Dhabaleswar Temple at Dhauligiri, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Happy Mahashivratri to all! Today is the festival of Shiva, one among the Trinity of Lords in Hindu religion. As per mythology, Shiva married Parvati today. So, it is considered most auspicious. People keep fast and pray all through the night invoking Lord Shiva.

In Hinduism there are 33 crore Gods and Goddesses, but the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara (Shiva) are the chief among them, apart from Shakti or Goddess who is considered most powerful.

In one of the G+ messages I read today, this intriguing fact was refreshed in my mind: The Lords who drank Amrit or nectar became 'Dev' (Lord) while the one who drank poison became 'Devon ke Dev' (Lord of Lords) or 'Mahadev' (Great Lord) ,that is, Shiva.

3rd International Buddhist Conference, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Ever since I had seen the below tweet on @odisha_tourism handle, I had been very excited to be a part of 3rd International Buddhist Conference from 13-15 February 2015! 

We are organising the 3rd International Conference on Buddhist Heritage of Odisha from 13th to 15th Feb. pic.twitter.com/3CzRF5RPUU
— Odisha Tourism (@odisha_tourism) February 5, 2015

Coming to know of the attractive itinerary, I was super-charged and decided that I would anyhow attend this promising event in the City of Temples, my beautiful city of Bhubaneswar.

#Nabakalebara 2015 at #Puri #Odisha

Nabakalebara is among the most unique and rare festivals of the Lord in the world. In the Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna has conveyed- "The body will get destroyed upon death. But just as we change into new clothes from old, so also the immortal soul will simply enter into new bodies but will never itself get destroyed".

Nabakalebara Logo from Odisha Tourism Website (Official Source)

Encompassing this deep-seated Hindu belief is the inimitable, one-of-its-kind festival in the entire world, called Nabakalebara. Naba means new and kalebara means body. Lord Jagannath is the presiding deity of Puri, Odisha who is considered as a Vishnu Avatar or a form of Lord Krishna.

Krishna: Series of Micropoetry

I

-------

Intoxicated

By the music

Of His flute

All my blues

Got an escape route 

II

---

My first published poem in Writer's Ezine!

Cupid's month of February 2015 has started on a great and lucky note for me! I had submitted my poem for the first time to Writer's Ezine or WE in January 2015. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a 'Congratulations' e-mail today which also had a badge in my name!

My joy has known no bounds since then! So what better way to celebrate than to share my joy on my blog?! :)