Banana Leaf Rice, The Malaysian Kollywood Ultimate Dish

Ever wonder what is banana leaf rice all about? Where actually does the term "banana leaf rice" came and originated from? Checked thru Wikipedia.com  and below is mentioned :

Coming to simple definition, Banana leaf  (ellai sapaade) rice is originated from South India and is often served with an assortment of vegetables, pickles, curry, meat and appalam (papadam). For dessert, rasam (Indian herbal soup), mooru (sour buttermilk) or paayasam (sweet milk pudding) is served in most restaurants.  Banana leaf rice meaning white rice serving on a banana leaf, and traditionally eaten with hands.

In Tamil Nadu, they call it “Virundhu Saappadu”. It means a feast meal. During the feast meal, the guests sits on a mat and the meal is served on a banana leaf which is spread in front of the guests. The dishes are served in a particular order, and each dish has its own specific spot on the leaf. Everyone starts together and ends the meal together. 

In another interesting term, banana leaf rice are combination of below 6 taste buds :

• Sweet: Jangiri, payasam.
• Salty: Salt and pickle 
• Sour: Tamarind, nellikai [Indian gooseberry].
• Bitter: Fenugreek, tumeric.
• Pungent : Black pepper, Garlic, ginger, mustard.
• Astringent: Lentils, tomato, tumeric, cabbage, coriander leaves.

Adi Shankracharya & Guru Paduka Stotram (Guru Paadukabhyam Stotram)

What is Guru Paduka (Guru Paadukabhyam) Strotram ?

Guru Paduka Stotram, also known as Guru Paadukabhyam, is a great devotional prayer written by Adi Shankaracharya. This devotional prayer is dedicated to the Sandals of the Teacher (Guru) which is  salutations to his guru, in this case meaning the Lord. The English language translation of the first verse means:

Salutations and Salutations to the sandals of my Guru,
Which is a boat, which helps me, cross the endless ocean of life,
Which endows me, with the sense of devotion to my Guru,
And by worship of which, I attain the dominion of renunciation.

Who is Adi Shankracharya?

Adi Shankracharya was born to a Brahmin couple Shivaguru and Aryamba who lived in Kerala in 788 A.D. He studied all the four Vedas, when he was still a child. At 7, he mastered all the holy shastra and upanishads. At the early age of 8 he renunciated the world. He met Shri Guru Govindanath of whom he became an ardent disciple and who conferred on him the degree of 'Acharya' meaning professor for his knowledge about Adwait philosophy, Upanishads and other Shastras.

He established Mathas or monasteries at Badrinath, Dwarka, Sringeri, Puri and Kanchi. The heads of the Mathas are named after him while the sanyasins who are his followers are called Dashnamis as they are known by the ten appellations namely, Teerth, Ashram, Vana, Aranya, Giri, Parvat, Sagai; Saraswati, Bharati and Puri.

 
Shankracharya has also been called 'Shanmat Sthajianacharya' because he founded the following six religious culls: 

(i) Ganapatyan, 
(ii) Kaumaram, 
(iii) Vaishnavam, 
(iv) Sauram, 
(v) Saktani and 
(vi) Shaivam. 

His literary works include commentaries called Shankar Bhasya. The philosophy that was systematized by Shankracharya was the Adwait philosophy. In other words, he was a philosophical genius who created Vedanta, the end (or conclusion) of the Vedas. It is this philosophy that dominates Hinduism today. It rests on the wisdom of the three basic Hindu texts: the Upanishads, Vedanta Sutras, and Bhagavad Gita. Shankara's Vedanta philosophy taught that the world is illusory, or maya, and only the transcendent ultimate reality, the Brahman, is real. You may search for his biography thru search engine or read Shankara Vijayam (biographies of the Advaita philosopher Adi Shankara).

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Guru Paduka Stotram - Adi Shankaracharya

Guru Paduka (Guru Paadukabhyam) Strotram and Meaning :

 

Anantha samsara samudhra thara naukayithabyam guru bhaktithabhyam,
Vairagya samrajyadha poojanabyam, namo nama sree guru padukhabyam,

Salutations and Salutations to the sandals of my Guru, which is a boat, which helps me, cross the endless ocean of life, which endows me, with the sense of devotion to my Guru, And by worship of which, I attain the dominion of renunciation.

Kavithva varasini sagarabhyam, dourbhagya davambudha malikabhyam,
Doorikrutha namra vipathithabyam, namo nama sri guru padukabyam
 
Salutations and Salutations to the sandals of my Guru,
which is the ocean of knowledge, resembing the full moon,
which is the water, which puts out the fire of misfortunes,
and which removes distresses of those who prostate before it.

Natha yayo sripatitam samiyu kadachidapyasu daridra varya,
Mookascha vachaspathitham hi thabhyam, namo nama sri guru padukabyam
 
Salutations and Salutations to the sandals of my Guru,
which makes those who prostate before it,
Possessors of great wealth, even if they are very poor,
and which makes even dumb people in to great orators.

