The Godly Treasure

Posted by Gopal Unnikrishna

The Sree Padmanabha Temple in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, India, traditionally regarded as the family temple of the erstwhile royal family of the State of Travancore and administered by the royalty, at once emerged as the wealthiest temple in the world when its long-closed vaults ,barring one that couldn't be opened , were accessed and the contents enlisted in compliance of a directive by the Supreme Court of India. The directive of the court was in pursuance of a suit filed by a member of a priestly family associated with the temple, praying for state take over of the temple from the royalty in the wake of  his dissatisfaction with the temple administration. This gargantuan wealth consisting of precious stones, gold, silver and also ornaments , statues and other exquisite artifacts in high-pristine gold studded with gems, have aroused sheer ecstasy among devotees, It is speculated, perhaps not widely off the mark, that this temple treasure is worth 1.5 to 2 lakh crores of rupees and that if the antique value of most of it is taken in to account the value might rise to mind boggling astronomical figures. Unfortunately and expectedly such hitherto unheard of wealth has aroused envious angst and greed among certain other sections of people. This section mainly consisting of atheists and leftists would rather have this incomparable temple heritage be confiscated and amalgamated to the state exchequer so that they can lay their hands on it with the help of the wily politicians among them.

                                                                    

The royal family of Travancore ( Thiruvithammcode) is believed to be the successors of famed Cheraman Perumals who were headquartered at Kodungalloor ( the ancient Mahodayapura).. Chera kingdom under the Perumals got dismembered in early 12th century which led to the formation of many feudatories and to their ascendency as local rulers. The southern section known as Venad together with nearby Aynad was soon constituted as the early Travancore principality by the Venad kings whose family deity it was, Lord Vishnu in the form of Sree Padmanabhaswami.

The history of the temple can be traced back as far down to 9th century as evidenced by Vaishnavaite saint Nammalvar"s devotional songs called "Malainattu Thiruppatikal" which eulogize the Vishnu temples of Kerala wherein Sree Padmanabhaswami temple is praised as one of the most sacred Vishnu temples of Kerala. The devotion of the royal family to the temple was extraordinary, amounting to almost total surrender. Maharaja Anizham Thirunal Marthandavarma the maker of modern Travancore, extended the small principlity he inherited that consisted of only areas from Kanyakumari in the south to Attingal in the north in to what is now known as the Travacore area or the erstwhile princely state of that name, by conquering and annexing all the feudatories beyond Attingal and up to Alangad and to the very borders of old Cochin kingdom, finally defeating even the great Samuthiri of Kozhikode. At the end of all his conquests and the consolidation of all the territories in to a viable new greater princely state, the Maharaja performed 'Thrippadidanam",the ultimate act of devotion to his deity by surrendering the whole state at the feet of Lord Padmnabhaswami and vowed to rule the state only as a trustee and servant of the lord, and then on assuming the title of Sree Padmanabhadasa ( servant of the Lord).

                                                                            

Though the state was symbolically surrendered to the deity, the administration of the state and the temple was maintained scrupulously separate . Even in earlier days the temple affairs were managed by a group called "Ettarayogam" ( group of eight and half) consisting of eight Brahmin houses and the Maharaja, latter being the half unit or vote. The treasury of the temple and the exchequer of the state were never allowed to be mixed up or overlapped. Management and revenue records of the temple were known as "Mathilakam Records" and have been published over the time ,one volume having been published by the famed Malayalam poet ,the great Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer when he was the Dewan Peshkar of the state.

It is quite clear that the wealth now uncovered in the vaults of the temple represents the offerings of the devotees , among them other rajas and dignatories, over the ages, and the conquest booties gifted to the deity by successive maharajas all of which accumulated in to great wealth  rightly belonging to the temple. It is in fact  the personal property of Lord Padmanabhaswami who according to Indian laws is to be deemed as a juristic person with all the rights and privileges of an individual. The latest and the most famous case where the argument based on juristic nature and attribute of divinity or diety is the Ayodhya Ramajanmabhoomi verdict accepted and relied in the verdict by the three men bench of the Allahabad High Court wherein that was the only argument accepted by the court (See: http://jeeyu.blogspot.com/2010/12/blog-post.html). There is no way the state can claim it or come in to the picture except as provider of adequate security, considering the wealth  as matter of great pride to the state. No amount of gratitude and praise for the royal family of Travancore is adequate, who most faithfully and zealously guarded this wealth over the ages. Their flag while in power, red with a silver, dextrally-coiled, sacred conch shell can now truly be imagined to be flying and fluttering in the high winds of grandeur and they deserve a 21 gun salute as the British Empire used to honor them with.

