Nine avatars of Goddess Durga

During the festival of Navratri, Goddess Durga is worshipped over the period of 9 days in her 9 different avatars (an avatar means the manifestation/form which a God/Goddess takes on earth).

GSB Seva Mandal Mumbai Gold Ganesha

The Gaud Saraswat Seva Mandal (GSB) is a charitable, non-profit organisation which is well-known not just for its well organised annual Ganeshotsav celebrations but also for being selflessly involved in philanthropic activities. In addition to providing financial assistance to needy people, it provides medical assistance to the deserving & conducts funerals for those who cannot afford it. Each year the GSB mandal also arranges for outdoor visits to temples & other places for senior citizens.

2012 Falguni Pathak Dandiya Raas event tickets booking

Falguni Pathak and Navratri are inseparable & once again the Dandiya Queen is set to take the spotlight at the Navratri Utsav in Mumbai. It has been reported that this time the Dandiya Queen will be making a dramatic surprise entrance on each of the days. The 9-day utsav is being organised by Purple Stone Entertainment in collaboration with Mangal Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. & 3^rd Rock Multimedia in Mumbai. For 2013 Falguni Pathak Navratri event tickets check details here.

The unique aspect of this year’s utsav will be free training sessions to help the participants learn the dandiya dance moves so that they can enjoy the festivities more. 

Falguni Pathak is eager to focus more on devotional & celebratory themes for the songs & music beats and less on Bollywood numbers. So other than her own hit numbers of past years (remember Pari hoon main andYaad piya ki aane lagi ?) and Gujarati folk beats, there will be bhajans, aartis & Sufi songs for sure.

Visiting Girijatmaj Vinayak Ganapati Temple at Lenyadri

After visiting the Chintamani temple, devotees who undertake the Ashtavinayaka Yatra visit the Ganapati temple at Lenyadri. This temple is known by the name of Ganapati’s mother Parvati whose other name is Girija & the word Atmaj refers to son. From the name of the area, namely Lenyadri, it is easy to understand the temple’s location – the word lena means a cave and the suffix adri is a Sanskrit word which means a mountain. So devotees must be prepared to climb up quite a bit to pay obeisance to the Ganapati idol in this temple.

Visiting Chintamani Ashtavinayak Ganapati Temple Theur

Devotees who embark on the Ashtavinayak Yatra make their fifth halt to pay obeisance to Lord Ganesha at the Chintamani Ashtavinayak Temple at Theur (also referred to as Theoor). The holy place of Theur is located at the spot where 3 rivers meet – the Mula river, the Mutha river and the Bhima river.

October-November 2012 training program at Manchester United Soccer School Mumbai

Logo image from official website

Manchester United's collaboration with the Western India Football Association (WIFA), has been very successful since the launch of its branch of the Manchester United Soccer Schools in Mumbai, Maharashtra at the Cooperage grounds. Mini fields of artificial synthetic turf at these grounds have provided children between the ages of 8 to 17 years a wonderful training ground for all-round development skills through various modules. This non-residential program, with each training of 5 weeks duration, has now opened bookings for Module 5 and Module 6.

Ghalin Lotangan Ganpati bhajan words in Marathi

Most people when worshiping a deity do so with an aarti (आरती). By performing an aarti, one is expressing one's devotion to God. The aarti is basically consisting of a lighted wick soaked in oil placed in a diya & kept on a plate, the plate being then rotated in a clockwise direction around the deity. This aarti is considered an important part of a puja to a Hindu God or Goddess. The devotional words which are said while doing an aarti may vary from one God/Goddess to another. However, there is one bhajan (भजन) [bhajan means devotional song] which is considered to be mandatory after performing an aarti of Lord Ganesha. This bhajan is 'Ghalin Lotangan' (घालीन लोटांगण). In fact, this bhajan is also routinely recited after any aarti.