My experience with Nadi Astrology : Part 1

(Cross posted at Maharajas and Snake Charmers)

Do you know that some one some where in South India, has written down your entire past, present and future in palm leaves about 2000 years ago?..Surprised?..Consult a Nadi Astrologer right now...

Nadi Astrology - the most accurate mode of revealing life, is a prime school of thought in Vedic astrology. According to Nadi Astrology, Lord Siva, the prime God in the belief of trinity in Hinduism, pleased with the siddhas(Seven Sages) devotion, blessed them with some exclusive powers. He gave them the incredible ability to read and know the past, present and future of people. They etched their immense knowledge in palm leaves called Nadis. Nadi in Tamil means "In Search of".

The nadi leaves, initially stored in the premises of Tanjavur Saraswati Mahal Library, were auctioned by the British and came into the posession of families of astrologers near Vaitheeswaran Kovil in Tanjavur. These leaves are handed over from generation to generation in these families who earn their livelihood by reading the palm leaves. The younger members of the families are trained by the older members in reading and interpreting the Nadi leaves. The texts in the leaves are written in poetic form in Vatteluttu, which is an ancient Tamil script. Nadi astrologers would like to call themselves as Nadi readers as they do not perform astrology, but just reads what is written in the leaves. Hence, any thing which is not written in the leaves cannot be predicted by the Nadi reader.

The Procedure:
Once you apporach a Nadi astrologer, he takes your thumb impression and analyses it. The Naadi leaves are classified according to the type of the thumb impression. There are 108 types of thumb impression like Sanku ,Meru, Sikari, Vattam, one dot, two dots, three dots, etc. My thumb impression was found to be of three dots category. For each thumb impression there are likely to be around 5 to 6 bundles with the nadi astrologer; and each bundle contains forty to fifty different people’s general prediction leaves.

Once your thumb impression is identified, the astrologer returns with a couple of bundles from that category and starts reading. He starts asking you a series of questions for which you have to answer only Yes or No. The questions can be like "you have two sisters", "your father worked with government", "Does your mother's name contains the letter K" etc...All you have to do is say Yes or No. The nadi reader skips the leave if you answer no and goes to the next one and asks a different question. You will be surprised when the reader correctly asks your parent's name to you. The nadi reader can tell you about your past with almost 100% accuracy.

Once your general leaf is identified, he proceeds to read/write the contents of the leaf. There are about 12 different kandams/chapters that can be read. You can select which all kandams that are to be read. The naadi reader charges based on the number of leaves you take. Special Kandams cost more.

List of Kandam Details:

1) To be found out through thumb impression(For Gents, right; Ladies, left) of the concerned person. Will contain name, parent's names, present details of profession, brothers, sisters, children, wife and gist of future predictions for all the 12 houses of your horoscope. It is also a summary of the 11 following kandams.

2) Money, Eyes, Family, Education, Intuition and Speech.

3) Brothers and Sisters, affection, help or ill feeling between self and brothers and sisters.

4) Mother, House, Vehicles, Lands and Pleasures.

5) Children, Their birth, reason for infertility(if any), adoption of remedial measures for having children, future lives of children

6) Disease, Debts, Enemies and Litigations or Cases.

7) Marriage and status of married life. Also contains hints of valuable information about the name of the future spouse, horoscope, age of marriage, location of the spouse's house and some characteristic features of the spouse etc.

8) Longevity, Accident & Danger to Life, Age, Month, Date, Day, Time, Star, Lagnam, and Place of Death

9) Father, Wealth, Visit to Holy Temples/ Places, Advise from Holy men, Fortune, Charitable deeds and Social Life

10) Career, Job, Profession and Business, Good and Bad times in career. Future predictions about growth, prosperity and losses in one's job or business.

11) Profits in Business and Second Marriage

12) Expenditures, Foreign Visits, Next birth and Attainment of Moksha(Salvation).

In addition to these 12 kandams, there are 3 special kandams also which costs more.

Special Kandams:

13) Shanti Pariharam: Last birth, sins committed, and remedial measures that can dilute the effect of past sins.

14) Deeksha Kandam: Wearing Mantra Raksha(Talisman), to ward of enemies. Raksha ensures relatively better rewards for one's efforts and success in deeds.

15) Avushada Kandam: Medicines, prescription suggested to those suffering from chronic diseases.

16) Dasa Bhuktikandam: Prediction for the present major and sub period of the planet.

17) Prasna Kandam: Answers Yes or No, for five questions about a particular time thought by the person.

Generally Remedial measures like visiting certain temples, feeding the poor, giving alms to the Nadi reader. etc, are suggested. The temples usually suggested are the Navagraha Temples of Kumbakonam, Thirupathi, Sri KalaHasti Temple etc. Corresponding to the sins committed, the remedial measures are suggested.

