Skywatch Friday...French War memorial, Pondicherry

It would be an understatement if I said this year was off to a not so great start. It has been an amazing one so far. And the 1st trip was to a town I quite love, Pondicherry. Saturday night a friend messaged asking for info on Pondicherry- things to see, where to stay etc and thus formed a plan in my head. I quickly messaged another friend who has been wanting to visit Pondicherry before she moved out of Chennai and asked if she was upto it. She replied "yes, lets go, ask others too". I asked few others but none could come since it was a weekday trip and they all had commitments. So, Sunday evening I booked us tickets on the bus and rooms in a hotel in Pondicherry. 

Monday morning both of us were on the bus on our way to Pondicherry... Yayy!!  We reached around 9.30, checked in, grabbed a bite to eat at La Cafe on the beach and wandered up and down while waiting for our other friends to arrive. 

And that is where I clicked a shot of the French War Memorial. It is located on Goubert Avenue [beach road] and  is a monument erected in memory of all the soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War. Every year on 14th july an annual commemoration is celebrated  when the monument is lit up.  

We spent a few minutes there and moved down the road where I pointed out the Joan of Arc and other monuments along the road. 

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday

Wordless Wednesdays... The lily shines

[Skywatch friday] Heaven indeed

As the sun sets, the clouds dance to the colours in the sky....

The Puri Jagannath Tempe in Chennai on ECR had us all captivated with its beauty, pristine marble, and silence that enveloped us..... 

For more beautiful skies, go to Skywatch Friday

Time to sail away....

All planning done
Everything has been sorted out [almost]
Only thing that remains is we pack our bags and scoot...

This is yet another 1st of sorts..A vacation with high school girl pals, one that we have been looking forward to for years now. Dont care much for the places, facilities, but we know we are going to have a blast!! After much deliberation, a destination was finalised, tickets booked and the train is ready to take us away in a day's time!! 

Till about an hour ago, i was happily going about the day thinking the train journey was set for Sat-13th Nov Night, and a phone call from V broke that spell... We are off tomorrow night...

Where?
Well, that is going to remain a mystery, atleast for those who dont know.... Here is a sneak peek to where....

4 days
3 destinations....
4 girls... and 1 little [nearly 2yrs old] bunny boy in tow !! :D
Off we go....

See y'all on 18th!

Churches temples and people... Goa Part 3

Part 1 and Part 2 .. here's what else i was upto~!! :)

Goa's symbol.. emblem!!

After a long day going about North Goa, i got back to the hotel, freshen up, go for a walk to Candolim beach and chill out the rest of the day... It sure was good to wander about on my own.. Kinda rejuvenating~!! and sort of a "I could get used to this" feel...

 

 My orange bus made an entry and it was full.. i had to go all the way to the last row... with nearly 10  pairs of eyes piercing into me, it sure was an experience..!! At the nextstop, 3elderly men hopped in... during travels, what fascinates me the most is people and how initially they are on guard, but slowly warm up and start talking once they realise you are no threat nor are you an alien... these guys did just that!! as the day wore on, we started chit chatting to a point where one of them gave into temptation, borrowed my camera and was oggling at all the pics..

A conversation we had towards end of the day.

Him: He then went on to ask "how can i get a copy of these pics ,madam?"

Me: Sir, i could email them to you

Him: Oh, but we dont know all that... our office has one.. wait, let me call

Madam, you speak to the person, and ask for the email address

Me: *I did that.... *

Him: Err.. would there be any cost involved in sending the pics? i'll pay you for it

Me - had a *totally surprised and "wow, such innocent ppl do exist"* moment. 

No no, no worries.. it will take few mins amidst my work time.. no cost

Him: Thank you so much

 

 Anyways... back to my trip... 2nd day tour was South Goa with an interesting Guide- Digambar [looked very hippyish, and said he was portugese, spending half the year in Portugal and remaining in Goa] ... Started with Miramar beach- quite a nice one... neat, clean, and long stretch of sand....

