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Varaha Avatar
Incarnation of Vishnu as a Boar
Devanagari	वराह
Affiliation	Avatar of Vishnu
Weapon	Chakra and Mace
Consort	Bhūmi, Varahi

Varaha Avatar (Sanskrit: वराह) is the third Avatar of the Hindu Godhead Vishnu, taking the form of a Varaha (Boar). He appeared in order to defeat Hiranyaksha, a demon who had taken the Earth (Prithvi) and carried it to the bottom of what is described as the cosmic ocean in the story. The battle between Varaha and Hiranyaksha is believed to have lasted for a thousand years, which the former finally won. Varaha carried the Earth out of the ocean between his tusks and restored it to its place in the universe. Vishnu married Prithvi (Bhudevi) in this avatar.

Varaha is depicted in art as either purely animal or as being anthropomorphic, having a boar's head on a man's body. In the latter form he has four arms, two of which hold the wheel and conch-shell while the other two hold a mace, sword or lotus or make a gesture (or "mudra") of blessing. The Earth is held between the boar's tusks.

The avatar symbolizes the resurrection of the Earth from a pralaya (deluge) and the establishment of a new kalpa (cosmic cycle).

The Varaha Purana is a Purana in which the form of narration is a recitation by Varaha.

Temples dedicated to Varaha[link]

Varaha on a Gurjara Pratihara coin, 850-900 CE. British Museum.

Rock-cut sculpture of Vishnu in his Varaha incarnation at the Udayagiri Caves, near Vidisha, carved when the city was a provincial capital of the Gupta Empire.

India[link]

Andhra Pradesh

• Simhachalam - the Varaha LakshmiNarasimha Swamy temple.
• Tirumala Venkateswara Temple - located at Tirumala, near Tirupati. It is considered to be a very ancient temple. Pilgrims should first worship Lord Varaha and then Lord Venkateswara. It is also known as Aadhi Varaha Kshetra.
• YagnaVaraha - located in Karimnagar District of Andhra Pradesh. Also known as "YagnaVaraha Kshetram". Visit www.svskarimnagar.org for details

Haryana

• Sri Varaha Temple - where Varah Murti is situated at Varah Tirth in Brahkalan village (Jind).
• Varaha Temple - located in Varaha Village in Jind District. There is a swayambhu murti of Varaha.

Karnataka

• Sri Varaha Temple - Marawanthe-Padukone, Kundapaur, Taluk, Udupi District.
• Bhu Varaha Temple - Kallahalli-Bookanakere, Mandya District.
• Shwetha Varaha Temple - Mysore palace, [Mysore] District.

Kerala

• Panniyur Sri VarahaMurthy Temple - located at Anakkara, Pallakad District.
• Sri Varaham - located in Trivandrum, near South Fort.
• Shri varaha Swamy Temple, Pannoor, Thodupuzha-Idukki Dist.685581 (From Thodupuzha 14 km]Thodupuzha-Karimannoor-Pannoor Route

Madhya Pradesh

• Varaha temple - located in Khajuraho. A twin of the Varaha idol in the Khajuraho temple; stands in a museum in Mrignaini's Palace, Gwalior.

Orissa

• Jajpur - also called Yajnapur, abode of Yajna Varaha, Biraja Temple.
• Lakhmi Varaha Temple - located in Aul, Kendrapara.

Rajastan

• Varah shyam temple - located in the city of Bhinmal in Jalore District. It is an ancient temple situated in the middle of the city.
• Varah Ji Ka Mandir- located in the city of Pushkar.[1]

Tamil Nadu

Varaha holding Prthvi, Mahabalipuram relief.

