Picasa Web Albums - Krishnam Vande Ja...

Maha Shivaratri 2012

Feb 20, 2012

Photos: 32

Vaikuntha Ekadashi 2012

Jan 5, 2012

Photos: 13

Govardhan Puja 2011

Oct 27, 2011

Photos: 7

Diwali 2011

Oct 26, 2011

Photos: 51

Narak Chaturdashi (Chhoti Diwali) 2011

Oct 25, 2011

Photos: 5

Dhanteras 2011

Oct 24, 2011

Photos: 9

Sharadiya Navaratri 2011

Sharadiya Navaratri celebrated at home from 28 Sep - 6 Oct 2011.

Sep 28, 2011

Photos: 68

Ganesha Chaturthi 2011

Sep 1, 2011

Photos: 3

Scrapbook Photos

Album for scrapbook photos

Aug 25, 2011

Photos: 1

Profile Photos

Album for profile photos

Aug 22, 2011

Photos: 1

Janmashtami 2011

Celebrated Krishna Janmashtami 2011 at home on Monday, 22 Aug 2011 at midnight. The picture collection here shows the journey of the various abhishekams held from 21-22 Aug and the various alankarams, naivedyams and puja ceremonies held in conjunction with the festival of my beloved Lord Krishna. Jai Shri Krishna!

Aug 22, 2011

Photos: 48

Shri Hanuman Jayanti 2011

Apr 18, 2011

Photos: 7

Ganesha and Lakshmi Hayagriva Pran Pratishta Puja

Apr 12, 2011

Photos: 18

Shri Ram Navami 2011

Apr 12, 2011

Photos: 21

Vasanta Navaratri 2011 (4 Apr - 12 Apr)

A collection of pictures taken over the Vasanta Navaratri. 108 namavali archana was performed daily during the 9 days of Navaratri.

Apr 4, 2011

Photos: 24

Maha Shivratri 2011

Mar 4, 2011

Photos: 67

Gita Jayanti 2011

Gita Jayanti 2010-11 was headed by the Singapore Gujarati Samaj. The alankaram for the event was done by my good friend, Mahesh. This year, the alankaram featured Shri Dwarkadhish (Dwarka, Gujarat), in line with the organizing committee for the year. Hope you like the pics. Jai Dwarkanath!!

Feb 13, 2011

Photos: 24

Vaikuntha Ekadashi 2010

Vaikuntha Ekadashi this year happened to fall on the same day as Gita Jayanti, the day when Lord Shri Krishna told the Shirmad Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Back at home, a simple abhishekam was performed for Shri Sridevi, Shri Bhudevi sameta Shri Srinivasa Perumal, followed by alankaram and aarati. Pushpa archana was also performed for Shri Krishna on the occassion of Gita Jayanti.

Dec 17, 2010

Photos: 21

Diwali 2010

Diwali 2010 was celebrated on Friday, 5th Nov 2010 in Singapore. This year, I performed an elaborate puja for the first time, spanning over 3 days. Goddess Mahalakshmi was invoked into the purnakumbha (main kalasha) and the Ashtalakshmis were invoked in the smaller kalashas, decorated with lotus flowers. Three kaalams of pujas were ceremoniously conducted before the main abhishek of Goddess Shri Mahalakshmi on Saturday, 6th Nov. I have also included the photographs of the rangolis and other decorations that I had done in and around my house. This year, I also performed a prayer to Mahalakshmi during the ardharatri muhurtam (5th night going into 6th Nov; between 12.24am and 1.12am). In this prayer, Goddess Mahalakshmi's feet were made with chandan paste at the main door, inviting her to come into our home.

Nov 5, 2010

Photos: 85

Dushera 2010

Vijaydashami or Dushera was ceremoniously celebrated at home to mark the occasion on which Lord Rama subdued the evil king Ravana. In North India, 'melas' or carnivals are held in conjunction with the festival and huge effigies of Meghanath, Kumbhakarna and Ravana are burnt in vast open fields. In the days preceeding Dushera, 'Ramlilas' are organised, where the story of Ramayana is told through dance and drama. Jai Shree Ram!

