Gods and Goddesses of Nainital

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...

Countryside around Nainital Lake The Nainital Lake is so captivating that most photos end up taking pictures of the lake from close and miss to photograph the countryside around it that is just as pretty. here is one picture.

Samosas I t is quite a tradition in India to have a deep fried snack of Samoasa or Pakoras on a rainy day in India and round the year in Nainital. You would find many samosa stalls in the foothill town of Khatgodam/Haldwani and several roadside pakora shops on the journey to Nainital. Do not miss the treat whenever you visit Nainital. Once in Nainital you may wish to try roasted corn on the cob or mo-mos by the lakeside that are widely available in tourist season. The monsoon rains had been interrupted for a few days here in the plains but they came back with force today and as luck would have it a neighborhood shop was just frying some nice hot samosas that I procured. Samosas are found all over India. They usually contain a stuffing of spicy potatoes and peas in crisp deep fried pastry shell. Each shop keeper or snack stall has its own recipe and with experience one finds the seller that suits one’s taste. For those who like meat or chicken, the stuffing can be precook...

Jai Maa Saraswati T he Himalayan Mountains are regarded as sacred in South Asia. The Infinite reality cannot be visualised by a finite mind but aspects of him can be viewed symbolically in the sun, stars, majestic mountains, rivers or as personified in divine beings in the universe, and it is in this light that some mountain peaks and ranges are regarded as sacred throughout Asia from India to Japan. The earth itself and its components are regarded as akin to a divine mother since life is born in its bosom whereas heavenly objects such as the sun in a fatherly manner since it is his rays that give life. The male and female are two aspects of the one and only reality Who is neither. However, in recent centuries bold western explorers have scaled and surveyed lofty Himalayan peaks. Names have been given to some of the peaks by just numbering them or as mere geological features missing the point that these are majestic manifestations of the divine on earth. Saraswati Mo...

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 ...

Lokhamtal N ainital being a lake district has several lakes. Some are well known but others unknown, especially those that do not have a motorable road to it. Two such are Harishtal and Lokhamtal, both close to each other. Lokhamtal is a very small lake of the size of Khurpatal but Harishtal is bigger and has a village around it. Villagers have terraced farms on the hill beside the lake. One has to trek to reach these villages. Not having roads helps to maintain the pristine and pollution free nature of these lakes. However villagers have been demanding a road for the last sixty years. They have refused to vote in elections unless a road is built. They hope for a road connecting Harishtal to Bhimtal. Other possible roads are from Hairakhan and Chorgalia, both well connected already. A road can also be built connecting Harishtal to Okhalkhand nearby. The road would help take the tourist pressure off Nainital, by dividing it in two directions from the Nainital highway ...