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TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA - Day 7

2023-10-14T19:24:00.004+05:30

Om Namoh Narayanaya

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA

(2nd to 12th Aug 2023)

Author: Sindhu Satish (Architect & Professor)

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Every inch of my Bhaarat is a Teerthabhumi!

- Swami Vivekananda

DAY 7 - AUG 8th, 2023

Kankroli

The day started with our usual Piping hot strong coffee at 5.00am. We got ready by 6.00am to assemble at the reception. Tucking all our handbags we loaded ourselves into the bus and set off to Kankroli by 6.45am. It was just 20 min from Nathadwar.

Kankroli: Similar narrow roads most of the buildings at crossroads... open drains yet, creating an engaging street scape with people, cattle, carts, few tourists’ vehicles all on the streets. Some of the houses around the temple precinct held the vernacular architecture in pride. The lime plastered thick walls, defined windows with floral arches, Jarokhas, low height doors reflected the climate & culturally sensitive built forms.

As we got down from the bus there stood about 10 Rikshaws in a row with the drivers standing out as though to welcome some Maharaja’s pariwar so straight, that I am sure I could have drawn a straight line without a scale. Group of 6 or 7 we got into those rikshas which took us to the hilltop temple. We entered the palace or Haveli like Gate. The entrance courtyard had the semi covered waiting sheds on the left and on to the right had a small museum which housed few part krishna charitha painting and few of sthala Guruji's with seating benches in the center. The center stairs led to the temple.

TEMPLE AT KANKROLI

Just like the Nathadwara temple this too turned out to be a palatial Haveli type. Walls exquisite decorated with bright coloured paintings, Elephant procession scenes particularly were the highlights. As we climbed up the front wide stairs, we entered the courtyard and then through passages into a huge hall overseeing the sanctum a large room when compared to the typical Garbaghriha of a traditional temple down south which are agama based. There stood in Quintessential attire, petite Lord Krishna. Seeking his blessings, we moved through a stair and some more passages and small rooms into yet another hall in anticipation wondering how Mathura Balkrishna would look like. A modest sanctum decorated in plain baby pink backdrop in the velvet thrown which is mostly the Gaddi sat a Mathua Balakrishna tiny yet undoubtedly capturing everyone’s attention. The challenge of placing a tiny idol in the large space was well managed. Despite the crowd we got a heart content darshanam. Unhurried walk back out of the palatial temple we exited on the other end. This led to the Lake. We come out of the arched passages into the balcony. A beautiful, vast Rajsamand lake also known as Rajsamudra lake stretches out before you as picturesque frame of nature. This pleasing sight with cool breeze greeted us. We stood there for a long while spending the most precious moments of realization of completing all the darshans of Pancha Dwarka with nature.

Kanlroli : Mathura Balkrishna temple

Enjoying Hot coffee after breakfast @ Kantroli

Rajsamand lake

Museum

ARCHITECTURE :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarkadhish_Kankroli, https://www.udaipurian.com/blog/kankroli-temple/

After darshan at 8.10 am we were guided by the catering team into another Haveli entrance a narrow foyer and then into an open paved courtyard. An ideal place to have breakfast. We all enjoyed the relatively hot pongal, kesaribath and coffee. We then came out into the Temple front where stood the rickshaws standing in row, this time in an L-shape. We quickly got into them and were dropped at bus stand. From there we could see the palatial temple of Mathura Balkrishna standing atop on the hill dominating the skyline of Kankroli. This scene was captured in my mind.

Huddled into the AC " bus SriHari " at 9.15 am, done with Darshanam and breakfast we were now on the road to Pushkar.

With god’s grace Pancha Dwarka yaatra was devoid of any unsavoury events and smooth. I felt extremely lucky to have got this opportunity and heartfelt thanks to my Guru Ravi Maama who took us all and to the rest of the teammates who became reason for me to carry back mindful of colourful cherished memories from this Yatra. For me this Yatra meant Unification of time and space casted by a mould of imagination of Dwapara yuga. Unforgettable and rich experience to remember all my life.