 

 From there, we moved on to check out the 2 famous churches in Goa , there is one on either side of the road - Basilica of Bom Jesus and St Catherine's Cathedral ...  beautiful, amazing architecture and huge are words that come to my mind as i recollect them.....

1st was Basilica of Bom Jesus- a church without a cross on top.. Apparently in its place was a Hindu temple which the portugese demolished to erect the church on.. And the cross they installed kept falling off due to natural calamities, till finally they realised something bigger was in power there and so the church stands tall without a Cross... The interiors are overwhelming, huge ceilings, beautiful art work.. its absolutely breathtaking...

---

The Preserved body of St Francis....

The St Catherine's Cathedral across the road is long and supposed to be among the largest Cathedral's in the world.. Quite a walk from the gate to the church and inside as well ..

one can get lost in its beauty and calmness... as we walk out, there are rows of vendors waiting to treat you with cold water, drinks, fruits and hawkers selling bags, postcards and other knick knacks!!

From churches, we moved to Temples... South Goa has quite a few... but we saw only 2 popular ones... Mangueshi Temple and then Shantadurga temple...

The Mangueshi Temple is dedicated to Lord Mangueshi, an incarnation of Shiva. He is a kuldevta of many Hindus in Goa including the Saraswat Brahmins. He is also referred to as Saib (The Lord of Goa) by Hindus.. Had to walk in the blazing sun for quite a bit, and then a few steps to reach the temple... This is where i gave in to tempation and got myself a Goa tattoo.. ;-) ...

It was time to stop for lunch, and the eatery was close to Shantadurga temple.. Some had lunch and then visited the temple, while others did the opposite..

 The Shantadurga temple has an impressive idol of Goddess Shree Durga who mediated between Shree Vishnu and Shree Shiva and stopped the fiercefull war going on between the two. She is flanked by Vishnu and Shiva on both the sides.

One common thing in these temples is the style of architecture.. if you see one, you've seen them all!! notice the pillar?

Sitting and waiting for our driver ...

Ok.. time to go catch some zzz now.. more in a while.....

Holy Trails...

 

A boat jetty while on the train

After the wonderful weekend trip it was time for a family outing.. Spent less than 24hours in Chennai before i was off on the train to Mangalore, to head towards Sringeri.[one of the 4 Mutts established by Adi Shankaracharya]. We are all followers of this Mutt and my grandparents make couple of trips during the year. Me - well, i go once in a while!! :)

 

The Main Sharadambal temple

My cousin's poonal [ Holy thread ceremony] was slated for 4th June, so we booked tickets for the 2nd June!! I was travelling with my parents after ages, felt nice... :) Packed 3sarees[yes, here we wear only sarees, atleast around the temple campuses] , 2 salwars, other essentials, and i was set!!

On the steps of River Tunga..

 The train journey was very nice... esp while we were going past Kerala.. The back waters, West coast, the ocean waves lapping against the shore, fishermen on their small boats, absolutely scenic and breath taking...

 

Elephants during evening snack

We reached Mangalore around 9.30am on 3rd, hopped into the cab waiting for us and headed towards Sringeri. The route is scenic, Ghats are beautiful and there is something mystical about them. if you were look out the window, you can see River Tunga flowing peacefully down below [except during the monsoons, where she rages on]... Takes about 2.5 hours to reach Sringeri, and by the time we checked into our room it was 12.45pm...!! Normally, we halt at Hotel Sreenivas for breakfast, but since we had already had some on the train, we rode along...

 

Vidhyashankar temple

Sringeri is one such place where people come for religious purposes, to admire the architecture, worship Gods and Goddesses or as a tourist spot.. Early on, there wasnt so much of Tourist crowd that used to throng the place, but now that crowd is enough to put me off!! eeks... people crawling all over the place, noisy and dirty!! hehehe..

The stone idol of Adi shankara in the garden

A place i've been familiar with for over 15yrs is where am most comfortable wandering about in. No worries of getting lost, or running into dead ends. Priest, admin office staff and even security guards know me quite well [ thanks to grandparents frequency and having known me since i was in my teens]

 

The Bridge with uncle waving n aunts following close at heel

The main temples to visit here are all within the campus-

Sharadambal temple

Adi shankara temple- which is being renovated

Sri Vidhya shankar temple- part of the Heritage sites - a must see for its rich architecture...

