Skywatch Friday- God meets Crowds meets Currencies

There we were, partying away amidst friends and strangers, while the clocked ticked away. Around 11pm, a friend came over and called us aside. "The cab is here and so is R, quickly have some dinner and we shall hit the road". Where were we off to? We were going to go on a road trip to a few places, not too far yet not too close. 

We were in Delhi, and our agenda was to visit Ajmer, Pushkar, and Jaipur over the next few days. I had travelled from Chennai to Delhi, while A had come from Bombay and D from Bangalore. R was D's friend from Delhi who had initiated the plan. It was supposed to be D & R doing a trip, but we girls had invited ourselves to the gang... 

Around midnight we hopped into the cab after shifting our bags from the friends' car to the cab and got set for the journey ahead. R told us we should reach Ajmer sometime in the early hours of the morning and that we should get some shut eye during the drive. We did, probably slept for about 2 hours, but luckily we were neither hungover from the party nor groggy from lack of sleep. We reached Ajmer around 5am, and the car came to a halt within walking distance from the Dargah. The men told us to stay put in the car while they scouted for a "decent" room. It was so sweet, they would go up and down hotels, checking out rooms, coming back to give us a quick review of each. During the wait, quite a few women and children came knocking on the car windows begging. One woman refused to go and kept throwing curses at us as we dint offer her anything.

Finally, R came over and said "there is a nice hotel few buildings away, but there is only 1 room available". The two of us chimed in " oh, cool, so lets take it". R was stumped " you gals are ok with that?" .. "yep, we are just going to shower, freshen up and head out, so no big deal" we replied. He dint quite get it, but i guess was glad that his running around was over. We spent about an hour getting ready and then landed at the Dargah's door steps. Out of the corner of my eye i spotted that beggar woman sitting near our car giving us angry glances... I wondered if she was going to haunt us till we left Ajmer. 

Breaking into my thoughts, a man wearing a white kurta pyjama came over, introduced himself and said he would be our guide. He insisted we girls cover our heads with our duppattas, while the men had to purchase a cap [doppa- hope i got the name right] and also asked us to purchase a few items at the store within the Dargah Complex. 

The Dargah [Tomb of the popular 13th century Sufi saint, Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti] campus was huge. It is the place where the famous Sufi saint has been buried and is a placee where people of all religion visit. it is said that you pray here and your wishes shall be fulfilled.  I was reminded of Jodha Akbar and the song "Khwaja mere khwaja" where all the cast is wearing those long flowy gowns and tall caps, twirling.. 

 

The guide kept rambling on, he told us that Chaddar, Neema and Ghilaph are the most common offerings made by devotees here.  I tuned out and started observing the place, the architecture and the people who seem to be everywhere. The entrance is richly decorated with gold and enamel work as well as with Belgian crystal chandeliers. As we walked towards the main part of the Dargah, we noticed quite a crowd milling around. There were also many standing within the center [almost like priests in our temples calling out to devotees, collecting the offerings and then demanding money].. pretty much the same thing happened here. We were asked to walk around the main site and then offer money, and told that 500 or 1000 was the best offering... ;o) [ya right, God wanted nothing less, am sure].. 

 

The view of the tomb  from the room we used

 

 The guide also told us that the crown on the tomb's summit is made of solid gold and the open space in the foreground is a mosque built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. I also saw a huge well of sorts near the entrance, where we noticed sand filled 1/10th of the pit and on top of it was money, coins, jewellery, clothing, and just about everything else you can think of. This is where people made their wishes,  and on top of the well was a long rod that was fixed from one end of the mouth to the other on which people had tied little things with a thread- shoes, keys, boxes and so on. Depending on your wish, you could tie something or drop in some money into the pit.

 

 

As i walked around, i couldnt help but notice the small hillock behind the Dargah, and that the land seemed to stretch forever. There was a small village of sorts behind the Dargah, and people were walking in/out/ from every direction possible. It was amazing.. And here i had thought this was a dead end road with the Dargh being the last structure on the street.  

 

 

After spending nearly 3hours, the lack of sleep was finally catching up and we got back to the car after saying our final prayers. I wondered what lay ahead on our journey as the car exited the narrow lane.

