GRV Tours & Travels

01/12/2014

18/05/2013

Shivpuri is steeped in the royal legacy of its past, when it was the summer capital of the Scindia rulers of Gwalior. And earlier, its dense forests were the hunting grounds of the Mughal emperors when great herds of elephants were captured by emperor Akbar. Much later, it was the Tiger that roamed the wooded hills and many a magnificent beast was 'bagged' by royal Shikaris. Today Shivpuri is a sanctuary for rare wildlife and avifauna. Its royal past has thus been transformed into a vibrant, hopefull present. Shivpuri's royal ambience lives on in the exquisite palaces and hunting lodges and graceful, intricately embellished marble Chhatris (cenotaphs) erected by the Scindia rulers.

17/05/2013

Jyotirlinga
As per Shiva Purana, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of sustenance) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity. The Jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The Jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light. Originally there were believed to be 64 Jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy. Each of the twelve Jyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiva. At all these sites, the primary image is Lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambhapillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.