with devotion will be blessed with long respectful life, fulfilment of all desires and will obtain all auspicious things for eternity.

I have also brought about an audio book titled ‘A few hymns on Lord Shiva’ which you may like to hear. It is available with leading audio book-sellers like Google’s play books.

This is a story based on Hindu mythology and is a mixture of facts and fiction. Yathni is a little girl studying in Fifth Grade and she is a devotee of Lord Ganesha. Ganesha takes her on an excursion to the legendary mountain of Kailash. How was this excursion, what are the things which she saw and how was her meeting with Lord Shiva. These are the things covered in the story.

The main book titled ‘Yathni’s Travel to Kailash’ was published in the year 2012. While giving a number of anecdotes from Hindu mythology, the story takes one to the North Pole, the Moon and the outer space and beyond. In this process matters of educational interest like climate change, bio-diversity, space science etc have been dealt with. These are given with colourful illustrations. Subsequently, an abridged edition was published in the year 2020. An audio book has also been published.

This is the eighth episode of the story from the audio book. The earlier episodes had been published as follows:

First episode - 5th August 21.

Second episode -3rd September 21

Third episode -15th September 21

Fourth episode -22nd October 21

Fifth episode -16th November 21

Sixth episode – 24th December 21

Seventh episode – 10th January 22

Links to the audio book.

Saints

Saints are the great souls who have devoted their life, energy and experience for the welfare of the people. India has been blessed from time immemorial by the advent of innumerable saints like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swamy Vivekananda and Goswamy Tulsi Das. I have published a book on nineteen such great Saints along with an audio version of that book. I am presenting them here in a series of nineteen episodes. I have earlier presented the first one on Adi Sankara. This one is on Sri Ramanujacharya.

Links for books

Saints are the great souls who have devoted their life, energy and experience for the welfare of the people. They are extraordinary human beings having great wisdom, vast experience and character worthy of imitation. They gifted everything to the world without seeking fame or any kind of gain. Welfare of the world was their sole objective.

India has been blessed from time immemorial by the advent of innumerable saints. This includes saints like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swamy Vivekananda and Goswamy Tulsi Das. Swamy Rama Tirtha for example was one, who had taken the Advaita Vedanta to foreign shores like Swamy Vivekananda. He was also a poet, not only in English but also in Urdu. I have published a book on nineteen such great Saints along with an audio version of that book. I shall present them here in a series of nineteen episodes starting from this one on Adi Sankara.

Links for books

This is a story based on Hindu mythology and is a mixture of facts and fiction. Yathni is a little girl studying in Fifth Grade and she is a devotee of Lord Ganesha. Ganesha takes her on an excursion to the legendary mountain of Kailash. How was this excursion, what are the things which she saw and how was her meeting with Lord Shiva. These are the things covered in the story.

The main book titled ‘Yathni’s Travel to Kailash’ was published in the year 2012. While giving a number of anecdotes from Hindu mythology, the story takes one to the North Pole, the Moon and the outer space and beyond. In this process matters of educational interest like climate change, bio-diversity, space science etc have been dealt with. These are given with colourful illustrations. Subsequently, an abridged edition was published in the year 2020. An audio book has also been published.

This is the seventh episode of the story from the audio book. The earlier episodes had been published as follows:

First episode - 5th August 21.

Second episode -3rd September 21

Third episode -15th September 21

Fourth episode -22nd October 21

Fifth episode -16th November 21

Sixth episode – 24thDecember 21

Links to the audio book.

Mukundamala

The Alwars are a group of twelve ancient Vaishnava saints who lived in Tamil Nadu. They are famous for their poetry in Tamil known as Pasurams in praise of Lord Vishnu. In the earlier episodes I have made a brief mention about these 12 Alwars. Kulasekara Alwar is one of these 12 Alwars.

Kulasekara Alwar was a king. He was also a great scholar of Tamil and Sanskrit. He was a king of great valour and captured various other kingdoms. But, Lord Vishnu wanted him to lead a spiritual life. So, on one fine day the king got irritated for leading a luxurious life. He thought that he should lead his life by being useful to others and at the same time he should spread the devotion to Lord Vishnu. He composed 105 paasurams called ‘Perumal Thirumozhi’.

This hymn ‘Mukundamala’ is the one composed by him in Sanskrit. The hymn essentially describes Lord Vishnu as a garland and Lord Vishnu’s several names and attributes as beads of this garland.

I have also brought about an audio book titled ‘Alwars-The Vaishnavite Saints’ which will be available with leading audio book-sellers like Google’s ‘Play Books’.

Mahalayam or Pitru Paksha

The period from 21stSeptember to 6th October of this year is one of the important one in the Hindu way of life. It is known as Mahalaya Paksha or Pitru Paksha. The Taitriya Upanishad says that the universe evolved out of Brahman, the ultimate reality. Although Brahman is a man’s innermost self, man is not conscious of it because the Self is hidden by various sheaths called koshas. These sheaths are five in number. The first is annamaya kosha – the outermost sheath which is gross physical sheath produced from food which we eat. Next is pranamaya kosha – the vital breath (prana) which pervades the physical sheath. Then the manomaya kosha – of the mind. Thereafter the vijnanamaya kosha – of the intellect or wisdom and lastly, the innermost ananda maya kosha – the sheet of bliss or Ananda. 

An individual is considered to be composed of three bodies. The gross body (Karya sharira) is the first outermost sheath. The next three sheaths form the Sukshma Sharira and the final sheath is the causal body (Karana Sharira). The Sukshma sharira and the Karana sharira are subtle in nature. They contain all the vital functions and keep the gross body alive. After the death of a human being, the gross body dissolves into the gross elements of the earth, which are basically the earth, fire, water and air. The scriptures say that the subtle bodies still remain even after death and go to the subtle or ethereal realm along with the soul. In other words, our ancestors are living in a subtle form in another realm of this universe. This realm is called as Pitru Loka. The scriptures say that when the sun enters the zodiac sign of Virgo, these ancestors who are in their subtle form would leave this subtle and ethereal realm and come and reside in their descendants' homes on earth for a fortnight.

Since the elements like earth and water is absent from their body, the subtle body of the ancestors is not materially tangible. Those who have faith in the scriptures believe that the ancestors would come invisible to their houses. The scriptures advise us to offer oblations to them and propitiate them. Certain procedures have been prescribed in this regard. That is what the Hindus follow and do. The ceremonies performed indicate the love, affection and gratitude that the descendants have for their ancestors.

I have also published an audio book titled ‘Paradise comes to Mylapore’. Though primarily the book talks about the area of Mylapore in the city of Chennai in Tamilnadu, the story is based on Mahalayam. The link for this book is given below.