Thorana Ganpathi- a small ganapathi fixed on the threshold

Malayala Brahma

Sri Balasubrahmanya - Murguan temple right on the banks of the river TIunga

Sri Chandramouleeswara

Sri Malahanikareswara- Shiv who resides on top of the mountain..

And then when we cross the bridge over the River Tunga flowing through the Mutt, we come to the Narasimha vanam, where The Sringeri Swamiji resides and does Pooja daily.. the place where we go to take his blessings or be a part of the pooja is the newly built haven called Guru Bhavanam ... Beyond it is where Elephants [2 of them], horses[ right now there are 3], Gosala[ home for cows] and deers run about...

Walking across the bridge, watching the moon light up the sky, crickets and other bugs singing aloud, its a mystical feeling going for the Pooja... Sitting in that massive hall, watching Swamigal do pooja to the Chandramouleeswara Linga and Ganapathi, i realised we stop worrying about the daily aspects of our life and are totally immersed in the Pooja...

A place of tranquility where one can simply sit still for hours is how Sringeri feels to me... Yes, i do make a quick visit to all the temples, say Hello to all the Gods and Goddesses, but the best part if the serenity... this is Spirituality according to me!! :)

Evening sky pver River Tunga..

In the evening, i stand on the bridge, looking up at the sky or at the fish fluttering about in the river, feeding on the puffed rice or generally swimming about...

Vyasar Mandapam on the other side of the river

 

Today, the place looks very diff from what it did couple of years ago.. Construction going on everywhere, renovations happening here and there.. The main entrance used to be a beautiful archway, today it is a bundle of concrete debris.. there is a huge 127ft tall Gopuram which is being constructed there...

Best way to travel is to take a train from Chennai to Mangalore, and then a cab/bus to Sringeri.. You have trains at 11.30am daily ,and 5pm[on certain days]

 

Mom n dad ,. as we waited for His Holiness to make an entry

In case you are coming from Blore, then direct buses ply almost every day. Its about 7hrs from Blore ...

Of Temples and heritage sites....

The day started early, and Lakshmi and I were on our way!! Had kinda decided on 2routes, with a whole bunch of places to visit during the day and finally ended up doing a mix of both routes...

1st place we headed towards was Chengelpet, enroute we stopped over at Singaperumal temple..

What a start to the day it was!! very peaceful, calm and not crowded...!! we went into the temple, only to be told we could get darshan in about 15mins, and as hunger was ready to strike, we grabbed a donnai[ lotus leaf cup] of Kesari [sooji] at the prashad counter... :) Finished that and did a round of Girivalam [going around the temple]. this temple is built on a mountain and so the path around it is uphill and downhill, with steps built around it.. There was a tree with small cradles and bundles hanging from it, a Narasimha with his wife on his arms[ wearing a zillion yellow threads]- must be prayers from devotees.. After a few mins, got darshan, said our prayers and made our way towards Chengelpet...

We wanted to check out the lake and the fort, alas, neither happend.. None knew where the fort was[ we discovered later it had become the Taluk office] and the lake was not open to public!! A bit disappointed, but what can we do.. Drove towards Uthiramerur from there.. we stopped over at the Sundaravaradaraja Perumal [has three tiers. There are three main sanctum sanctorum, one on top of the other..with narrow stairs leading up ]

By then the sun was beginning to blaze and we headed out to take a peep at the Kailashnath temple which was being renovated by REACH foundation.. the lady working there told us a man had come visiting in the morning, when she saw a huge snake slither past... we just peeked thru the doors, and all we saw were a bunch of Bats flittering about!! there was another temple, part of the ASI, but alas, that was shut and the ASI person in charge was Missing!! atrocious!!! hmfph!!!

