A kind hearted girl: Tara - a folktale in English

 Tara – a kind-hearted little girl - Story about a little girl who was very kind at heart.

Once there lived a little girl named Tara. She lived in a hut near a forest with her mother. Tara was a good-natured girl and was loved by all. Everyday Tara’s mother would go to the forest to collect woods.  One day, Tara accompanied her mother to the forest…… Tara sat on a piece of log watching her mother at work.  

The early morning rays of sun penetrating hard through the tall green trees made her feel warm. She felt very happy to see the fluttering butterflies and the chirping birds flying around the trees. She started singing and playing….

Head, shoulders, knees and toes…. No trees don’t have those!!!!

Eyes, ears, mouth & nose…. No! No! trees don’t have those!!!!!

They have roots & trunk & branches and leaves… those are the parts of trees.

Buds and fruits and flowers in the breeze …. Those are the parts of trees.

Trees, trees, trees… its sprouting up from seeds

Trees, trees, trees… are home for birds and bees

We all need our trees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As she kept playing, a cute little rabbit grabbed her attention. Tara immediately got up and went near the rabbit. But the rabbit kept hopping and running around and went a little far away from the sight of Tara’s mother. Tara ran fast chasing the rabbit and finally caught hold of it. But the minute she held the rabbit in her arms, the rabbit vanished and there in the air appeared a beautiful fairy. Tara was surprised and could not believe her eyes. Gaining courage, she asked the fairy: “Who are you?”

The fairy smiled and replied “I am a fairy. A wicked witch once cursed me and transformed me to a rabbit. My friends tried various tricks to get me back to my original form, in vain.  Finally, our mother fairy told me that I can get relived of this curse when an innocent and kindhearted child touches me. So today, when you held me, the spell of the wicked witch got broken and here I am in front of you in my original fairy form. Thank you so much child. Please ask for a wish and I will grant you.”

Tara could not utter a word. She could not believe what she saw or what she heard. 

The fairy smiled at her and said “Alright little one… here… take this magic wand. Whenever you want something important, just swirl this wand in the air and make a wish. Your wish will immediately be granted. But remember child, only one wish will be granted so make sure its a worthy wish.” Saying so the fairy blessed Tara and disappeared.  

Just then Tara heard her mother calling out to her. She immediately ran to her mother and narrated the incident to her. Tara’s mother just smiled at her and said “Tara…. looks like you dozed off and had a wonderful dream. Anyway, come let’s go home, its already late and I have to cook breakfast for us”.  

When they reached home, Tara went into the farms to play till breakfast was ready. She saw a baby elephant lying in the far end. The elephant was badly injured and bleeding and crying in pain. Tara ran to the elephant and looked around for help. She did not know what to do. Suddenly she saw the magic wand in her hand and remembered the fairy’s words. She immediately swirled it in the air and said “Please cure this baby elephant. It is injured and I feel bad to see it crying in pain.” Immediately the elephant’s wound disappeared. The elephant got up and happily ran into the woods. Tara felt very happy that she could help the baby elephant with the magic wand. As she kept looking at the wand, the fairy suddenly appeared before her. “Dear child, I am extremely pleased by your kind deed. Though I told you, you could ask for only one wish, you still went ahead and used it to help save an elephant instead of wishing something for yourself. Here you go…  I grant you with all the riches of the world.” Saying so, the fairy disappeared again. Tara and her mother lived happily in their beautiful house with all the riches.

Moral: One good and kind deed, begets another. God will always bless us for our kind deeds. Illustration: G. Venkata Lasya from Chennai(Class III student). 

Watch the story here: https://youtu.be/BUv0Lye7_xc

How peacock got its feathers - An Aesop's fable

 

Today’s story is from the Aesop’s fables about how peacock got its feathers.

Do you know which is our national bird? Yes, its peacock. It was in 1963 that peacock was declared as the National bird of India.

Peafowls are of 3 kinds - Indian peafowl, Congo peafowl and Green peafowl. In India we have the Indian peafowl.