Naleeka neekasa pada hrithabhyam, nana vimohadhi nivarikabyam
Nama janabheesthathi pradhabyam namo nama sri guru padukabyam

Salutations and Salutations to the sandals of my guru
which attract us, to lotus like feet of our guru
which cures us, to the unwanted diseases
and which helps fulfill the desires of those who salute.
Nrupali mouleebraja rathna kanthi sariddha raja jjashankanyakabhyam
Nrupadvadhabhyam nathaloka pankhthe, namo nama sri guru padukabyam

Salutations and Salutations to the sandals of my guru
which shine like gems on the crown of a king
which shine like a maid in the crocodile infested stream
and which makes the devotees attain the status of a king.
 
Papandhakara arka paramparabhyam, thapathrayaheendra khageswarabhyam
Jadyadhi samsohana vadaveebhyam namo nama sri guru padukabyam

Salutations and Salutations to the sandals of my guru
which is like a series of Suns, driving away the dark sins
which is like the king of eagles, driving away the cobra of miseries,
and which is like a terrific fire drying away the ocean of ignorance.

Shamadhi shatka pradha vaibhavabhyam samadhi dhana vratha deekshitabyam
Ramadhavadeegra stirha bhakthidabhyam, namo nama sri gurupadukabyam
 
Salutations and Salutations to the sandals of my guru
which endows us, with the glorious six qualities like Shama,
which gives the students, the ability to go into eternal trance
and which helps to get perennial devotion to the feet of Vishnu.

Swarchaparana makhileshtathabyam, swaha sahayaksha durandarabyam
Swanthachad bhava pradha poojanabyam, namo nama sri guru padukabyam

Salutations and Salutations to the sandals of my guru
with bestows all desires of the serving disciples
who are ever involved in carrying the burden of service
and which helps the aspirants to the state of realization

Kaamadhi sarpa vraja garudabhyam, viveka vairagya nidhi pradhabyam
Bhodha pradhabyam drutha mokshathabhyam, namo nama sri guru padukabyam

Salutations and Salutations to the sandals of my guru
which is the Garuda, which drives away the serpent of passion
which provides one with the treasure of wisdom and renunciation
which blesses one with enlightened knowledge
and blesses the aspirant with the speedy salvation

Sri Mariamman Temple, 12th Mile, Puchong

I'm always fond with temples and will get excited if saw one around Malaysia. Nevertheless, it is difficult to find particular God/Goddess temple around Kuala Lumpur/Selangor, when you have offering for your idol God/Goddess. Venturing to find a Sivan temple in Puchong for my prayers, we found a temple at the roadside of Puchong highway named Sri Mariamman Temple, 12th Mile, Puchong, Selangor. I was told by a friend that this temple do have a shivan lingam and due to my curiosity, i planned to check out by myself with Ju. The temple architecture kind of old and at the entrance of it, you will be amazed with 1008 shivan lingam small statues with big Kamatchi lamp. There was a billboard of Resident Evil advertisement middle of temple. Take note "MIDDLE OF THE TEMPLE" --> BILLBOARD. Cool uh? 

Kuil Sri Maha Mariamman board

Near to main God/Goddess entrance

108 Shiv Lingam statue with Kamatchi Amman lamp

108 Shiv Lingam statue with Kamatchi Amman lamp

We was amazed with the temple. From Shivan Lingam to Kaliamman, you can find all the god/goddess in this temple. And the vibration of this temple is pretty strong as the statues are crafted of karungkal (black stone which Hindu believe that is the proper method to craft god/goddess statues) and each statue are more than 4 feet tall which made them look lively. The archanai itself cost RM4 which explained why it is expensive : given with one ghee lamp, incense sticks (oothupathi) , one banana with betel leave in a plastic bag (comes in a package), and lastly due to less visitor to the temple. 

Lord Vinayagar

Goddess Mariamman

Lord Murugan with Goddess Valli and Goddess Deivanai

Part of the temple

Shiva lingam statue

Lord Venkatachalapathi

Lord Hanuman

Goddess Nagamma 

Lord Muneswaran consort

Lord Muneeswaran

Amma's oonjal

Navagrahas

Nevertheless, we was amazed the temple was build in 1883 which is 129 years old! In one moment, I felt blessed to visit the temple and the other side, upset as felt , the temple monument should be well kept by our Hindu community. If you have time, please do drop a visit to the temple as I can see crowds at Srinivasa Perumal temple (it is 5 minutes drive from Sri Mariamman  temple). I understand Lord Perumal favorable by everyone and Srinivasa Perumal temple architect are well kept, but same time, it only build after this Sri Mariamman temple. I guess it is a time for me to introduce all the rarely mentioned temple in my next article. By then, please educate and show the next generation what is temple all about. Bring them for a visit to exposed them who is Lord Vinayagar , etc. Tell them the story of each God/Goddess and when you do so, please be well equipped with knowledge in order to provide them correct explanation. Not just a story of an elephant , but how, where and the right way to pray and read mantras.

Build in 1883, tamil year, saali vaahana year

One of the statue