Letters to the EDITOR: Maha Shivaratri

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Maha Shivaratri

The great festival of the Hindu religion, Maha Shivaratri, is celebrated annually during the months of February and March in the Assamese month of Phalguna. This festival commemorates the wedding of Lord Shiva and Parvati, and on the occasion of this, Shiva performed a dance form called the Tandava Nritya. This festival is generally about the remembrance of the overcoming of darkness and ignorance in life and across the world. This festival is believed to have originated in the 5th century BCE. In Kashmir, the festival is called Har Ratri, which is phonetically similar to Maha Shivaratri, by Shiva devotees of the region. Shivratri is mentioned in various Puranas, particularly the Skanda Purana, Linga Purana, and Padma Purana. This medieval era Shaiva text presents different versions associated with this festival, such as fasting and offering reverence to a lingam, an emblematic figure of Shiva.

Mahabhairab Temple, located in the historic city of Tezpur, Assam, is considered to have Asia's second-largest Shiva linga. Devotees from various parts of India come here to offer prayers. There are also various legends that describe Shivaratri, or Shaivism. According to one legend, in the Shaivism tradition, this is the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance of creation, and this dance form is known as Nataraja. The significance of dance forms for this festival has historical roots. The Maha ShivaRatri has served as a historic confluence of artists for the annual dance of artists at various temples of Hindu influence, such as Konark, Khajuraho,Pattadakal, Modhera, and Chidambara. This event is also called Nrityanjali.

Manish Kashyap

B Borooah College

Guwahati

Bathing ghats

It should be recalled that nearly a year ago, I wrote in this column relating to the same issue and underscored the need for the construction of bathing ghats at select places along the river bank of the Brahmaputra in the state. This would reduce the risk for devotees who take holy dips in the sacred river according to rites on dates earmarked for the Hindu calendar year. Within a few weeks, on the lunar day of Ashok Astami, a large number of bathers will turn up at the Brahmaputra and take holy dips in the giant river. Presently, the state government has been developing religious centres and places of worship to boost the tourism sector in the state. Through you, the government is urged to take a similar initiative to create bathing places with landing steps (Ghats) along the river bank without harming the river's ecology to provide some safeguard to the devotees going for bathing.

Pannalal Dey

Guwahati.

Naidu’s U-turn

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the ambitious brainchild of the late NT Rama Rao, carved out a niche for itself thanks to the charisma and dynamism of its founder. Son-in-law Nara Chandra-babu Naidu has managed to hold the fort despite observations to the contrary. But allegations of corruption and nepotism, arrogance, and aloofness have been thrown freely at Naidu, who is in and out of power. Some political observers felt Naidu, as chief minister, who had a rock solid alliance with the BJP-led NDA, showed a shocking immaturity by divorcing the BJP on the issue of "special category" status in Andhra Pradesh in 2018. From then on, things have gone downhill for the man credited with transforming the face of Hyderabad.

With a string of electoral reverses and the recent arrest, Naidu needed the NDA, but not exactly vice versa. To his credit, the TDP supremo has been able to prevent his legislators from desert-ing the "sinking ship."  It is said that the greatest power is not money but political power, and politics is a waiting game. Naidu rejoining hands with the BJP-led NDA is nothing more than that. Besides, it is always better to be in the "good books" of the centre under changed circums-tances. Be that as it may, Naidu's failure to groom second-line leaders can prove detrimental to his party's cause in the not-too-distant future.

Dr Ganapathi  Bhat

(gbhat13@gmail.com)

Long way to go to eradicate diabetes in India

There are over 40 million people living with diabetes in India, and there are high chances that this num-ber may increase significantly in the coming days. The government and healthcare authorities are making efforts to raise awareness and improve access to low-cost diabetes care, but we still have a long way to go when it comes to dealing with the problem.

World Diabetes Day is the world's largest diabetes awareness campaign, reaching a global audience of over 1 billion people in more than 160 countries. Diabetes is a common condition that affects people of all ages. There are several forms of diabetes. Type 2 is the most common. A combination of treatment strategies can help you manage the condition, live a healthy life, and prevent complications. Even though diabetes is running rampant throughout the country, many people continue to consume sugar in large amounts. Whenever you tell someone about something good that has happened to you, they immediately demand 'mithai’.

Jubel D'Cruz,

Mumbai