Flower show at Empress Garden

There was a flower show for 3 days at the Empress Garden, near to the Race course, Pune. We visited on Sunday and it was the last day of the show. The garden has many huge trees which gives much shade to the sprawling garden. I am visiting the garden for the first time. So I don't know how the garden is during the other days. But most part of the garden looked done up as part of the on going flower show.  There were stalls featuring flower arrangements based on Kitchen theme, Ikebana, Bonsai plants. A stall had flower portraits too. There were many nurseries selling potted plants, garden related tools, manure, pots etc. For those interested in gardening, this was a good opportunity to spruce up their gardening space. The competition entrees was displayed in a separate stall which had different flower arrangements, fresh produce and cut flowers. I loved the Rasoi Theme arrangement very much.

Here are some shots taken at the flower show.




Rasoi Theme




From the Competition Entrees



Bonsai

Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon

Its been a long time since I updated my space here. After Jan-2010, I didn't travel much. I had planned to write about the various temples in and around Palakkad. But it did not take shape into blog posts. And my husband's job brought me to another state. I thought life in a new place will give me some material to blog here. The initial few months went into settling down in the new place and had to travel thrice to hometown in a short span and out of that twice I had to make it on my own. On one of such trips, I extended it to make a surprise visit to my parents at Gurgaon. I decided to make it to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. It was more of shock than surprise when my parents saw me at the door since as per my version, I should have reached Pune at the same time. So their shock is understandable. Few minutes on, their shock gave way to joy indeed. It was just a week stay. My sister had planned a visit to the Kingdom of dreams. During my last visit to Gurgaon, that was under construction.

The Kingdom of dreams is near to the Iffco Chowk metro station. It is a 15 minutes walk from the station. Auto/cycle rickshaws are also available. We went to the Cultural gully. There are some other live shows also (Nautank Mahal, Showso theatre inside). Each has a separate entrance ticket. For cultural gully its Rs.500 till 6 in the evening and its Rs.750 after that and for weekends too.

Out of the Rs.500, 100 goes as entrance fee and 50 is refundable. You have Rs.350 to be spent inside. For children below 4ft height, its free.



What you see inside

Its an airconditioned gallery with an artificial sky, that gives the feel of an exhibition, on an open ground. The sky is well done.

The cultural gully, as the name signifies, is art,crafts, culture and food under the same roof. 14 Indian states are showcased there. The cultural heritage of each state shines through. The food served is awesome. We sampled food from Karnataka, Mumbai, Delhi and Rajasthan. Few has open kitchens and few have in house restaurant. There are many tables laid in the centre area, which gives an ambience of a food court. The first floor has a massage parlour, plam reader, tarot card reader etc. There is a pastry shop too at the first floor. The paintings, pillars are very exquisite.

Its a wonderful place to have a get-together. The ambience is so good and with finger licking food and good company, you can enjoy a good evening there.

I clicked quite a lot there and here are few snapshots.

Entrance to the Cultural Gully

Mumbai

Painting

Kaali representing West Bengal



Rajasthan




The magnificient sky like roof top



Chennai

Kerala modelled on a house boat

A lorry infront of Punjab block

Delhi



Bridge connecting the two blocks on the first floor



Handicrafts for sale

Old charm retained - You can see matchbox labels painted on the left.

Murudeshwar - Karnataka

Boarded the West coast express (Chennai-Mangalore) on 14th at 9:00 P.M. Reached Mangalore at 4:50. Headed straight to the waiting room. After refreshing, got tickets to Murudeshwar and travelled by the Mangalore Verna Express (Train No KR2). It left Mlore at 6:30. Most of the passengers were tourists to Udipi/Mookambika/Gokarna etc. The journey was good with lovely sights of greenery and water bodies on the way. We had got two packets of idli from the M'lore station. The idlis were cup shaped and very soft too. We had our breakfast in the train. Murudeshwar temple and beach is around 2 kms from the station. Took an auto to the resort. He charged Rs.30. The best places of stay in Murudeshwar is close by the temple and beach. You can find some other lodging boards on the way to the beach. There are two hotels adjacent to the temple and one little away but near to the beach. RNS Guest house and RNS residency is close by and Naveen Beach Resort is little farther. We stayed in the resort. Resort is very calm and serene. Only 11 rooms in the resort. It has in house restaurant too. The food  in the restuarant is very good.  Just walk across the road from the resort, you step onto the beach.