Mubarak Tumbles

Posted by Gopal Unnikrishna

Arab Republic of Egypt bursts out in exultation as Mubarak quits

     His exit countermands, six decades later, the Arab domain's original secular despotism. He was tumbled by a radically fresh force in regional politics — a mostly secular, bloodless, youth-led democracy campaign that fetched Egypt’s civil-libertarian and Islamist resistance groups collectively for the first time below its banner. One after another the demonstrators defied each weapon in the armory of the Egyptian autarchy — foremost the heavily weaponed riot constabulary, and then a governing party militia and ultimately the state’s potent propaganda machine. Mr. Hosni Mubarak* capitulation dispatched a rampart of American foreign policy in the neighborhood. The America, its Arabian allies and Israel are now brooding whether the Egyptian armed forces, which has vowed to hold liberal elections, bequeath a move over  to a new era of parliamentary pizzazz or to a precarious careen into instability or Islamist reign.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the unlawful Islamist social movement averred it represented simply a supporting actor in the rebellion.The fraternity, which was sluggish to keep up the track of its own youth wing into the streets, has pronounced it will not field a nominee as President.

Hosni Mubarak epoch ceased without whatever of the constancy and predictability that constituted as the hallmarks of his incumbency.

Egypt and the Rest of Middle East

by Gopal Unnikrishna

For decades it has been the assumption in the Arab world that its rulers are too powerful to be confronted by unarmed people. So when Tunisia provided a real, live example of how, when the security forces kill demonstrators the people can raise the agitation to the sblime level of revolution ,  it was no more a big surprise to Arabs. Suddenly the Middle East's authoritarian states only look  solid until the day they turn into clay and revolution seems possible everywhere. Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Libya all seemed more likely candidates to go first. The domino effect is in full swing. Jordan, Algeria, Syria, Yemen and Morocco are all candidates to suffer the same fate. Obviously President Hosni Mubarakhas has run out of carrots, though not quite of sticks.


Yet, it may be too premature to say that the Egyptian turmoil will spread like wild fire in the middle east engulfing most countries there. This is because most of the issues that have brought Egypt to the brink may be more easily solved by Arab countries richer in oil. In neighbouring Libya, for example, the regime has just announced vast spending on public housing in an attempt to buy off discontent.


In the powerful signal the Egyptian uprising is sending to Arabs elsewhere, the crucial to the long-term consequences for the region will be the nature of whatever government eventually wins control of Egypt. The most favourable next step would be if someone known and respected like Mohammed elBaradeior or another figure with similar stature such as Arab League Secretary Amr Moussa.was to become acting president for a few months before free multi-party elections were held.

But such a propitious outcome is by no means guaranteed. Algerian style civil war, a new Saddam Hussein or a Yemeni-style Maoist regime are all remote possibilities and there is a real chance of a military coup.What's more, despite their remarkably cautious role in the revolution so far, elections might well bring the Muslim Brotherhood to power - which, as the ideological twin of Hamas in the Occupied Palestinian Territories would worry  many in the West but delight the Islamist tendencies bubbling away beneath the surface of other Middle Eastern states.

Where Egypt goes, history shows that other countries soon follow. Almost every major social or political movement of the last 100 years in middle east started in Egypt - from the Muslim Brotherhood, launched in the city of Ismailia in the 1920s, to Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's chief ideologist.

If Mubarak is removed tidily and replaced by something better, it could have a benign effect on many other countries in the region.

Egypt Convoluted

Posted by Gopal Unnikrishna

This is a new Egypt and no matter what happens it will not rivert to become the old Egypt.

In Cairo's Tahrir Square, thousands of Egyptians-men and women, young and old, rich and poor-gathered today to celebrate their victory over the regime's hated police and state security forces and to call on Mubarak to step down and leave once and for all. This followed the massive protest on Friday, the culmination of three days of demonstrations that began on January 25th to mark National Police Day.

