THE PLACE OF THE HOLY FOOT





Pic.: Sherry Haridas

 King Mahabali was a demon king. (Asura). But, jut like his grandfather, Prahlad (son of Hiranyakashyap), he was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. He was a just ruler, very compassionate and generous; The period of his rule was hailed as the ‘Golden Era’, when all people were treated equally, and there was no illwill among people and the society was not plagued by any social ills. Yes, all people lived in Mahabali’s kingdom happily... And, they loved him, adored him as their great, benevolent king...
Now, the immense popularity of the demon king, Mahabali, made Devas (Gods) so insecure that they sought Lord Vishnu’s help.
Lord Vishnu wanted to test the faith and integrity of his devotee, king Mahabali... If the massive adulation from his subjects had made the ruler arrogant... If he was, indeed, compassionate, just and generous...
So, when king Mahabali was doing his yagna, Lord Vishnu came to visit the king assuming the form of a dwarf – a brahmana-boy by the name Vamana. The king showered his love, affection and respect on the guest and promised to offer whatever was asked for. Sensing that the visitor was no ordinary lad, king’s guru, Shukracharya, tried to dissuade the ruler from making any promise to the visitor. However, the king, who treated all guests as Gods, went ahead and decided to honor any wish of his guest.
Vamana, with humility, asked for only three measures of land, just measurable by his three steps...
The wish was granted...
Vamana, immediately grew to a giant proportion and, with his first step, covered the entire Earth... With his second step, he covered the entire Heaven... There was no place to keep his third step... King Mahabali, immediately, bowed down before Vamana and offered his head to place the the last step...
Vamana, with his last step, pushed down the king to the nether world, Patala!
This was an unusual act of devotion... a great sacrifice - a ‘Maha Bali’. Lord Vishnu was hugely impressed and, granted the boon to his true devotee to live forever in the hearts of his subjects... He, also, granted Mahabali the permission to visit his beloved people, once, every year...
His people still love and adore Mahabali...To them, he is their greatest king – the noblest of all... the humblest of all... the truest of all... They have named the site of his great  sacrifice – where, Vamana (Lord Vishnu) had placed his third step – as the village of Thrikkakara – the place of the holy foot... On the eve of Mahabali’s annual visit to his beloved land, his people decorate this spot with fresh, colorful flowers... dress up in impeccable white and gold... and, wait with love and devotion for their beloved king to come, visit them... be with them for a while... They want to assure him that they are his deserving people... happy... blessed with golden hearts... simple and humble, mighty yet generous and truthful...
Yes, that’s why their land is called - ‘God’s own Country’. Kerala...
And, the day of their king’s annual visit is called - ‘ONAM’...
A happy Onam to all my lovely-curly friends... May the spirit of of your great ruler guide you, always...

GERALD D’CUNHA

Comments

Sheela Nair said…
Happy Onam sir, nice article. Thanx. Sheela Nair
September 6, 2014 at 6:33 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or painful that
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How does it matter
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...