The Naveen Beach Resort

Most of the tourists make it a half  day trip to Murusheswar. They spend some time on the beach and take a look around the temple and the big Shiva statue and move on to the next destination.  After reading about Murudeshwar, I wanted to spend a day there. Since it was solar eclipse on 15th and temples will usually be closed during the eclipse time, we  chartered that day for Murudeshwar for a day's stay.

The tourists occupy the beach near the temple, but few feet further, you can find uncrowded place. Sadly, tourists have littered the shore with all sorts of  garbage. The local civic authorities doesn't seem to bother about cleaning the place atleast taking into account of the inflow of tourist to the place.

There is an ancient Shiva temple near the beach. The surrounding area along with the huge Shiva statue is developed by a private person Mr. R.N. Shetty.  The story behind the Murudeshwar temple is connected with King Ravana securing "Atmalinga" from Lord Shiva by worship and penance. As per the story, Lord Shiva, while giving the linga was told to Ravana, that he should carry it home walking and should never place it on earth even for a while, failing of which, the Atmalinga would be eternally embedded in the place where it is kept. Ravana set out to his country through the path of west coast. All Gods who got frightened by thi, got together along with Sage Narada takes the help of Ganapathi. Ganapathi disguised in the form a of Brahmin Vatu succeeds in placing the Atmalinga at Gokarna. Ravana in anger and dejection attempts to remove the Linga in vain. In sorrow and frustration, he threw the cloth and thread to various places. The sacred cloth is believed to have fallen in the Kanduka hill assuming the form of Murudeshwara, a Linga without a pedestal. The very ancient temple which was in ruins was revived by its cheif patron Mr. R.N shetty. Other than the temple, all the other attractions around the temple is the efforts of RN Shetty.  There is a 249 feet tall gopuram with 18 floors on the entrance to the temple. They have a lift facility charging Rs.20 per head, which will take you to the 18th floor. The view from the top floor is spectacular. There is one open window on all four sides.

(Story courtesy :The booklet published by the temple trust)

The Shiva statue in penance is on top of a small hill. There is a small temple below. Work is in progress in the temple. There is a man made cave around the temple below the hill. The cave is dark and air conditioned. The story of Ravana and Murudeshwari s depicted in stone sculptures that comes to 20 in number. The story is played on a CD. The narration is in Kannada. Rs.10 is charged as enterance fee.

There is a huge Nandi statue in front of Shiva. Ravana holding the linga is also on the front.  Varius sculptures depicting the incidents from mythological tales can been seen around.

Another attraction is the beach restuarant which is built on the beach near the shore. The restaurant has 3 floors and you can have a beach view while dining. The food was good not to say very tasty. And its a vegetarian restuarant.

Because of the eclipse, we could not make it to Gokarna. But we had a nice stay at Murudeshwar, which was a much needed break from the routine life.

Vacation at Mumbai

The vacation destination for 2009 was decided to be Mumbai. With dates rescheduled twice, I wasn't sure, if we will make the trip. So I did not plan much on what to be done after reaching Mumbai . Tickets were booked. To confirm my fears, the media was blaring non-stop about the spread of Swine flue. We had almost decided to drop the travel plans to Mumbai. Finally with some pushing from R mama, decided to go ahead. So reached the city of Amchi Mumbai on 21st of August.

The city was fully geared up to welcome their favorite God Ganesha. We saw both huge and small Ganeshas taken to the pandals/homes accompanied to the beats of drums and Ganapathi Bappa Morias.

At home too, we were busy with the preparations and on the day of Pooja, modak-both sweet and savory were made.

As practise at our uncle's home, Ganesha was taken for Visarjan, the next day, to Juhu beach.

