Sonyie :)

                                                                                     

  

Tusi Hasde o sanu hasaan vaste,
tusi ronde o sanu rovaan vaste,
ek var rus k te vekho sohneo,
Mar javange tuhanu manaan vaste ..


Sadi dosti vich kami kade koi aawe na,
ek duje to muh pher laeeye
rab aho jahi ghari dekhawe na,
khus reho tusi umar sari,
hanju tawadi aakh vich kade aawe na...


Khushi nal dil nu abaad karna,
Gam to dil nu azaad karna,
Sadi bas chhoti jahi guzarish hai,
Sanu din vich ik vaar jaroor yaad karna.


Pyar-Pyar kehan naal pyar nahi hunda,
Hath nu milaun naal koi yaar nahi hunda,
Unjh ta mil jande ne yaar har mor te,
Par har yaar saade jeha dildar nahi hunda

 

A COURTESY OF Anonymous  

To My Fire, My Love :D

Mmmmmuuaaah <3 <3 <3 :O :)

WWW --- King of Swing :D

                                                                                 

Wasim Akram is a former Pakistan cricketer who represented the team, in both Tests and One-Day Internationals. He was a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. A dream cricketer that any nation would wish to have, he is regarded as one of the finest bowlers ever and holds the world record of 502 wickets in 356 ODI appearances.Wasim Akram Born June 3, 1966
Age 41 years

Wasim was instrumental in Pakistan's famous World Cup win in 1992. In the final against England his late flurry of 33 off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a respectable 249 for 6.

Wasim was the natural successor to legendary Pakistan cricketer Imran Khan as the nation's captain and leader. The high points of his captaincy were the 1996-97 victory in the World Series in Australia, two Test match wins in India in 1998-99, and in 1999 when Pakistan reached the World Cup final for the second time.

Wasim Akram has played 48 ODI matches against India, with a total haul of 60 wickets against the archrivals. In the 12 Tests he has played against India, Akram scored 277 runs and took 45 wickets with a bowling average of 28.86.


Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Left-arm fast

"Over my 15 or 16 years of playing international cricket in Tests and One Day Internationals, Wasim Akram is definitely the most outstanding bowler I've ever faced."    
Former West Indies batsman ---- Brian Lara
 
Nothing Left To Say About Him, He is The Legend, He Has The Shrewd Intellect of Cricket, The Inventor of  "Reverse Swing" and Above All the Most Successful FAST BOWLER in All Around The World !!! As An Asian and A Cricket Fan of Sub Continent I  Really FEEL Proud of Him. My Hero, My Real Icon of Life, WASIM --- THE WHITE WASHER !!! LOVE YOU BABY !!! Mmmmuuaahhhh :O :) <3 <3 <3.    Iss Ka ball HILTA Hain !! ;D Hahahaa :D

A COURTESY OF TIMES OF INDIA & WIKIPEDIA

                                                                            

Aagosh :)

                                                                                   

Kuch Raatein Kismat Se Aati Hain
Kal Woh Raat Jo Thi Bahut Khus Nasib
Main Karbat Le Rahin Gulabon Ke Wadi Mein
Aur Mere Bahon Mein Thi Mere Raqib

Uski Payshaani Ko Chuma Toh Dekha
Chand Ki Chehre Pe Achanak Chha Gayi
Sharam Ki Surkhilapan Kuch Ajab Si Aadaon Ke Saath
Jab Chhu Gaya Mere Laab Mere Mehboob Ki Hoothon Se
Toh Chand Fir Pighal Ne Laga Iss Garmi Ke Mausam Mein
Kuch Boondein Uski Bechain Dharkan Se Girte Hue
 Hamare Badan Pe Katra Katra Girte Rahein
Kuch Resham Si Khusbu Bahene Lage Dilrubah Ke Zulfon Se

Fir Mere Hoth Guzar Ne Lage Kuch Ucchi Nicchi
Bahekti Machalti Uchalti Thartharati Sailabon Se
Jo Laherein Uth Ti Rahi Saari Raat Nashemaan Ki Tan Se
Jaise Mujhe Sahela Rahin  Hain Woh Apni Bahon Se
Gaheri Madhhosi Mein Dube Jagte Hue Khowabon Se

Na Hum Dono Hosh Mein The
Kuch Qadghano Se Bhari Mehsus Mein The
Kitne Dino Se Tha  Jo Fansle Judai Ke
Mit Gaye Sare Gile Hum Kurbat Ke Aagosh Mein The
Kuch Nazmein Kuch Ghazlein Kuch Lafz

Gunj Rahin Thi Kano Mein

Uski Kali Aakhon Ki Parchayi Mein
Woh Raat Na Jane Kab Din Mein Dhal Gaya
Jo Jism Bheeg Rahin Thi Tabassum Ke Mithi Aagan Mein
Woh Din Ki Shuruwat Mein Barf-e-Aah Mein Badal Gaya