Let me tell you few interesting things about peafowls. The male bird is called the Peacock, the one with long and slender blue neck and beautiful colourful feathers that are decorated with eye-like pattern in bright blue and brown. The female bird is called Peahen. Peahens are brownish in colour and slightly smaller than the male and they also lack the beautiful coloured tail. Baby peafowls are called peachicks. A male peachick looks almost like a female baby and only after 6 months the birds colour starts changing and by 3 years the beautiful colourful feather grows. Do you know what peacock feathers are called? They are called ‘train’!

Have you seen a white peacock? It is yellow in color when born and turns white as it grows.

Peafowls mostly live in groups. A group of peafowl is called a Muster or Party! A family of peafowl is called a bevy (Beh vee).

Hmmm peacock is a bird so can peacocks fly? Yes, peacocks can fly high but not very far though.

Peacock also holds a special place in Indian Hindu religion. It is the Vahana/ vehicle for Lord Karthikeya and Goddess Saraswathi while Lord Krishna is always seen wearing a peacock feather on his head.

Now, let us move on to the story of how peacock got his feathers.

The Peacock was an ordinary bird with a small bunch of normal feathers. One day, the Peacock visited Juno, the Goddess of Protection. He prayed to her that he wished to look grand and beautiful. Juno looked at the peacock and smiled. She liked him as he was a good bird.

The Peacock then described the long train of brightly coloured feathers that he wanted to trail behind him. He also wished to be the loveliest of all the birds!

To his great joy, Juno agreed.

WOWWWW!!!! What a wonderful tail he got! Blue and green with a jewel-like pattern, opening like a fan. The common birds looked at him in surprise! Even the pretty long tailed pheasants felt jealous!

Peacock felt very happy and proud and looked up at the blue sky. He saw an Eagle soaring high up in the blue sky. Those days even peacocks used to fly. This peacock too since he always used to fly, slowly lifted his wings and tried to rise from the ground. He could fly high till a certain height but could not fly long distances. He tried, tried and tried but failed because now his train was very heavy. The Peacock was shocked! He realized that by trying to have a beautiful and magnificent train, he has actually lost an inborn ability to fly long distances.

Moral - Think well before you choose what you want in life. Believe in yourself and develop your talent rather than wishing for something that is of no use to you.

Follow the story on : https://youtu.be/-zN7cvV-5Ew

Why in Goa, Lord Shiva is called as Mangesh or Mangeshi.

                                             

Once Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati were playing a game of dice. As per the game rule, the loser had to surrender his/ her property to the one who wins. After few rounds, finally Parvati won and Lord Shiva had to surrender all his properties to her. Out of anger, he left mount Kailash, his home in the Himalayas. He wandered around and reached the southwest part of India.  Dense forests lined by endless beaches made the place look beautiful and calm. Beaches and trees??? Yes… we now call this place as Goa. Lord Shiva who loved being in a meditative state and preferred not to be disturbed immediately decided to stay there. He meditated for days together.

Meanwhile, Goddess Parvati was heartbroken as he did not return. She decided to look out for him. She finally reached the dense forests of Goa. Shiva saw her approaching from a distance and immediately took the form of a tiger to play a prank. Parvati was frightened at the sight of a tiger and shouted “Trahi Mam Girisha” – which meant “Protect me, Oh Lord of the mountain.” On hearing this Lord Shiva appeared to her in his original form. He consoled the Goddess and both returned to their abode happily. Since that day, Lord Shiva adopted the name Mam Girish, the last two words of Parvati’s cry. With years passing by, slowly the name became as Mangauirisha or Mangesh.

As per the legends, it is believed that Lord Brahma consecrated the Mangesh Linga on the Mangireesh mountains on the banks of river Bhagmathi. Later the Saraswat Brahmins brought the Linga to Munger in Trihotra, now known as Bihar.

According to Skanda purana, Lord Parashurama, the 6^th avatar of Lord Vishnu, invited 66 families of Saraswat Brahmins belonging to 10 gotras to perform Yajna at Goa. Each of the brahmins brought with them their Kuladevata idol or the idol of their family deity. Lord Parashurama then prayed to the sea God to recede to make land for his people. This region came to be called as “Konkan” (Kon meaning corner and kana meaning a part of the earth.  Lord Parashurama donated the villages from the land to the Saraswat’s and each of them installed their kuladevata in their respective village.  