Hunger bells were ringing like crazy in our tummies, but we managed to keep them down by munching on biscuits n juice as our driver drove towards Kancheepuram... Went straight to Sangeetha hotel, and gobbled down a dosa n yummy Mousumbi juice before exploring Kancheepuram.. that town has over 180 temples, i kid you not.. we saw 2 of them, and also spent time at a saree weaver's store, the owner also showed us around his looms [ thanks to Lakshmi's aunt who knew the man]!!

Went to Ekambaranathar Temple, huge campus..with 5 gopurams, each built by a diff ruler- Pallava king, Chola ruler, and so on... took quite a few pictures, made our way into the main sanctum where the priest gave us a brief intro about the temple... there is a Shiva linga and shiva parvathy idol inside[ one among the few temples where they are together]...

and then came around the main sanctum, did a small archana at Vishnu's shrine.. the funny thing was all priests after the intro, would say this dialogue- We dont get salary, have been working here in generations.. so if you could take up a puja or seva, contribute whatever you can-Rs200/500/1000, would go towards the upkeep of the place".. we fled saying we'll come back!!! :)

Rushed across town to Kailashnath Temple -where we spent most amount of time.. we could have lingered there all day.. mind blowing temple...kinda like an outer ring of mini Shrines, which were meant for meditation and innermost is a temple with Shiva in it.. the priest gave us the story and showed us the path to go around the main deity.. it had 4tiny steps that led to what looked like a hole in the wall, a tiny baby would fit in.. apparently the temple is all about accepting the fact that we are born alone and we die alone... devotees used to crawl thru the tunnel and come out the other side...!! scary!!! :D

[It is oldest structure in Kanchipuram. The temple is 65 m high & shadow never falls on the ground. The temple is viewed more as an architectural wonder than as a holy place.]

The priest here too recited the same dialogue as in earlier temple!! hehe ..post this, we spent oodles of time taking pictures and savoring the beautiful architecture that surrounded the temple.. It is part of ASI and so is in decent condition... only thing is

people today dont know what material was used to build the shrines, and so are unable to restore it.... !!!

It was nearly 2pm, and sun was beating down on us... Finally bid adieu, and started the search for the weaver.. after multiple calls and round abouts, managed to find the place...

Meyammai achi silk center, Chidambaram is the man who runs it.. He showed us silk threads, dyed colourful threads, sarees and took us to his looms, where the weavers were more than eager to explain and patiently answer all our zillion odd questions!! they hadnt even had lunch, were waiting for us to come visit... !!! :)

Gave in to the heat, and decided to go have a bite to eat at Saravana Bhavan- had curd rice!! and hit ECR road... enroute, we stopped at Sadras Fort [Sadurangapatinam] , but alas, luck was still not in our favor.. the place was locked up and ASI man missing...

we took some pictures when we saw a funny looking man come running towards us.. he came over and said he was "Anand, the gatekeeper, and that he was a Furniture doctor".. Had golden glitter on his face, was wearing blue shades, pink nail polish and a orange whistle around his neck.. we had a bit of doubt about him, but just played along trying to get rid of him... When Lakshmi asked him about the glitter, he replied- "Oh,today my daughter's bday madam, i am coming from the party" and he even posed for a pic!! i clicked while she was taking her shot !! :D


He said he will take us inside thru the back door[which we had passed by and knew there was no way into the fort there...:)].. this was when a policeman walking past told us "Madam, he is mental".. Our man heard this and was like " tamilians are the reason other tamilians dont prosper, you come madam, i take you"... we beat a hasty retreat, not before he suddenly said "give me Rs10, if i had taken you inside, it would be Rs30" ...we hopped into the car and asked the driver to speed away... had a good laugh!!!

Finally, drove towards Kalpakkam Atomic plant to Pidari Rathas, which is just behind Mahabalipuram... 3 beautiful rathas, unfinished stand tall...

we could see the lighthouse at Mahabs..

Spent some time soaking the evening sunset in and taking pictures of the place before getting on the road to ECR and back home!!

What a day it was!!! were dead tired, but well worth it.. next time, we shall check out more sights around here!! our curiousity has been piqued :)