Roz Karti Hoon Janam Ki Intezar

Hazar Baar Milne Se Bhi Na Aati Hain Karar
Aaj Phir Se Aana Meri Aagosh Mein Waise Hi
Main Zindah Hoon Tumhare Dum Se
Iss Guman Ki Iss Sadayein-e-Ishq Bezuban Ki
Tum Apni Shaashon Se Riqat-e- Angaiz Se
Mere Dil Ko De Jana Tumhare Hone Ki Aitbaar

                  To My Love, My Fire  :O :D <3<3<3
                            IN YOUR EMBRACE I LIVE ALIVE                                                                          M-e-Z

Nishan (*^*^*)

Tum Shaash Leti Ho Kahin

Kisi Hasin Khowabon Ki Malika Ho Tum

Kavi Kavi Mazi Ke Kuch Tukron Mein Milti Ho Mujhe

Main Fursat Mein Kavi Raheti Hoon Jab Tanha

Tumhari Nishaniya Jo Chhor Gaye Tum Mere Liyeh

Woh Thehere Hue Lamhein Haathon Mein Leke

Main Raheti Hoon Tumhare Khayalon Mein Gumsum

Kuch Chittiyan Hain Gulabon Se Saje

Kuch Tasberein Sunati Hain Bite Lamhon Ki Saazein

Kya Yaad Hain Tumhe Woh Pal Jab 

Humne Roye The Ek Saath 

Paheli Nokri Ki Interview Ki Tension Mein

Aur Humne Hasse The Bahut Jab Wapas Loute The

Zoron Ki Barsat Mein Bheege Tan Ko Liyeh

Tum Safed Kamiz Pahen Ke Khari Rahi Ti Thi

Kisi Rasstein Ki Mor Par Aur Karti Thi Meri Intezar

Aur Jab Main Bahgte Hue Aati Thi Pass Tumhare

Tum Karti Thi Mujhse Siqayetein Der Aane Ki Beshumar

Main Mangti Ti Maafi Tumse Na Jane Kitni Dafa Kitni Baar

Ekdin Tumhein Manane Ke Liyeh Maine

Tohfe Mein Diya Tha Tumhe Ek Chocolate 5 Star

Aaj Bhi Ugte Hain Asman Mein Na Jane 

Kitne Chamakte Hue Rangin Sitare Hazar

Aaj Bhi Hoti Hain Barsaatein Rimjhim

Par  Tumhare Aane Ki Na Hain Koi Aaasar

Tum Raheti Ho Pardesh Mein Kahin

Tum Chali Gayi Ho Kuch Saal Pahele

Aaj Bhi Nishani Ke Tour Pe Mere Pass

Rahe Gayi Woh Purani Chocolate Ki Wrapper 

Tumhare Birthday Pe Maine Gayi Thi Ek Geet

Kuch Oss Ke Bundein Jagti Thi 

Mere Saath Der Raat Palkon Mein

Jab Wish Karna Chahti Thi Tumhe Thik 12 Baje

Ek Kambal Lapet Ke Badan Mein

Mobile Pe Tumhe Chup Ke Se Kiya Tha Wish

Uss Raat Shayed Candle Jali Thi Khushiyon Ke Dil Mein

Aur Kuch Tandi Laherein Bahar Se Aake Bujha Diya Tha Unko

Kya Karein Woh Mausam Tha Thand Ke 

Bahut Jaam Ke Parhi Thi Sheet

Aaj Bhi Zaron Ke Mausam Satati Hain

Tumhari Khoyi Hui Awazein Mazi Se Mujhe Bulati Hain 

Ek Chirag Jalti Hain Ummid Ke Timtimate Hue

Ke Kash Mil Jaye Kahi Se Sadayein Tumhari

Main Bhi Mobile Ki Tarha Chup Raheti Hoon

Kavi Kavi Bekhayali Mein Woh Purani Numbar Ki Button 

Apne Ungliyon Se Dabati Hoon

Awazein Kaheti Hain Tum Maujud Nehi Ho

Tumhare Nishani Zindah Hain Haqiqat Ki Tarha Lekin

Tum Nehi Ho Tum Nehi Ho Tum Nehi Ho

 M-e-Z

To My Best Friend RAI (RINKU)
I MISS YOU SO MUCH DARLING !!!
Mmmmuuuaahhh  <3 <3 <3 :)

                                                                               


   
  

 

Curious Kailas !

                                                                         

"Nor should one ignore recent Russian studies of Tibet and the Kailas range in particular, the results of which, if true, could radically alter our thinking on the growth of civilizations. One of the ideas the Russians have put forward is that Mt. Kailas could be a vast, human-built pyramid, the centre of an entire complex of smaller pyramids, a hundred in total. This complex, moreover, might be the centre of a world–wide system connecting other monuments or sites where paranormal phenomena have been observed. It is difficult to explain all the available information in a short article for UN Special. I have copied in the photo below the pyramidal complex as proposed by the Russians. The idea of the pyramid in this region is not new. It goes back to the timeless Sanskrit epic of the Ramayana."