Oct 17, 2010

Photos: 24

Sharadiya Navaratri 2010 (8-16 Oct)

Sharadiya Navaratri is the second navaratri of the year. The first navaratri festival is celebrated at the arrival of spring and hence, it is called Vasanta Navaratri. Sharadiya Navaratri marks the start of the 'sharad' or cold season. Both times, the festival coincides with the change in season. Normally, people observe fast during this period. Our mind and body becomes purified when we pray and eat only 'sattvic' food. This also prevents us from falling sick during the change of season. This is one of the subtle reasons why our wise saints and sages had arranged for the navaratri festival to be celebrated at such times of the year. While Vasanta Navaratri culminates with Shri Rama Navami, Sharadiya Navaratri culminates with Vijayadashami, the day the evil king Ravana was slayed by Lord Rama. Jai Mata Di!

Oct 8, 2010

Photos: 80

Ganesh Chaturthi 2010

Sep 11, 2010

Photos: 17

Jeshtabhishegam 2010

The first Jeshtabhishegam in Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple was held in 2009. This is the second year in which it is being held, ever since the time the temple has aquired the second set of utsavars. Apparently, this is the only time in the year (for three consecutive days) in which the original utsavars have their thirumanjanam done. As this is also the Tamil month of Aadi, there is a golden chariot procession for Goddess Maha Lakshmi every evening.

Jul 20, 2010

Photos: 82

Akshay Tritiya

Special aarati and archana was done for Lord Krishna at home on the auspicious occassion of Akshay Tritiya.

May 16, 2010

Photos: 10

Panguni Bramhotsavam @ SSPT

Here are some of the sights of the Panguni Bramhotsavam being held at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, Singapore. It will conclude with the pushpayagam on 11.04.10

Mar 31, 2010

Photos: 232

Hanuman Jayanti 2010

Mar 30, 2010

Photos: 8

Ramnavami 2010

Shri Ramnavami was celebrated at home. Shri Rama ashtottarashata namavali (108 names of Shri Rama) were recited and archana was done with the fragrant maruvu leaves, fragrant davanam leaves and flowers. I have also uploaded pictures of the Ramanavami alankaram done at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple. Hope that you enjoy the pictures.

Mar 24, 2010

Photos: 20

Vasanta Navaratri 2010 (16-24 Mar)

Vasanta Navaratri is celebrated with great reverence at home and the festival culminates with Durga Ashtami (on the eighth day) and Shri Rama Navami (birth of Lord Rama on the ninth day). Vasanta Navaratri has traditionally been celebrated mainly in North India. However, because of the large influx of Indian immigrants to Singapore recently, I have noticed the temples here (predominantly of South Indian origin) celebrating Vasanta Navaratri as part of their annual celebrations. At home, kalasha sthapana was done in the morning with aarati to Goddess Durga. This festival also marks the start of Vikram Samvat 2067 (Vikram New Year); the name of this year is 'Shobhan'. I hope that this coming year brings peace, prosperity and good health to all. Jai Mata Di!

Mar 16, 2010

Photos: 63

Maha Shivratri 2010

Maha Shivratri was celebrated with great splendour at home. This year, the focus was on the alankaram. I had custom ordered the garlands for the occassion and even made many with the help of my dear wife, Namrata. My very good friend, Mahesh, was also there to help during the second kalam puja and also made the prasadams for the second and third kalams. As the flowers were plentiful this time, the theme was floral. I've tried, at best, to emulate the type of alankarams done at certain temples in India. I hope that you enjoy the pictures. Please do leave your valuable comments. Thank you. Om namah shivaya!

