Thopukkaranams @ Super Brain Yoga

Thopukkaranams (in Tamil) also known as "Ketuk Ketampi" in Malay were traditionally performed by Hindus in front of the deity of Lord Ganesha, as part of the worship ritual. This practice involved crossing the arms in the front of the chest, and holding the right ear lobe with the left hand and the left ear lobe with the right hand, and performing a series of squats in front of Lord Ganesha in the temple or the pooja room at home.

It was also widely used in Hindu schools, especially in the old times, as form of punishment for an erring child. The misbehaving child or one who has neglected to do his or her homework, would be asked by the teacher to stand in the corner and do series of Thopukkaranams. This is also practiced in South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Recently Philippines had banned such practice in schools as they find it as a very cruel mode of punishment.

Now, the western scientists have found that this practice stimulates the brain, and increases and improves intelligence, reduces behavioral problems in children, and minimizes the risks of age-related Alzheimer's disease, Autism and Dementia. The scientific findings were reported in the CBS news in the US, and can be watched below or at youtube.

Some schools in the US, it seems, have adopted the practice of Thopukkaranams in their classrooms to improve the intelligence and academic performance of the school children. It is also being advocated for older people to keep the mind sharp and active.

It is ironic that Hindu society, which came up with so many ancient yogic practices that were often incorporated as part of the daily worship ritual and were known to benefit the mind and body greatly, has discarded these practices because they are viewed as ‘old-fashioned,’ whereas the western societies are discovering these practice and attempting to adopt the same to improve the physical and mental well-being of their people.

Even though we can see a lot of people do this practice in Vinayagar Temples, not many people know how to do it properly. They seems to simply move up and down a few inches. This will not bring any benefits to the practitioners. Most of them are doing it just as a symbol without knowing that there is an actual benefits behind the practice.

The right way of doing this is to breath in through your nose and out from your mouth with the tongue at the roof of the mouth as when you say "zha" as in "Tamizha".

Place your left thumb on the right ear lobe with the thumb facing out. Squat all the way down. Remember to breath out all the down and in on the way up. When you reach either top or the bottom positions, pause your breathing and your movement for a second. Do this 14 times a rep. Its best done twice a day.

As the above report states, it is never too late to start doing Thopukarranams in front of Lord Ganesha, introduce such practices to your children from very early age, and revive such practices in schools.

As per the medical research and subsequent report, doing these special kind of situps while holding the opposite earlobes help stimulate brain power and remember things better.

Hindus have been doing "Super Brain Yoga" for ages in front of temples devoted to Lord Ganesha. In fact, I have observed that while crossing a Ganesha temple on road, most people stop, take off their footwear, perform "Thoppukaranam", and then resume their journey. Lord Ganesha is associated with Knowledge/Memory, a point which is now proved by this research.

But what is saddening is that many of our traditions are being copyrighted by the western world, and the latest point in this case is "Thoppukaranam" being copyrighted as "Super Brain Yoga". What is a very common sight in every Ganesha temple in South India (not sure about North India) has become Super Brain Yoga in the West. Now that, the Westerners have certified the practice to be yielding both physical and intellectual benefits, our folks can begin to look at the practice as a scientific one. Cheers to the slavish mentality, which we Indians have not left even though when "the White Masters" have.

Another Hindu Miracle

Most of you might still remember the "Milk Drinkng Vinayagar" somewhere a decade ago. For those who wasn't able to see it then enjoy the videos now.

It was a world-wide phenomenon. In India, it took by surprise until the milk price went to the point where the poors could not afford to provide to thier children.

Never before in history has a simultaneous miracle occurred on such a global scale. Television stations (among them CNN and BBC), radio and newspapers (among them Washington post, New York Times, The Guardian and Daily Express) eagerly covered this unique phenomenon, and even sceptical journalists held their milk-filled spoons to the statues of gods - and watched as the milk disappeared.

It all began on September 21st when an otherwise ordinary man in New Delhi dreamt that Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed God of Wisdom, craved a little milk. Upon awakening, he rushed in the dark before dawn to the nearest temple, where a skeptical priest allowed him to proffer a spoonful of milk to the small stone image. Both watched in astonishment as it disappeared, magically consumed by the God.

Word of the event spread quickly, and by mid-morning it was found that statues of the entire Hindu pantheon in temples all over North India were taking in milk.

By noon the news had spread beyond India, and Hindu temples in Britain, Canada, Dubai, and Nepal among other countries had successfully replicated the phenomenon, and the World Hindu Council (an Indian Hindu organisation) had announced that a miracle was occurring.

The apparent miracle had a significant effect on the areas around major temples; vehicle and pedestrian traffic in New Delhi was dense enough to create a gridlock lasting until late in the evening. Many stores in areas with significant Hindu communities saw a massive jump in sales of milk, with one Gateway store in England selling over 25,000 pints of milk, and overall milk sales in New Delhi jumped over 30%.

Within hours news had spread like a brush fire across India that Ganesha was accepting milk offerings. Tens of millions of people of all ages flocked to the nation's temples. The unworldly happening brought worldly New Delhi to a standstill, and its vast stocks of milk - more than a million liters - sold out within hours. Many minor temples struggled to deal with the vast increase in numbers, and queues spilled out into the streets, reaching distances of over a mile.

The unworldly happening brought worldly New Delhi to a standstill, and its vast stocks of milk - more than a million liters - sold out within hours. Just as suddenly as it started in India, it stopped in just 24 hours. In some place it was reported the incident continued for a few more days.

But it reoccured again 11 years later on 20/21 August 2006 in almost exactly the same fashion, all though initial reports seem to indicate that it occured only with statues of Ganesh, Shiva, and Durga. The first reported occurance was on the evening of the 20th in the city of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, from where it spread throughout India like wildfire. It was reported that the incident occured again on 12th January 2008.

Seeking to explain the phenomenon, scientists from through-out the world offered capillary action as an explanation; the surface tension of the milk was pulling the liquid up and out of the spoon, before gravity caused it to run down the front of the statue. Fearing loss of faith among non-Hindus, some religious factions of Christianity and Muslim even came out with documentaries to prove thier theories.

This reasonings still could not explain some major questions among Hindu devotees namely

1. If surface tension is the likely cause why it happened to all the statues (including those made of plastic, bronze, silver) .

2. Why this phenomenon did not occur in any other non-Hindu religious statues?

3. Why did they stopped "drinking" at the same time?

4. Does surface tension occur through out the world at the same time?

It remains a mystery and miracle of Hinduism.

Sarvam Siva Mayam!