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The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
3 comments

Navaratri Day 10: Winding up

Dusshera or Vijayadasami - either way, the tenth day of Navaratri is one of celebration. This year, I have been less than enthusiastic about the festival, but surrounded as I am by the celebration in all its many hues, I have still managed to post (almost) every day! Wondering how to wind up my posts, I came across this sight, which inspired me to write....





"What is so special about this?" You may ask. These are just blown up Chhota Bheem balloons sold almost at every street corner. What struck me was that we saw these wherever we went - outside the Fine Arts Society, where we went to see the Bommai Kolu; outside the Bengali Durga Puja at Chembur Naka; at the Ramleela Mela at Gandhi Maidan, and even outside our very own Chheda Nagar Temple!!! 



Chhota Bheem has nothing to do with the festival, and yet, he seems to be omnipresent across the celebrations, irrespective of region or language! 


The impromptu stalls that turn up outside festival venues go a long way in making our celebrations what they are... And once again, I feel happy to live in a place where I get to see all this variety, and notice bits like this which make me smile!

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Location: Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. divsiOctober 8, 2014 at 6:59 PM

    these are pictures of the Gandhi Maidan right? What fanfare during Navratri! The ram leela and the Ravan dehan :)
    I am finding so many chembur-ites Today in blogosphere! What Coincidence :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 9, 2014 at 12:14 PM

      Yes, they are from Gandhi Maidan, Divsi! Are you from Chembur too? Its interesting how the blogsphere throws interesting stuff at us!

      Delete
  2. divsiOctober 10, 2014 at 7:47 PM

    Yes! I stay very near Gandhi Maidan:)

    ReplyDelete

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