PRAKHYA

Visit to Chattisgarh

I had been to Bacheli on some official work, in Dantewada district of Chattisghar state, on May 26, 2008 by a car. The distance from Hyderabad to Bacheli is around six hundred plus kilometers. Dantewada district is near to the border of Andhra Pradesh (A.P) state, to which I blong. Our team was consisting of six members and we got divided in to two groups. Our group with three started on the above said date and the other group left on May 27 and reched on same day night to Bacheli, at 9.30 P.M.

We reached Bacheli on May 26 night and stayed in a guest house. Even though our trael was during the peak of summer, we enjoyed our travel as both guest house and car was air conditioned. On May 27 & 28, we were on our official work.

Dantewada is basically a backward district and lot of tribals live in this hilly place. The adivasis (tribals)are uneducated and livelihood is from the near by forests. District HQ is Dantewada is around 40 KM from Bacheli.

By May 28 evening, we were free from work and decided to travel back to Hyderabad on the early hours of May 29, as the area between Bacheli and A.P broder is a strong naxal prone area and risky to travel during night.

On May 28 evening , our team visited Danteswari Devi temple. This temple , which is one among the Shaktipithas of the country, is visited by devotees from different parts of the country through out the year. Constructed, mainly on the South Indian style of (temple) architecture, and located on the banks of the holy rivers Shankini & Dhankini, which flow together. This temple gives a pleasant feeling of peace and immense satisfaction to the minds of devotees who visit.

Brief history of the temple:

Goddess Parvathi, wife of Lord Shiva attended (without invitation) a 'yagna' (sacred fire) being performed by her father Daksha, against the wishes of Lord Shiva. There Daksha insults Lord Shiva by framing false allegations infront of Parvathi and she gets offended and killed her self by falling in to the yagana. Later Lord Shiva destroys yagna and kills Daksha.

Lord Shiva carries Parvathi's dead body moves around all the places by stopping his duties. The Lord Vishnu seeing this cuts the body of Goddess Parvathi in to peices by his chakra (a type of weapon). The body peices (including ornaments) fallen in 51 places in India and in neighbouring countries Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These 51 places are called as Shakthi Peethas and Dantheswari Devi temple is one them. 'Danta' means teeth. It is believed that Goddess Parvathi's teeth was fallen here and hence the place is called Dantewada and Goddess is worshipped as Dantheswari Devi.

We all felt happy for getting the oppertunity of seeing and worshiping Godess Danteswari Devi. We left Bacheli on the early morning at 4 A.M on May 29 to reach back to Hyderabad. Also enclosing few phots taken during my visit to the temple.

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News coutesy http://www.care2.com/news/
By Ed Stoddard
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Delighted conservationists said on Friday that they had found conclusive proof of the existence of a rare giraffe-like creature in Congo's Virunga National Park that has defied the odds of survival in a region battered by savage conflict.

First discovered in what is now Virunga in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 1901, the shy forest-dwelling okapi had not been found in the park since 1959.

By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer
Fri May 19, 8:18 PM ET

WASHINGTON - A government analysis of more than 100 soft drinks and other beverages turned up five with levels of cancer-causing benzene that exceed federal drinking-water standards, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

The five drinks listed by the government were Safeway Select Diet Orange, Crush Pineapple, AquaCal Strawberry Flavored Water Beverage, Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange and Giant Light Cranberry Juice Cocktail. The high levels of benzene were found in specific production lots of the drinks, the FDA said.

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