Gods and Goddesses of Nainital

   Last month, one morning I woke up with an intuition that a college friend, Rajat would be visiting Jaipur. He currently lives in America and it had been a long time since I had heard from him. Excitedly, I rushed an email to him that I am in Jaipur currently and I heard that he is coming here, and it would be nice if he came and stayed with me this time instead of a hotel where he usually stays during his many travels around the world.  It would be an opportunity to catch up.  A reply came that he was indeed coming to India in early April but not to Jaipur. Then few days later another excited email arrived from him, Dear Ashok, thank you for wishing me luck. You are not only wise but possess some special powers because of meditating and being a yogi. A good evidence of that is I am coming to Jaipur for a book event on the 6th of April. Initially Jaipur was not on my schedule but magically it is now happening. Love to invite you to the function and...

Image courtesy of:   https://pixabay.com/en/india-nainital-lake-hill-station-2714556/ While God is everywhere in the universe, in different parts of it, one sees his power in different names and forms. In Nainital it is as Naini Mata, the lovely goddess of the pristine Himalayan Lake of Nainital, a daughter of the most majestic of lakes on Earth, Mansarovar, higher up in the Himalayas from where she draws her water through underground water channels. It is so believed by many, although not yet verified by modern scientific methods but believers need no such proof. My own work in life has spanned from modern science and technology to the spiritual side of life through social, educational and philosophical work. While in one area of activity, I try not to mix in the other for clarity for just as one does not talk of one’s home affairs in office, one does not talk of office work at home for best life practices. However segregation of activities requires the use...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1977643418 T he Kingdom of Piland Chronicles is a record of the doings of a new Kingdom established in a seemingly unclaimed portion of the Antarctica in July 2014. As stated in the chronicles, due to the remoteness and cold nature of the kingdom, no significant activity has taken place  in the kingdom, at least as yet. Nevertheless, some of its stated policies are significant enough for the rest of the world to draw inspiration from. First is the policy of running a democracy by creating the parliament from a random selection of citizens and not permitting the concept of a political party or elections. This idea has been drawn from ancient Athens. In this manner the kingdom completely avoids the role of money in elections and selection of persons who work for money rather than people. The chronicles contain detailed arguments for this policy. The second significant initiative is to tie its currency to gold. The five hundred dollar coin of th...

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 narr...

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 im...

T he Mother Goddess is viewed as Naini Mata by residents of Nainital, all though, others from afar also see her as Nanda Devi, Kali Mata, Durga Devi or Naina Devi and many other forms in which those who love the Universal Mother Goddess have viewed her. Long before Nainital came up, the temple of the goddess stood on the shores of Naini Lake. The present one is a reconstruction after the original one was submerged in the lake due to a landslide more than hundred years ago. You will find much information on Nainital and the spirituality surrounding it in the various posts of this blog. It is is the jewel of Central Himalayas. You can also learn more about the Mother Goddess in this little book, perhaps the only one in English language. It is available widely at most major online retailers around the world including: https://www.amazon.com/Naini-Mata-Nainital-Ashok-Malhotra/dp/1461159229/

Naini Mata, Goddess of Nainital A new edition of the book – Naini Mata, Goddess of Nainital -  is available with amazon and several other outlets. This book describes the spiritual philosophy surrounding the Mother Goddess of Nainital from a modern scientific perspective. This wonderful little book describes the philosophy surrounding the goddess of Nainital, a beautiful district in the Himalayas. The book explains the spiritual philosophy behind the worship of the Mother Goddess as well as much other Himalayan spirituality from a modern perspective. This book is as scientific as it is spiritual. The book includes a highly thought provoking section on creation that is backed by modern scientific findings, especially the origin of humans on earth and their relationship with gods and goddesses. The book is available in both print and kindle electronic versions. The latter can be downloaded in minutes. The book is an excellent introduction to the spiritual philosophy emana...

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 belon...

Naini Mata the Mother Goddess A fresh revised edition of the book - Naini Mata Goddess of Nainital has been released recently. it describes not just about the Mother Goddess as worshipped and loved in Nainital but elsewhere around the world too. The book is available at Amazon.com at : http://www.amazon.com/Naini-Mata-Nainital-Ashok-Malhotra/dp/1461159229 The book also is available at Amazon and other outlets all around the world including India in both print and electronic versions. Just search for it on google if you are interested. The new revised edition is much better presented than the earlier one. It describes the history of worship of the Mother Goddess since ancient times as well as explains it from a modern scientific point of view. Naini Mata is how she is addressed as in Naintal town. Higher up in the mountains, she is known with her sister as the goddesses Nanda and Sunanda. Those from Haidakhan call her Haidkandeshwari, others in Tibet as Tara.. She is Ma Du...

The Coat of Arms of His Majesty, the King Emperor of Kingdom of Piland A n image of the roof of the Naini Mata temple of Nainital has been incorporated in the design of a coat of arms of a newly defined Kingdom of Piland.  The design uses the image of a lion too often shown as a companion of the Mother Goddess. Jai Mata Ki. The motto used in the Coat of Arms is the principle one of Baba Haidkhan of Nainital District - Love, Truth and Simplicity. The design has penguins too because this is a Kingdom in the Antarctica. To find out more about this Kingdom on facebook check https://www.facebook.com/PilandKingdom However His Majesty of Piland believes in Freedom of belief. His Majesty has strong spiritual beliefs but none that belong exclusively to any one religion or philosophical system. They arise from both the east and the west, from ancient beliefs as well as modern ones. However he believes strongly that every human has a right to his or her own belief or none ...

Kedarnath Temple E very year some damage takes place to the road and communication network in the Himalayas due to monsoon rains because of the nature of roads and infrastructure created on steep hillsides. The population of the area is used to it and geared for repairing the damage speedily. However, this year  rains have brought havoc and that too in June, around a month earlier than usual. The intense rains are something of a hundred year record. Numerous roads have been destroyed by landslides in the Himalayan province of Uttarakhand. The numerous streams and rivers that feed rivers that flow into plains of north India have overflowed, destroying bridges and washing riverside buildings into water. It appears that hundred of tourists, perhaps even thousands, locals and pilgrims, may have died (the count is not yet in).  Thousands are trapped at various locations without food or adequate shelter. This time the damage will not be repaired in days or weeks but t...