Andhaka

In Hindu mythology, Andhaka (अंधक) often refers to a malevolent asura, demon. Shiva assumed the Veerabhadra form to kill him.^[1][2][3] His story finds mention in various Hindu texts, including Matsya Purana and Shiva Purana. ^[4]

Story[edit]

The story goes like this. While in the mount Mandhar, a baby was born to Parvati and Shiva. Shiva was in a meditating posture and Parvati closed his eyes mischievously from behind. The boy appeared out of Parvati and Shiva’s sweat. Shiva explains to Parvati that since his eyes were closed, the baby was born blind and was called Andhaka (the dark/blind). Since he posed devilish qualities he was called Andhakasur (the blind demon). Hiranyaksh, a troublesome demon did intense penance to please Lord Shiva. Hiranyaksh wanted a son who possesses immense powers to rule the world. Shiva refused to grant such a boon. Instead he offered Andhaka to Hiranyaksh saying that Andhaka possesses all the qualities he was looking for, and to treat him as his son. Andhaka wanted more power and did intense penance to please Lord Brahma. Among many things, the boons he asked for included extraordinary vision and immortality. Everything was granted except the immortality. Instead, Lord Brahma asked him to choose when he could die. Andhakasur asked for a boon that he would die only when he aspires for a woman who he should never aspire for. With time Andhakasur turned more materialistic and less interested in austerities. By this time he has already conquered the world and the heaven. On a pleasure trip he along with his companions lands up in Mount Mandhar where Lord Shiva and Parvati lives. His companions tells of a sage and his beautiful wife. Andhaka sends his companions to bring her along. Shiva explains to them that they are Andhaka’s parents. The companions mistook it for a ploy and compels Andhaka for a fight. Shiva and Parvati will soon play a horrible role in the battlefield in many different forms. The next morning, Shiva and Parvati's army reached the battlefield with Andhaka's army also vice-versa. Andhaka wants Parvati to be his. Shiva assigns his demon-warrior form Veerbhadra to kill half of Andhaka's army. Veerbhadra managed to kill half of Andhaka's army, but did not manage to kill Andhaka. When Andhaka was bleeding from his hands, arms, legs feet or hands, a new clone of Andhaka appears, Veerbhadra tries again, but failed, Parvati gets outraged to see Andhaka and his clones, so does Lord Shiva, Parvati calls upon the eight Mother Goddesses from her, namely as Brahmani, Vaishnavi, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Indrani, Varahi, Narasinghi and Chamundai to help Veerbhadra in the battlefield. The eight Mother Goddessses killed the rest Andhaka's army, then they came together, all lined up in the skies watched the battle. Parvati took the form of Goddess Bhadrakali to help Veerbhadra. He slashed Andhaka's clones while Bhadrakali collected their blood and drank it, she also slashed Andhaka's clones too. After Andhaka was defeated, he pleads forgiveness from Lord Shiva and Parvati. After Veerbhadra went back into Lord Shiva's body, so did the eight Mother Goddesses after Bhadrakali returned as Parvati, they went back into her body as well. Andhaka was defeated, he pleads forgiveness from Lord Shiva and Parvati. He was forgiven and became one of the men of Shiva.

In Mahabharata[edit]

Some millions of years later, three of Andhaka's generals (Duryodhana [This is not the Duryodhana from the Mahabharata], Vighasa and Hasti) happened upon Shiva and Parvati in a cave, but did not recognise them. They thought that the woman was beautiful enough for their king, and so hurried back to tell him the good news.

Andhaka asked them to return and ask for the woman in marriage. Shiva refused and Andhaka rushed to the cave to do battle.

There then followed a battle that lasted for hundreds of years and involved many other gods and demons, but finally Shiva killed Andhaka by thrusting his trident through his son's chest. In some accounts, Lord Shiva held Andhaka on His (Lord Shiva's) trident until the Sun withered away Andhaka's sins. After that time, Andhaka was purified by the Lord's touch and became a Gana (attendant) to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

The myth stresses Andhaka's unnatural lust for his mother, a product of his blindness and inability to recognize moral wrongs

Incandescent light bulb

An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light which produces light with a filament wire heated to a high temperature by an electric current passing through it, until it glows (see Incandescence). The hot filament is protected from oxidation with a glass or quartz bulb that is filled with inert gas or evacuated.

