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Odisha Part 6: The Yogini Temple of Hirapur

I fell in love with this temple the first time I set eyes on it. Back in 2017 , I had been excited to see yet another Yogini temple, when I visited Puri. The resort I was staying at (and writing for), had arranged for a car and driver to take me around. The driver was happy to take me to most of the places I wanted to go, but when it came to Hirapur, he was appalled. He knew of the temple, but had never been there. It was a tantric temple, one not visited by women, and certainly not women travelling alone. He tried to convince me not to go, but my stubbornness and persistence paid off, and he reluctantly agreed when I told him that if he didn’t take me, I would find another driver who would. All along the way, he kept going on about the sinister things that happened at the temple, the tantric rituals that were performed at night…. An Odisha brahmin who took his religious duties very seriously, to the extent of stopping the car to perform the sandhyavandam when he deemed it time, he...
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Poovar Part 2 - A Backwater Cruise

The most interesting activities offered by the Poovar Island Resort are the variety of backwater cruises in a fishing boat. The day can begin with an hour long bird watching cruise, followed by a 2 hour island cruise in the evening and the night can be brought in by the sunset cruise. Of course, each of these cruises have their own attractions, but when we were there, it was the wrong season for bird watching (the summer sees very few birds – the best is winter), and clouds had already started arriving, heralding the monsoon and darkening the skies, so the sunset cruise was out too. However, we made the most of the island cruise. Join me in reliving the wonderful experience………..

Seeting off on our journey, with a prayer to the Lord.... A shrine errected on the beach after the Tsunami that wreaked havoc....



Fishing Boats....

And the fishing village....



The sparkling waters....

And the roaring waves dashing against the beach....



Fat, orange, juicy Pineapples - or so we thought - these are river pineapples, and apparently are deadly poison!!!!


A view of the village connected by a bridge recently...


Entering the backwaters..


A Cormorant sits on a palm tree and surveys his area...


A Brahminy Kite ..... wondering who are we, the interlopers....


A Purple Heron..


I was captivated by the sight of the backwaters and the reflection of the trees in the water....






This chap manages a brisk business simply selling seafod (mostly caught fresh) to those who come for the cruise.....


Ducks (or are they Geese??)






Our boatman - a local fisherman


We just passed under that small bridge behind us.....




The trees make way for the marshes as we move up the backwaters...







Juicy mangoes.....sorry.... river mangoes again.... poisonous... makes me wonder why such a lush, green area should yeild so much poison? Does it have something to do with mother nature keeping us greedy people away from her?????

And here's another bridge..



A natural archway..


A Kingfisher sitting in peace.....



Entering nature's tunnel..

And coming out of it.........


What a difference between one part of the backwaters and another, just a few metres apart!!!!


Little Cormorants..





Another dark and narrow passage along the backwaters....


Light at the end of the tunnel.....

and finally, out of the tunnel....



There's a bird in there... wonder what it is....


The sun begins to set...




The setting sun shows up the silhouttes...

More birds - A Darter (Snake bird) and cormorant....




Back again.... and Samhith does not want to get off!!!!

Neither do we, for that matter, but then, that is why we are adults and he is a child...

Kerala has some amazing backwaters and, to promote them, Kerala Tourism has come up with the Kerala Great Backwaters Campaign. Check it out and go explore!!


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Location: Poovar, Kerala, India

Comments

  1. MridulaJune 2, 2009 at 11:23 PM

    Rowing the boat with a pole reminds me of punting at oxford-

    http://www.gonomad.com/traveltalesfromindia/2009/05/i-finally-managed-to-go-punting-at.html

    Water gives such a charm to the place! Lovely pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aruna MenonJune 22, 2014 at 5:26 PM

    Lovely pics n nice write up

    ReplyDelete

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