Gods and Goddesses of Nainital

For description see: http://aits-nainital.blogspot.in/2010/05/tree-plantation-marks-observance-of_06.html Some things are best kept private in silence at the time they happen but with passage of time one may reveal them as in this note, seven years having passed. Before we begin with the stated topic, it is necessary to say a bit about myself and my involvement in all of this From childhood, I have been interested in the spiritual and mystic side of life.   As completion of high school neared, the question arose in the family as to what career I should take up. My father was interested in an army or administrative career for me. It was the best practice in the family. However noting that such careers do not permit freedom to travel or choose places where one would live and work, I was against it. Therefore, I joined a program in engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology. During some training programs in industry, I was aghast at the confinement in narrow c

S ome years ago when I visited Her temple beside the Lake in Nainital, I looked for a book on Her in stores nearby. I found a small one in Hindi by Dr. Kiran Kumari.   There was a need for another one in English describing much more about Her and Her place in the Universe. Therefore I decided to undertake this task. My background is one from Science yet I have had deep interests in the mystic side of life. Therefore when I wrote this book it was from this combined perspective. It must be admitted that the task was a difficult one and although the first attempt resulted in a book, it had shortcomings.. The loving Mother Naini Mata let her child try his hand at this homework on his own without active help. Parts of it were difficult to understand, even confusing. Therefore, recently I began work on new edition again. This new version has now been released at Amazon and other stores around the world in both paperback and electronic formats. It was also an opportunity to improv

A View of the little Naini Mata Temple on the banks of the Naini Lake   O ne thing that has surprised International spiritual philosophers about Hindu practices and beliefs is that while on the one hand it has one of the most ancient and evolved systems of philosophy, on the other hand, it also displays very many poor practices. The answer lies in the fact that Hinduism has never been as organized as some of the other major religions of the world. It permits much freedom of belief and practices. It has a vast landscape of varied cultures into which many immigrants of the old world came and settled with varied customs and beliefs. What is seen as Hinduism now is a collections of beliefs and practices since ancient times, some highly evolved and some not so. Individual Hindus choose the portion of these beliefs that is in agreement with their own faith and inclinations, no doubt influenced by the beliefs and practices of the families and regions to which they belong.