The Axis Mundi, the centre of the universe, the navel of the world, the world pillar, Kang Tisé or Kang Rinpoche (the ‘Precious Jewel of Snow’ in Tibetan), Meru (or Sumeru), Swastika Mountain, Mt. Astapada, Mt. Kangrinboge (the Chinese name) - all these names, real or legendary, belong to one of the holiest and most mysterious mountains in the world – Mount Kailas.

 


Both geography and mythology play roles in the sacred significance of Mount Kailas. This holy mountain rises to an altitude of 6714 meters. It cannot compete with peaks in the nearby Himalayan range, which includes Mount Everest, and its grandeur lies not in height but in its distinct shape – four sheer faces marking the cardinal points of the compass – and its solitary location, free of neighboring mountains that might dwarf or obscure it. Mt. Kailas is regarded as the earthly manifestation of the Hindus’ mythic Mount Meru, or Sumeru, the spiritual center of the universe, the axis mundi in Buddhist and Jain as well as Hindu cosmology. 

The area around this great mountain is the source of four life-giving rivers; the Indus, Brahmaputra, Surlej and Karnali, which is a major tributary of India’s sacred Ganges, begin here. To further enhance the symbolic mysticism of the mountain as a sacred place, two lakes are situated at the base of the mountain. The higher lake Manasarovar (one of the highest freshwater lakes in the world), is the sacred lake, and is round like the sun. The lower lake Rakhast Tal (one of the highest salt-water lakes) is the devil’s lake and has the shape of the crescent moon. The two lakes represent solar and lunar forces, good and negative energies respectively.

Buddhists, Kailas is the abode of the tantric meditational deity Demchog. Hindus see Kailas as the throne of the great god Shiva, one of their most significant deities. Jains revere Kailas as the site at which their first prophet received enlightenment. Buddhist, Hindu and Jain pilgrims from the world over go to this holy mountain to circumambulate. Climbing Mount Kailas is forbidden (the only person to have ever been atop the sacred mountain is Milarepa, a 11th century Tibetan Buddhist yogi).
 
Long before Buddhism took root in Tibet in the 7th century Kailas was venerated by the adherents of the Bön (or Bnpos or Bönpos), the indigenous, religion of the region who maintained that the mystic region around Mt. Kailas and the Nine-Story Swastika Mountain was the seat of all power. When viewed from the south face, a swastika can indeed be seen. According to Bön accounts, while the circumambulation is made (anticlockwise, whereas followers of the other religion walk in the clockwise direction) 18 powerful and enlightened teachers will appear in this eon including Tnpa Shenrab, the most powerful of them, the founder of the Bön religion. He is said to have been born in the mythical land of Olmo Lung Ring, whose location remains something of a mystery. The land is traditionally described as dominated by Mount Yungdrung Gu-tzeg (edifice of nine swastikas), which many identify as Mount Kailas.

Legends of a mythic land were spread throughout the centuries and became of interest to philosophers, adventurers, theologists and even… political leaders! It received many names: Shambhala, Shangri-La, etc., and many locations have been suggested: the Tibet plateau, the Gobi desert, the Altai, but the Mount Kailas range is most frequently named. The poem by Frank Scassellatii below best describes the curious mixture of past and present, mysticism and reality:

There Lies a World Hidden,
Mysterious, unknown, and forbidden.
Where dwell entities with technologies
beyond our comprehension,
And knowledge kept hidden from us, in this
other dimension.
Will the truth ever be revealed?
Earthly forces of power and greed forever
sealed,
Forbidden knowledge for warfare to wield.
When humankind understands,
To use the knowledge acquired from these
strange lands.For the benefit of humankind,
Then entrance into their world we will find.

 The interest has been universal. Tsar Nikolai Romanov had some connection with Tibet through the monk Badmaev, who was himself closely associated with a highly placed Tibetan, the lama Agvan Dordzhiyev, tutor and confidant of the 13th Dalai Lama. Dordzhiyev equated Russia with the coming Kingdom of Shambhala anticipated in the Kalachakra texts of Tibetan Buddhism. The lama opened the first Buddhist temple in Europe, in St. Petersburg, significantly dedicated to Kalachakra teaching. One of the Russian artists who worked on the St.Petersburg temple was Nicholas Roerich, who had been introduced by Dordzhiyev to the legend of Shambhala and to eastern thought. George Gurdjieff, another mystic who had some impact on Western thought, knew Prince Ukhtomsky, Badmaev, and Dordzhiyev. Gurdjieff was accused by the British of being a Russian spy in Central Asia, a pupil of the mysterious Tibetans. Even Marx had contacts with Tibetan lamas as did Lenin who met some of them in Switzerland.
 