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA - Day 6

2023-10-14T19:12:00.004+05:30

Om Namoh Narayanaya

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA

(2nd to 12th Aug 2023)

Author: Sindhu Satish (Architect & Professor)

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Every inch of my Bhaarat is a Teerthabhumi!

- Swami Vivekananda

DAY 6 - AUG 7th, 2023

Nathadwara

We reached Nathadwara at 4.30 am. With heavy drooping eyes I managed to drag myself and handbags to our allotted room at Swagat Hotel. We slept till 6.30 am when they called us for hot coffee. After getting ready by 8.45 am we had breakfast and soon were proceeding to temple for Divya darshanam of Srinathji. Grouped into 6 or 7 we climbed into ubiquitous JUMBO (I call it so for these are big in size) rickshaws and quickly made our way through the winding narrow gallies of Nathadwara and reached the main gate of temple 9.45 am. This was my second time here. Seven years back I had come with my parents and sibling. However, I just could not recollect anything. As we moved in the maze of narrow streets fogged memory of mine started to clear. I could remember few things here and there when my husband made a sincere effort to remind me of the time we were here. I could remember these buzzing shopping streets which led to the open precinct of the temple so suddenly.

This time there stood a modest but fine Gateway still to be finished to its detail.

AT SRINATHJI TEMPLE

As We entered the temple following Ravi Maama who led us into the sanctum where Laddu Gopalan was resting behind the screen. This meant that we would get Darshana again only after 11.30 am. As we stood in the group wondering what to do, we were approached by one of the local priests who offered to help us get tickets for the Rajbhog (Divine offerings of various dishes) darshan. This would get us the darshan much sooner than the general queue at Rs. 350/- per person. We bought the tickets and stood in the queue. In fact we were the first for this short route darshan line. We were joined by another couple who told that they were regular visitors to the temple. They told us about the evening Arathi and that we should come for evening darshan insisting that we should not miss it. We reached the entrance closer to the main hall quite early and joined the other long queue people at almost the neck of the entrance. Once inside it was a super chaos with everyone pushing and pulling. Fortunately, we were moving almost close to the front line and got a wonderful Darshan of SrinathJI all decked up and stunning. Mesmerised with the entire setting I do not know how long I managed to stay for I remember not being shoved or urged by the temple people to move although there was a huge moving crowd. I stumbled out of the hypnotic trance suddenly as one of my group mates urged me to move. Following the crowd swiftly we saw Laddu Gopalan and came out of the temple. We did not shop but made our way into different lanes and got acquainted with the streets and the shops. I made a keynote list of items that I would like to buy later in the evening. We caught rickshaws and made our way back to the hotel for lunch. After fulfilling Darshan & good meal we caught on to a quick siesta.

Evening was very exciting. We planned a lot as to how to manage shopping eating etc after the evening Aarthi. I so longed to drink masala chai and have Malpua, 8,000 years old Indian sweet dish. We caught rickshaws and headed towards temple by 4.30pm. Temple was bursting with people. This time we decided to join in the general queue which took us in a different route. We stood in the queue for a long time. I somehow did not feel bad or irritated because the beautiful part of the palatial temple building around kept me occupied. There were large colourful paintings on the walls of the temple mostly of elephant chariots and royal processions. The vernacular architecture with stone window (Jharokha) projecting from the wall face of a building, in an upper story, overlooking the open court where we stood was intricate and gorgeous. A common feature in classical Indian architecture, most prominent in Rajasthan. Although the constant loud chatting noise emerging out from the static crowd hit my ears, I slipped into my architecture world buffering from sound from all sides. I cannot recollect for how long we stood. After what seemed eternity, we started to move and soon ended up in the same chaotic lines inside. I managed to tear trough the crowd to put myself at best position to witness the enchanting Arathi to Srinathji. I was almost blinded for a moment of flashy baby pink stage and every single deity there including Srinath ji in baby pink with silver border attire. His Sakhis, bed seating, curtains, everything was made of the same cloth material. But what startled my amused mind was that the entire setting was so breathtaking despite this monochrome. It was indeed a moment of bliss. Perhaps I cannot find right words to explain the experience. With a heavy heart I had to force myself to move out to make way for the incoming devotees. I followed the crowd to see Laddu Gopala. This was yet another heartening scene of delight. Evening attire with such flashy decorations contrasting to that of decorations and ornamentation of south Indian temple deities so different yet such a divine experience. A majestic spectacle in its own right. As I was walking towards the other end of the stage, I located all our group members with Ravi Maama sitting next to the musicians who were offering sangeet seva to the lord. It was very divine rendering. We sat there for a long time and came out in daze. It took several minutes for all of us to gather ourselves to come to our senses. Mind now so relaxed feeling elated we were charged to the most awaited part of the day. Shopping!!!