On Monday, the 24th, we left to Shirdi by bus. Stayed two days at Shirdi. We had a lovely Darsan. It was less crowded, may be due to the ongoing Ganesh Chathurthi celebrations. Attended both noon and night Aarthis. The first time when I stood in the queue inside the mandir, I was choked with emotions. A longtime wish of mine was fulfilled. As Baba says, its only when HE wills that we can reach there. I have been reading Sai Satcharita , close to two decades. So all the chapters and incidents are almost kind of memorized. I was overwhelmed when I got to see the places and objects like Dwarakamayi, Chavadi, ever burning Dhuni, Neem tree etc. which I have only read about. I am sure when I read Satcharita again, it will be a different experience. Spent most of the day inside the mandir premises.

We went to Sani Shinganapur, a famous shrine for Lord Shani,which is 70kms away from Shirdi. It takes about 1 1/2 hrs by car. The road is good. The route is picturesque on both sides of the road with fields of sugarcane, bajra etc. You will get a picture of rural Maharashtra. The statue of Lord shani is a huge single piece of granite stone with no temple walls to around. Only male devotees are allowed to mount on the platform with wet clothes on and can do abhishekam on the statue with water or til/sesame oil. Women devotees can have darshan standing below the platform. One of the unique aspects of the village Shiganapur is that houses/shops have no door for safety. The people here believe that it is the benediction of the god that no crime ever occurs in this village. I found no doors in the shops I saw and also there is no gate to enter the temple premises.

On Wednesday night we returned to Mumbai with a peaceful mind. We visited few relatives. And for that, we had to travel the length and breadth of Mumbai. I had decided earlier, we will be visiting only the closest relatives. So we could cover the visits in 2 days. I managed to meet one of my blogger friend Harini. It was a wonderful meeting.

On Sunday, we decided to take advantage of the less traffic on roads and headed to have a darshan of Goddess Mahalaxmi and took the new Bandra-Worli sea route. It was a nice feeling to travel through the sea link -the new pride of India. We started at sharp 8:00 A.M from Malad and returned in flat 2 hours.

Did good amount of shopping artificial jewellery, clothes and some kitchen accessories. Sampled all kinds of Mumbai chaats, pasta, frankies, ice halwa, different flavors of kulfi (Liked chikko more) and various savories. Never missed a chance to drink Kesar Lassi to the extent that on the day of leaving, me and my husband had two glasses each. Infact R mama used to lure us with the mention of lassi, to visit Mumbai . L mami and our cousin M saw to that we sampled food from the various outlets which they frequent. M treated us to a wonderful Gujarathi thaali (unlimited) at a nearby restaurant. We indeed had an overdose of jamoons, malai sandwich and dahi wada. L mami also cooked variety of food at home.

All in all, it was a well spent, memorable vacation at Mumbai. On 1st we flew to Coimbatore to celebrate the annual visit of King Maveli/Mahabali.

Thechi/Chethi Poo ~ From My Garden

In my childhood days, we used to suck the nectar from the thechi poo. This was one of the favorite past time during summer holidays.

Chuvappu/Red Thechi

Manja/Yellow Thechi

Different colors of Hibiscus from my garden

Hibiscus/ Chembarathi(in Malayalam) - Few pics of the varieites of hibiscus from my garden.

The word Chembarathi even now brings the image of this variety to my mind, though numerous hybrid varities are around.

There are few more colors in my garden, which I could not click before the plants were trimmed.

Yercaud -Part II

Yercaud trip contd...

Day 2
We had an elaborate breakfast of idli, vada, masala dosa, puri and masala, pongal , tea and a glass of lassi.That was Shevaroy's special breakast. we had fixed the auto driver who took us to Pagoda the day before, for taking us around the other view points. We started at 10:AM sharp.
First stop was Lady's seat and few metres away is the Gent's seat. Spectacular view from both the points. Then we drove to the Children's seat.

View from different seats

We can walk to the rose garden from that entrance. The garden was full of trees of various kinds. Good pathways are laid and absolutely lovely place to spend some time. All rose plants are at the entrance of the garden. The roses were in the budding stage. Only few roses in full bloom.