History

In addressing the question of who invented the incandescent lamp, historians Robert Friedel and Paul Israel^[5] list 22 inventors of incandescent lamps prior to Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison. They conclude that Edison's version was able to outstrip the others because of a combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve (by use of the Sprengel pump) and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable.

Historian Thomas Hughes, has attributed Edison's success to his development of an entire, integrated system of electric lighting.

The lamp was a small component in his system of electric lighting, and no more critical to its effective functioning than the Edison Jumbo generator, the Edison main and feeder, and the parallel-distribution system. Other inventors with generators and incandescent lamps, and with comparable ingenuity and excellence, have long been forgotten because their creators did not preside over their introduction in a system of lighting.

—Thomas P. Hughes, In Technology at the Turning Point, edited by W. B. Pickett^[6][7]

Wayfarer-Sunglasses

Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses have been manufactured by Ray-Ban since 1956, when their design was a revolutionary break from the metal eyewear of the past. Wayfarers enjoyed early popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the sunglasses had faded from the limelight by the 1970s, a lucrative 1982 product placement deal brought Wayfarers to their height of popularity. Since the mid-2000s, the sunglasses have been enjoying a revival.

Wayfarers are sometimes cited as the best-selling design of sunglasses in history^[1][2] (although Ray-Ban Aviators have also been credited with this achievement^[3]) and have been called a classic of modern design^[4] and one of the most enduring fashion icons of the 20th century.^[5]

Gandhar

 

Vessel Identification

Name:	Gandhar
IMO:	9079195
Flag:	India
MMSI:	419021000
Callsign:	ATSF

Technical Data

Vessel type:	Crude Oil Tanker
Gross tonnage:	80,130 tons
Summer DWT:	147,474 tons
Length:	274 m
Beam:	46 m
Draught:	12.2 m

Additional Information

Home port:	Mumbai
Class society:	American Bureau Of Shipping
Build year:	1994
Builder (*):	Samsung Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries Geoje, South Korea
Owner:	Shipping Corporation Of India Mumbai, India
Manager:	Shipping Corporation Of India Mumbai, India

Tagetes Marigolds(Genda flower)

Tagetes ^[2] is a genus of 56 species ^[3] of annual and perennial, mostly herbaceous plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae or Compositae). The genus is native to North and South America, but some species have become naturalized around the world. One species, T. minuta, is considered a noxious invasive plant in some areas.^[3]

Rose

A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of plants that can be erect shrubs, climbing or trailing with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers vary in size and shape and are usually large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows and reds. Most species are native to Asia, with smaller numbers native to Europe, North America, and northwest Africa. Species, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and often are fragrant. Rose plants range in size from compact, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach 7 meters in height. Different species hybridize easily, and this has been used in the development of the wide range of garden roses.^[1]

The name rose comes from French, itself from Latin rosa, which was perhaps borrowed from Oscan, from Greek ρόδον rhódon (Aeolic βρόδον wródon), itself borrowed from Old Persian wrd- (wurdi), related to Avestan varəδa, Sogdian ward, Parthian wâr.^[2][3]

Sooty Tern

The Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) (formerly Sterna fuscata^[2]), is a seabird of the tern family (Sternidae). It is a bird of the tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Colloquially, it is known as the Wideawake Tern or just wideawake. This refers to the incessant calls produced by a colony of these birds, as does the Hawaiian name ʻewa ʻewa which roughly means "cacophony".^[3] In most of Polynesia its name ismanutara or similar however – literally "tern-bird",^[4] though it might be better rendered in English as "the tern" or "common tern". This refers to the fact that wherever Polynesian seafarers went on their long voyages, they usually would find these birds in astounding numbers.