It was almost 6.30 pm. Yet it was bright like early evening. We now spread ourselves into different lanes in search of things that we hoped to buy. I walked happily with Satish (my husband) who already had charted our route based on my list. We started with Masala chai and Malpua. With our belly full and happy I could focus on my shopping. Several silver jewellery shops were now flashing lights as darkness descended slowly. Streets lit Brightly from the lights from each shop. At this point murky realm of my memories from the previous visit to this place peeped into my head. As though discovering a fleeting moment of joy I shrieked in delight. My husband sighed in relief. His efforts to remind me of the streets, temple, and hotel we stayed back then perhaps did not go waste. I could not help but Succumb to the attractions that gaped at me from each shop. Since Krishna Janmastami was near, I bought a lot of things for the same. Despite long shopping time I realized that there is no fatigue when it comes to shopping. This shopping at Nathadwara particularly was one of the best for me. Perhaps so because it was unique and exclusive. (Krishna Janmastami related).

All of us met eventually by 8.30pm and decided to catch rikshaws and head back to the hotel. Dinner was hot soothing and what more does one need after feasting eyes, stomach, and lightened pockets? I slipped into a good night sleep like a baby.

HISTORY & ARCHITECTURE: https://myoksha.com/nathdwara-shrinathji-temple/

Srinathji Temple at Nathadwara

Day 7 : To be continued ... click here

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA - Day 5

2023-10-14T17:30:00.006+05:30

Om Namoh Narayanaya

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA

(2nd to 12th Aug 2023)

Author: Sindhu Satish (Architect & Professor)

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Every inch of my Bhaarat is a Teerthabhumi!

- Swami Vivekananda

DAY 5 - AUG 6th, 2023

Ahmedabad

On reaching Ahmedabad at 6:00 am in the morning we were in for a surprise. We were stationed in front of a different Hotel- "The Metro INN”. After a brief enquiry we were told that couple of rooms in the previous hotel had problems with plug points, Ac and so on. Hence, the change, a welcomed change I suppose. Our tour organizer instructed us to pack a handbag for next two days to carry with us and rest of the luggage into the bus which would be given to us only at PUSHKAR.

It was supposed to be an open day, meaning we could plan it as we wanted. Many were planning to visit Akshar Dham. We decided to rest a little longer than usual, as we all waited in our assigned rooms which was quite clean and nice for our luggage to be delivered from the previous Hotel. We were served with hot breakfast and coffee in the dining hall.

We started our day in Sevakala with our Guru. Ramesh Maama had carried Idol and few essentials needed for Sevakala. We recited few shlokas, and verses from Nalayar Divya Prabandham. We consumed Prasada dry fruits which was offered and proceeded to venture out in the city.

We tried to book 2 cabs for, we were 12 of us. Since one of the cabs arrived late, we were delayed invariably and it was almost noon by the time, we left to Adalaj. We reached by 1.00 pm. some of us upon reaching early had to wait for the rest. An avenue of trees planted to one side of the central paved path had large canopy shading the few benches which were set aligned to the edge of the path. The other side was occupied by hawkers which was mostly the sparsely covered by few trees.

I started enjoying the pleasant weather, as I inhaled the intoxicating aroma spewed by the roasted and backed corn, watching people buzzing in and out of the Adalaj Vav gate. Soon the rest of group came in and we all headed to experience Adalaj ni Vav as we had already purchased entry tickets for all.

