The Lost Continent : Kumari Kandam

The Tamil writers characterized Kumari Kandam as an ancient, but highly advanced civilization located in an isolated continent in the Indian Ocean. They also described it as the cradle of civilization inhabited solely by the speakers of Tamil language.

Lemuria and Kumarikandam ...the lost continent..a myth or a mystery

     
What is Kumari kandam ?
Kumarikandam is the hypothetical lost continent with ancient Tamil civilization ,its said to be lost in the Indian Ocean...It is said to be the cradle of tamil civilization....present day Tamil Nadu is all that is left behind of this wonderful continent..another name for kumari kandam is kumari nadu....The very first civilization in the world originated here and the very first language in the world was spoken here...It is said to have been sunken some 20,000 years back...kumari kandam now serves as a source of fictional inspiration for writing novel ...The word "kumari"is a tamil word which means pure/virgin...its said that it symbolizes the purity of the tamil culture that survived there ,and purity of the Tamil people who lived there before invasion by the Indo Aryans.

What is lemuria?
Lemuria is a hypothetical lost land around Indian and Pacific ocean...Geologist believe there had to be some huge continent that has sunk deep below the oceans ,which had an important civilization..Lemuria is what the westerners call this unknown continent.

Is kumari kandam and Lemuria the same ?
There have been claims that these both Lemuria and Kumari Kandam are one at the same...lot of references from sangam litreture were quoted..but because there was no scientific evidence and till date the lost continent never recovered,hence this is still in the debate..

Why did kumar kandam/lemuria drown ?

There are some intresting theories about it
1.pole shift :It is said that there has been some sudden tilt in the pole ,that has lead to this catastrophie
2.Earthquakes
3.Raise in the sea level
4.continental drift theory :due to some problem with the tectonic plates ,this continent is said to have moved away.


Who ruled kumari kandam and what is so important about it?
-Kumari Kandam was said to be ruled by Pandiya kings
-the first two sangam eras (Tamil literary academy ) is said to be present here..I have to mention a word about these tamil sangams

First tamil sangam : was eatablished in Thenmadurai (not madurai-madurai is in Tamil nadu ,but Thenmadurai ,south of madurai was in kumari kandam ) ,dated some 4400 years back and was attended by 4449 poets (this is like the present day book release function ,where their poems and litrary works were inograted )..The fuction was presided over by Lord Shiva and Lord Muruga (It is said that Muruga was given the status of Tamil Lord here)-technically 4449 literature and poetry works were released

Second Tamil Sangam: Second tamil sangam was hosted in a place called 'Kapatapuram' ,which were attended by 3700 poets and 3700 literary works were released..
It is said that both these tamil sangams were washed away by oceans..taking away all these books and epic works along with it.
Third tamil sangam: this is established in Uttara (located in present day Madurai) ,this tamil association flourished for 1860 years (after which it was closed down,dint know what happened)

-Lot of good/rare literary works is said to be lost here
-Some say the first ever library in the world ,with some cool collection of tamil litreture ,first inograted by the pandiya king,is said to have lost here..
-Lot of nice monumental temples and sculptures have said to be drowned here.
-There were some mind blowing siddhar resided in the continent with some awesome knowledge in science and predictions of future is said to have been lost here (few claim that the olai chuvadis in chidhambaram temple ,where nadi josiyam is popular,where the future are predicted ,is nothing but the saved ones,and the remaining lost when this continent drowned )


-Lot of ways of tamil culture is said to have had its origin here..
-It is also said that the present day residents of Kaniya kumari ,are the saved people from the lost continent.

Literary evidence for Kumari Kandam
There are lots of evidence of this lost land in the sangam litreture

Dashrath Manjhi : Mountain Man

"When I started hammering the hill, people called me a lunatic but that steeled my resolve."
---Dashrath Manjhi

Dashrath Manjhi (1934– 17 August 2007), also known as "Mountain Man",was a poor labourer in Gehlaur village, near Gaya in Bihar, India, who carved a path through a mountain using only a hammer and chisel.He carved the path in the Gehlour hills so that his village could have easier access to medical attention, after his wife Falguni Devi died from lack of medical care in 1959. The nearest town with a doctor was 70 km away traveling around the hills, or along a treacherous pass through the hills. After 22 years of work, Dashrath shortened travel between the Atri and Wazirganj blocks of Gaya town from 55 km to 15 km.

Bajirao Mastani : Real Biopic

Bajirao Mastani

whose original name was Bajirao I Bajirao Ballal (Balaji) Bhat (18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740).  Due to the death of his father, Balaji Vishwanath who was the first Peshwa (Prime Minister/General) of Chhattrapati Shahu, Bajirao had to be appointed as Peshawa at the tender age of 20 years. He was also considered to be an eminent personality among the soldiers.

13th Friday

Friday the 13th has for centuries been associated with bad luck. Many people believe that this day is cursed and in an almost Halloween like atmosphere tell spooky tales about misfortunes that have taken place on this day. But what is the real Friday the 13th and what makes it so unlucky?