What were these people interested in and what attracted them to Tibet? The beauty of the mountains or the mysticism? The desire to find the remains of lost civilizations or the desire to learn how to acquire extreme power so as to govern the world?
 
Not only contacts with lamas, but even expeditions were organised in this area. What, for example, brought about the odd juxtaposition of Tibetan lamas and German SS officers on the eve of World War II? The search for lost remnants of an imagined Aryan race hidden somewhere on the Tibetan plateau? Or some other reason? It is known that Nazi leaders such as Heinrich Himmler believed that Tibet might harbour the last of the original Aryan tribes, the legendary forefathers of what was considered the German race whose Aryan leaders were supposed to possess supernatural powers that the Nazis thought they could use to conquer the world. Ideas about an Aryan or master race began to appear in the popular media in the late nineteenth century. In the 1890s, E. B. Lytton, a Rosicrucian, wrote a best-selling novel around the idea of a cosmic energy (particularly strong in the female sex), which he called «Vril.» Later he wrote of a Vril society, consisting of a race of super-beings that would emerge from their underground hidingplaces to rule the world. 

The Vril Society claimed to have links to Tibetan masters, apparently drawing on the ideas of Madame Blavatsky, the theosophist, who supported the existence of super-beings in a mystic land which she described in such well-known works as the Secret Doctrine. She claimed to be in telepathic contact with spiritual masters in Tibet and confirmed that she was receiving this information from them.
 
Nikolai Roerich went to the region of Tibet where he spent several years. Depending on the source, the reasons for his mission vary, from purely botanic studies in the region of the Gobi desert on behalf of the US Government to political and spiritual. He may have been inspired by Kalachakra teaching and legends of Shambhala while working at the painting of St.Petersburg temple, described above. His painting “The Path to Kailas” can be seen in the New York museum dedicated to his work. He devoted many years to the search for this mystic land.
 
Many of these people were ready to believe in the existence of the super-natural in whatever form – higher intelligence, power, or energy. This interest remains strong to this day in many countries, to find this axis mundi, the most powerful place, the highest power, or the hidden intelligence in whatever form it exists, if indeed it does.
 
Nor should one ignore recent Russian studies of Tibet and the Kailas range in particular, the results of which, if true, could radically alter our thinking on the growth of civilizations. One of the ideas the Russians have put forward is that Mt. Kailas could be a vast, human-built pyramid, the centre of an entire complex of smaller pyramids, a hundred in total. This complex, moreover, might be the centre of a world–wide system connecting other monuments or sites where paranormal phenomena have been observed.
It is difficult to explain all the available information in a short article for UN Special. I have copied in the photo below the pyramidal complex as proposed by the Russians. The idea of the pyramid in this region is not new. It goes back to the timeless Sanskrit epic of the Ramayana. Since then, numerous travellers, especially in the beginning of the 20th century, have expressed the view that Mt.Kailas is too perfect to be a totally natural phenomenon, or at any rate give the appearance of human intervention.

Kailash Pyramids?

 For example:
 In shape it (Mount Kailas) resembles a vast cathedral… the sides of the mountain are perpendicular and fall sheer for hundreds of feet, the strata horizontal, the layers of stone varying slightly in colour, and the dividing lines showing up clear and distinct...... which give to the entire mountain the appearance of having been built by giant hands, of huge blocks of reddish stone. (G.C. Rawling, The Great Plateau, London, 1905).
 
However, it is only fair to add that the Russian claims to have discovered in the Mt.Kailas area the highest ever human-built pyramids were denied three years later by Chinese scientists in the official Chinese Press.
Of human construction or not, Mt. Kailas is one of the most mysterious, secret and at the same time one of the most holy and sacred mountains of Asia, if not of the world) the circumambulation of which has for many centuries or possibly many millennia remained a vital pilgrimage, symbolising the life’s stages of death, purification and rebirth. Buddhists and Jains refer to the circumambulation as khora, Hindus as parikrama. A single circumambulation equals one turn of the Wheel of Life and will wipe away the sins of one’s life, twelve circumambulations will purify one’s karma for all past and future lives, enlightenment is attained after 108. Even one khora presents an extremely difficult task since the mountain is difficult of access and dangerous.
 
Dangers or not, some of us may dream of discovering for ourselves what there is to be seen on this mountain. Pending this adventure, I decided to speak to some of the few people who have circumambulated the mountain and recorded their personal experiences, to ask for their records and to interview them. Their replies are the subject of one of the next issues of UNSpecial! 
January-August 2004

(With deep thanks to Mr. Wolf Scott, former Deputy Director of UNRISD,
for helping me to systematise and to structure very complicated material resulted from many months of research and studies of numerous sources and private archives).

