Ratha Yatra

Ratha Yatra (Oriya: ରଥଯାତ୍ରା) or the Car Festival is a huge Hindu festival associated with Lord Jagannath held at Puri in the state of Orissa,India. 



This annual festival is celebrated on Ashad Shukla Dwitiya (second day in bright fortnight of Ashad month). In 2012 it falls on the 21st of June.[1]

As part of Rath Yatra, the idols of Lord Puri Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Subhadra are taken out in a procession to Gundicha Temple and remain there for nine days. Then the idols or Rath Yatra returns to Puri Jagannath temple. The return journey of Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra is known as Bahuda Yatra.

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Mayapur

Mayapur (Bengali: মায়াপুর) is located on the banks of the Ganges river, at the point of its confluence with the Jalangi, near Navadvip, West Bengal, India, 130 km north of Kolkata (Calcutta). It is The Head Quarters of ISKCON and is considered a holy place by a number of other traditions within Hinduism, but is of special significance to followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism as the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, regarded as a special incarnation of Krishna in the mood ofRadha. It is visited by over a million pilgrims annually.

Mayapur can be reached by boat, and more commonly by train or bus. ISKCON Kolkata operates regular bus service from Kolkata to Mayapur.[1] Frequent train service is available to Krishnanagar, Nadia from Kolkata's Sealdah Station,[2] then 18 km by auto or cycle rickshaw to Mayapur.[3] 

During the visit one can see "the huge headquarters of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)" and "a long stream of saffron-robed devotees chanting" the Hare Krishna mantra.[4]

Samadhi Mandir of Srila Prabhupada : A main attraction in Mayapur is Srila Prabhupada's Samadhi Mandir, a memorial to ISKCON's founder. The main shrine is surrounded by a museum depicting Srila Prabhupada's life, using fiberglass exhibits. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness is also planning to construct a garden in memory of George Harrison.[5]

Gaudiya Vaishnava temples : The headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) have been located in Mayapur since the 1970s. In addition, there are a number of other Gaudiya Vaishnava organisations in Mayapur, such as theGaudiya Math. The town is heavily centred around this particular Vaishnava religious tradition, officially known as theBrahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya, with temples devoted to Radha and Krishna or Gaura-Nitai throughout; however, there is a sizeable Muslim population in the historical centre, previously called Miyapur.

Source : From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Transit of Venus

Diagram of transits of Venus and the angle 

between the orbital planes of Venus and Earth

The 1882 transit of Venus 

Transit of Venus from Degania A,Israel, 2004

A Graphical presentation of the observation the of Venus Transit 

 from Paikpara, North Kolkata on 6-6-2012 at 7.30 IST

A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun. The duration of such transits is usually measured in hours (the transit of 2012 lasted 6 hours and 40 minutes). A transit is similar to a solar eclipse by the Moon. While the diameter of Venus is more than 3 times that of the Moon, Venus appears smaller, and travels more slowly across the face of the Sun, because it is much farther away from Earth.

Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena.[1] They occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years. The periodicity is a reflection of the fact that the orbital periods of Earth and Venus are close to 8:13 and 243:395 commensurabilities.[2][3]

The last transit of Venus was on 5 and 6 June 2012, and was the last Venus transit this century; the prior transit took place on 8 June 2004. The previous pair of transits were in December 1874 and December 1882. After 2012, the next transits of Venus will be in December 2117 and December 2125.[4][5]

Venus transits are historically of great scientific importance as they were used to gain the first realistic estimates of the size of theSolar System. Observations of the 1639 transit, combined with the principle of parallax, provided an estimate of the distance between the Sun and the Earth that was more accurate than any other up to that time. In addition, the June 2012 transit will provide scientists with a number of other research opportunities, particularly in the refinement of techniques to be used in the search for exoplanets. A transit of Venus can be safely observed by taking the same precautions used to observe the partial phases of a solar eclipse. Staring at the Sun without appropriate eye protection can quickly cause serious and often permanent eye damage.[6]

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