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The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
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Karthikai -2009 - Annamalai Deepam





The much awaited festival of Karthikai Deepam was celebrated with great pomp and ceremony at Thiruvannamalai yesterday evening, as we watched from the comfort of our home. Here is a link which will give you all a glimpse of the great lamp being lit atop the sacred hill of Arunachala.







And now, here are images from our celebrations at home….














and at a neighbours' house....












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Location: Chedda Nagar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

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