Gods and Goddesses of Nainital

The lake in Nainital town, there are several more in the surrounding Nainital District. Jai Naini Mata ki     Scroll down to towards the end of the post for the recipe of drink A n ancient highly revered Sanskrit book, the Rig Veda describes the powerful Soma drink obtained from the god amongst plants called Soma. This plant appears to have become extinct from the Himalayas some three thousand years ago perhaps due to over harvesting, grazing and ancient climate change around the time the ancient Saraswati River began to disappear from the Indus valley. Ever since then many attempts have been made to search for it and many proposals of alternative substances made, several narcotic, intoxicating or psychedelic. But the heavenly Soma was none of these. It was neither intoxicating nor psychedelic but made warriors alert and strong for battle and others full of happiness, wisdom and poetry. The best thing is that compounds in the drink appear to retard or stop aging ...

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...

The Lion by Amit K. Dand Since ancient times the Lion has been a constant companion of the goddess, Jai Mata ki, across various cultures of the world, including at Nainital. Here is a lovely shot of one by Amit K. Dand. You can find many other lovely photos by him at https://twitter.com/psphot1

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...

Boating in a boat with or without sails is an exhilrating experience in the Nainital Lake. The image here is an edited version of an image shared on facebook by https://www.facebook.com/Nainital

The Babaji Affair A new revised edition of my book the - The Babaji Affair -  has been released recently. The book is available in both print and electronic versions at various Amazon outlets around the world. it is also available with most other online retailers. Just search on nearest you on Google. If you are interested in the Nainital District, Babaji, and the spirituality of the region interpreted form a modern global viewpoint and have not read the book yet, do acquire a copy soon. The message of the book is bound to improve your life dramatically towards greater, peace, joy and beauty. The image above is an unfolded designers proof image of the cover. The design of the Neeltal Hotel in the book- The Babaji Affair - was based on the Neuschwanstein Castle

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...