ADALAJ NI VAV- ARCHITECTURE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adalaj_Stepwell

We had about an hour to spend here. This extraordinary exquisitely carved flamboyant step well of 15th century served both utilitarian and spiritual purpose for people around. I had been to Rani ki vav a similar step well years before when I had come to Ahmedabad for a conference with my colleagues. I was eager to see this as I had enjoyed the architecture Jewel before. Inert memories of past visit to Rani ki vav was coming alive as I walked around and down into the well absorbing every bit of beautifully carved elements, beams, walls covered in ornamental carvings with mythological and village scenes, Kalp vriksha (a tree of life) carved out of a single slab of stone which particularly caught my attention. I sat to a side of a landing away from the walking path of visitors to capture a small portion of a wall in my sketch. An architect’s favourite investment of time amidst such beautiful manifests. Somehow, there were many people around that time. We then clicked few pictures and decided to have lunch for we were all hungry and depleted with all the energy.

At around 2.00 pm we left to eat Gujarati thali to "Gordhan Thal" about 20 min away from Adalaj VAV. External architecture of the restaurant incorporated many vernacular elements and was quite welcoming. However, we were dazed to see large number of families Crowded waiting just outside. Nevertheless, we managed to book for 11 and settled outside on the Jagali waiting. Hunger slowly but surely consuming us. Post delicious, sumptuous Gujarati meal some headed back to hotel while some of us rented a cab to shop for some Patolas & Lehariyas.

Sketch by Sindhu Satish

Pleased with our shopping we were back at hotel for evening coffee. We had some time after that till 7.30 pm dinner. Although tired and deprived of the sleep I decided to sit and finish a sketch of Adalaj ni Vav. Post dinner at 9.30 pm we were ready to depart. Hoping to get some sleep I plugged in earphones to listen to my favourite Bengali short stories when the bus geared up to speed.

Day 6 : To be continued ... click here

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA - Day 4

2023-10-14T17:20:00.008+05:30

Om Namoh Narayanaya

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA

(2nd to 12th Aug 2023)

Author: Sindhu Satish (Architect & Professor)

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Every inch of my Bhaarat is a Teerthabhumi!

- Swami Vivekananda

DAY 4 - AUG 5th, 2023

Moola Dwarka, Mukthi Dwarka, Porbandar, Veraval & Somanath

The shrills of alarm woke us up at 4.30am. we were to proceed to Somanath via Porbandar and Veraval which was an entire day’s long journey with packed schedule with few important places to be covered. As usual we started the day at break of the dawn with hot coffee at Side yard which was by now the place where we met for coffee. Sipping coffee while enjoying the breeze heavy with moisture I felt refreshed. As everybody started one by one to assemble at the lobby by 6.30 am I took a stroll around the side yard for I could hear callings of peacock quite clearly. I simply wanted to locate it. There it was perched high so precariously on the tip of a tree branch just behind the compound of the hotel It formed a curious silhouette which changed so minutely as the bird rotated its neck every time it called. Thrilled to have found I tried to take some pictures, but all efforts went futile as it was dark, captures showed only a blurred profile of the bird amidst the dark branches. I rushed back to the front of the hotel to join others who were now loading all their luggage into the bus.

We left only by 7.15 am as we had to wait for the catering team to join us. Soon they came in so did the intoxicating aroma of the food prepared by them. That was sufficient to induce stings of hunger. Soon we were on our way to see Sri Krishna at moola Dwarka.

Reached Moola Dwarka at 8.40 am. We went inside the Moola Dwarka temple through the arch gateway climbing few steps. The temple on the contrary to that of Dwarkadhish was sparsely populated most of the crowd from our two buses. Temple sat quaintly in laid-back picturesque setting of a coastal village. The shrine complex had a courtyard behind within the compound. This seemed to be an ideal place for us to have breakfast and so we had breakfast served hot. We had darshan of Lord Krishna.