Mar 13, 2010

Photos: 101

Holi with Radha Krishna

The North Indian Holi festival of colours falls on the Phalgun Shukla Poornima day (full moon day during Feb-Mar). The Holi festival is held with much grandeur in the temples of Gokul, Vrindavan, Mathura and Barsana (village of Sri Radha). Mainly in the ISKCON temples in India, devotees play Holi with Krishna and Radha with flower petals (as the marble murtis can be easily stained by coloured powders). I also had been thinking of doing this at home and this was the opportunity for me as it also coincided with my son's (Dhruv) first Holi.

Feb 28, 2010

Photos: 39

Gita Jayanti 2010

The alankaram for Gita Jayanti 2010 which was held on Sunday, 14th Feb '10 was Sri Venkatakrishnan, the moolavar of the famous Parthasarathy Temple, Thiruvallikeni, Chennai. The leading organisation for this year's Gita Jayanti function was Dakshina Bharatha Brahmana Sabha so this alankaram was apt for the occassion. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I would like to thank my friend Mr Mahesh for doing this beautiful alankaram.

Feb 14, 2010

Photos: 25

Thaipusam 2010

Flower decoration on the occassion of Thaipusam

Jan 30, 2010

Photos: 31

Aarudra Darshanam 2009

I performed the first Aarudra Darshanam abhishegam for Sri Nataraja and Sri Sivakamasundari at my new home. It was a wonderful experience. This was just the second time that I performed this abhishegam, the first one being in Jan 2007. I hope that you enjoy watching the photos.

Jan 1, 2010

Photos: 25

Vaikuntha Ekadashi 2009

Vaikuntha Ekadashi was celebrated in a grand manner at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple. The pictures here show the various alangarams that were done there. At home, a simple alangaram was done with tulasi garlands for my Perumal.

Dec 28, 2009

Photos: 52

Mandir Decoration after Pran Pratishta

After the pran pratishta was done, I had adorned the energised murtis with clothes and jewellery. I hope you enjoy watching the photos taken by my friend Rajendran Rajesh, who is an avid photographer. Some shots taken by him detail the intracies of the beauty of the puja room.

Dec 14, 2009

Photos: 39

Tulasi Archana

For the next five days after the installation of the deities, I lit ghee lamps for all of them and performed tulasi archana for Shri Krishna. Tulasi leaves were offered by chanting the 108 names of Krishna (Shri Krishna Ashtottaram). Tulasi leaves were also offered to the other deities.

Oct 31, 2009

Photos: 15

Pran Pratishta Puja

Pran pratishta puja of my home deities was performed on Wednesday, 28th October 2009 by Sri Sunilji and his assistant priest. Preparations for the puja were done the day before such as drawing of the yantra on which the main kalasha (for Radha-Krishna) was placed. For Krishna, this was a 'punah pratishta' (re-consecration) but for the other deities, it was the first time the pratishta puja was performed. My new Ram Darbar and Durga Mata had arrived on 12th October '09 from Jaipur, India. All the other panchaloha deities were obtained over a time of 3 years from Swamimalai (Kumbhakonam) district in Tamil Nadu. The puja comprised dhanyadhivasam, panchagavyam shuddhi, 'avahanam' of the deities into their respective kalashas, homam, abhishekam of the deities with the energised sanctified water from the kalashas and then culminating with the pran pratishta and aarati.

Oct 28, 2009

Photos: 136

Diwali 2009

Diwali celebrations at home were a family-oriented affair. We decorated our home with fresh decorations which my mom had just brought from India. She returned from Delhi on the eve of Deepavali. We were still busy decorating on Diwali day itself. The whole atmosphere was so vibrant. We did Lakshmi puja in the evening by washing the coins, including silver Lakshmi-Ganesha coins, a tradition in North India. This time, I have also included pictures of decorations in and around the house. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Oct 17, 2009

Photos: 75

Vijayadashami (Dushera) 2009

Dushera or Vijayadashami was celebrated at home in a simple ceremony. I had decorated the Ram darbar and done ashtottara namavali. Coincidentally, Vijayadashami also marks the first year in our new home.