Those who worshipped Lord Mangesh, installed the Linga at Mormugoa, on the banks of Zuari river which soon fell prey to Portugal invasions. To save the temple from being demolished by the Portuguese, the Brahmins secretly kept the Linga in a temple priest’s house. Later it was safely shifted to Priol village in Ponda which was ruled by the Hindu kings. Ramchandra Sukhtankar a notable general of the Maratha Court revived the lingam and convinced Raja Sonda to donate the land for constructing the temple.

The temple had a simple structure which was rebuilt and renovated few times during the Maratha rule.

Mangesh temple is one of the oldest and most visited temples in Goa. It stands atop a hill surrounded by lush greenery. The temple constructed in Goan style of architecture consists of a sacred pond, which is believed to be the oldest part of the temple complex. At the entrance is a 7 storeyed deepastambha (the light tower) which is lighted in the evenings. The main temple is presently painted with shades of light and dark blue combined with white and golden colours. Probably the blue shades which is usually not seen in Hindu temples is used here to denote Lord Shiva’s colour. The main festival here is the annual Magha Purnima celebration in February when the Ratha yatra or the royal chariot procession happens.  If you happen to visit Goa, do visit this beautiful temple. Jai Shankar!

Watch this story on: https://youtu.be/ptER1SefDEk

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Story of Ekadanta : The broken tusk of Lord Ganesha - Indian Mythology

 

Namaskara!

Ganesha is a popular Hindu god and a favourite one, especially among children. He is the lord of wisdom, success and remover of all obstacles. 

He is called by various names – Ganesha, Vinayaka, Ganapati, Lambodar, Ekadanta, Vighnaraja, Mooshikavahana, Gajanana, Pillaiyar and so on. He is the first and the foremost God to be worshipped by all before starting any work… be it studies, work, business, ceremonies, art, music and dance. In fact any puja or homa is performed by first offering prayers to Lord Ganesha.

Have you noticed? Ganesha has an elephant head and a human body?? His belly looks like a big pot. His elephant head, just like any elephant has big ears, a long trunk and tusks… Oh but did you notice the tusk on his left side is broken? Now…….. why is his tusk broken? Let us see the story behind his broken tusk.

There was a sage by name Vyasa. He was the compiler of the 4 Vedas (namely the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva veda) which is why he was referred to as "Ved Vyasa". He was once instructed by Gods to write the epic Mahabharata. Sage Vyasa wanted it to be written by the most well-read person and sought help of Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma suggested him to seek permission from Lord Shiva to let his beloved son Ganesh help him pen down the epic. Ganesha, the lord of wisdom, readily agreed but on one condition. “You have to dictate the epic to me non-stop. The moment you stop, I’ll also stop and go away. I do not want to merely write it, but also understand every verse of it” said Ganesha.

The sage agreed to the condition and the long dictation began. Sage Vyasa was an old man. Continuous dictation tired him. Sometimes, he desperately needed a break. At such times, he would use a difficult bunch of words. Even Ganesha found them difficult. As Ganesha scratched his head, the old sage would take a deep breath and quickly gulp some water to regain strength. He would be ready with the next line by the time Ganesha figured out the meaning and wrote down the words. Ganesha proceeded to write at a fast speed. Those days bird feather was dipped in ink and used as a pen. Suddenly the feather with which Ganesha was writing, broke. Ganesha did not have the time to look for another feather to write nor he wanted to stop so he quickly broke his left tusk and continued to write with it using the tusk as a pen. Thus the Mahabharata story was completed. After this Ganesha was left with only one tusk. It is his right tusk. So people started calling Ganesha as “Ekadanta” (Meaning: single tusked god). 

So children, now you know why Ganesha is seen with a broken tusk on his left side. Next time you see Lord Ganesha s picture or you visit His temple, do think of this story. Jai Shri Ganesh!

Stay safe and happy😊

Wish to listen to this story? Please  click here: https://youtu.be/BzI_26Z1MCI