STHALAPURANA – Moola Dwarka happens to be one of the important Krishna Dhams situated in Kodinar in Gir Somnath district of Junagadh, Gujarat. It is around 45 km from Somnath and 175 km from the city of Porbandar. It is believed when Lord Krishna travelled from Mathura to Dwaraka, he first established himself in Moola Dwaraka. The Mahabharata legend says that King Jarasandha vowed to wreak vengeance on Krishna for killing his sons and waged wars but always lost. However, Krishna never killed him because it was pronounced by fate that Jarasandha would die at the hands of Bhima and so he proceeded to shift to Dwaraka. He came to Moola Dwaraka, which in times of Mahabharata was believed to have been a flourishing port. Lord Krishna and his brother Balaram stayed here before settling down at Dwaraka. Lord Krishna had stopped in Porbandar at the village of Visaavda on his way to Dwarka. In its remembrance in Visaavda (Moola Dwarka) Lord Krishna’s “paduka” (footprint) can be seen in this temple. A grand fair is organised every year in the village on the special occasion of Janmashtami. A stone slab commemorating his arrival is present here. Since this was the primary place that he set foot, so it’s called Moola (origin or root) Dwaraka.

ARCHITECTURE - Temple complex had small shrines of Neelkant Mahadeva, Rama Lakshmana Janaki, Ganeshji, Brahmaji, main Neelkant Mahadev, Suryanarayana, Sri Saraswathi, Sri Narayan ji, Sri Lakshmi. Shiv and Vishnu are after all the two sides of the same coin. The temple complex built in the typical style of Nagara style is modest in its size, scale, and appearance. The small shrines located around the main shrine orients themselves appropriately for the devotees to visit each of them as they take pradakshina. Couple of trees provided shade in the open prakara. With only the sounds of chirping birds my mind drifted to imagine this precinct in the times of Mahabharata. I could only feel at peace sitting here in this serene temple in front of these deities.

SPECIAL FEATURES: There is a deep well near the temple where Krishna had his holy bath. Even during severe drought, this well doesn’t get dried up.

Close to the temple complex is a stepwell, known as the Jnana Vav, sometimes also called Jnanvapi. ‘Jnan’ is more popularly pronounced as “Gyan” in most places today. The early 13th century being considered the period in which the Jnan Vav came into being. Truly remarkable vav is 700-year-old, is a distinct L-shaped structure. Overall, quite small, the vav is entered via a stepped corridor which runs from south to north and then turns east abruptly. Possibly the water diviner who was at work when the well was being dug got it wrong when the north-south passage was dug and suggested as eastward swing towards a subsoil water source. The real reason will never be known. Embellishing the VAV are several niches, some of which still have Hindu icons within. There are small sculptures of Vishnu, Surya and Brahma that have survived the wrath of time.

STHALAPURANA: The Vav predates the temples, and a local legend links the two. During 13th century when Visavada was part of the territory ruled by the Jethvas of Ghumli, a man named Vinzat lived here. A great devotee of Krishna, he would bathe each day in the waters of the VAV and then make his journey to Dwarka for a darshan of the god. As he grew older, this daily journey became difficult to undertake and he decided to build temples closer. Thus, the temple complex came into being. However, there seems to be a disconnect in the dating of the temples. While a board put up by the state archaeology department says that the temples date to the 17th century, historians claim that an inscription within a niche inside one of the temples mentions the year 1206 CE. The later would be more in line with the Vinzat story.

Today, visitors exploring the place see flocks of pigeons’ rest in the cool confines of the VAV. Suddenly, they take a flight, almost as if Vinzat has emerged from his daily ablutions, on his way to pray at Moola Dwarka.

pic source: https://velpu.com/temple/mul-dwarka-temple/MTA3Ng

We came out of the temple and went around the VAV in search of a public toilet showed to us by a local elderly person. To our surprise it was not only clean but had water to flush in small worn-out sort of a bucket. A man sat nearby claiming to be maintaining the two single small toilets took whatever money we gave. We took some picture under the shades of a huge banyan tree and walked somewhat reluctantly as we wanted to enjoy tree shade and cool breeze for some more time.

At around 9.45 am we started towards Porbandar arriving at 10.16 am. We got down from the bus and were ushered to a rikshaw stand. These rikshaws ubiquitous in this city could easily take in six to seven people. It was again prefixed by organizers and so we sat blissfully feasting our eyes with old town beautiful buildings as we rode towards Gandhi Ashram.