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday

Celebrating Chennai, Post box

I love writing Letters, sending Greeting cards... Not only that but my postal cards and letters will have stickers, perfume, colour and be lively. I dont know where i got this trait from, probably my uncles - Still remember how they used to send me postcards from wherever they had gone, and i still have most of them. Even today, my uncle in USA sends New year greeting cards to all of us!

I love visiting the post office, picking up stamp, spending a few minutes analysing the stamp, struggling with my gluestick, wallet, phone, and what not as i seal the envelope and drop it in the box... 

I wonder how many people write, send each other notes. I was talking to a friend of mine who's sending a parcel to a loved one who is now across the ocean, and she mentioned that the person carrying it insisted on her sending a note along with it. :-) Teased my friend for being a silly non romantic for wanting to put a post it on the parcel, but she instead said - Nyaah, it was cos I was sending through someone that i dint attach a note... 

I still write letters and greeting cards for friends and family. Now with the newfound interest and membership on Postcrossing, am back to sending and receiving postcards to and from across the world.. It is good fun and am amazed at the number of people who've signed on seeing my updates and pictures :)

This is a post box that stood outside Hotel Dasaprakash on PH Road.. Wonder if it is still there..

Mysore, all lit up for Dussehra

It was either the last day of somewhere near the last day when we landed in Mysore from Coorg. The entire city was abuzz with activities- there were people thronging street corners, vendors with stalls on every footpath and traffic that was moving, rather inching at snail's pace. We had driven down from Coorg, and were going to spend a night in Mysore before heading back to Bangalore and then to Chennai. 

One of my friends mentioned that the Palace looks gorgeous in the evening, all lit up and majestic. Towards 7pm, we drove out to meet a friend & her daughter, and then dragged them along to go see the Palace in all its glory. There was so much traffic, all we managed was a few minutes from the car. Friend who was driving asked if we would like to head up the Chamundi Hills and maybe spend some time up there getting a glimpse of the city below. 

 

 The city resembled the skies on a night when it was filled with stars. It was lit up, and there were lights everywhere. The view point was near empty, and so we had peace and quiet as we stood there gazing at the city below.. Far away from all the noise and crowd, we were lost in our own worlds. Today, as i remember that day nearly 4yrs ago, the memories come flooding.... The fun we had, the friend i made and the city that i had not visited in a few decades welcoming me with open arms... 

I hope to be in Mysore atleast once to witness the entire Dussehra celebrations!! 

 

Skywatch Friday... Floating stones and Hanuman in Dhanushkodi

As we drove towards Dhanushkodi beach, our drive suddenly stopped the car and asked if we wanted to see the Floating stones.. Puzzled, i looked at him and asked "what floating stones?"

Instantly he replied "madam, the ones that were used in building the bridge Ramasethu [Adam's bridge] by Rama and the monkeys. There is a Panchamuka Hanuman Temple less than 2 kms from here. I can take you there if you wish".

 

Dint need any more motivation, nodded my head and off we went to the Hanuman temple.  It is a small temple, with the image of Hanuman etched on the wall in red vermillon. The Hanuman has five faces and looks like he is standing leaning on the wall. There were a few pillars and at the base of one i spotted two large stones, on another pillar was the map of how India was back in the days and the path that Rama had taken when building the bridge. 

As you walk around the main sanctum, there is a small pit of sorts filled with water, and covered with mesh. Inside this tank, lo behold, i noticed there were a few floating stones. The priest came around and told me these were among the ones used by Rama when building the bridge and that the stones really did float. " You cant put your finger in and push them down, but they will surface within minutes, go ahead try it" he said. And much to my amazement, that is exactly what happened.

Legend has it that Rama and his army of monkeys decided to build the bridge under the guidance of Hanuman (Monkey-God) and the engineering supervision of Nala. They wrote "Rama" on the stones and used them to build the bridge over the ocean.  Apparently, even today, in Devipatnam, or Navapashanam, also by the sea, there are nine stones visible at low tide. It is believed that they were set up by Sri Rama to represent the nine planets, the Navagrahas.

The priest recommended i visit the two other temples popular around here- Sugreeva Theertham and Lakshmana Theertham...As i walked out of the Hanuman temple, i wondered if all that i had read and heard in Ramayana was real, and maybe there were more such tales hidden within the walls around us. 

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday