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2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Wooden Toys

I can't go to Nashik without thinking of toys. This was where we bought the first wooden toy for Samhith - a train - and today, we have a huge collection of these wooden toys. mostly vehicles.





I was at Nashik about a month back, and seeing all these toys reminded me of the first time we saw them... a visit we made almost 5 years back..... I had just started my blog then, and didn't even think of taking a photo of the toy shops at Panchavati then. We did buy a number of them, though! This time, on the other hand, I held in my temptation by clicking pics and returning without buying a single one!


The shopkeeper told us that these toys are made in Nasik. He was hesitant to tell us who made them, or where he bought them, probably afraid that we would go directly to the maker.... but these toys are certainly cheaper at Nasik than anywhere else that I have seen them. Samhith was eager to get some more, but space in our house is a major issue. Besides, we use these toys mainly at Navaratri (which starts next week, which is why I remembered these toys now) and this year, we can not celebrate the festival...

You can see some of our other wooden vehicles in my earlier Navaratri posts...

Most of the wooden vehicles you can see there were bought at Nashik!


Comments

  1. I do exactly the same so many times, I click a picture and don't buy anything.

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    Replies
    1. Thats probably the one advantage of being possessed by a camera, Mridula!!

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  2. These are so nice. I wonder if kids will like the feel of these charming wooden toys as compared to the plastic stuff that dominates the market.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, Richa.. these are much, much nicer than the plastic toys. we have quite a few of them and Samhith loves playing with them. in fact, all the kids who come to see our golu during navaratri want to play with them!

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  3. Nice collection...Navaratri is starting. Will wait for your posts:))

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    Replies
    1. Thanks chitra.... yes, Navaratri is starting and we are so sad that we cant keep the golu. but hopefully i will have lots of other stuff to share

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  4. Beautiful toys. Though I had been to Nashik, I never had an opportunity of appreciating them in them shops. This year I am in Chennai. In my childhood we had plenty of Marapachis made of Red Sandal Wood (Rakta chandanam).

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    Replies
    1. yes, PNS.. they are lovely... i dont know how you missed them in Nashik.. the shops at Panchavati are filled with them! and even at Tryambak... we have lots of marapachis too... of all shapes and sizes :D my mother and mami have a huge collection now

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  5. Click Click Click .

    I remember my childhood days when I used to play with wooden toys. Nowadays only plastic ones with battery operated or soft ones are available.

    Thanks Anu jee for posting

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Vishal! the trend of wooden toys is coming back... they are really much nicer for kids to play with... and we keep looking out for these wherever we go!

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    2. Vishal,
      Wooden toys had their own charm. :)

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  6. I never knew wooden toys are made in Nashik !! For wooden toys, all I knew was about Channapatnam !
    Thanks Anu for sharing this with us, my trip to Nashik will cover this. And that bullock cart is fascinating. :)

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  7. Such beautiful toys! ou brought back my childhood memories. trip to Himachal

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  8. Beautiful toys ..really this refresh my childhood memory.

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