GANDHI ASHRAM - The home in Porbandar where Gandhi Ji was born was brought by his great-grandfather Harjivanji Rahidasji Gandhi. He bought it from a local lady called Manba as a single-story house. By the time Gandhiji was born on Oct 2nd, 1869, the house had 3 floors. With rooms and corridors put together, the house has 22 rooms as per the information board at the property. Gandhiji’s father and grandfather were the Dewans of the Kings of Porbandar a prestigious position and the house or haveli reflects their social status.

The Gandhi family’s ancestral home lies to left of Kirti Mandir. As one enters the house through a plain wall which seems to be a later addition, it announces – Birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi Ji. A small foyer open to sky surrounded by tall pale walls outlined in green is welcoming space. This front courtyard has pillars and wood carved frame – all in green. The doors and windows are in bright cheerful green color.

There were many huge ornate buildings around it clearly indicating a rich, affluent town.

ARCHITECTURE: https://www.gujarattourism.com/saurashtra/porbandar/kirti-mandir.html

Keerti Mandir Museum next to birthplace of Gandhi Ji

Room Where Gandhi Ji was born

As I walked from the Ashrama towards the Rikshaw stand I enjoyed the colonial era architecture which most of the buildings on the street sported.

We continued in the same auto rikshaw wading through the bustling market area of Porbandar reached Sudama temple which stands in the middle of the market by 11.15am. A green precinct dotted with shading large canopy trees was a soothing sight to mind and body. We walked through the wide-open gate around a huge Peeple tree we walked to the light pink temple palace of Sudhama. towards standing amidst copious trees. I could spot many newlyweds Rajasthani young couples in the temple. This reminded me of the importance of this place to them.

At the temple I saw a beautiful painting hung on a prakara wall depicting a scene where Lord Krishna is visiting Sudhama who looks very old and frail while Lord himself look young and glowing with good health. This stayed with me bothering me of the depiction of both their age. They were childhood classmates and are of same age. How could Sudama look so old? Little did I know that this question would be answered by Ravi Maama soon.

SUDHAMA DHAM:

Porbandar was known as “Pauravelakul” and thereafter renamed as “Sudhamapuri”. This place is a very important to kshatriyas of Rajasthan since it is the birthplace of Sudhama (Lord Krishna`s friend) and Mirabai (devotee of Lord Krishna). Even today, most Rajasthanis come to take the blessings of Sudama after their marriage. The Sudhama temple has been built to commemorate the friendship between Lord Krishna and his trusted friend, Sudhama. There is maze near the temple. It is believed that passing through the maze one attains moksha. I see this more symbolically as to one must go through the tough and smooth times to complete the journey of our life.

ARCHITECTURE:

Although the temple dates to 12th century the current temple structure was constructed in early 20th century (between 1902 to 1907). The temple is simple but adorned with marble pillars and an intricately sculpted shikhara. It also has a small stepwell in the complex. It also has another monument in the green complex, which has been constructed in the memory of Shri Ram Devji Jethwa, the ruler of Jethwa Dynasty.

Sudhama Dham

STHALAPURANA: https://www.holydham.com/the-story-of-lord-krishnas-friend-sudama/

From Sudhama Dham by 11.45 am each group headed towards the Rikshaw stand where we climbed back into our bus soon racing towards Veraval. At around 12.50 pm we stopped at a beautiful spot so ideal for our lunch near Navi bander about 30 kms from Porbandar.

The pit stop for lunch was selected very cautiously. A small Devi temple sat on a secerned scape. In front of that to one side was a huge area about quarter of an acre paved, the rear end of it had water taps. The entire area was naturally shaded with two huge peepal trees with wide canopy. Katte around it was simply a picture-perfect spot to have lunch. As the catering team started serving us lunch, we spread across and sat on the paved ground enjoying the tasty food.

Ravi Maama made this time even more memorable as he fed food for our brains. A question on the painting that we saw at Sudhama Dham – “why does Sudhama appears so old and poor at the time of Krishna’s vist where Sri Krishna appears so young and healthy despite them both being of same age? - Made us actively give out our answers. However, Maama enlightened us with the fact behind the scenes.

