Dr. E. S. Neelakantan was born on 5th August 1967 in Kannimangalam Village, Palakkad District , Kerala. He completed his graduation from Loyala College In Statistics with distinction in 1987. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1992. He is also a qualified Information Systems Auditor since 2004. He developed interest in Astrology by reading the works of Dr. B. V. Raman . He learnt Astrology in a formal way under Prof. K. V. Seshadrinatha Sastri , a renowned authority on Jyothisa and Ayurveda. For his thesis on Medical Astrology, he was awarded Ph.d. , by Sri Chandrasekarendra University, Kancheepuram, which is recognized as a Deemed University in 2005. He is a practising Chartered Accountant in Chennai since 1993. He is at present a regular contributor to four of the leading journals on Astrology in India viz, Express Star Teller, Modern Astrology , Astrological eMagazine and JASA.
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Ear piercing, as a samskara, is supposed to have impact on the meridians of the body and an auspicious moment should be chosen for this samksara. Usually the ears of a child are pierced on either the 12th or the 16th day from the day of birth. Ardra is a suitable day for ear piercing according to the Muhurtha treatise Kalaprakasika, while Muhurtha Chintamani pledges a dissent.Ardra is a favourable star for commencement of education
Cutting and polishing of gems can be done on a day ruled by Ardra. Any acute aliment or fever which commences on Ardra will prove problematic and will require rapid medical attention; otherwise death can ensue. Ardra is suitable for dental treatment and cosmetic surgery.
Ardra is a favorable star for initiation into a mantra but is unsuitable for travel. It is a suitable star for setting up missiles or taking up arms either in defence or in offence. Here again Muhurtha Chintamani takes a contrary view.
In the month of Marghashira (December―January) , the full moon day will usually be on Ardra star. Ardra star in that month is a holy day for Hindus.
Thiruvaadirai is one popular vrata followed by Hindus. This is the day ruled by Ardra star in the month
of Maargasirsha. Ardra is considered as the star of Lord Nataraja (Siva's cosmic dancer form) and is observed in the Tamil month of Margazhi (December – January). It is essentially a Hindu festival and celebrates the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva, which is represented by the Nataraja form. The cosmic dance of Siva represents the key five events in human life: creation, protection, destruction, embodiment and release. It summarily represents the continuous cycle of creation and destruction, studded with other integrated events. This cosmic cycle occurs in every particle and is the source of all energy. It will fall on the full moon night in Margasirsha . An important venue for this annual event is the Siva Temple at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu. Most of the Siva temples around the world, with Nataraja as one of the deities celebrate this occasion.
The story goes that once when Mahavishnu was lying on the great serpent Adisesha, the latter felt that Mahavishnu was heavy. When asked Mahavishnu clarified that He was recalling and enjoying the Dance of Lord Shiva. Thus arose the desire in Adisesha to witness the Cosmic Dance of Lord Shiva. He asked Mahavishnu how his desire could be fulfilled. Mahavishnu asked him to go to Chidambaram and do a penance. Adhisesha came to Chidambaram and prayed to the Lord for a long time.There was another Sage and devotee of Lord Shiva in that place, called Vyaagrapaadha. He prayed to God to get the legs of a tiger, so that he could climb trees and pluck flowers to offer to the God, before any bee touches the flower. He was also praying God to see His Great Dance for a long time. Pleased with their prayer the God appeared on the Thiruvaadhirai day and danced in Chidambaram.
On the morning of Thiruvadhirai one offers his/her salutations to Nataraja. One key food item prepared on this day is Thiruvadirai-k-kali and a side dish made with the tubers of kavathu (vettrilai-
valli; Dioscorea esculenta) and avarai-k-kai. The notable point is that these two food items are only
prepared on Ardra Darshan day. For those interested in knowing how to prepare this recipe,the culinary formula is given in the form of an annexure to this article.
1. Kali:
Ingredients:
Raw rice - 1 cup
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Channa dhal - handful
Jaggery powder - 1 1/2 cups
Cashewnut seeds - 10 to 15
Ghee – Small quantity
Method:
1. Deep fry rice, toor dhal and channa dhal till rice becomes slightly brown and allow it to cool for sometime ( Similar to the colour of a biscuit )
2. Grind the above to a fine powder. ( Not very fine and not very coarse )
3. Take a broad pan, add jaggery powder and 4 1/2 cups of water to it and boil it.
4. When it is boiled well, put the powder to it and mix it well and show this in low flame. 5. Add ghee and fry it in between so that it doesn't become hard.
6. When it is fully cooked, remove it from flame and smash it using spoon so that it is even. 7. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the broken cashewnut seeds till it becomes slightly brown. 8. Put the cashewnuts to kali and mix it well.
2. Kavathu Ingredients:
Carrot - 1
French Beans or Green beans - 50g
Broad beans - 50g Cluster beans - 25g Colocasia - 5 to 6 pieces Brinjal - 3 to 4 Potato - 2 Yam - 25g Pumpkin - 50g Sweet potato - 3 to 4
Chow chow ( small ) - 1
Plantain - 1
Hyacinth bean or field bean - 25g
Ash gourd - 50g
Coriander seeds - 1 cup
Red chillies - 5 to 6
Grated cocunut - 1 cup
Channa dhal - handful
Toor dhal - 1/4 cup
Tamarind - 1/2 the size of lemon
Tumeric powder - 2 tsp Mustard seeds - 2 tsp Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp Oil - 3 teaspoonful Salt Method:
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2. Peel the skin of ash gourd, pumpkin, sweet potato, chow chow, yam, plantain, carrot and cut it. 3. After cutting brinjal and plantain , put it to water so that they don’t turn black.
4. Pressure cook potato, colocasia and yam together and peel the skin of potato and colocasia. 5. Cut broad beans, cluster beans , green beans, field bean , carrot to medium size and cook it. 6. Cook sweet potato seperately as it does not require much time for cooking.
7. Heat oil in a pan and fry coriander seeds, channa dhal, red chillies and grated cocunut and allow it to cool for some time.
8. Grind the above to a fine paste.
9. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan and put mustard seeds.
10. When mustard seeds sputter out, add fenugreek seeds and remove it from flame after a minute. 11. Take a broad vessel and put chopped ash gourd, pumpkin, chow chow, plantain, brinjal.
12. Add tumeric powder and water to the above and boil it. 13. Extract tamarind juice for 1 cup and 1 cup of water to it.
13. When these vegetables are cooked, add the tamarind juice ,salt and the remaining cooked vegetables ( broad bean, cluster bean, field bean, green beans, potato, sweet potato, colocasia, carrot, yam ).
14. Smash the cooked dhal and add it to the vessel and mix it well. 15. After few minutes, put the paste and mix it well.
16. When yellow colour comes on the corner of the vessel, switch off the stove. 17. Add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds and mix
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