Legend

Everyone knows enough about Hanuman, but in short stories. The Stories with legend of Hanuman is that he comes in picture only after meeting with Lord Ram when the latter was in exile, searching for Sita. If we go beyond our texts, there’s much more to Hanuman than serving lord Rama. Here’s a biographical narrative of Hanuman with finer details and high-points of the monkey (as per Ramcharitmans) or the man (as per Ramayana). It’s a longish article but We promise it will be worth the 10 minutes.

Poet Verses

|| दोहा ||

श्रीगुरु चरन सरोज रज निज मनु मुकुरु सुधारि ।
बरनउँ रघुबर बिमल जसु जो दायकु फल चारि ॥

बुद्धिहीन तनु जानिके सुमिरौं पवन-कुमार ।
बल बुधि बिद्या देहु मोहिं हरहु कलेस बिकार ॥

॥चौपाई॥

जय हनुमान ज्ञान गुन सागर ।
जय कपीस तिहुँ लोक उजागर ॥१॥

राम दूत अतुलित बल धामा ।
अञ्जनि-पुत्र पवनसुत नामा ॥२॥

महाबीर बिक्रम बजरङ्गी ।
कुमति निवार सुमति के सङ्गी ॥३॥

कञ्चन बरन बिराज सुबेसा ।
कानन कुण्डल कुञ्चित केसा ॥४॥
हाथ बज्र औ ध्वजा बिराजै ।
काँधे मूँज जनेउ साजै ॥५॥

सङ्कर सुवन केसरीनन्दन ।
तेज प्रताप महा जग बन्दन ॥६॥

बिद्यावान गुनी अति चातुर ।
राम काज करिबे को आतुर ॥७॥

प्रभु चरित्र सुनिबे को रसिया ।
राम लखन सीता मन बसिया ॥८॥

सूक्ष्म रूप धरि सियहिं दिखावा ।
बिकट रूप धरि लङ्क जरावा ॥९॥

भीम रूप धरि असुर सँहारे ।
रामचन्द्र के काज सँवारे ॥१०॥

लाय सञ्जीवन लखन जियाये ।
श्रीरघुबीर हरषि उर लाये ॥११॥

रघुपति कीह्नी बहुत बड़ाई ।
तुम मम प्रिय भरतहि सम भाई ॥१२॥

सहस बदन तुह्मारो जस गावैं ।
अस कहि श्रीपति कण्ठ लगावैं ॥१३॥

सनकादिक ब्रह्मादि मुनीसा ।
नारद सारद सहित अहीसा ॥१४॥

जम कुबेर दिगपाल जहाँ ते ।
कबि कोबिद कहि सके कहाँ ते ॥१५॥

तुम उपकार सुग्रीवहिं कीह्ना ।
राम मिलाय राज पद दीह्ना ॥१६॥

तुह्मरो मन्त्र बिभीषन माना ।
लङ्केस्वर भए सब जग जाना ॥१७॥

जुग सहस्र जोजन पर भानु ।
लील्यो ताहि मधुर फल जानू ॥१८॥

प्रभु मुद्रिका मेलि मुख माहीं ।
जलधि लाँघि गये अचरज नाहीं ॥१९॥

दुर्गम काज जगत के जेते ।
सुगम अनुग्रह तुह्मरे तेते ॥२०॥

राम दुआरे तुम रखवारे ।
होत न आज्ञा बिनु पैसारे ॥२१॥

सब सुख लहै तुह्मारी सरना ।
तुम रच्छक काहू को डर ना ॥२२॥

आपन तेज सह्मारो आपै ।
तीनों लोक हाँक तें काँपै ॥२३॥

भूत पिसाच निकट नहिं आवै ।
महाबीर जब नाम सुनावै ॥२४॥

नासै रोग हरै सब पीरा ।
जपत निरन्तर हनुमत बीरा ॥२५॥

सङ्कट तें हनुमान छुड़ावै ।
मन क्रम बचन ध्यान जो लावै ॥२६॥

सब पर राम तपस्वी राजा ।
तिन के काज सकल तुम साजा ॥२७॥

और मनोरथ जो कोई लावै ।
सोई अमित जीवन फल पावै ॥२८॥

चारों जुग परताप तुह्मारा ।
है परसिद्ध जगत उजियारा ॥२९॥

साधु सन्त के तुम रखवारे ।
असुर निकन्दन राम दुलारे ॥३०॥

अष्टसिद्धि नौ निधि के दाता ।
अस बर दीन जानकी माता ॥३१॥

राम रसायन तुह्मरे पासा ।
सदा रहो रघुपति के दासा ॥३२॥

तुह्मरे भजन राम को पावै ।
जनम जनम के दुख बिसरावै ॥३३॥

अन्त काल रघुबर पुर जाई ।
जहाँ जन्म हरिभक्त कहाई ॥३४॥

और देवता चित्त न धरई ।
हनुमत सेइ सर्ब सुख करई ॥३५॥

सङ्कट कटै मिटै सब पीरा ।
जो सुमिरै हनुमत बलबीरा ॥३६॥

जय जय जय हनुमान गोसाईं ।
कृपा करहु गुरुदेव की नाईं ॥३७॥

जो सत बार पाठ कर कोई ।
छूटहि बन्दि महा सुख होई ॥३८॥

जो यह पढ़ै हनुमान चालीसा ।
होय सिद्धि साखी गौरीसा ॥३९॥

तुलसीदास सदा हरि चेरा ।
कीजै नाथ हृदय महँ डेरा ॥४०॥

॥दोहा॥

पवनतनय सङ्कट हरन मङ्गल मूरति रूप ।
राम लखन सीता सहित हृदय बसहु सुर भूप ॥


Lyrics: This is a new translation of the words in the Hanuman Chalissa prepared by Ram Rani