Sep 28, 2009

Photos: 45

Sharadiya Navaratri 2009

Sharadiya Navaratri was celebrated at home from Sep 19th to 27th. For us, the important day was ashtami on 26th. On this day, we traditionally break fast with puri, halva and black chole - Maa Vaishno Devi's favourite. Most temples in North India serve this food to the Goddess. We also perform 'kanjak puja' or the worship of young girls (2-9 yrs old). Their feet are washed, they are worshipped and given the prasad and some gifts. In turn, they bless us for a happy and peaceful life.

Sep 19, 2009

Photos: 17

Vaikhanasa Sri Krishna Jayanti - Sri Gaura Saraswathi Society

These photos were taken of the Sri Krishna alankaram that I had done for the Sri Gaura Saraswathi Society at PGP Kalyana Mandapam.

Sep 11, 2009

Photos: 8

Krishna Jayanti - Sri Gaura Saraswathi Society

These photos are of Krishna that I had decorated for a friend for their Krishna Jayanti celebrations at Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple.

Aug 30, 2009

Photos: 12

Ganesh Chaturthi with Sadhu Vaswani Centre

For a few years now, I have been helping my friend to do Ganesh Chaturthi decorations at Sadhu Vaswani Centre, Singapore. The highlight of the celebrations is the visarjan ceremony. As far as I know, they are the only ones in Singapore who charter a whole commercial boat out to sea for the visarjan. This year, I took some photos and want to share with you the sights and actions onboard the boat during visarjan.

Aug 29, 2009

Photos: 15

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated in my home on Sunday, Aug 23 2009. It was a simple affair. After the puja, I immersed the idol of Lord Ganesha into the water. This year, I found a box of Ganesha Puja items in the store and bought that for the puja. It came complete with all items for the puja (even a CD and booklet), except for the fresh flowers. This box set is ideal for locations where puja material is hard to find. But for me, it was quite an experience.

Aug 23, 2009

Photos: 17

Janmashtami - Part 2

As there was not much time on Janmashtami to do an elaborate puja, I did the pujas over the weekend, which gave me more time. The Vighneshwara puja, kalasha puja (with thrice recital of Krishna Ashtottarashata Namavali), abhisheka and alankara, pushpanjali were done on Saturday for the utsavar Krishna. A grand 1008 pushpanjali (pushpa yagna style) was done on Sunday to the main vigrahams of Radha-Krishna.

Aug 15, 2009

Photos: 62

Janmashtami - Part 1

This is the first time that I am celebrating Janmashtami (Krishna Jayanti or Gokulashtami) in my new home. Hence, I have tried to celebrate this festival of my favourite God as grandly as possible. I hope that you enjoy watching the photos as much as I enjoyed decorating Krishna. Please do give your valuable comments.

Aug 13, 2009

Photos: 40

Hanuman Jayanti 2009

Celebrations of Hanuman Jayanti at my new home for the first time. Hanuman Jayanti was on 9th Apr but since it was a working day, I could only perform the abhishek on the 10th. Hope that you enjoy the photos. Jai Shri Ram.

Apr 10, 2009

Photos: 25

Shri Durga Ashtami 2009

Durga Ashtami puja was done in my new home for the first time on Friday, 3rd April 2009. It culminates the week long festivities of Vasanta Navaratri. A main lamp is lit in the prayer room. All house cleaning has to be completed before this and no onion/garlic is used to prepare the prasad, as it is not considered to be 'satvic' food. Prayers are performed to 9 young girls (between 2 to 9 yrs old), as they are believed to be manifestations of Durga on this day. Fast kept for a week is opened on this day with Mother's favourite prasad – puri, halwa & choley. Coincidentally, it is also Durga Navami, better known as Ram Navami today.

Apr 3, 2009

Photos: 7

Shri Ram Navami 2009

Shri Ram Navami is the celebration of Shri Ram's birth. He was born Chaitra Shukla Paksha Navami at 12 noon. This is unlike the other Gods who had taken avatar at 12 midnight. It is said that the Sun God approached Lord Vishnu and told him that he was never able to have darshan of the avatar of most of His forms as they all appeared at midnight. Lord Vishnu thus granted him the wish and promised that during his Ram avatar, he would take birth at noon, when the sun was at its peak so that he would have darshan of His birth.