A COURTESY OF  vedicempire.com 

                                                                                

Ruke Nazar :)

Waqt  Chalta Raheta Hain Train Ki Tarha

Kavi Kavi Rukta Hain Par Rukte Nehi

Zindegi Bhi Toh Chalti Raheti Hain Manzil Ki Taraf

Manzil Bhi Batah Hua Hain Waqt Ki Tarha

Ek Maqam Se Aur Ek Maqam Ki Taraf

Mann Ki Manzil Aur Nazar Ki Manzil Ek Nehi

Mann Ki Mazil Par Rukabat Hain Tufan Bhi Hain Barish Bhi Hain

Aur Agar Mazil Mil Bhi Jaye Toh Uss Ke Baad Bhi 

Hazaron Sawalon Ki Jabab Ke Safar Ko Tay Karna Parhta Hain

Jahan Hassi Bhi Hain Ghum Bhi Hain Udassi Bhi Hain

Lekin Jo Hote Hain Nazar Ki Manzil

Uss Ki Safar Kavi Khatam Hote Hi Nehi

Wahan Khushi Bhi Nehi Ghum Bhi Nehi 

Aur Sare Jo Hote Hain Jassbati Mehsus Kuch Vi Nehi

Lekin Hain Toh Sirf Ek Bekhayali Ek Ahshas 

Jiski Misal Dena  Mumkin Vi Nehi

Kal Dopaher Ek Ajnabi  Jagah Pe Meri Train Ruki Hui Thi

Main Train Ki Khirki Se 

Bahar Ki Nazarein Ki Luft Utha Rahin Thi

Samne Tha Ek Hariyali Se Bhara Kheyt

Aur Upar Asman Mein Kuch Safed Badal 

Neele Asmano Ke Sath Luka Chhupi Khel Rahin Thi

Main Badalon Ki Taraf Dekh Rahin Thi

Jaise Woh Sare Badal Angraiyan Le Rahin Thi

Bahut Khusi Ke Saath Karbatein Badal Rahin Thi

Dheere Dheere Apni Andar Ki Darwazein Khol Rahin Thi

Aur Unn Badalon Ki Raaz Ki Pardah 

Aakhon Ki Samne Utar Rahin Thi

Maine Dekha Ek Halki Neeli Si Roshni

Aur Kavi Kavi Suneherein Kuch Jhalkein

Unn Badalon Ghar Ke Andar Se Aks-e-Noor Ki Jaise

Kavi Muskurake Aur Kavi Sharma Ke 

Jaise Mujhe Bula Rahin Thi Mujhe Ishara Kar Rahin Thi

Yun Toh Badal Din Raat Apni Kaya Badal Te Rahete Hain

Duniya Ke Sare Ansar-e-Skahal Ki Naksha

Apni Badan Ki Canvas Pe Utar Lete Hain

Lekin Kal Badalon Ne Jaise Kiya Apne Jalwe Ki Numaish

Woh Saare Apne Mann Ki Hisaab Se Ashiqana Mizaz Pe

Uss Pal Ko Ek Nashili Rangat Mein Dhaal Rahin Thi

Jaise Mehboob Ki Bahon Mein Mehbooba 

Ek Anokhi Surat Mein Apni Palkein Uthati Hain

Uss Mein Pyar Bhi Hain Haya Bhi Hain

Kuch Raaz Bhi Hain Unn Raazoun Ki Uljhe Hue Sawal Ki

Kavi Dewangi Se Bhara Aur Kavi Suljhe Hue Jabab Bhi Hain

Main Kal Ki Uss Ruke Hue Pal Ke Liyeh

Uss Ruke Hue Madhosh Vara Nazar Ke Liyeh

Khudah Ka Karzdar Hoon

Hum Insaan Apni Manzil Aur 

Apni Ulfat Ki Nashe Mein Khoye Rahete Hain

Lekin Kaal Humne Dekhe Hain Asmano Ki Mohabbat

Jo Hain Vi Aur Nehi Bhi

Ek Khowabon Ki  Neelam Ki Tarha

Jo Khuli Aakhon Mein Badal  Ki Badan Mein 

Saat Rangon Se Nikhar Ke Bikhar Jate Hain

M-e-Z 

 Love of The Sky !!! :D  <3 <3 <3.

 

     

                                                                                     

Lake of Ice !! :D

                                                                               

Lokpal : The Place of Gods

Long before Sikhs began coming to Hemkunt, the lake was known to the people who lived in the nearby valleys as a place of pilgrimage. Its name was Lokpal, and its sanctity derived from its association with tales of the gods. Most notably, the god Lakshman, the younger brother of Ram, is said to have meditated or done penance at Lokpal. In a popular story told by local people and visitors alike, Lakshman was brought to the shore of Lokpal after being mortally wounded in a battle with the son of Ravana. Lakshman's wife wept and prayed that her husband be saved. The monkey god Hanuman was then able to find a life-giving herb. When the herb was administered to Lakshman, he miraculously revived. In celebration, God showered flowers from heaven, which fell to the earth and took root in the Valley of Flowers.