Having polished the mirror of my heart
with the dust of my Guru's lotus feet,
I sing the pure fame of the best of the Raghus,
which bestows the four fruits of life.
Knowing this body to be devoid of intelligence,
I recall the Son of the Wind.
Grant me strength, wit, and wisdom,
and remove my sorrows and shortcomings.
Siyaa vara Raamachandra pada jai sharanam
1. Victory to Hanuman, ocean of wisdom and virtue,
Hail Monkey Lord, illuminator of the three worlds.
2. Ram's emissary, abode of matchless power,
Anjani's son, named "Son of the Wind."
3. Great hero, mighty as a thunderbolt,
remover of evil thoughts and companion to the good.
4. Golden-hued and splendidly adorned,
with heavy earrings and curly locks.
5. In your hands shine mace and banner,
a sacred thread of munja grass adorns your shoulder.
6. You are Shiva's son and Kesari's joy,
your glory is revered throughout the world.
7. Supremely wise, virtuous, and clever,
you are ever intent on Ram's work.
8. You delight in hearing of the Lord's deeds,
Ram, Lakshman, and Sita dwell in your heart.
9. Assuming tiny form you appeared to Sita,
and in awesome guise you burned Lanka.
10. Taking dreadful form you slaughtered demons
and completed Lord Ram's mission.
11. Bringing the magic herb, you revived Lakshman,
and Ram embraced you with delight.
12. Greatly did the Raghu Lord praise you -
"Brother, you're as dear to me as Bharat!"
13. "May the thousand-mouthed serpent sing your fame!"
So saying, Shri's Lord drew you to Himself.
14. Sanak and the sages, Brahma, gods, and great saints,
Narada, Sarasvati, and the king of serpents,
15. Yama, Kubera, and the guardians of the quadrants,
poets and scholars - none can express your glory.
16. You rendered great service to Sugriva,
presenting him to Ram, you gave him kingship.
17. Vibhishana heeded your counsel
and became Lord of Lanka, as all the world knows.
18. Though the sun is thousands of miles away,
you swallowed it, thinking it a sweet fruit.
19. Holding the Lord's ring in your mouth,
it's no surprise you leapt the ocean.
20. Every arduous task in this world
becomes easy by your grace.
21. You are the guardian of Ram's door,
none enters without your leave.
22. Taking refuge in you one finds all delight,
those you protect know no fear.
23. You alone can withstand your own splendor,
the three worlds tremble at your roar.
24. Ghosts and goblins cannot come near,
Great Hero, when your name is uttered.
25. All disease and pain is eradicated,
brave Hanuman, by constant repetition of your name.
26. Hanuman releases from affliction
those who remember him in thought, word, and deed.
27. Ram the renunciant reigns over all -
you carry out his every task.
28. One who brings any yearning to you
obtains the fruit of abundant life.
29. Your splendor fills the four ages,
Your glory is famed throughout the world.
30. You are the guardian of saints and sages,
the destroyer of demons, the darling of Ram.
31. You grant the eight powers and nine treasures
by the boon you received from Mother Janaki.
32. You hold the elixir of Ram's name
and remain eternally His servant.
33. Singing your praise, one finds Ram
and escapes the sorrows of countless lives.
34. At death, one goes to Ram's own city
or is born on earth as God's devotee.
35. Give no thought to any other deity -
worshipping Hanuman, one gains all delight.
36. All affliction ceases, all pain is removed,
by remembering the mighty hero, Hanuman.
37. Victory, victory, victory to Lord Hanuman!
Be merciful even as is the Divine Master.
38. Whoever recites this a hundred times
is released from bondage and gains bliss.
39. One who reads this Hanuman Chalisa
gains success - Gauri's Lord bears witness.
40. Says Tulsidas, Hari's constant servant,
"Lord, make your encampment in my heart."

Son of the Wind, banisher of sorrow
and embodiment of blessing,
dwell in my heart, King of Gods,
together with Ram, Lakshman, and Sita.
Hail the refuge of the feet of Sita's bridegroom, Ramachandra.

Oldest religion in the world

"Hinduism is the religion of the majority of people in India and Nepal. It also exists among significant populations outside of the sub continent and has over 900 million adherents worldwide.

Unlike most other religions, Hinduism has no single founder, no single scripture, and no commonly agreed set of teachings." -BBC website.