Apr 2, 2009

Photos: 23

Maha Shivratri 2009

First Maha Shivratri in my new home. A very elaborate puja was done for Lord Narmadeeshwar. All 4 kaala pujas were conducted from 7pm on Monday 23rd Feb 2009 to 7am on Tuesday 24th Feb 2009. I have also listed the items offered during all the 4 kaalas. However, the detailed pictures were mainly taken during the 2nd kaala puja. Important abhishekams during other kaalas are also covered, along with the alankaram for the respective kaalas. I hope you enjoy the darshan of the Lord as much as I did while performing the puja. Do let me know your comments. Om namah shivaya!

Feb 23, 2009

Photos: 89

Maha Pradosham

This is the first Maha Pradosham celebrations in my new home. Hope you like the photos. Here's a little about Pradosham: Pradosha puja is one of the most important among the pujas performed to Lord Shiva. In Shukla Paksha and Krishna Paksha, the evening of trayodashi (thirteenth moon day) between 4.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. is called Pradosha. It comes once in fifteen moon days. Pradhosha time is especially meant for praying Lord Shiva. Praying in that time will free us from out sins and gives moksha finally.

Feb 22, 2009

Photos: 15

Gita Jayanti 2009

Gita Jayanti 2009 was celebrated on a grand scale on Sunday 15 Feb 2009. This year's celebrations were led by the Marwari Mitra Mandal.

Feb 14, 2009

Photos: 16

Hanuman Jayanti 2008

Hanuman Jayanti was celebrated for the first time in my home on Sunday, 20th April 2008 with a simple abhishek and alankaram. Hanumanji is the humble servant of Lord Rama and one of the most lovable Gods. He is considered the eleventh Rudra avatar.

Apr 20, 2008

Photos: 18

Ramanavami 2008

Ramanavani is celebrated on the Chaitra shukla navami tithi. It marks the birth of Shri Rama in Ayodhya. This year it coincided with the Tamil New Year as well as Vishu on April 14th. Ramanavami comes at the culmination of the Vasanta Navaratri that is usually celebrated in Northern India. The Vasanta Navaratri begins on the New Year's Day of the Vikram calendar. This year is Vikram Samvat 2065, which began on 7th April 2008.

Apr 14, 2008

Photos: 10

Shivratri 2004

Mar 21, 2008

Photos: 13

Shivratri 2006

Mar 21, 2008

Photos: 58

Gita Jayanti 2004

Mar 21, 2008

Photos: 14

Gita Jayanti 2005

Mar 21, 2008

Photos: 9

Gita Jayanti 2006

Mar 21, 2008

Photos: 22

Gita Jayanti 2007

Mar 21, 2008

Photos: 16

Miscellaneous Pictures

Mar 21, 2008

Photos: 46

Shivratri 2008

Mar 6, 2008

Photos: 20

Gita Jayanti 2008

Gita Jayanti 2008 was led by Kannada Sangha and celebrated at Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple Kalyana Mandapam.

Feb 3, 2008

Photos: 12

Deepavali 2007

Nov 8, 2007

Photos: 16

Shivratri 2007

Feb 16, 2007

Photos: 12

Aarudra Darshanam - Jan 2007

Jan 3, 2007

Photos: 13

Deepavali 2006

Oct 21, 2006

Photos: 16

Navaratri 2006

Oct 1, 2006

Photos: 11

Ganesh Chaturthi 2006

Aug 27, 2006

Photos: 14

Janmashtami 2006

Aug 16, 2006

Photos: 20

Deepavali 2005

Nov 1, 2005

Photos: 15

Shivratri 2005

Mar 8, 2005

Photos: 15

Deepavali 2004

Nov 12, 2004

Photos: 15

Janmashtami 2004

Sep 6, 2004

Photos: 12

Deepavali 2003

Oct 25, 2003

Photos: 12

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