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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.
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Faces in the Crowd - the girl drawing a rangoli

It has been a long time since I posted anything in this series, so reviving it with this pic from the Sirpur Village.



We were wandering around Sirpur village, when I noticed her. I am always drawn towards Rangoli, and hers was the only one in the village! When I asked, she said that they rarely drew Rangolis, unless it was a festival. "Why now?" I asked, and she replied "Because we cleaned our front porch and I felt like!"

P.S. I recently visited Sirpur to attend the Music and Dance Festival on invitation from Chhattisgarh Tourism. Read my other posts on the trip for more details and information,
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Location: Sirpur, Chhattisgarh 493445, India

Comments

  1. Ranjana's craft blogJanuary 27, 2015 at 11:56 AM

    The happiness of drawing Rangoli is seen on her face too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 30, 2015 at 2:37 PM

      Absolutely, Ranjana. She wasnt doing it because it was the norm, but because she wanted to. and that makes all the difference, doesnt it>

      Delete
  2. BikramJanuary 29, 2015 at 3:04 PM

    She looks HAppy doing that .. lovely rangoli too so many colors

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 30, 2015 at 2:38 PM

      Yes, Bikram, she does... as I said above, i guess its because she was really enjoying it

      Delete

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