• Kallidaikurichi - situated on the banks of Thamirabarani River, located in Tirunelveli district.
• Srimushnam - considered a swayambhu image.
• ThirukKalvanoor - Aadi Varaha Perumal in Kamakshi Amman Temple, Kanchipuram.
• Thiruvidandai - located on East Coast Road, about 40 km South of Chennai and 15 kilometres from Mahabalipuram (Mammallapuram). The Mulavar Aadi Varaha Perumal (God) is in Nindra Kolam, holding Bhudevi on his left. The only Varaha temple where Perumal holds Thaayaar (Goddess) on his left. Utsava moorthy in this temple is Nityakalyana Perumal. Thayar is called Komalavalli Nachiar. The temple is one of the Divya desam.
• Thiruvalavendai - situated near the old lighthouse in Mahabalipuram. Perumal here is also called as Gnanapiran. This temple is a very old cave temple built by the pallavas. Here, Aadi Varaha Perumal holds Bhudevi Thaayar on his right. The prakaaram has a giant carved statue of Mahendravarman and Narasimhavarman as well as Siva, Brahma and Maya. This ancient temple is opened only on special days to perform pooja.

Uttar Pradesh

• Sukarkshetra Temple - situated on the bank of Sarayu river in Paska village of Paraspur circle in Gonda district of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
• Shukar Kshetra Temple - situated on the bank of Hari ki Paudi (not the one as in Haridwar) in Soron town of western Uttar Pradesh.

Vishnu married Bhumidevi in his avatar who then gave birth to their son, an asura, Narakasura.

See also[link]

• Narasimha
• Varaha Temple, Khajuraho India

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Varaha

• The Battle Between Lord Boar (Varaha) and the Demon Hiranyaksha (vedabase.net)

v t e Avatars of Vishnu Dashavatara Matsya Kurma Varaha Narasimha Vamana Parashurama Rama Krishna Balarama1 Buddha1 Kalki Other avatars Catursana Narada Nara-Narayana Kapila Dattatreya Yajna Rishabha Prithu Dhanvantari Mohini Vyasa Prsnigarbha Hayagriva Hamsa 1 Buddha or Balarama is considered the avatar of Vishnu, depending on the tradition. In North India, Buddha is included and in South India, Balarama.

Shanmukhapriya and Haripriya (Telugu: షణ్ముఖప్రియ, హరిప్రియ), popularly known as the Priya Sisters, are eminent Carnatic music singers.^[1]

Early life[link]

They hail originally from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.They started learning Carnatic music from their father Sri V.V.Subba Ram at an early age.In order to nurture their musical talent, their father shifted base to Chennai. Later they became the disciples of the renowned duo Radha and Jayalakshmi who were disciples of the legendary G. N. Balasubramaniam. They learnt many nuances and subtleties of music during the five-year tenure under them including the advice that the singing should be so clear that the listener should be able to notate the entire kriti.^[2]

Career[link]

Improving their repertoire was a major project and learning, a continuous process. Hence they joined Professor T.R.Subramaniam. They learnt many pallavis and kritis from him.Currently, Shanmukhapriya and Haripriya are under the guidance of T. R. Subramaniam.

They are part of the trend of duo singing in Carnatic music, which started in the 1950s, with performers like Radha Jayalakshmi, Soolamangalam Sisters and later continued by Bombay Sisters^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Artist Profiles : Shanmukha Priya and Hari Priya
• [1]
• [2]
• [3]
• [4]
• [5]
• [6]
• [7]
• [8]
• [9]
• [10]

Radhanath Swami
Religion	Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Hinduism
Other name(s)	Richard Slavin.
Personal
Born	(1950-12-07) December 7, 1950 (age 61) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Religious career
Initiation	Diksa–1973, Sannyasa–1982
Post	GBC–1994, Initiating guru–1994
Website	http://www.radhanathswami.com, http://www.radhanathswami.us

Radhanath Swami singing kirtan at Radhagopinath Temple.

