Hanuman Jayanti - the First Festival in the New Year

The Elephanta Caves , located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri, about 11 Km off the coast of the Gateway of India, Mumbai, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A visit to these caves, excavated probably in the 6 th century CE, is awe-inspiring, and also thought-provoking. Over the years, I have visited the caves a number of times, and also attended a number of talks by experts in the fields of art, history and archaeology on the caves. Together, they help me understand these caves, their art, and the people they were created for, just a little bit better. Every new visit, every new talk, every new article I read about the caves, fleshes out the image of what the island and the caves would have been like, at their peak. I last wrote about the caves on this blog, in 2011, almost exactly 11 years ago. Since then, my understanding of the caves has, I would like to think, marginally improved. Hence this attempt to write a new and updated post, trying to bring to life, the caves of Elephan

Hanuman Jayanti - the First Festival in the New Year

We hurried back from our vacation to be in time for Samhith's school, and found ourselves back on the day of the first festival of the year - Hanuman Jayanti, celebrating the birth of the monkey God Hanuman. Before some of you rise up and inform me that the festival is months away yet, here is a piece of information - this is one festival which is celebrated in different parts of the country on different days, the reason being the uncertainty of the day the monkey god was born!

Visiting the temple to collect the prasad (offerings) of a puja we had arranged for, I found myself on time for the Lord to take his tour around the area. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu in his many forms, and He was just ready to start his tour, mounted on the shoulders of his greatest devotee, Hanuman. Here are a few pics, which aren't too clear, since I took them from my mobile camera, but you can get an idea of what its like!

Interestingly, the trip I just returned from turned out to be closely connected to Hanuman too. On our visit to Hampi, we also visited Anegundi, on the opposite bank of the river, which is believed to be the Kishkinda of Ramayana fame. I shall write in detail about Anegundi later, but here are just a few glimpses of the places related to Hanuman....

Anjanadri is believed to be the hillock on which the monkey god was born, and today, a temple dedicated to him stands over the hill. It is a relatively easy climb, with about 550 steps leading to the temple etched over the rock.

Incidentally, the entire region is covered by huge rocks of all shapes and sizes, which are believed to have been thrown by the childish Hanuman, or Anjaneya (son of Anjana) as He was then known.

Hanuman is also seen in an interesting posture in this place. At many ancient temples, he is depicted in a sitting posture, holding in his hands palm leaf manuscrips representing the Vedas. This idol symbolises the mature phase of Hanuman, which he spent gaining knowledge by meditating on Lord Shiva, and then being educated by Surya, the Sun God. This is the only place which shows him thus. Here is one such idol from the Navabrindavanam at Anegundi, a place where nine great sages have their samadhis....

Thats all I am going to write right now......I hope I managed to get you interested enough to come back when I finally get to writing more in detail about Anegundi....

The Havelis of Bikaner - A Photo Post

The lanes are narrow , twisting and turning amidst buildings old and new. Crumbling old structures with intricate workmanship stand side by side with art deco buildings, and more modern constructions, which follow no particular style. Autos, bicycles, motorcycles and vans rush past, blowing their horns as loudly as possible, while cows saunter past peacefully, completely unaffected by the noise. In the midst of all this chaos, children play by the side, and women go about their chores, as we explore these by-lanes of Bikaner, and its beautiful Havelis. Facade of one of the Rampuria Havelis

Ladakh - Planning The Trip

Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out! Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, though we

Bhedaghat - Home of the 81 Yoginis

The Narmada flows down the mountains , carving out a path for herself as she makes her way down to the plains of Central India. She cascades from the rocks, her fine spray making it appear as if billows of smoke (dhuan) arise from the flowing streams of water (dhaar), giving it the name Dhuandhar. Dhuandhar Falls The force of her flow creates a gorge , smoothening and carving out the rocks into fantastic shapes, the pure white of the rocks standing starkly against the shades of the water. It is a joy to cruise down the river in a boat, seeing the natural contours created by the river, now famous as the Marble Rocks. We are at Bhedaghat, located on the banks of the Narmada near Jabalpur, where thousands of visitors turn up to see these natural landscapes, creations of the sacred Narmada, and pay obeisance to her. However, to me, the most interesting thing about Bhedaghat, isn’t the falls or the rocks, or even the river. What makes Bhedaghat special is t

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