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Odisha Part 4: Chilika – Experiencing the lake, in and out of season

My first visit to the Chilika Lake in Jan 2017 was for content for a resort. It was peak season, and I would have loved to stay near the lake, but the brief was to stay at Puri and cover areas that could be visited from Puri. And so, I did the usual touristy thing, taking a boat for half the day. Which is why, on my next visit to Odisha, if there was one thing I was clear about, it was that I wanted to stay near the lake, at least for a day, if not more. However, unlike my first visit, the second was in end of May, and the season was long ended. There would be no birds, I was warned by anyone and everyone I spoke to, including the people at the stays I was considering. But those who know me, know how stubborn I can be, and so I persisted. I eventually decided to stay at two of the Odisha eco-tourism resorts, at Mangalajodi and Rajhans, keen on experiencing the lake, even minus the birds. I had expected it to be hot, but as it turned out, the rains turned out to be even bigger spoilspo...
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More Navaratri Kolus for you....

Any festival signifies a hectic time, but none more so than Navaratri! We have to visit all our relatives and friends to see what they have come up with for the festival, catch up with all the kolus in the vicinity, see the latest arrangement at the temple, and over and above all this, we also have to play host to everyone who visits us! It can get really hectic, especially with school on in full swing, but its an enjoyable ten days! This is practically the only time of the year we get to meet so many of our said relatives and friends. Everyone is too busy the rest of the year with their own lives to go and meet anyone else! Besides, we also get some wonderful ideas for our kolu next year!  Since the people we visit are almost usually the same, the dolls and kolus are almost usually the same too! Only sometimes do we see something new, so this time, I decided not to bore you all with the same kolu pics from everyones' houses, but just some pics of things I found special or interesting.....



First, this is the kolu made by an uncle who was an engineer by profession, and makes some of the best kolus I have ever seen. Last year, he had made an American village as well as an Indian one, and another time, he had replicated the entire Dadar Railway station in miniature! This year, his arrangement was simpler (he is, of course, not getting any younger), but we still loved it! Here are some glimpses....

The main theme was based on various stories of Lord Vishnu...

 

and below it was an Indian village....


This was the main kolu with the steps....


And what I liked the most were the traditional tall south Indian lamps, all dressed up to resemble the Devi...



Next up is a cousin's kolu. I love seeing her arrangement for the dolls - most of them are old ones, which have a charm of their own! Here is a view at the entire arrangement....

 

and here are the ones I liked the most - the Dashavataram set.....unfortunately, it is not a complete set, since a couple of dolls have broken, but see the detail and the beauty of the dolls. These days, most Dashavatar dolls look almost the same, with no details actually visible....

From Navaratri 2011
Incidentally, I was just writing this post, when I saw Lakshmi's  older post on her kolu, and I was so thrilled to see the same set, though complete, at her place too! Head over to her blog to take a look!

Those of you in Chennai, please take a second, closer look. And if you ever see a set like this, please, please, please get it for me!!!!

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Comments

  1. Maanasa lahariOctober 3, 2011 at 6:24 PM

    Wow.... lovely dolls... Pls check out mine too here - http://sumsarena.blogspot.com/2011/10/navarathri-dasara-doll-arrangements.html and prev year's here - http://sumsarena.blogspot.com/2009/09/navarathri-festival-of-dolls.html 

    ReplyDelete
  2. teamgsquareOctober 3, 2011 at 9:53 PM

    Wow , wonderful . Dasavatharas

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sowmya03October 4, 2011 at 7:31 AM

    Thanks Anu, your enthusiasm and pics, keep us going in these times:))

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anu ShankarOctober 4, 2011 at 12:18 PM

    Thanks a lot! I have left a comment on your blog too... your dolls are lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anu ShankarOctober 4, 2011 at 12:18 PM

    oh yes they are!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anu ShankarOctober 4, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    Thanks so much sowmya!

    ReplyDelete

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