Arise Arjuna: Patna Rice

I discovered the blog Arise Arjuna by accident, through checking web stats ... apparently, someone was using the "next blog" button in Blogger to discover random blogs, and Arise Arjuna referred the user to my blog.

The author describes himself as a " Management professional with love for technology and contributing my bit for changing the world for better." He's involved with an interesting project to brand "Patna Rice" as a Geographic Indication, like Darjeeling tea or "100% Colombian Coffee."

He writes:

Also got engaged in a project Patna Rice to establish Patna Rice as a GI and gain benefits for farmers and others associated with it. Of course a better branding for my hometown and also a Pilot for future projects are main drivers as well. The project also was a great learning experience in terms of a Global Collaborative team with Opensource/Free technologies and leveraging expertise from people in diverse arena and locations. Has been a fantastic first half of year and hope to continue in the same vein. Gave a chance to explore building a website in collaboration with group members who provided content, graphics and above all ideas these have also had a chance to continue my reading momentum.

More about this project can be found in his article Patna Rice as a Geographic Indicator. Among the goals of this project is to give people pride of place.

We wish Atul and his colleagues the best of success in this endeavor!

2005 Hindu Human Rights Report - Hindu American Foundation [HAF]

Today the Hindu American Foundation held a press conference on Capitol Hill on the release of its 2005 Hindu Human Rights Report covering Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, Pakistan, and Jammu and Kashmir.

In the years that I've maintained the Sanatana Dharma web site (www.geocities.com/sanatana_dharma2002), I've seen many efforts at Hindu activism flounder. The Hindu American Foundation is certainly the best-organized effort I've seen. For that reason, I was privileged to be part of their 2005 Government Outreach and Leadership Conference.

More on Carnatic music

Categories: Music, Carnatic

The article Simple Introduction to South Indian Classical Music - Part 1 inspired me to post additional links on Carnatic music on the Sanatana Dharma web site I maintain.

I've posted links for Amutham Music, carnatica.net, the violin duo of Ganesh and Kumaresh, and Yesudas. To find these links and more, visit Sanatana Dharma and select "Music" from the left hand navigation frame.


Fellow blogger Q8TechDrive took this photo of M. Balamuralikrishna at a concert in Kuwait on March 29, 2006, which is posted at Wikipedia. Thanks, q8techdrive, for the tip!

India, U.S. Agree To Cooperate on Patents, Copyright Protection

From the Department of State, India, U.S. Agree To Cooperate on Patents, Copyright Protection:

India agreed to consider measures for preventing disclosure of proprietary data on U.S. agricultural chemicals and pharmaceuticals, USTR said.

Meanwhile, the agency said, the United States agreed to cooperate on minimizing improper granting of patents for products based on traditional knowledge, a contentious issue between developed and developing countries in the long-stalled World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.

Traditional knowledge is one of the interests of this blog.

Hindu Temple in Northern Virginia Completes Construction of Shikars

From one of the local newspapers, Area Hindu Temple Completes Construction of Shikars, or domes.

If you drive south on Hooes Road, and slow down at its intersection with Silverbrook Road, you will see a towering building on your right. Far back on its roof sits a semi-circular dome topped by a spiral shooting up to the sky. Two identical smaller domes flank it. Recently added to the front of the roof is a large rectangular slab of stone, mounted by a dome bigger than these, with 33 minute identical spiral-topped structures studding it.

The building is the Durga Temple, an Asian Indian Hindu temple, religious home to approximately 1,000 Hindu worshippers a week and cultural focal point for the Hindu community. Like the religion and its traditions, the construction of these spiraled domes or Shikars, can be traced back to ancient times and is in keeping with the rules of Hindu temple architecture.

Full-time resident priest Mr. Acharya Trilochana Bhatt likens the Shikars to antennas on a roof. "Every deity inside a temple is represented by a Shikar on the roof." He says. "No temple is complete without this." He explains that the word Shikar, which traditionally means dome or peak, marks the location of the shrine or altar within and is placed to rise directly above the altar that it represents. It is meant to be an expression of the ancient belief that the deities within have a direct link to heaven.

But that is not the only reason for the Shikars. In the amalgam of religions and cultures that color the ethnic landscape of Northern Virginia and DC, the Hindu domes are a visual and public representation of the 3,000-year-old culture of dominant Hindu India. Says fellow priest Pandit Muralidhara Bhatta, "Just as the church has a cross on its roof, Islam a dome and the Jewish religion the Star of David, we have the Shikars."

The Shikars also stand out for their spiritual symbolism. "Not everybody can come into the temple and worship whenever they want to." Explains Pandit. Bhatta. "But as they pass by, if they can see these signs on the roof, they can draw power from it. It is the same as if they had entered and worshipped."

