Walthamstow Sri Katpaga Vinayagar Temple Main Page
Sri Katpaga Vinayagar Temple,
2- 4 Bedford Road,Walthamstow, London E17 4PX
Tel: 020 8 527 3819
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26-08-2012: Click Here To view Chariot Festival Videos
17-08-2012: Sri Lankan Diaspora Kids and The Hindu Temples Speech By: Natkunasingham Thansaja
17-08-2012: 1st Day Annual Maha Festival
31-03-2012: Vasantha Navarathiri moon chariot festival
2011: Please click here to view Ganesha Visarjan at Clacton Sea Part 1-2
Please click here to view Chariot Festival 2011
Please click her to view Sappara Thiruvizha 2011 Video
Please click here to view the 6th Day Maha Annual Festival 31-08-2011
1St Day Of the Maha Annual festival,2011
Maha Annual Festival St Day @ Sri Katpaga Vinayagar Temple, 26-08-2011 from Anand Kumar (London Temples) on Vimeo.
Sri Katpaga Vinayagar Temple
2-4 Bedford Road, Walthamstow, London E17 4PX
Tel: 020 8527 3819
KALASHA FESTIVAL
KALASHA FESTIVAL @KARPAGA VINAYAGAR TEMPLE,LONDON from Anand Kumar (London Temples) on Vimeo.
2- 4 Bedford Road,
Walthamstow,
London E17 4PX
Tel: 020 85273819
Kalasha, also spelled as Kalash and kalasa (Sanskrit:, kalaśa; literally “pitcher, pot”), is a metal (brass, copper, silver or gold) pot with a large base and small mouth, large enough to hold a coconut. Sometimes “Kalasha” also refers to such a pot filled with water and topped with a coronet of mango leaves and a coconut.
The Purna-Kalasha is considered a symbol of abundance and “source of life” in the Vedas. Purna-Kumbha is preeminently a Vedic motif, known from the time of Rigveda. It is also called Soma-Kalasha, Chandra-Kalasha, Indra-Kumbha, Purnaghata, Purna-Virakamsya, Bhadra ghata, or Mangala ghata. It is referred to as “overflowing full vase” (purno-asya Kalasha) in the Vedas.
The Kalasha is believed to contain amrita, the elixir of life, and thus is viewed as a symbol of abundance, wisdom, and immortality. The Kalasha is often seen in Hindu iconography as an attribute, in the hands of Hindu deities like the creator god Brahma, the destroyer god Shiva as a teacher, and the goddess of prosperity Lakshmi.
The Purna-Kalasha is believed to be a symbol of auspiciousness embodying either Ganesha, remover of obstacles, or his mother Gauri, the goddess of household bounty or Lakshmi. The Purna-Kalasha is worshipped in all Hindu festivities related to marriage and childbirth, as a mother goddess or Devi. In this context, the metal pot or Kalasha represents material things: a container of fertility – the earth and the womb, which nurtures and nourishes life. The mango leaves associated with Kama, the god of love, symbolize the pleasure aspect of fertility. The coconut, a cash crop, represents prosperity and power. The water in the pot represents the life-giving ability of Nature.]
Other interpretations of the Purna-Kalasha associate with the five elements or the chakras. The wide base of metal pot represents the element Prithvi (Earth), the expanded centre – Ap (water), neck of pot – Agni (fire), the opening of the mouth – Vayu (air), and the coconut and mango leaves – Akasha (aether). In contexts of chakras, the Shira (literally “head”) – top of the coconut symbolizes Sahasrara chakra and the Moola (literally “base”) – base of Kalasha – the Muladhara chakra.