Another story is told about Lakshman's previous incarnation as a seven headed snake. In this form, so the local people say, he meditated under the water at Lokpal and lord Vishnu slept on his back. The name Lokpal refers to Vishnu, the sustainer, who looks after the earth. Lokpal is also rumoured to be the native place of yet another god: Shiva, the destroyer, and his wife Parvati. Stories like these, and the ones about Hemkunt related below, have written sources in the Puranas (ancient volumes of Hindu mythology) and the Hindu epics (the Mahabharata and the Ramayana), but as they are passed from person to person and from generation to generation, they change, taking on local references and becoming blended with elements from other stories with other sources.

Traditionally, Lokpal was visited on three annual festivals held during the summer season. The pilgrimage to the lake was made primarily by women, both Garhwali villagers from the valley below Lokpal and villagers of Bhotia (Indo-Tibetan) ancestry from neighbouring valleys. All who went to Lokpal recognized the sanctity of the lake. Out of respect for the purity of the water and its environs, they made the steep ascent barefoot, clad only in white cotton dhoti (an unstitched garment). The women left their clothes and shoes behind at a halting place set in a glade of fir trees. There they would spend the night singing songs of the goddess, and at dawn they would set out to scale the slope to the lake. This halting place became the site of what is today Gobind Dham or Ghangaria, named after the ghagara, or petticoats, which the pilgrims would leave there.
When the pilgrims reached Lokpal, they would make offerings of coins, coconuts, Brahma Kamal flowers, and parshad (a consecrated sweet). They would often bathe in the cold water, and pray to Lakshman for the blessing of a son or for the health of their menfolk. A story by the local people about a Bhotia man who had no children. He came to Lokpal and his faith was so strong that he crawled the circumference of the lake on his elbows. When he returned the following year he had a son.


Hemkhunt:  The Place of Guru


In the late nineteenth century, Sikhs began to search for Hemkunt: a place, high in the Himalayan mountains, which their tenth Guru alluded to in the autobiographical Bachitra Natak. The title of this work roughly translates as the 'wonderful drama'. It is included in a compilation of writings attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, known as the Dasam Granth. In poetic language, the following story about the Guru's previous birth is recounted in chapter six of Bachitra Natak:

In these verses, the Guru tells of his origins. He describes the place Hemkunt Parbat Sapat Sring, the "lake of ice" "mountain" adorned with "seven peaks", as the same place where King Pandu, the forefather of the five Pandava brothers of Mahabharata fame, practiced yoga. There, the Guru did intense meditation and austerities until he merged with God. Because his earthly parents had served God, God was pleased with them and gave a commandment that the Guru to be born to them. In the world he would carry out a mission to teach the true religion and rid people of evil ways. He was reluctant to leave his state of union with the creator, but God compelled him. In this way the Guru took birth into the world.

The first Sikh to pen his speculations about the nature and location of the Guru's tap asthan was hagiographical writer Bhai Santokh Singh. In his fourteen volume Sri Gur Pratap Suraj [Prakash] Granth (originally published in 1843), Santokh Singh elaborated on the story of the Guru's previous life as told in the above passage from the Dasam Granth.

The search for and discovery of Hemkunt came out of the desire of the Sikhs to erect shrines to honour places consecrated by the visit of the tenth Guru during his lifetime or, in the case of Hemkunt, during his previous lifetime. Although Bachitra Natak was included in the Dasam Granth some time in the 1730s, Sikhs apparently did not consider looking for Hemkunt Sapatsring until the late nineteenth century. It did not become a place of pilgrimage until the twentieth century.

Pandit Tara Singh Narotam, a nineteenth century Nirmala scholar, was the first Sikh to trace the geographical location of Hemkunt. He wrote of Hemkunt as one among the 508 Sikh shrines he described in Sri Gur Tirath Sangrah (first published in 1884). Much later, renowned Sikh scholar Bhai Vir Singh was instrumental in developing Hemkunt after it had been, in a sense, re-discovered by another Sikh in search of the Guru's tap asthan.

Sohan Singh was a retired granthi from the Indian army who was working in a gurdwara (Sikh temple) in Tehri Garhwal. In 1932, he read the description of Hemkunt in Bhai Vir Singh's Sri Kalgidhar Chamatkar (1929). This account of the place and the meditation of a great yogi there was based on the tale of Guru Gobind Singh's life and previous life as told in Bachitra Natak and the Suraj [Prakash] Granth.

A Courtesy of www.sikhnet.com

                                               Please Visit Every Body This Place
                                          A Traveler's Paradise, Simply the Bliss of Eyes !!! :)    

                                                                           

Flying Fish !! :)

                                                                               

Young American swimmer Michael Phelps has broken several world records in his sport. Even his record breaking has broken new records: he was the first swimmer ever to shatter two world records in individual events during a single day, and was the first to swim five new fastest times at a world championship meet. Phelps, whose best stroke is the butterfly, is said to possess the perfect build for competitive swimming. He stands more than six-foot four inches in height, and his wingspan, as it is called, is even longer: from finger to finger he measures six-foot seven inches across. These attributes have given him an edge in the highly competitive sport, but those who know him say that it is his inner drive, focus on achieving goals, and likeable personality that make him a winner.