The big dome on the back of the roof corresponds to the temple's main deity, the Goddess Durga, who is portrayed in classical Hindu mythology as a supreme being and a dispeller of ignorance. The two smaller domes that sit on either side represent other deities within. The last dome with the 33 little Shikars is the main one, according to the priests.

The little structures on this dome are also known as Kalashas and represent the entire pantheon of the 330,000,000 forms of gods and goddesses that make up the religion of Hinduism. With its installation, the construction will finally be complete and the Durga Temple will have made its mark as the first Hindu temple in Northern Virginia that has a visual representation of all the deities. Mr. Bhatt states "I don't think any other temple has this kind of a dome." Members of the temple have been urged to sponsor one of these minute domes for $2,210.

"Though the shikars have to be installed when the actual deity is installed, we somehow did not do it at the time." Pandit Bhatta explains. Construction of the rooftop symbols began only in April 2005 and was stalled for several months by last year's severe winter, according to the priest. It was resumed again early this year. Then followed the accompanying religious ceremonies, the Shikar Prathista Apna or installation of the Shikars, on April 29 and 30.

The temple itself was constructed in 1994, with the goddess Durga being installed in 1999. It is less common in Hindu tradition to dedicate an independent temple to the goddess, making the Durga temple the first of its kind in Northern Virginia. The temple is a community project and has, since its inception, been completely funded and run by the community, though it has since acquired corporate sponsors such as Ascend Healthcare systems, iLOKA Inc., net GRAPHICS and Wachovia Bank.

Apart from the regular rituals and ceremonies that are performed according to the Hindu calendar year, the temple holds a discourse on the Bhagvat Gita, the holy book of the Hindus, every Sunday, cultural activities for children and tours for people from other faiths. "Many Americans, including students from George Mason University, visit us and we tell them about Hinduism and how it is connected to other religions." Says Pandit Batta.

He avers that the temple's philosophy extends to include everybody in the community and hopes that the Shikars too will inspire everyone who passes by to aspire to the right path. "Though the form of the deity is Hindu, anybody from any religion can pray and worship here." He says. The temple, apart from local devotees, has participation by people from other parts of the United States and Canada.

Pandit Murlidhara Bhatta, who is originally from southern India and was sponsored by the temple to work in the United States as a priest, arrived here in 2001 on a special religious visa, the R1 visa. Mr. Trilochana Bhatt, who hails from the northern part of India, arrived here on the R1 in 2000. When asked what the Shikar means to them and what message it could have for the local community, Pandit Bhatta said "For me, the Shikar is there so that every individual can aspire to that point of knowledge and peace. Almighty God is the ultimate power and we can only bow our heads and stay on the right path." Citing the recent Tsunami as an example of man's helplessness in the face of nature's destructive force, he calls to attention the importance of keeping our eyes on the Almighty and not getting carried away by mere material progress. "Looking at the Shikars, we must recall to our minds time and again that there is certainly a higher power who knows and guides everything.

"It inspires a clear mind and simple thinking." Added Mr. Bhatt.

Categories: Hindu, temples

World Music Central - Simple Introduction to South Indian Classical Music - Part 1

Categories: Music, Carnatic

World Music Central features a Simple Introduction to South Indian Classical Music, that is, Carnatic music, which is not as well known as Hindustani classical music.


M. Balamuralikrishna

The article describes the basics, provides links to a few starter recordings, and to various Carnatic musicians, but how this article could overlook M. Balamuralikrishna is beyond me.

Reservations and Youth for Equality

Youth for Equality logo

An Email from my brother-in-law:

You may be surprised at the suddenness of this mail but you must be konwing (sp) about the anti-reservation protest that is gathering storm in India.

Kindly visit the link http://yfemumbai.blogspot.com/
and do endorse their campaign, if at least by boosting the hit score.

Please also pass this on to Dada and as many people you know for mobilising their support. Even if you have friends from the so called "backward" community, they should support the anti-reservation campaign because the only purpose reservation is serving is to divide the country once again.

If you accept people on the basis of caste alone and they are not academically prepared, these are possible outcomes:

- They will wash out academically, or accomodating them would mean a lowering of academic standards at colleges and universities that have produced world-class professionals.

- There will be another "brain drain" of India, as students seek opportunities outside of India.

Casteism is a cudgel for others to whip India. I joined other members of the Hindu American Foundation on their Government Outreach Day last fall, when they met with a staffer from the office of Representative Chris Smith (consider him the equivalent of an MP), who had held congressional hearings on casteism. It was clear that the staffer was hostile to our message. We said that we deplored casteism, and took issue with the fact that many of the invited speakers were anti-Hindu and had Communist leanings. I noted that reservations were already set aside for SC/BC/ST at universities and colleges, and the staffer said what about the secondary schools? The solution seems to be to redress discrimination early on so that everyone regardless of caste can compete for admissions on the basis of merit.