The story goes like this. Back when Krishna and Sudhama were kids their activities during the days when they were living as students. Once they went to collect fuel from the forest on the order of the guru’s wife. She had given Sudhama some beaten rice to share it with Krishna when they would be hungry. While they were collecting the dried wood, they entered the dense forest by chance and became lost. There was an unexpected dust storm and then clouds and lightning in the sky and the explosive sound of thunder. Then sunset came, and we were lost in the dark jungle. “After this, there was severe rainfall; the whole ground was overflooded with water, and we could not trace out the way to return to our guru’s house. They sat on tree branches to sleep through the night. At that time Sudhama ate all the beaten rice given to him without offering it to Lord Krishna. As they grew and days passed, we know how they had to move on with different paths and were separated. When they met, Sudhama appeared aged whereas Lord Krishna appeared young and healthy since Sudhama did not offer the food to the Lord and ate it all himself. Hence, we should offer God everything before we eat. The food then is consumed as God’s Prasadam. Since that is prasadam it is important that we sit and eat it with respect.

Painting At Sudhama dhama temple

After the sumptuous lunch at 1.45pm we set off happily to our next destination Veraval. Time flew as I watched along the Arabian sea for few kms these coastal villages, people going about their chores, coconut groves fields, although I thought of taking a nap kept gazing out of the window all the way.

At around 4.00 pm we reached Veraval, 5 km from Somnath where we visited Prabhas Kshetra, the place also known as Balika Teerth and MUKTHI DHAM.

Mukti Dham

POST KURUKSHETRA WAR

The war of Kurukshetra ended with the destruction of Kauravas. All 100 sons of Dritharastra and Gandhari were killed. It is said that on the night before passing away of Duryodhana, Krishna paid a condolence visit to Gandhari. She was grieving for her sons and in her grief, she cursed Krishna for causing utter destruction of entire Kaurava lineage. She predicted Krishna’s own lineage would siege to exist after 36 years. As per legend Sea water rushed to claim the city of Dwarka. Krishna took his Yadav tribes by boat to higher ground to a place called Prabhas Patan. Around 200 kms away which was the ancient name for Somanath. Once Krishna’s Yadav clans had reached the higher altitudes of Prabhas began celebrating and became intoxicated. This led to a brawl in which they killed one another. Krishna and Balaram had to flee for their own life into the Jungles of Prabhas. Balram gave up his life through YOGA while Krishna sat under a tree in meditation. A hunter JARA saw Krishna’s left foot moving and mistook it for a twitching ear of a dear and shot an arrow in its direction wounding him fatally. Hunter Jara in his previous life was Vaali and Lord Ram killed Vaali on his back (which Vaali had considered as cheating). So, in his next life when Lord Rama appeared as Lord Krishna was killed in a similar way paying for his sin by accepting death from Vaali or Jara.

A beautiful Nagara style temple. The sacred stage adorned with beautiful statue of Lord Krishna in resting position, and the holy tree in which Krishna sat! As we exit the temple on the other side is the Water Pond (Kalyani) which is the Prabhas tirtha. We all sprinkled the holy water on our head before hurrying back to our bus. Since we had to reach Somnath and did not have the luxury of time. There were many visitors here at that time. A large, compounded temple precinct also had Toilets as the far end right after the entrance.

We started towards Somnath at 4.15 pm and reached Somnath at around 5.00 pm. We were taken to a choultry where we rested for about half an hour till, we were served with much needed hot coffee. Soon after drinking our evening dose of coffee, we came out and soon were hoping into the ubiquitous rickshaws in a group of 6 or 7 all booked by our tour organizer and speeded off to Somnath. We had 2 hours to see Somnath.

SOMANATH

Places of interest along Triveni Sangam, Snanghat and River Hiren - listed anticlockwise as one drives from Somnath Mahadev main entrance gate.

