mayurisjikoni

Ekadashi     Once in a while Ekadashi dates confuse all the Hindus. One such Ekadashi is the Devshayani Ekadashi which was on 8th and 9th July this year.Some observed the fasting on 8th and some on the 9th. Shayani literally means sleeping. Its believed that on this Maha Ekadashi ( great eleventh), Devpodhi or Devshayani Ekadashi Vishnu falls asleep on the Sheshnag (cosmic serpent) in the cosmic ocean of milk. Its believed that Vishnu sleeps during the four holy months of Chaturmas. This holy period coincides with the rainy season. It also signifies the beginning of penance, rituals, poojas, parikramas and making a conscious effort to advance oneself in the religion aspect. That does not mean that during the rest of the year, one does not practice all this. Its just that more attention is given towards religious progress. To read more about this Ekadashi go to this site .    Fasting is a way to discipline the body and mind. It will take me a while to discipline both...

for my brothers    Today is Bhai Beej, bhai dooj or bhav bij and none of my brothers are near. Its a festival like Raksha Bandhan, a day dedicated to the love between brothers and sisters. Normally on this day brothers are invited by the sisters for a hearty meal. A tilak and arti is performed and in return the sisters get a gift. The spirit of love and togetherness is celebrated on this day. For this special occasion, I had planned on trying out a new recipe from Tarla Dalal's numerous mithai dishes but my injured toe does not allow me to stand for too long. I made shiro or what the rest of India calls sooji halwa. Easy,quick and a bit friendly on my injured foot. Talking about shiro, I have to mention that the best shiro I've ever had is when there is a Satya Narayan Katha, somehow the shiro just tastes different and at the Sikh temple in Makindu, Kenya. It has been years since I last went there, but I remember we use to get nice buttery warm shiro as prasad whenever we visi...