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| Marie Antoinette, execution by guillotine in 1793. en.wikipedia.org |
Above image: Marie Antoinette before her public execution by guillotine in 1793. Is it due to the Hope diamond's inevitable curse? .......
A curse (also called a jinx, hex or execration) is often referred to some form of adversity or misfortune that will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object. A curse may be inflicted by any supernatural powers, such as a spell, a prayer, an execration, magic, witchcraft, God, a natural force, or a spirit. In the Hindu culture, many sages or Rishis (Indian sages of bygone era) were believed to have the power to bless as well as curse the people. Such saints in ancient India, it is believed, got special supernatural power through decades of meditation upon God. Even today witchcraft is being practiced by some people called Manthrikas or Tantriks and the state of Kerala in S.India is known for sorcery.
Above image: Indian Tantrik invoking paranormal force to put a spell on somebody or inducing the spirit to do evil things in enemy's family. Some people are doubtful about witchcraft and sorcery, but many people believe in them....................
Witchcraft is real and has to be taken seriously. Learned Hindu Pandits read only three Vedas - Rig, yajoor and Sama Vadas and skip Atharvana Veda. Atharvana Veda deals with complicated rituals and methods to practice witchcraft. Details on putting a spell on people,mesmerism, propitiating certain bad jennies or angels to do certain dirty, scary jobs, to scare enemies, exorcising, etc., are discussed. Hence Pundits or Hindus don't read this Veda, nor do they seek the service of people who practice Atharvana Veda. There are Matrikas or Tantriks in Kerala who have specialized in witchcraft and there are certain specified temples where such practices exist. As a last resort, affected people approach the Tantriks here to address their pain and sufferings caused by other people, in particular, their own relatives!!
There are curses in many cultures such as curses being associated with the violation of the tombs of mummified corpses, or of the mummies themselves, the "Curse of the Pharaohs" that haunted the archaeologists who excavated the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (ruled ca. 1332–1323 BC). Tecumseh's curse was reputed to have caused the deaths in office of Presidents of the United States elected in years divisible by 20, beginning in 1840, etc.
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| Native American.en.wikipedia.org |
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| Tenskwatawa, Native Indian Prophet. painting by Charles Bird King.en.wikipedia.org |
Above image: Native American Indian Tenskwatawa, known as the Prophet, put the curse on US Presidency. painting by Charles Bird King...........................
As the Territorial Governor of the Indiana Territory, William Harrison used unjust and unethical tactics in the negotiation of the Treaty of Fort Wayne (1809) with Native Americans. Having lost a vast track of lands, angered native Indians attacked Harrison's army in the Battle of Tippecanoe (1811). After the battle, Indian tribe's leader Tecumseh's brother Tenskwatawa, known as the Prophet, supposedly cast a curse against Harrison and the future White House occupants who became president during years with the same end number as Harrison. This is the basis of the curse legend.
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| Gov. of Indiana. W. Harrison. painting by Rembrandt Peale.1814. en.wikipedia.org |
When it comes to wearing diamonds, the story is different. There are some lucky but bold people who risk their lives and defy the bad effects of curses on the precious stones and diamonds.
As for curses related to famous diamonds such as the Hope and the Orlov, for centuries the people have been fascinated but intrigued by them and the tragic events that had followed in the wake of possession of these diamonds. With respect to these cases, our rational thinking and approach took the back seat, overshadowed by superstitions and often the owners had to live in fear and anxiety. To them, the joy and excitement of owning the most valued gemstone which other people could not afford was lost forever because of 'fear psychosis.' But, invariably most of the owners of famous diamonds, driven by greed and ambition, keep them as a symbol of their money power, affluence, pride, and prestige.
Diamonds stolen from the Hindu temples, purposely plucked from the Hindu Gods or Goddesses, it is strongly believed, carried the curses of the deities and the priests who had done the ritualistic prayer almost daily at the temple for centuries. It is, surely, a blasphemous act that ought to be condemned. Malediction from the people associated with holy places will have some bad repercussions. There is a wise saying in Tamil, a native language spoken in Tamil Nadu :
"Anything earned or gained dishonestly and unscrupulously will not last long and will get lost as easily as it was possessed."
Particularly, in the matters of religion, be it a Hindu temple, a Mosque and a Church or some other holy place, stealing objects of veneration and reverence is pretty bad and whoever does it or possesses such stolen objects has to face the consequences.
In India. it has been part of the Hindu temple tradition and custom to adorn the idols of Gods and Goddesses with valuable gold jewelry with high-quality precious stones. Most of the old jewels were donated by the rulers of kingdoms - kings in the olden days. The mighty kings always ruled their lands and governed the people in the name of God. The tradition was such that in some kingdoms, before the coronation of the new ruler, the Crown and the Scepter were to be kept reverentially amidst chanting of mantras at the feet of the presiding deity in the sanctum of the royal family's temple for a day or two. In modern times too, affluent people donate gold, silver, precious stones, etc., to the Hindu temples - both old and new ones, as part of their prayer and the precious gold and diamond studded jewels adorn the Hindu deities on auspicious days in the temple, of course with high security. In some temples in those days, the eyes of presiding deities were adorned with precious gem stones.