Radhanath Swami (born December 7, 1950)^[1] is a Gaudiya Vaishnava guru and a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).^[2][3] He works largely from Mumbai in India and also travels extensively throughout Europe and America.^[4][5] He has been instrumental in the founding of the Mumbai Bhaktivedanta hospital.^[4] He is an ISKCON guru and a member of the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON. Steven J. Rosen described Radhanath Swami as a "saintly person respected by the mass of ISKCON devotees today".^[6]

Biography[link]

Born as Richard Slavin,^[7] he studied a number of religious paths such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam. At the age of 19 he began traveling through Europe and the Middle-East, eventually settling for over a year in the Himalayas. Much of this time he spent devoted to the tradition of Shaivism and was living as a renunciate Shaivite in India when he first met with Krishna devotees near Delhi. Through contact with the devotees in Vrindavan, and after receiving name Ratim Krishna from Swami Bon Radhanath began to focus exclusively on his spiritual path in Krishna Consciousness. In 1971 Radhanath Swami observed A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada during the ISKCON Cross Maidan festival in Mumbai. After leaving India, Radhanath Swami returned to the United States where he joined the New Vrindaban ISKCON farm community in West Virginia during July 1972. There he accepted initiation from A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in February 1973 receiving the name Radhanath Das, later to receive the name Radhanath Swami.

Radha Gopinath temple[link]

RadhaGopinath temple in Chowpatty, Mumbai

In later years Radhanath Swami has been instrumental establishing The Radha Gopinath Temple which is renowned for its quality of community. He has been essential for many successful Mumbai projects associated with the Radha Gopinath Temple.^[8] in Chowpatty,^[9] The temple was founded in 1986 and joined ISKCON in 1994 becoming a hub for tens of thousands of devotees. The Bhaktivedanta hospital is another project emerging from the Radha Gopinath community. It has become a flagship center for holistic health and spiritual care in Mumbai.^[4]

The Journey Home: Autobiography of an American Swami[link]

	The Power Of Love I
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	The Power Of Love II
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	The Power Of Habits I
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Radhanath Swami wrote his autobiography on the request of his friend and god-brother Bhakti Tirtha Swami who from his deathbed asked him to share his story. The book "The Journey Home: Autobiography of an American Swami"^[10] is the story of how Radhanath Swami grew up in a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois and through his journey of prayer was led through the 60's counter-culture movement in America into Europe, walking and hitch-hiking all the way through Europe to the Middle East and into India.^[7] Along the way he met many people who would share their wisdom with him, encouraging him on his search for the truth.^[7] He stayed with Yogis in Himalayan caves, in Buddhist Monasteries, Jewish Synagogues, and Christian Churches. He met many teachers and practitioners of spirituality and learned from them.^[7] The book details his adventures along the journey.^[7]

Francis Xavier Clooney in his review of the book notes "Like many a spiritual autobiography, the external events and details turn out to be the setting for the author’s inner quest. His journey is a humbling, learning to be poor, a series of tests that push the author toward living by faith alone. Like any pilgrim, he does not see all of this along the way, but in retrospect sees how he was being quietly, insistently drawn toward God all the time".^[7]

Celebrities and Radhanath Swami[link]

Many famous and influential people have met Radhanath Swami and expressed their appreciation of his character and work.

An incomplete listing of some notable personalities:

Indian President Pratibha Patil [1]

United States President Barack Obama [2]

Dr. Cornel West [3]

The Dalai Lama

Mother Theresa

Johnny Winter

According to The Times report, after meeting with Radhanath Swami Russell Brand stated “He's a beautiful fellow. He's got the answer. I'm a spiritual gent and increasingly that's the level I want to vibrate on, were it not for my crazed lust for sex and glamour.”^[2] On another occasion The Times reports him saying “I met this swami, and I said, ‘I’m a bit ridden with egotism and ambition, I’m riddled with it, I’m alive with it, I’m crawling with the stuff.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry. It’s a gift from God. Use it in the service of God.’ Except he said Krishna, but I’m anglicising it to make it sound less oooooeeee. . .”^[11]

See also[link]

• Radhanath Swami articles for The Huffington Post
• International Society for Krishna Consciousness
• Bhakti Yoga
• Vaishnavism
• List of ISKCON members and patrons

