108 NAMES OF AMMA FULL

She had the musk thilaka on her forehead, eyelids which appeared as if they were the gate of the house of the God of love, and having eyes like fish playing in the lake of her face.

She is described as extremely beautiful, having dark thick long hair with the scent of Champak, Asoka and Punnaga flowers. From the fire rose Lalitha Tripura Sundari. The Devtas then sought the advice of Sage Narada who advised them to conduct a fire sacrifice. From the ashes came Bhandasura, who made all the world impotent and ruled from the city called Shonitha pura. Heeding their request Shiva stared at the ashes of Manmatha. The Devas and Rati Devi the wife of Manmatha requested Shiva to give life to Manmatha. Shiva woke up and opened his third eye and burnt Kamadeva, God of love into ashes. So, to wake Shiva from his deep meditation, the Devtas deputed Manmatha, the God of love who shot his flower arrows at Shiva. The Devtas faced an enemy in Sura Padma / Banda who had a boon that he could be killed only by a son of Shiva and Parvati. Naturally, Parvati sought and received Shiva as her husband. Sati reincarnated as daughter of Himavat, king of the mountains, and his wife, the apsara Mena. This incident upset Shiva and he entered into deep meditation. Consequently at the behest of Shiva, Daksha was killed by Veerabhadra Swamy, an incarnation of ShivaвЂ™s wrath and later resurrected with a goatвЂ™s head. Daksha insulted her husband and she jumped into the fire and ended her life. However Sati went to attend that function in spite of ShivaвЂ™s protest. Daksha and Shiva did not get along and consequently Daksha did not invite Shiva for one of the great fire sacrifices that he conducted. Lord Shiva married Sati, the daughter of Daksha. Shiva is one of the trinity of Hindu pantheons, in charge of moksha (layam). All the other Sahasranamam are said to have been composed by Vyasa Maharishi. Lalitha Sahasranamam is the only Sahasranamam composed by vagdevatas under LalithaвЂ™s direction. This has been conveyed to us by the sage Vyasa Maharishi. At the request of Agasthya, Hayagriva is said to have taught him the thousand holiest names of Lalitha. Agasthya is one of the sages of yore and one of the stars of the constellation Saptarishi (Ursa Major). Hayagriva is an incarnation of Vishnu with the head of a horse who is held to be the storehouse of knowledge.

For, it is on this pious night the Kojagori Laxmi Puja is performed by most of the Bengali households.Sri Lalitha Sahasranamam Stotra (hymn of praise) occurs in the Brahmanda Purana (history of the universe) in the chapter on discussion between Hayagriva and Agasthya.

108 NAMES OF AMMA FULL

Thus Dashami is four days short of the full moon night, called Kojagori Purnima. The four days of Pujas start from the sixth day of the full moon phase that follows the Mahalaya and ends up with the Dashami or the tenth day. Mahalaya heralds the homecoming of the Mother Goddess as the tunes of Agamani fill the air. The Devi Paksha or the fortnight in which the Puja falls sets in with the auspicious of the Mahalaya, which falls on the New moon. The schedule of Durga Puja is also framed on the basis of the 'Tithhi'. The lunar month is divided into two halves, the full moon phase and the new moon phase.ДЄccordingly the religious functions of the Hindu Bengalis are scheduled in sync with the timings of the moon's movement, better known as 'Tithhi'. But timings of all religious functions are based on the lunar month. The days are counted on the basis of sun rise and sun set. For the Hindus, it is a combination of both. Most of the religions follow either a solar calendar or a lunar calendar. According to the Hindu solar calendar, it falls on the first nine days of the month of Ashvin. Durga puja is celebrated in the autumn months of September/October.

108 names of amma