Amazing Ayodhya by Neena Rai

22 January 2024  the Pran Pratistha ceremony  in Ayodhya will be watched all over the world. It’s a grand historic event for us Indians.  Everyone growing up in India  has heard the story of Sri Ram and Devi Sita, their 14 years of exile, the Dusserra  celebration, which is a victory of good over evil  and  Diwali  festival when Ayodhya was lit up with lamps.  Beside this how much do we know about Ayodhya?  Do you know that Valmiki's  Ramayana has  a whole lot of information about Ayodhya since the beginning of humans (Manu).With so much of enticing information I  couldn’t resist myself  reading this , and to my wonder  this book has some amazing information which I think people who love reading scriptures  kathas will surely enjoy.

 

Neena Rai the author of the book did study vedic Sanskrit for years before putting all the information  about Ayodhya  for readers. Also let me tell you that the writing is very engaging and easy to understand ( even children can read it)

 About the Book : 

The book has been written in 6 parts and each part has chapters which will answer your curiosity. Also there are references on everyother line, maps, charts, old pictures , slokas  layouts  for readers to understand better with authentic  information which is passed on to us making the book more engaging.

The first part is about who and when was Ayodhya established. Its starts all the way back to Manu, the first human on earth.

The second part is about Location of Ayodhya 

The third part is about Layout of Ayodhya, its size, shape , how it protected it self from enemies and henceforth. Both second and third chapter was beyond my imagination and frankly I still cannot imagine how huge it was

Part four  is about describing the palace, roadways shape of the houses people living around the palace , their lifestyle.

Part  five is about Weapons used.  The kind of weapon used,  the watch tower or the attashala ,structure and composition of  Akshauhinii sena and Chaturanga sena and many more interesting weapons used during wars.

 All the information in this book are taken from the original ( vedic Sanskrit) Valmiki’s Ramayana, bhagavat gita, Vishnu puran and more. The author  mentions that how important it is to learn vedic Sanskrit to understand the originality of our various kathas and scriptures.  There are books out  for reader  where the translation of Ramayana or other scriptures  from the original has been wrongly translated creating a whole new meaning and misunderstanding.

The sixth part is about the animals and birds in Ayodhya. How the chariot were decorated, how the animals were trained and handled. What are the types of animals found in that time and how it helped. Do you know an interesting facts,  beside horses and elephants there were hippopotamus also  which benefited the people of Bharat.  

I will not tell you about the fascinating birds which royals kept as pets and the birds which roamed around   or even the  7 islands on earth which has  also been mentioned in the Vishnu Puran (hint :one of them is antartica). The palace of Kayekei  and how its adorned with gemstones,  I will let you imagine it all so that you read it

An unputdownable book and a must read for those who wants to know about the richness of Indian culture.

💓💓💓💓💓

Book Review :Hindu Rites and Rituals By KV Singh

 Do you know why we chant Shanti three times whether we are doing Puja or Aarti?  Or how Gayatri Mantra effective in our life? Do you know how much Tulsi Plant is important in every household? Why are pregnant women not allowed to touch knives or any metallic object during the eclipse? Or what's the science behind Shiv Ratri? Why do many people offer water to Sun early in the morning?

With many such questions and the science behind them, this book is for all those who feel Hindu rites and rituals are sheer superstitions. Also for people like me who blindly follow few religious practices because our parents have followed them not even asking the logic or science behind it.

This book is divided into sections like  

God, Goddess, and Nature

Important  Hindu Dates

Rituals: Puja and Yagnas

Temple Rituals

Tradition

 And Miscellaneous.

Though written in easy language and contents full of tempting questions, this book still didn't live up to my expectation as I  wanted more scientific reasoning or logic behind the rituals and rites we observe.  The reasoning provided was quite vague. Also, there is no mention of the sources used for such an explanation.

For example, there is a part where the author talks about Makar Sankranti a change in the position of the Sun.  I agree there are planetary changes that take place in that period, but mentioning about human souls who die after this day can soar higher up into the upper region of the cosmos because air becomes lighter due to heat did not satisfy my scientific curiosity behind it. 

With that, I must also honestly conclude that I did enjoy the book, as many questions cleared my curious soul.  For further in-depth reasoning, I looked for the answer on Google/ Quora when needed. But one thing which struck me reading this book is that every single ritual and rites followed in Hinduism, whether you are doing Shivratri or using paan supari during puja e has a huge scientific reason behind it and it does give a result when followed properly.