Few shots inside the rose garden

Then we proceeded to the Shevaoryan temple which is inside a cave. The temple is situated at the highest peak of the hill. The cave is very small. You will have to bent a little to walk inside. No light other than from the lamps lit before the idol. on the way down, we stopped at the Raja Rajeswari temple.

View of the shevaroyan temple from outside.

We were back to the hotel by 1 P.M. Had lunch and relaxed in the room. Evening went to the plantation inside the hotel compound. A very nice place to walk around. Then spend sometime at the lake and was ready to leave Yercaud the next morning.

Plantation at the back of the hotel

Day 3.

Took the bus to Salem at 8 :15. After reaching the bus stand, immediately took an auto to reach the railway station in the hope of catching a train scheduled at9:30. We had plans to buy the famous Salem mangoes. But if we miss that train, we have to wait for nearly two hours and will be reaching home in the scorching afternoon. We rushed to the platform to see our train arriving. Immediately got into the train. Got two packets of idli and finished our breakfast. Reached home by 1:30 PM.

Destination Yercaud ~Poor Man's Ooty Part I

View from Pagoda Point

1st May,2009

The summer was becoming unbearable. Still a month for the rains to pour, if at all monsoon arrives as expected. Its time for a much needed break from the routine. This time, wanted to go somewhere just to unwind. Was not very keen on sightseeing. Yercaud suited us. we had an idea of a family get together and asked my both Brothers-in-law to join with their families. But finally that did not materialize. Only we both could make it. As I have mentioned earlier, we are early risers and can get up as early as 3 AM. On Friday left home at 4:30 to catch the West Coast Express towards Chennai. Train came at 5:10 AM. Becoz of the recent train hijack at Vyasaradi, some trains were running late. As a result, our train also reached late by 45 minutes at Salem. Took an auto the main bus stand which must be around 5 kms away from the station. As we entered, a bus to Yercaud left. We must be around 20 people waiting for the Yercaud bus. After 10 minutes, another bus came fully packed. The smarties have got into the bus en route to the Salem bustand. Our attempt to get into another two buses did not yield a seat. Finally, decided to take a taxi, who charge 650/-. The uphill drive with 20 hair pin bends in a stretch of 30 Kms takes an hour.

The cab driver dropped us at Hotel Shevaroy's. We had booked the Dhalia suite for two days. Checked in. Its one of the oldest hotels of Yercaud. Very serene environment. It looks like the hotel had a recent renovation done. The rooms smelled of fresh paint and bathroom accessories were spanky new.

On the way to the room inside the hotel

Our room

After refreshing ourselves, we headed to the restaurant. Ordered South Indian Thali meals. Food was good.

South Indian Thali meals

They served Thali meals with soup,roti,dal, rice,sambhar,vethakuzhambu, rasam,2 poriyals, onekootu, payasam, vadai, applam, curd chilli , pickle and curd. The best part I liked is they keep two bowls of paruppu podi and ghee. That was awesome. The second day also we went for thali meals. Due to the heavy rush there, the waiter forgot to give us the podi. But we were in no mood to miss the podi treat. Asked for it and he obliged immediately. Post lunch we hit the bed and had a sound sleep for 2 hours. Its long time since I slept so long in the afternoon.


Took a stroll down the road to the lake. Its just 5 minutes walk from the hotel. Took tickets and went inside the garden around the lake. The first thing you notice is the amount of garbage littered around, inspite of being cleaned every day after it closes for the visitors. And I doubt if there was a dustbin anywhere. I could not spot one.

We took an auto to Pagoda point which is around 5 kms from the lake. There is no other sight seeing spot on the way. There is a water fall but did not go there since its all dried up . You get a view of the valley from there. You can see the houses down.

Not much of a scenic view. You will not need more than 15 minutes to spend there. Had some roasted corn.

Returned to the boat house on the other side of the lake garden. Spent some time in the small garden there and walked back to the hotel. Had a shower and headed to the Malar Veg restaurant inside the hotel complex. This is the only veg restaurant in that area . There is a supermarket and bakery below the hotel. The hotel has accessibility from inside the hotel complex and from the road outside too.

Contd...