Parvati's lost earring

While I was researching my forthcoming trip to India, I came across this wonderful story about lost earrings in Varanasi, India. I will try to locate a more detailed story - both are about lost earrings...

Manikarnika Ghat
Two legends are associated with Manikarnika Ghat. According to one, it is believed to be the place where Lord Vishnu dug a pit with his Chakra and filled it with his perspiration while performing various penances. While Lord Shiva was watching Lord Vishnu at that time, the latter's earring ("manikarnika") fell into the pit. According to the second legend, in order to keep Lord Shiva from moving around with his devotees, his consort Goddess Parvati hid her earrings, and asked him to find them, saying that they had been lost on the banks of the Ganges. Goddess Parvati's idea behind the lie was that Lord Shiva would then stay, searching forever for the lost earrings. In this legend, whenever a body gets cremated at the Manikarnika Ghat, Lord Shiva asks the soul whether it has seen the earrings.

Another version on the theme...

Manikaran
Manikaran is a pilgrimage centre for Hindus and Sikhs. The Hindus believe that Manu recreated human life in Manikaran after the flood, making it a sacred area. It has many temples and a gurudwara. There are temples of Lord Rama, Krishna, and Vishnu. The area is well-known for its hot springs and its beautiful landscape.

According to legend, when Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati were walking in the valley, Parvati dropped one of her earrings. The jewel was seized by Shesha, the serpent deity, who then disappeared into the earth with it. Shesha only surrendered the jewel when Shiva performed the cosmic dance, the Tandava and shot the jewel up through the water. Apparently, jewels continued to be thrown up in the waters at Manikaran until the earthquake of 1905.

Both stories were found on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/manikaran

Linde's story...

I love these jangly earrings but after a get-together with friends, a few bottles of sav blanc, good tunes and dancing on tables - god knows where the other one ended up???

Linde
Gisbourne
New Zealand

Michelle's lost earrings...

Both of these earrings were given to me for my 30th birthday by two of my closest friends.

The owl earring was made by my friend out of rose anodised aluminium. She chose the owl as a symbol of wisdom to make me feel good about my milestone. I took it out to do yoga and lost it somewhere on my journey home.

The silver earring was picked out by my other friend at a trade fair. It shows how much she knows me because the stone is my favourite colour (I often wear it) and the design is my style (small and delicate). It was lost while I was pashing a boy in the rain.

I don't own that many earrings, so I was happy to receive them and was proudly wearing them. They were versatile to wear with many outfits.

I was so disappointed when I lost them - both within a couple of weeks of my birthday! So annoyed by my carelessness and recklessness, I spent a long time trying to find them in the places where I knew they'd been lost.

They remind me of several lessons. To accept loss and let go. To forgive myself. To be careful. To treasure meaningful things. The kinds of things you finally realise in your 3rd decade.

They also remind me of my friends. They hang next to my bed so I often look at them and remember their thoughtfulness and times that we've shared together.

As I prepared this, I realised... They've become a pair with one another in my mind now - which is a nice ending! I like to think that they are not lonely.

Sydney
Australia

Laima's earring story

On my last trip to Decres Bay on the Eyre Peninsula we went crabbing in a row boat. As I pulled up the crab net - one of my gold hoop earrings fell into the water. Unfortunately it is still lying on the bottom of the bay.
But we did catch alot of crabs!

Laima
Adelaide
Australia