Archive for December, 2008
A.P temples
- Ahobilam: Near Nandyala, kurnool & 40miles from Cuddapah. Narasimha(Vishnu) shrine.
- Alampur: 200km from Hyderabad & is near kurnool. Jogulamba at edge of tungabadra river. Called dakshina kasi/kailasam as is Sree Kalahasti in southern Andhra. Navabhramma temples dating back to 17th century, built Chalukyas here are dedicated to Lord Shiva. All these temples are enclosed in a courtyard on the left bank of the river Tungabhadra. Alampur is western gateway of Sree Sailam. Tungabadra & krishna are in confluence near Alampur.
- Amaravati: Is home to Amareswara temple which constitutes one of the five Pancharama temples of Andhra Pradesh sacred to Shiva. It is located 15miles away from Guntur near Vijayawada. As the name Amaravati implies, legend has it that Amaravati was once the abode of the Gods – the Devas, the yakshas and the kinnaras, who performed penances to Shiva to request him to rid the earth of the mighty demon Tarakasura. Legend has it that Shiva’s son Subramanya vanquished the demon.
- Annavaram: Satyanarayana Swami temple near Kakinada on Ratnagiri hills.
- Basara: Saraswati temple near Nizamabad.
- Bhadrachalam: 200km from Vijayawada & near Khammam. This temple is intimately connected with the life of the saint composer Bhadrachala Ramadasa who was known as Gopanna. Gopanna the Tasildar of Bhadrachalam (second half of the 17th century) is said to have utilized money from the government treasury to build this temple, and was imprisoned in a dungeon at Golconda. Rama is said to have miraculously given the Sultan the money spent by Gopanna, after which he was released. Gopanna then became Bhadrachala Ramadasa, and went on to compose several songs in Telugu in praise of Rama. Rama, Sita and Lakshmana are said to have stayed at Parnasala, 35 km away from Bhadrachalam. Rama is said to have crossed the river Godavari on his way to Sri Lanka to rescue Sita, at the spot where the Bhadrachalam temple stands, on the northern bank of the river.
- Birla Mandir: At Hyderabad on top of a hill dominating the skyline built of white marble. The Birlas (industrialists who have also built several temples in India in this century) built this temple. The presiding deity here is Venkateswara (Vishnu).
- Dharmapuri: Near Karimnagar enshrines Ramalingeswara temple & Yoga Narasimha.
- Draksharama: In E.G.Dst near Kakinada. It was built by a Chalukya King. Draksharama, Sree Sailam & Kalahasti together constitute the 3 sacred Shivalingams of AP, giving it its ancient name Trilinga Desa.
- Hanumakonda: 1000pillar temple at Warangal.
- Kotilingam temple: Near Anakapalle.
- Kotipalli(Kumararama): It is an imp pilgrimage center near Rajahmundry.
- Mahanandi temple: At Thimmapuram near Kurnool.
- Mangalagiri: Narasimhaswami near Vijayawada.
- Palampet: Near Warangal is home to brilliant Kakatiya art as seen in Ramappa temple.
- Simhachalam: This hill of the lion temple can be seen as one approaches VSP from Vijayanagaram by train. It is 18km from VSP. Varaha Lakshminarasimha, combining the iconographic features of Varaha & Narasimha is the deity here. The image resembles a Shivalingam covered with sandal paste. Legend has it that the Ugra form of Narasimha as he killed the demon Hiranyakashipu was so fierce that the image is kept covered by sandal paste throughout the year. It is only once a year, during the Chandana Visarjana that the sandal paste is removed, and the image is seen by pilgrims.
- Sri Kalahasti: Near Tirupati, dedicated to Shiva.
- Sri Sailam: It constitutes one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva. The presiding deities here are Mallikarjuna (Shiva) and Bhramaramba (Devi). Legend has it that Durga is said to have assumed the shape of a bee and worshipped Shiva here, and chose this place as her abode.
- Tirupati: Venkateswara, or Srinivasa or Balaji as the presiding deity Vishnu is known, is enshrined in this temple, located on a range of the Eastern Ghats, called the Seven Hills in Chittoor dst.
- Vemulawada: Near Karimnagar is home to an ancient temple dedicated to Shiva – Rajarajeswara.
- Vijayawada: Home to 3distinctive temples- Kanakadurga temple, Malleswara temple, Vijayeswara temple. ear Vijayawada is the hill temple complex of Mangalagiri dedicated to Narasimha.
- Yadagirigutta: Narasimha swami
1 comment December 12, 2008
Better communication
- Make a good first impression when you walk into a room. Take a few moments before you walk in to a room and realign your posture. Bring your shoulders back and down and put a smile on your face. Scan the room and look around as this will make you look a lot more positive and thus creates a good first impression.
- Make sure you give a good, cool and firm handshake. Look the person in the eye and remember to smile at them.
- Practice sitting down in front of a mirror, in the outfit you will be wearing, to see what is going to work and what isn’t. Sit well in the chair as this will make you look more confident. Rest your elbows on the arm of the chair and maybe cross your legs.
- Make sure you don’t use barriers such as folding your arms as this will make you look too closed. Use nice open gestures and good emphatic gestures when you speak, and make sure you keep your hands below shoulder height.
- Get rid of those negative thoughts that make you seem more shy and self-conscious. Telling yourself that you are great will reflect in your body language.
- When you feel shy, you tend to curl up and do barrier gestures, which make your posture seem more negative. Stretch up to your full height, bring your shoulders back and down, arch your back slightly and make sure your weight is evenly divided on both feet.
- Stress can tighten jaw muscles, creating a rigid mouth which can affect your speech. Pressing the tip of your tongue into the roof of your mouth will relax your jaw and make your face look more relaxed.
- Increase eye contact, look a little bit longer when talking to people, but don’t turn it into a stare because a stare looks aggressive.
- Smile with your eyes & mouth which shows that you are friendly.
- Make intentional gestures. When you want to interrupt, raising your hand slightly will signal to people that you want to speak.
- Instant feel happier fix. If you want to feel happier, the first thing to do is sit up straight! And the next thing is to smile, even if you don’t feel like it, just go ahead. Smiling releases endorphins into the body, giving you an overall feeling of wellbeing. And then try smiling at someone else. Inevitably they will smile back, which will increase your happiness levels.
- Use open end questions like “what sort of things do you do in your spare time?” to get the conversation flowing. Closed questions that can be answered with yes or no tend to kill the conversation.
- Be an active listener & give feedback to show that u’ve understood what they’ve said. Do this by summarising & repeating what you heard.
- Create a coccoon. If you’re finding it particularly difficult to concentrate on what someone is saying, try to imagine a “cocoon” around you and the person you’re listening to. Imagine that the cocoon is blocking out all outside distractions, so you can really focus on what they’re saying. Try repeating their words mentally as they say it – this will reinforce their message and help you control mind drift.
- Engage with the other person. When someone is trying to get your attention, or engage you in conversation don’t turn your back on them, or answer over your shoulder. Instead, turn and face them, engage with them. Look people in the eye and smile when you talk unless you are complaining about something.
- Don’t assume you know the other person’s thoughts and feelings. Learn to identify when you do this.
- Antagonistic sentences. If you need to talk to someone about a difficult topic then avoid using sentences like “You should know me better”, “Why are you trying to upset me?”. These aren’t productive in any way.
Add comment December 10, 2008
