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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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Happy Deepavali

It's that time of the year when lamps are lit outside every house and the skies resonate with the colours and sounds of firecrackers. Its Diwali once again... or, to give it its right name - Deepavali - the festival of lights. 



My earliest memories of Deepavali have to do with lamps... lighting lamps and candles all around the house.. Firecrackers I usually stayed away from, apart from maybe a couple of sparklers and the stray flower pot. These days, lighting so many lamps isnt all that easy with a kid in the house, and crackers seem too noisy and smoky, so I would much rather stay away from them. Samhith, however, disagrees. He can't understand why he should stay away from crackers, and so, every year, we buy crackers and light them up - him with much enthusiasm, me with a lot of perturbation! 

When we travel, Diwali becomes that much more memorable - like the one I spent at Kashi, more than 20 years back, but which is still fresh in my memory..... or the one time we were at Saptashrungi, where, for the first time, I saw how people drew such beautiful rangolis, and made mud forts... or like last year, at Sringeri, where we spent the morning at the Ashram, and then the rest of the day at the market, looking for firecrackers! The fun of lighting firecrackers was simply multiplied by the way everyone staying at the ashram guest house joined in the celebrations... Thats what makes a festival really memorable. 

This year, while you read this post, I shall be somewhere else.... in interior Maharashtra once again... probably at Shegaon. I have no idea what the celebrations there will be like, but I look forward to it! 
Meanwhile, wish you all a very happy and safe Deepavali!! I shall be looking forward to reading all about your experiences of the festival when I get back!
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  1. travel ufoNovember 12, 2012 at 10:20 AM

    बहुत बढिया । आपको दीपावली की शुभकामनायें

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 11:10 AM

    Happy diwali anuradha...:-)
    ..Dr.A

    ReplyDelete

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