Please note that the Kandams 2-12 talks about your future from the moment of consultation to the end of your life or for a range of 10-15 years from the moment of consultation, depending upon the type of Nadi you consulted. In the next part of this article, I will outline my experiences with two different types of Nadis.

Temples of Kerala

(Cross posted at Maharajas and Snake Charmers)

Every Year, My family undertakes a pilgrimage through some of the most unique and famous temples across the length and breadth of Kerala. This has been going on for the past say, 10-12 years. Its really been a great experience to visit these temples.

This year I decided to document these temples, for the benefit of those who may be interested in visiting these temples at some point of time in their life. Hence this series would rather be on the lines of wikitravel rather than a travelogue. “Temples of Kerala” is the label for this series.

We are starting off with Thirunakkara Mahadeva Temple, Kottayam.

Moles and Palmistry

To understand the moles and spots divide the palm in half vertically (draw an imaginary line in the middle vertically from the middle of the tip of middle finger to the bracelet.

This effectively divides the palm into right side and left side.

1) A mole on the middle of the palm but on the right half is considered a very auspicious. It Promises a very happy married life. It gives riches and many helpful relatives. Many a times these people also have a twin mole on the back of the palm exactly. According to Maharishi Agastya such a marking shows a very rich person and gives a very happy life.

2) Black mole near the fish line at the end of the life line near the bracelet gives a troubled married life.

3) Mole a little up from 2) between the fate and life line but below 1) destroya wealth.

4) Mole same like 3) but shifted to the left part of the hand takes the person away from his birth place for livelihood and life is always a rollercoaster ride for him.

5) Mole on the top phalange of the right hand thumb makes the person very hardworking and gives money also. Same on the left hand causes loss of wealth.

6) Mole on the tip of right index finger makes for a lover of justice and gives a successful
life. Same on left hand is cause for attrition and fights and can give some sudden losses.

7) On the tip of right middle finger gives a balanced life and a happy one. On the left it gives hurdles in achieving goals and serious illness.

8) On tip of right ring finger if of a dark color then it gives some sadness and may also foretell Heart problems. If it is reddish in color it shows a scholar. On the left hand gives contentment and success. On the tip of right little finger it shows losses of beloved things. If of light red color it is positive and shows that even after some losses the person will recover and become rich. On the left hand gives lucky children.
Note: if these are found on the left side of the fingers then their effect is reduced by half.

9) Black or brownish spot on the mount of Mercury shows failure in love and marriage.

10) Mole on the mount of Venus in the shape of a flame and the heart line has an island shows danger of electrical shocks.

11) Black mole between heart and head line on the right hand part of the palm gives fame and recognition amongst peers in the field of work.

12) Same mole shifted to the left part shows huge monetary losses.

13) Near the bracelet of the right hand on the palm if there are moles in a series or chain shows tremendous success in life.

14) Mole like 12) if found on the left hand on the left-hand side shows mental aberration for the past three years. Specially if found on the head line itself.

15) A mole on Venus mount and nearer to the base of the thumb shows rise in life after birth of children.

16) A black mole on life line shows accidents and injury to the head.

17) If the same is white in color and round shows trouble to vision and eyes. Care should be advised during the age.

18) A blue or purple colored mole on the quadrangle and near the heart line shows disease related to blood. On the right hand it shows event in the future and on the left it shows the event is past.

19) A red mole on the head line shows injury to the head.

20) But if the same is below the Sun mount on the head line and of red hue shows Ear related troubles.

21) Black mole on the sun mount show eye related problems and also shows failure in family life.

22) A mole on the Jupiter mount shows obstacles in marriage and very little success in religious matters.

23) Mole on the Saturn mount gives bad reputation due to love affairs. It makes for a troubled married life.

24) Mole on the mount of Mercury gives a bad name in business.

25) Mole on Moon show delayed marriage. Danger from water also is a possibility.

26) A black mole on Venus mount gives early marriage. Sexual experiences start shockingly early.

27) A mole seen on Venus mount where green and blue veins are also visible shows a debilitated Venus and can give sexual diseases.

28) A brownish mole on heart line shows a hopeless flirt and a romantic. Success in love will elude the person.

29) If the same mole takes a red hue then it shows heart troubles.

30) Black mole on Sun line indicates financial losses.

31) Black mole on the fate line delays professional success.

32) And with this if the fate line has an island then it shows danger to the Father.

33) Mole on health line shows constitutional weakness.

34) Black mole on marriage line turns family life into a hell.

35) Mole on mars line gives a timid nature and neurosis.

36) Mole on the joint of first and middle phalange of index finger makes the person a rolling stone.

37) On the lowest junction of index finger is cheated by his own family member.

38) Mole on the second phalange of middle finger should be careful with weapons.

39) In general, ancient masters say that if the mole is enclosed inside the fist it is a fortunate marking to have. It shows a good earning and less spending person and vice versa.