Skip to main content

Featured Post

Odisha Part 6: The Yogini Temple of Hirapur

I fell in love with this temple the first time I set eyes on it. Back in 2017 , I had been excited to see yet another Yogini temple, when I visited Puri. The resort I was staying at (and writing for), had arranged for a car and driver to take me around. The driver was happy to take me to most of the places I wanted to go, but when it came to Hirapur, he was appalled. He knew of the temple, but had never been there. It was a tantric temple, one not visited by women, and certainly not women travelling alone. He tried to convince me not to go, but my stubbornness and persistence paid off, and he reluctantly agreed when I told him that if he didn’t take me, I would find another driver who would. All along the way, he kept going on about the sinister things that happened at the temple, the tantric rituals that were performed at night…. An Odisha brahmin who took his religious duties very seriously, to the extent of stopping the car to perform the sandhyavandam when he deemed it time, he...
2 comments

Memories of 2013 - Festivals, Events, and other such interesting stuff

The year began on a festive note with the much awaited Kala Ghoda Fest. When I clicked this photo of one of the installations, little did I know how important a part cycles and the city would play in the coming year!



To begin with, the Fest was fun! As usual, I took Samhith along, and he enjoyed it so much, he actually wrote about it! And then, I went by myself, a second time, and had a blast with some blog friends! It truly set the tone for the year - me taking Samhith along first, and then going by myself to enjoy it in peace... something which I did through the year!

However, coming back to the pic, we loved the installation, simple as it was. Little did we know that stuck in the city, we would explore it more than we had for the past few years, or that Samhith would rekindle his love for cycles, and discover that he enjoyed cycling for long distances! Yes, he not only participated in a Cyclothon this year, riding 5 Kms to the finish line, he also cycled all the way from Chembur to Thane, a distance of at least 15 Km, accompanied by his dad! Is it any wonder that I can not stop bragging about it?

A small part of Mr. Swamy's Navaratri Golu 

Then, there were so many fests through the year - the Tata Lit Live, which I dropped into, for a while, the Junior Writers Bug, which I sadly missed, and the Earth Mela, where my photos were exhibited for the very first time!



There were events we enjoyed ourselves at, such as the Lego Train Building event, the National Book Trust's Book Fair, Sandcastle for a Cause, the Google Plus Photography Day event, and of course, all my sister's performances!


And then, there were the traditional festivals, which we couldn't celebrate, but made the most of, by attending others' celebrations!!! The most memorable among these was certainly the awesome Golu kept by Mr. P.E.P.Swamy, and the Ramlila finale!


The best thing about all the festivals and events this year, was that they kept us busy and occupied throughout the year, and helped us cope with the fact that we were stuck at home, and unable to travel! While I hope the new year brings me more travel, I would also like to be a little bit selfish, and also hope I am able to attend as many fests and such more such interesting events in the coming years!! 

Related Posts:

Labels:
Location: Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001, India

Comments

  1. wholesale fashion jewelryJanuary 7, 2014 at 4:10 PM

    Thanks for your post .....Nice sharing this..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Factory Direct GazeboJanuary 10, 2014 at 12:48 PM

    The most anticipated of the year is welcoming events and festivities all over the world. Traveler, bloggers, and photographers love such events and thanks for encouraging us Anuradha for these memories of yours. Visiting Mumbai soon!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw...
10 comments
Read more

Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
9 comments
Read more

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport.  That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’...
2 comments
Read more