The Hope Diamond:
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| The Hope Diamond with case lights turned on.en.wikipedia.org |
The Hope diamond a 112 3/16 carat (original weight) blue diamond, removed from the forehead of an Idol - Lord Shiva, was bought by a man named Jean Baptiste Tavernier, a French jeweler in the mid-1600s on his trip to India. The third eye in the forehead of the God - Shiva, is referred to as "Gnanakkann" in local language meaning "Eye (in Tamil language: Kann) of Knowledge" (Gnanam) and foresight. The famous French man, a diamond expert died in Russia after a severe attack by a pack of wild dog. There is some controversy around his death. The diamond was subsequently possessed by some French rulers - King Louis, XIV, Louis XIV's great-grandson Louis XV and Louis XVI. Legend has it that Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were beheaded during the bloody French Revolution - (political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French Empire) which saw many French nobles' heads strewn around the killing machine Gullet-in. Because of the arrival of the cursed blue diamond, it is suggested, this worst tragedy in France took place. That the other French rulers were unaffected by the same blue diamond is a puzzle that remains unanswered. At last, it re-emerged as a 45.52-carat stone (original diamond was cut to a small size) to avoid identification. In 1839, the Hope Diamond appeared in a published catalog of the gem collection of Henry Philip Hope, hence the gem came to be known as the "Hope Diamond."His heirs also met with tragedies.
In the 20th century, famed jeweler Pierre Cartier owned it and later sold it to an American heiress Evelyn Walsh McLean who was fond of rare gemstones. She used to wear the Hope diamond regularly and had no trouble until she had a collar made for her dog Great Dane to wear the gemstone. diamond fixed on her dog; collar. Evelyn died in a poor financial state after having lost her daughter, properties and the family owned The Washington Post.
Harry Winston, Inc., of New York, became the next owner who had a good collection of jewelry collection in 1949. This stone and others from his collection, for a decade, were on display known as ''The Court of Jewels exhibition'' at many places across the world and The Hope diamond was a major attraction. The good thing was the funds from the shows went to charity. Later he donated the diamond to the Smithsonian Institute.
Winston did not hand over the diamond to Smithsonian in person, instead, he mailed the gem first-class paying $145 for insurance and $2.44 for postal stamps. The balance for the insurance fee was just unimaginable - whopping $1 million. On top of it the mailman James Todd, who delivered the package, became a victim and further added to the jewel’s ill repute. After the delivery, his wife died, his leg got crushed, his dog got s strangled, and finally his house turned into a mound of ash due to fire accident. Misfortunes struck him in succession at a rapid a clip. Can we infer that the Hindu God Shiva took revenge on these innocent people just because they owned the Hope diamond for a short period? What about the people who really committed the acts of sacrilege infuriated? The riddle needs proper explanation.
ooo
The Orlov Diamond:
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| The Orlov Black diamond of India origin. langerman-diamonds.com |
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| Srirangam sri Ranganathar temple, Tamil Nadu. wikipedia commons org |
The Orlov diamond was stolen in 1747 famous from this historical 7th century Hindu temple - Sri Ranganathar (God Vishnu), Srirangam town of Tamil Nadu; the largest functional temple in the world (temple and adjacent area: 156 acres of land).....................
The famous Orlov diamond, once the adorned the eyes of the deity in the famous Hindu temple at Srirangam,Tamil Nadu, India was stolen in 1747 by a French army deserter from the Carnatic wars. Grief stricken over the stolen diamond, the temple priests cursed.... "Who ever owns and wears this diamond will experience untold misery and pain till the world lasts." The diamond changed several hands over a period of time. The famous stone named after the last owner Count Orloff, an ex-lover of Empress Catherine the Great who presented it to her. However, he could not win her heart and died in 1783 with a broken heart. During the invasion of Russia by Napoleon, a French soldier got his hand on it accidentally, but unable to hang on to the diamond, This half egg shaped diamond became part of Russian jewelry collections in Kremlin, Moscow.
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Koh-i-noor Diamond:
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| Queen Alexandra, Kohinoor in her coronation crown. 1902. wikipedia.org |
Above image: Queen Alexandra wearing the Kohinoor in her coronation crown. 9 August 1902. Book by Sir Charles Lawson, photo by W. and D. Downey - Memories of Madras by Sir Charles Lawson. Photo by W. and D. Downeyen ..........
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| My Hindi Forum |
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| mysay.in |
"Those, who are acquainted with nothing but fraud, will perish in the very act of transgression." ........."Thirukkural" translation by Rev. W. H.Drew Rev. John Lazaru
http://www.nationaljeweler.com en.wikipedia.org7 imgarcade.com
The Kohinoor diamond and the curse of Hindu God - Fall of British Empire? Sunday, 24 May 2015
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