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
As Navaratri comes to a close, let me quickly take you to our local Mariamman Temple, a hub of activity during Navaratri, and show you their Golu...
The Golu itself is filled with dolls, crowding both the sets of steps.
Here are some interesting ones.
P.S. Most of these dolls have either been donated by people, or by our local shops. Therefore, it is no surprise to see some of the dolls we saw earlier on display. However, we liked some of them so much that we just couldn't help showing them to you again!
Mariamman is a village goddess, and shrines to her are common at the outskirts of villages, since she is believed to protect the village from danger, evil, and diseases. In our colony too, the Mariamman temple is located at one end, protecting us in more ways than one. For one thing, the lane can be quite dark, and it is the temple and its bustle that makes walking along that lane at any time of the day, and sometimes at night, safer! As you can see, the temple is quite a small one. The deity you can see is not the main one. It is a bronze replica of the idol, taken out in procession.
The Golu itself is filled with dolls, crowding both the sets of steps.
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| The smaller set of steps hold the older, more traditional, dolls, while the bigger one holds the newer ones. |
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| The smaller steps... Since I have shown you these before, through earlier posts, I am not showing you these in detail right now. To see the earlier posts, click here and here. |
Here are some interesting ones.
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| We loved this Ganesha on the moon |
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| This little shrine with the devotees is pretty, right? |
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| Here is another shrine, with more devotees... |
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| Birds, as usual, catch our attention.. |
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| And this lion, hiding behind, caught Samhith's attention! |
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| Kamadhenu, we have seen before |
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| and this one, the fortune teller too! |
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| This is a new one... looks like an interesting story. Just cant figure out which one! |
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| The huge vegetables look inviting! |
P.S. Most of these dolls have either been donated by people, or by our local shops. Therefore, it is no surprise to see some of the dolls we saw earlier on display. However, we liked some of them so much that we just couldn't help showing them to you again!
Beautiful pictures and the concept. Now that I remember we did something similar when I was very young in North India also. I don't think it was called Golu or the reason of celebration was same, but yes a lot of toys, dolls and idols of deities were decorated.
ReplyDeleteGood! so now maybe you can start again!!!
DeleteQuite interesting particularly the bifurcation of old and new. It is for the first time that I could see a temple Golu. Thanks to you.
ReplyDeleteI never knew about Golu until today. Thanks to you and your blog! :)
ReplyDeleteI have been following your blog ever since I found post related to skywatch on your blog.
beautiful! i really like the birds
ReplyDeleteWow..such a beautiful post.
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