Saif's Diary

Dear diary,

It was a nice day, I Saif, today I played a lot with Mansi, my best friend, she is a Hindu. We were playing in Mansi's backyard. Meanwhile her grandmother called us. She prepared a plate with sweets, diya(curved shape candle), small round earthen pot filled with holy water, flowers, rice, red colour thread, and dry red colour. I asked granny curiously that what this red colour is for she replied in their custom it is called kumkum and this plate is prepared for Govardhan Puja.

"Govardhan! Puja? What's this all," I asked confusingly.

"(In India) ceremonial worship of a Hindu deity including rituals and offerings is Puja," granny replied.

"What about this Govardhan Puja," I asked.

"Govardhan Puja is celebrated to commemorate the tale of Govardhan hill and Lord Krishna. According to the legend, when Lord Krishna was staying in Gokul, his natives were a staunch follower of Lord Indra, the God of Rains. They used to worship and supplicate him enthusiastically. However, one day, Lord Krishna questioned the villagers and advised them to worship the Govardhan hill rather than Lord Indra as the hill protected them from the rain and other calamities. Convinced by Krishna’s plea, the natives started worshipping Govardhan hill. This infuriated Lord Indra and consequently, he cursed Gokul with heavy rains. Then Lord Krishna came to the rescue of the natives. It is believed that he picked up the Govardhan hill on his little finger and protected the natives who snuggled under the shade of the hill," she answered.

"Oh wow, it's so amazing," I replied.

"Since then, Govardhan Puja is celebrated day after Deepawali, the festival of lights by worshipping and supplicating Lord Krishna. It is Cereals like wheat, rice, and curry of gram flour and leafy vegetables are supplicated to the deity. On this day Govardhan hill is also worshipped by making hillocks of cow dung. Moreover, some devotees make a miniature idol of Lord Krishna, decorate it with seenkh, candles and diyas and worship it. Women on these days commonly observe day-long fasts.

In some families, Govardhan puja is celebrated by worshipping Lord Vishwakarma, the God of machines. Daughters of the house worship the machines and automobiles in the house and put a tilak on each. There is also a ritual of giving money as gifts to women on this day. The day ends with a puja in which Lord Krishna is worshipped." Grandma told me.

"Nice, it is," I mummered.

"You know my boy," she said and I glared at her. "Not only hindu community worships mother nature, there are more who do so."

"I would like to know their names," I asked in a question sense.

"One of these is Shinto," Granny said,"Shinto, traditionally dating back to 660 B. C. (before Buddhism), is a loosely organized religion of the Japanese people embracing a wide variety of beliefs and practices including worship of nature.

Shinto religion is polytheistic in nature and it involves the worship of spirits called "kami". In the eighteenth century, the scholar Moto-ori Norinaga said that kami were, "Anything whatsoever which was outside the ordinary, which possessed superior power, or which was awe-inspiring".

The followers of shintoism worship:

Nature - rivers, rocks, waterfalls, the moon, and so on

Charismatic people such as emperors

Abstract concepts like fertility and growth

Shinto teaches that everything contains a kami ,"spiritual essence", commonly translated as god or spirit.

The kami reside in all things, but certain places are designated for the interface of people and kami: sacred nature, shrines, and kamidana.

Sacred Nature: There are natural places considered to have an unusually sacred spirit about them, and are objects of worship. They are frequently mountains, trees, unusual rocks, rivers, waterfalls, and other natural edifices. In most cases they are on or near a shrine grounds.

Shrines: The shrine is a building built in which to house the kami.

Kamidana: The kamidana is a home shrine (placed on a wall in the home) that is a "kami residence" that acts as a substitute for a large shrine on a daily basis."

"Ohh..anymore?" I asked

"It is our Hindu religion," she replied. Vedic people used to worship nature …there god were indra(raining deity),agni dev (fire deity),marut(air deity) etc…hindu also worship nature, they worship sun as deity… ganga as sacred river, Mountains are the place of hindu godess …peepal(sacred fig) is respectful tree…tulsi is also sacred ..many animals like snake worship in nag panchami,Hanuman is the monkey god…cow is the secred (respectful) animal …Nandi (bull) and snake is the part of shiva temple ..fire used in many rituals and worship and they are secred…water use in worship …there are many examples where you can find out that hindu worship (respect) nature but many people don't understand the good intention about the things…we don't know about god but we know about our Nature if it is created by God ,we should respect and preserve it."

"This is so informative," I replied.

"You know, Once lord of Air wandering on the forest ,the small trees were band,the lord of air laugh at them and runaway a head,but the banyan tree not band,,lord of air asked the banyan tree,Are you not afraid of me?the banyan tree sais,my top is called brahama,the branches are called the vishnuji,and the whole part is called the brahma ,vishu,shive,the lord of air ,salute the banyan tree and gone away by the crying face!thus the trees are worshipped by Aryan culture on the earth as the first god on the earth!" Granny told. "We should preserve our mother nature."

"Mother nature, why you said nature as mother nature?" I asked.

"God created a special Mother, exceedingly loving and caring.

As ever enchanting and sustaining as she is, God had lovingly calld her ‘NATURE And she soon turned into the merciful ‘MOTHER NATURE.’

Yet now she is sad and tearful. As her children are cruel and thankless as never before.

They have not stopped tormenting her making her sad and sobbing as never before. " She replied. "She is so overpowering with her motherly love and concern , a deep feeling of peace and serenity overwhelm me whenever I'm in her close proximity away from mundane world .

We should think Nature as a mother because she genuinely deserves a mother’s respect and love. Ancient cultures personify Nature as mother because Nature embodies the aspects of nurturing and the life-giving qualities of a mother .The peace and tranquillity that we find in Nature reflect our bond of genuine love and affinity which we inherently have with Nature. The sustenance which Nature provides us is the life-line of ouŕ existence...."

So my dear diary it's all for today. I really learnt a lot from Manisha's Grandmother.