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Dwyer, Graham; Cole, Richard J. (2007), The Hare Krishna Movement: Forty Years of Chant and Change, I.B. Tauris, ISBN 1-84511-407-8, http://books.google.com/books?id=l4cE-nzXLx8C&pg=PA25 
• The Journal of Vaishnava Studies 13 (1-2), 2004, http://books.google.com/books?id=R4bXAAAAMAAJ 
• Rochford, E. Burke; Bailey, Kendra (2006), "Almost Heaven Leadership, Decline and the Transformation of New Vrindaban", Nova Religio 9 (3): 6–23, DOI:10.1525/nr.2006.9.3.006, http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/nr.2006.9.3.006 
• Lokanāth Swami (2001), Festivals: Śrīla Prabhupāda at the Māyāpur-Vr̥ndāvana festivals, Padayātrā Press, ISBN 81-901132-1-6, http://books.google.com/books?id=tn_XAAAAMAAJ 
• Ramanujan, Sweta (March 17, 2003), "Joining a peace jamboree", The Indian Express, http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=46684 
• Ujjayini Das (December 7, 2004), "When Gen Y becomes Gen Why: Hundreds of young single men turn to ISKCON for spiritual guidance", The Indian Express, http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=109424 
• Mane, Anuradha (December 8, 2006), "An abode for Krishna", The Indian Express, http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=212362 
• India News (September 12, 2007), "Britain's first Hindu school gets planning permission", Indiaedunews.net, http://www.indiaedunews.net/International/Britain%27s%5Ffirst%5FHindu%5Fschool%5Fgets%5Fplanning%5Fpermission%5F2018/ 
• Indian Express (January 29, 2008), "ISKCON rath yatra evokes big response in Nigdi", The Indian Express, http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/iskcon-rath-yatra-evokes-big-response-in-nigdi/266333/ 
• Spines, Christine (September 5, 2008), "Russell Brand: VMA Host Brings Anarchy From the U.K.", Entertainment Weekly (1009), http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20222087_2,00.html 
• Times (October 16, 2008), "Russell Brand: I'm a spiritual gent with a crazed lust for glamour", The Times, http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/comedy/article4950820.ece 
• Van Dril, E. (October 17, 2008), "Russell Brand Seeing a Swami", The Celebrity Cafe, http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/features/20836.html 
• Vaishnavi, Deepa (January 18, 2010), "Kannada version of swamiji’s book released", Citizen Matters, http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/1707-autobiography-of-an-american-swamy 
• Now magazine (October 18, 2008), "Russell Brand seeking guidance from guru", Now magazine, http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/277841/russell-brand-seeking-guidance-from-guru/1/ 
• Sawyer, Miranda (November 9, 2008), "Brand on the run", The Observer, http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/09/russell-brand-sachsgate 
• Virmani, Ashish (August 24, 2009), "An awakening to love", Daily News & Analysis, http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/interview_an-awakening-to-love_1284844 
• Lama, Nishal (January 13, 2010), "Story of an American Swami, Radhanath Swami", My Bangalore, http://mybangalore.com/article/0110/story-of-an-american-swami-radhanath-swami-.html# 
• Web Newswire (January 18, 2010), "‘The Journey Home’ unveiled", Web Newswire, http://www.webnewswire.com/node/498192 
• Mangalorean.com (January 12, 2010), "Cracks seen in Indian Value System: Radhanath Swami", Mangalorean.com, http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=164188 
• Nadkarni, Vithal C (October 10, 2009), "It is faith that ultimately matters", The Economic Times, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Cosmic-Uplink/It-is-faith-that-ultimately-matters/articleshow/5108013.cms 
• Raote, Rrishi (October 24, 2009), "Monk's quest", Sify.com, http://sify.com/finance/monks-quest-news--books-jkybu6igehc.html 
• Chatterjee, Madhusree (August 31, 2009), "Business in spiritual books booms as people look for peace", Bombay News.Net, http://www.bombaynews.net/story/537471 

External links[link]

• Radhanath Swami Official Website
• Radhanath Swami's Disciple Website
• Official Website for The Journey Home – Autobiography of an American Swami
• Talks by Radhanath Swami
• Reviews of Radhanath Swami's Book The Journey Home
• Books by Radhanath Swami
• Radhagopinath Temple - An Offering of Love by Radhanath Swami
• Radhanath Swami's Letters