Discovered Olympic potential

Phelps was born on June 30, 1985, and grew up in the Baltimore suburb of Towson. His mother, Debbie, is an administrator with the Baltimore County school system. He has two older sisters, and began swimming when they joined a local swim team. "At first, I was a little scared to put my head underwater, so I started with the backstroke," Phelps told Frank Litsky, a sportswriter for the New York Times, adding, "I was still scared because I don't think I had goggles."


Phelps's parents quickly recognized their son's talent. When he was eleven years old, they brought him to a top swim coach, Bob Bowman (c. 1964–). After watching him swim, Bowman agreed to take over his training at a Baltimore-area swim club. Bowman predicted that Phelps would be Olympic-caliber material by the time he was fifteen, and might look forward to going to the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia. Phelps was thrilled by the idea, especially since one of his sisters had qualified for the U.S. women's swim team at the 1996 Summer Games but was sidelined by an injury.

When Bowman told Phelps that he had Olympic potential, the twelve-year-old gave up his other sports, which were soccer, lacrosse, and baseball, in order to bring all his energy to daily pool practice. He began winning every competitive event he entered. The first time he lost, however, he was so upset that he threw down his goggles. Bowman warned him about his unsportsmanlike conduct, and since then Phelps has taken his handful of setbacks in stride.


"It's when your body is not in the best situation, your mind is not in the best situation and things are against you those are the times that really count and really matter you overcome and rise to the occasion."

Those setbacks included his first-ever U.S. national championships, in the summer of 1999. He finished in last place in the 200-meter butterfly. He bounced back at the 2000 U.S. spring nationals to take a third place finish, and then became a surprise qualifier for the Sydney Olympics later that year. When he arrived with the rest of the U.S. swim team, he was the youngest American male swimmer to enter an Olympic contest since 1932. He had qualified for just one event, the 200-meter butterfly, and finished in fifth place.
Swim Legend Mark Spitz

At the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, a young California athlete by the name of Mark Spitz became an international celebrity and Olympic legend. Brash, confident, and phenomenally fast, Spitz beat out the other world-caliber swimmers to win seven gold medals in the sport. No other athlete has ever attained such a feat during a single Olympics.


Born in 1950, Spitz was a talented swimmer in his teens, much like Michael Phelps. Before he competed in the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City, Spitz predicted he would win six gold medals, but went home with just two. His confidence was viewed by some as arrogant and unsportsmanlike, and he said little after returning to an intense training schedule for the 1972 Olympics.

But Spitz became the star of the Munich Summer Games. He won his first gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly, setting a world record. He went on to enter six other events, and set world records in each of them. In just eight days he set seven world records and won seven gold medals, including one for the 100-meter freestyle, which was considered his weakest stroke. No other Olympic athlete has ever accomplished such a feat, in either Winter or Summer events.


During the second week of the Games, a group of hooded men associated with an Arab political organization took several Israeli athletes hostage in the Olympic Village. They demanded that Israel release Palestinian prisoners in return. The standoff ended tragically with a botched rescue attempt. The nine Israeli men died, as did several of the hostage takers. Spitz was forced to leave Munich earlier than planned because of the crisis—he was Jewish, and Olympic officials were worried about his safety.

Spitz enjoyed lucrative endorsement contracts after his Munich performance. His dark good looks and mustache made him an early 1970s heartthrob, and he was one of the first Olympic athletes to earn a small fortune from such contracts.

Began setting new records

A few months later, in early 2001, Phelps surprised everyone once again. At the U.S. spring nationals, he became the youngest male swimmer to set a world record. The event that marked this accomplishment was the 200-meter butterfly. He was just fifteen years and nine months old at the time. At the age of sixteen, he decided to give up his chances for a college athletic scholarship by signing an endorsement deal with swimsuit maker Speedo.


Phelps soon began breaking world records in every event he entered. In August of 2002, at the U.S. National Swimming Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he set a world record in the 400-meter individual medley. The following April, at the 2003 U.S. spring nationals hosted by Indiana University, he beat his own world record in the 400-meter individual medley. Rocky Mountain News journalist Jody Berger wrote that Phelps "flies across a pool like water is someone else's problem. He doesn't punch his way through the wet stuff but hydroplanes across its surface at a speed few humans can match."

The official Indiana meet was followed by a special contest between American and Australian swimmers billed as the "Duel in the Pool." The United States and Australia have each produced several top swimmers in the modern era of the sport, and there is an intense national rivalry between the two countries. But Phelps's biggest rival, Australian champion Ian Thorpe (1982–), was ill with meningitis-like symptoms and did not compete, creating much interest in what would happen in a contest between the two swimmers at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, in July of 2003.