The people had almost believed that they culd never revolt during Mubarak"s regime but the Tunisians showed the way and the Egyptians did it in just three days. People talked about Friday's protest like a war; a war they'd won. Crowds had the right strategy in that the military was greeted warmly on the streets of Cairo Throughout the day people chanted: "The people, the army: one hand."Crowds roared with approval as one soldier was carried through Tahrir square holding a flower in his hand. Dozens of people clambered onto tanks as they rode around the square.

The police were a different story. Their brutality the past few days--decades in fact--has been well documented. Saturday the police force hauled up iside their HeadQuarters in the Interior Ministry fired upon the crowd when they approached the building, three people instantly fell, and the crowd retreated, but only to advance menacingly as soon as the firing stopped, while the burnt up skeleton of Mubarak's National Democratic party Headquartes loomed in the background pointing to the ominous portends.

At this point it seems clear that  the people are not leaving the streets. They own them now and they are refusing to go until Mubarak does.

Untitled

Amplify’d from www.facebook.com

Gopal Unnikrishna The spirit or ghost of Patience Worth who was an unmarried English woman and an ardently aspiring writer who lived in Nantucket island in Massachusetts, USA, in the late 1600s and been killed in an Indian raid transformed Pearl Curran a r...estless housewife plagued by nervous ailments into a busy celebrity in 1919 by appearing to Pearl and dictating fine literary works through the medium of the latter's Ouija board ( a contrivance to communicate with spirits or ghosts). For three centuries, Patience said, she’d searched for an earthly “crannie” (as in “cranium”) to help her fulfill a burning literary ambition. She’d found it at last in Pearl. Speaking through a Ouija board operated by Pearl Lenore Curran,Patience Worth was nothing short of a national phenomenon in the early years of the 20th century.Though her works are virtually forgotten today, the prestigious Braithwaite anthology listed five of her poems among the nation’s best published in 1917, and the New York Times hailed her first novel as a “feat of literary composition.” Her output was stunning. In addition to seven books, she produced voluminous poetry, short stories, plays and reams of sparkling conversation—nearly four million words between 1913 and 1937. Some evenings she worked on a novel, a poem and a play simultaneously, alternating her dictation from one to another without missing a beat. “What is extraordinary about this case is the fluidity, versatility, virtuosity and literary quality of Patience’s writings, which are unprecedented in the history of automatic writing by mediums,” says Stephen Braude, a professor of philosophy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a past president of the American Parapsychological Association, who has written widely on paranormal phenomena. Read more at www.facebook.com

 

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Interesting if proven

clipped from news.discovery.com Kepler Scientist: 'Galaxy is Rich in Earth-Like Planets' In a recent presentation, Kepler co-investigator Dimitar Sasselov preempted the official announcement that the exoplanet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope has discovered about 140 candidate worlds orbiting other stars that are "like Earth." Although he refers to these exoplanets as "candidate" Earth-like worlds, Sasselov goes on to talk about the statistical prevalence of small planets throughout the Milky Way. Undoubtedly, this is huge news. If officially confirmed by NASA -- and only then would it be advisable to pop the champagne corks -- the discovery of dozens of worlds of comparable size to Earth is historic. Speculation about the existence of alien life will have another strong case to suggest that if planets like Earth are not rare, than perhaps "life as we know it" is ubiquitous throughout the Milky Way.

China's Air Pollution Crisis

clipped from www.dailygalaxy.com A man stands by windows as a sandstorm hits Beijing in March 2010. China's air pollution has increased this year for the first time since 2005, due to sandstorms, a rise in construction and industrial projects, as well as more cars, said the country's environmental protection ministry. China's air pollution increased this year for the first time since 2005 "More construction and industrial projects that started this year due to economic recovery and the rapid increase in automobiles should also be blamed," Chai Fahe, vice head of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, told the China Daily newspaper. The ministry also found that more than a quarter of surface water in China was contaminated, and fit only for industrial or agricultural use. Acid rain was also a problem in the first half of the year -- out of 443 cities the ministry monitored, 189 suffered from the harmful precipitation.