November 2010 Festival Calendar

November 2 – Rama Ekadasi Vratam

November 3 – Dhana Trayodasi (Dhanteras)

November 3 – Pradosham

November 5 – Naraka Chaturdasi

November 5 – Deepavali - Lakshmi Puja

November 6 – Annakuta /Govardhan Puja

November 7 – Kartik Maasa begins as per lunar calendar (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.)
November 11 – Skanda Shashti Vratam
November 17 - Sabarimala Temple opens for 2-month Irumudi pilgrimage period

November 17 – Karthigai Month begins in Tamil Nadu (Tamil calendar)

November 17 – Vrischika Masam begins in Kerala (Malayalam Calendar)

November 17 – Utpanna Ekadasi

November 17 – Pandarpur Kartik Ekadasi Yatra

November 17 – Bhishma Panchaka Vratarambham

November 19 – Pradosham

November 21 – Tulasi Vivaha / Kartika Pournami

November 26 – Chaturthi Vratam

November 28 – Kalabhairavashtami

Symbolism of Lord Shiva

Significance of observing Pashankusha Ekadasi

Paashaankusha Ekadasi is observed on the 11th day of the bright fortnight in Ashwayuja maasam i.e. the next day after Vijayadasami. Paasham refers to Yama Paasham - the noose used by the God of Death to take away the soul of those whose time has come. Ankusham is the weapon which stops the Paasham. Hence, this ekadasi gives one the benefit of putting a stop to untimely death.

The Ashwayuja Masa falls in Sharad Ritu which is a transition time between the monsoon and winter. We often notice that many people fall ill during such seasonal transition. Hence, by observing a fast on this day and worshipping Lord Vishnu one can overcome many serious ailments and the fear of death itself.

Traditionally, Tulasi puja begins on this Ekadasi. Tulasi is worshipped in the evening with offerings of 5 ghee lamps, 5 types of flowers and 5 types of fruits and the tulasi worship goes on for a month till Kartika Pournami when Tulasi Vivaaha with Lord Krishna is performed.

You can offer a pooja on auspicious Ekadasi  at famous Vishnu temples from Parihara.com

Offer Pithru Tharpanam at Rameshwaram

Pithru Tharpanam is the oblations/Offerings to the manes/dead ancestors. In general 'Tharpanam' means "That offering which satisfies". And it is considered as the prime duty of every person to offer food for his dead ancestors on Ammavasai days. This practice is usually performed on River-banks of places such as Kasi in the North & Rameswaram in the South.

For those who are not able to perform the rituals regularly by themselves can choose to perform Tharpanam through our panel of priests in Rameshwaram, on their behalf. Our sastras and vedas also permit this. Akshadhai (blessed rice mixed with turmeric) is sent to you as prasadham after the tharpanam.

Tharpanam means that offering which satisfies . But what we mean by the word Tharpanam is the offering of water mixed with gingelly to the manes.(dead ancestors). We collect the details about your ancestors and our qualified Vedic priests perform the tharpanam on your behalf in the banks of Rameshwaram for your ancestors, with utmost sincerity on the forth-coming ammavasai date.

Though we have several ancestors, this offering is addressed to three generations of father, grand father and great grand father along with their wives in our family and maternal grand father, his father and grand father along with their wives in our mothers birth family. Only those whose father is dead are eligible to do Tharpanam. If maternal grandfather is alive Tharpanam should not be done for his family but restricted to our family.

As per Vedas, all manes are to live in the Pithru loka for some time and either be reborn as any being or go to lokas like deva loka, Vaikunta etc or even attain salvation by getting mixed with God. The pithru loka is populated by three group of pithru devas viz, Vasu, Rudra and Adhithya. It is believed that these devas receive our oblations and make it reach to our manes wherever they are and in whichever form they are.

The pithru loka is supposed to be on the unseen side of the moon. This portion gets exposed to sun on the new moon days. It is according to our concept lunch time for the people populating the pithru loka. These pithrus, since they have left the world are solely dependent on only their progeny to feed them. This feeding is done through Tharpanam. It is believed that if Tharpanam is not done out Pithru devas will curse us so that we may not have male descendents to offer tharpanam to us.

There are several type of tharpanams: - 1.Gunda tharpanam- the tharpanam, which is done in the first ten days of death. 2.Brahma yagna tharpanam-This is the oblation supposed to be done daily to the devas, rishis and pithrus. 3.Parheni tharpanam- this is the tharpanam, which is supposed to be done on the next day after annual sraaddha. This at present is being done after sraddha on the same day , because the priest does not have time to come the next day. Here the tharpanam is offered only to ones pithru varga (paternal side) 4. The regular tharpanam, which is supposed to be done on all amavasyas. Four Month beginnings viz mesha, karkidaga, thula and makara and eclipses.

Our books have asked us to perform tharpanam on 96 days in a year but this is not being done nowadays. Several acharyas have codified the method of tharpanam. Some of them are Apasthabha, Bodhayana, Drahyayana What is given below is the manthras and method of the Apasthabha sutra.of Yajur veda. There is slight differences in the sankalpam among Iyers and Iyengars.Both versions are given here.It is understood that the tharpanam for Rig vedis is almost similar but that for Sanma Vedis is different.

Click here to book your Tharpanam at Rameshwaram

Swayamvara Parvathi Homam on auspicious Durgashtami - 15th October 2010

Here's a good news for all the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes! We are going to perform a Samoohika Swayamvara Parvathi Homam on the auspicious Maha Ashtami day during the Navaratri festival i.e., Friday, 15th October 2010. Customers can register their names for the homam by choosing the samoohika homam from below for just Rs.501/-

Those who cannot afford to order a full fledged homam, can benefit from the above Samoohika homam.

The homam rituals vary for boys and girls. Usually, 108 lotuses dipped in honey are offered as oblations while chanting the Swayamvara Parvati Mantra. Parihara.com brings you a golden opportunity to perform this powerful yagna through our panel of qualified Vedic priests who are well trained in chanting and rituals. The prasadam (raksha or homa sesham) will be shipped to you. The video of the homam will be uploaded to youtube and emailed to you.

Click here to register yourself now for the Swayamvara Parvati Homam.