Thorpe, three years older than Phelps, is a huge star in Australia. Sportswriters there call him "Thorpedo." He won three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Games, and was also a world record holder. Their rivalry heated up in June of 2003, when Thorpe's coach told the press that Phelps was not yet a serious threat. "The promise with Phelps is there, but for people saying he's going to outdo Thorpie, I live to see that day," Sports Illustrated writer Brian Cazeneuve quoted coach Don Talbot as saying.

Called the next Mark Spitz

Phelps bested Thorpe in nearly every contest in Barcelona in late July of 2003, and it made the American the new star in competitive swimming. He won five medals and set an astonishing five world records. The first came in the 100-meter butterfly semifinal, and the next came when he broke his own record in the 200-meter individual medley, besting Thorpe by a large margin in that contest. His own American teammate, Ian Crocker (1982–), broke Phelps's 100-meter butterfly record in the finals, but Phelps went on to take part in two relay races that each won a gold medal. His last two world records were set in the 400-meter individual medley and the 200-meter butterfly.


Phelps was seemingly unstoppable. Just a short time later, at the U.S. summer nationals in College Park, Maryland, he won five of the fourteen gold medals awarded, becoming the first male swimmer ever to do that at a U.S. nationals event. With such a promising start, the eighteen-year-old was called the next Mark Spitz (1950–). Phelps had heard the name before, as he recalled in an interview with Elliott Almond that appeared in the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service. He told Almond that he asked his coach, "'Why are they asking me about Mark Spitz? What did he do?'" he told Almond. Bowman explained to him that Spitz was an American swimmer who was the star athlete of the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. Spitz set seven world records in Munich, and returned home with seven gold medals.


Phelps's interest in matching Spitz's legendary performance intensified when Thorpe asserted that no one could ever repeat Spitz's feat. Late in 2003 Phelps signed a new contract with Speedo that showed the company's faith in him: it ran until 2009, and included a $1 million bonus if he matched Spitz's seven gold medals at the coming 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In the buildup before the Athens Games,

Phelps was predicted to become the star American athlete. But he tried not to make any predictions. "If you get caught up in it, your mind will take over and control you," told Litsky in a New York Times article. "I have to make sure I'm in control."


Phelps did not worry about the other problems he might face at the Athens Games. In one interview Phelps was asked if he was concerned that the roof over the new Olympic pool had not been completed with only three months to go before the Games' opening ceremonies. It would not matter to him or to his performance, he told Duncan Goodhew in the Financial Times. "A pool's a pool. Water, lane lines, starting blocks," he remarked. "We are all in the same boat. We all swim under the same sun." Phelps did not match Spitz's record, but he did take home six gold medals and two bronze medals.

Uses rap songs to focus

Phelps is known for his perseverance and concentration in the pool. He swims twenty thousand meters on some days. Kevin Clements, a friend at the Baltimore area club where Phelps practices, told the New York Times 's Litsky that Phelps "likes to train. He's never satisfied. Outside the pool, he's a normal guy to hang out with. He likes to tease and fool around with other people on the team, which is natural in this atmosphere. But he's mature in ways, too. He kind of makes training fun."

Rap music helps Phelps focus on his goals. Before every meet, he swims his warmup laps, then changes into a new swimsuit and puts his headphones on for the entire thirty-minute period before the race is set to start. He likes Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Eminem. He also listens to music every day while he drives to practice. "When I get out of the car, the last song stays in my head," he explained to Dallas Morning News journalist Cathy Harasta, in an article that appeared in the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service. "It's there all during practice, in my head."


His car is a Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle, which he bought used with the $25,000 bonus he earned from the U.S. Swimming Federation when he began breaking world records in 2003. His mother allows him to buy something with his winnings every time he sets a new world record. One treat was a 47-inch television for his bedroom. Another time, he installed new subwoofer speakers in the Escalade, to create a better bass sound for his favorite rap songs.

Headed to University of Michigan
Phelps graduated from Towson High School in 2003, but delayed college plans to concentrate on training for the 2004 Olympics. In April of 2004, Bowman was hired as the new men's swim coach at the University of Michigan, which had produced several top athletes in the sport over the years. Phelps was not allowed to swim for the school because he had turned professional by accepting the Speedo endorsement in 2001. He went out and bought two U-M caps for himself and for Bowman, however, and planned to enroll there as a student so they could continue to train. In 2004 he said that he plans to swim for another ten years.

In his spare time Phelps likes to play video games. He makes appearances for Speedo and also serves as the national spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Later in life, he has said, he would like to have a career in either sports marketing or in some technical field. He told Goodhew he hoped his own success as a champion swimmer would boost the sport's profile. "One of my big goals is to improve the knowledge of the sport. Not many people know about swimming and (I want) to be able to take it to a new level and hopefully, in the US, get in with sports like basketball (or) football, where people see (swimmers) on the street and know who they are."
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