Skip to main content

OFFERING TO GOD THROUGH THULABARAM



Image result for thulabharam images FREE DOWNLOAD


A large common balance is kept in many Indian temples, notably in the famous Guruvayoor Krishna temple in Kerala, among others.

Thulabaram is a Hindu religious practice wherein a believer makes a sacred vow to make offerings to the Lord by weighment in the large set of scales kept for the purpose.

The offerings can be any single thing which the devotee wants to make, ranging from rice, sugar, fruits, vegetables, silver or currency coins… as he or she pleases.

Generally, such offerings are promised to the Lord while praying for some boon-for instance-recovery of an ailing child. In this case, the parents might undertake to give sugar, specified fruits or vegetables equal to the child’s weight as measured on the Thulabaram.

It is a matter of faith, like many other such vows across the world religions.

But I, as a firm believer had the benediction to see and experience firsthand the miracle of Lord Krishna in Guruvayoor.

It was back in the late 1990s when I was suspected to have a serious ailment and had be admitted in a well known hospital. My family members undertook to do a Thulabaram at Guruvayoor after my recovery.

As the Lord willed, I recovered fast and we proceeded to Guruvayoor to fulfill the vow. Before our turn, there was another couple with a small child who were trying to weigh their child against yam. But as we watched in utter astonishment, the priest who was overseeing the ritual kept on heaping huge quantities of yam (procured by the parents) on the pan of the balance, but the Thulabaram balance did not balance! That too against a puny underweight child!

As we all watched in awe and amazement, the priest slowly turned to the devotee parents and asked, “What indeed did you undertake to offer to the Lord?” The mother of the child replied, “Actually it was raw bananas, but we couldn’t get that in sufficient quantity at that time…”

Before she could complete, the priest lifted the child off the balance and told them firmly, but kindly, “Go get the bananas and come back! Else it won’t balance.”

As we bowed to the Lord with moist eyes, the priest related another miracle in Guruvayoor Thulabaram history- A very pious but poor lady had committed to offer her baby’s weight in coins to the lord upon his recovery from some ailment. But when she came to Guruvayoor for fulfilling the vow, she had very little money left.

As she came sobbing to the priest who was there at the Thulabaram, he said, “Let us try with what you have… The ways of the Lord Krishna are mysterious.”

With a single coin, the Lord made the Thulabaram balance!

Jai Sri Krishna!



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LORD KING KRISHNA AND CHILDHOOD FRIEND SUDAMA

Dear friends, time it is now to hearken to the heartwarming tale of Sudama, Who had for his childhood and bosom friend none other than Lord Krishna. But while the little Krishna became King of Dwaraka, as ordained by destiny, Sudama, the poor Brahmin lived nearby with his family in abject poverty.
It never once occurred to Sudama to approach for help Krishna the king, But when his children starved, his wife goaded him to ask for something. Thus it was that Sudama ventured to meet his dear friend Krishna, Carrying with him only a rag- wrapped gift of rice Poha!
When the all-knowing king Krishna knew his friend was at his palace gate, He came running barefoot to greet him, leaving beholders in amazement agape. Embracing his dear school friend, he, with the queen took him inside and made him rest, Washing his feet and showering him with love, they made Sudama feel like a privileged guest. Recalling happily their younger days, the two friends forgot the passage of time, Reluctant to seek favours, Suda…
Post a Comment
Read more

THE REMARKABLE Dr. VIKTOR.E.FRANKL

THE FOUNDER OF LOGOTHERAPY

Many know him as the founder of the third Vienna school of Psychotherapy-‘Logotherapy’- first being that of Sigmund Freud and second that of Alfred Adler.
Logotherapy is a kind of existential analysis based on having a purpose or meaning in life. Frankl developed this new philosophy of therapy based on his own and others’ terrible experiences as Jewish prisoners in Hitler’s concentration camps. The therapy also supports Nietzsche’s theory that ‘He who has a why can endure any how’.
Born in 1905 in Vienna, middle among three children, Frankl evinced a lot of interest in Psychology and did his medical studies in this field. He met the iconic Freud and had a lot of interaction with him, though he liked Adler’s theory better. He worked in various capacities in Vienna in the years before Hitler, and even was in charge of a psychiatric ward for suicidal women.
In 1940, when Dr Frankl was the head of the neurological department in Rothschild, a Jewish hospital, he disp…
Post a Comment
Read more

A TIMELESS PROPOSAL

From childhood, Sujatha had a fascination for adventure, fantasy and sci-fi stories.
Now in her early twenties, she still loved to read books or see movies which took her off on a long flight of fancy. She could spend hours dreamily in such pursuits, unlike her smart phone peers. Though she detested conventional travels, she loved the concept of time travel.
Her parents, while happy about her not being addicted to the phone and the Net, were also a bit worried about her romantic notions on time travelling, AI etc and tried to gently wean her away towards regular studies, with limited success.
Frequently, she would relate the details of the weird dreams she started getting of late. Elves, dwarves, princes and princesses paid nocturnal visits to Sujatha in increasing frequency. While this perturbed her parents further, Varun, her younger brother would tease her, “Didn’t you see any tall handsome prince so far, instead of dwarves and other uglies?”
“Anything done in excess isn’t good,” Dad…
Post a Comment
Read more