Balaji Mandir – Brahma kund and Saraswati Devi temple - Somnath beach - Harihara Van – Rudralay Mahadev Temple – Parashuramji Temple - Cremation Yard - Kali Mandir– Triveni Ghat; Dehotsarg; Baldev Gufa – Kamnath Mahadev Mandir and Sharada Mutt – Suraj or Surya mandir – Panch Pandav Gufa or Hinglaj Mata Gufa – Gita Mandir – Lakshminarayan Temple – Kasi Vishvanath mandir - Betthakji of Mahaprabuhji – Bhimnath Mahadev – Jain temple – Dholeshwar Mahadev Mandir

Riksha-stand was about few hundred meters away from Somnath temple. As we got down, we went to see Lakshmi Narayana temple located just about 100 mts away. The temple had typical Dravida style of gopuram. Central Garbhagriha housing Laksmi Narayana moorty and a pradakshina patha. Briefly seeking his blessings, we walked towards Somanath temple. Since we did not have much time, we skipped most of the other temples around.

Lakshminarayana Temple

Beating the glassy winds there stood the magnificent Somnath temple. With its Nagara style shikara Sri mandir, Jagamohan, and mantapa the temple skyline dominated the shores of Arabian sea.

LEGEND OF SOMANATH

The Somanath temple was created and destroyed 8 times. There is fascinating legend that surrounds the origins of Somanath known as Prabhas Patan during Krishna’s times. It is the very place where Krishna breathed his last. It is believed that the first temple was constructed by Som. The moon God in Gold and hence the name Somnath. The next one was built by Ravan in Silver and the third one was built by Krishna in Sandal wood. If we were to set aside the legends, we would have to acknowledge the well-established historical fact that king BhimDev of Anhilwad Patan built the first Temple in present site in stone. This was said to have existed before the beginning of common era. So officially this would be considered as the first. The second temple was built by the Vallabhi chieftains who were Yadavs. This temple was constructed probably in the 7th century. In the year 725CE Junaid who was the Arab governor of SIND sent his army to destroy the temple. There after the Prathihar king Nagbhat II reconstructed the temple in 9th century. The 3rd temple was a substantial structure built from the red sandstone. In 1024 CE Mahmud of Ghazni in what central Afghanistan of would be today attacked Somnath after crossing the Thar desert. After looting all the riches of the temple, he destroyed most of it, Including the main Shivlingam. The 4th temple was then constructed by the Parmar King Bhoj of Malwas and the Solanki king Bhim of Anilwawad sometime in the 11th century. The wooden structure had to be replaced because of wear and tear. King kumar pal of pali replaced this temple to a stone one. That would have been the 5th one. In the year 1296 the temple was yet again disintegrated and eventually destroyed by Turkic Afghan Sultan Allaudin Khilji’s army. Mahipal Dev the Chudasama king of Saurashtra rebuilt the temple in the early part of the 12th century. His son Khengara installed the Shivlingam around 15 years later. This was the 6th, Somanath Temple. In 1375 the temple was attacked by the Muzaffar shah Zafar the sultan of Gujarat. Somanath was planted again by Mahmud Begada another sultan of Gujarat in 1451. The final blow fell in 1701 when the temple was destroyed by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. He built a mosque on the site of the temple. Around 80 years later another temple was built at a site adjacent to the mosque jointly by Peshwa of Pune, Raja Bhosle of Nagpur, Chatrapati Bhosle of Kolhapur, Queen Ahilya bai Holkar of Indore, Patil Bhuv shinde of Gwalior. This was the 7th temple. More than 160 years passed before Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel India’s first home minister took upon himself the responsibility of reconstructing the temple at the original site. The mosque was shifted to the nearby site and the Pran prathista ceremony invoking GOD was performed in the temple by the first president of India. Dr. Rajendra Prasad. 11-May-1951. This was the 8th and current temple.

Zakaria was a Persian traveller who wrote about Somnath Temple in the 13th century translated title would be “Monuments of countries and memoirs of Men”. He had given the description of the temple and vivid details of its destruction by Mohmud Ghazni. He writes that among the wonders of Somnath was the temple and its Idol called Somnath. This Idol was in the middle of the temple without anything to support it from below or to suspend it from above. It was held in highest honour among Hindus and whoever saw it was stuck with amazement weather it was a Muslim or Infidel. Hindus would go on a pilgrimage whenever there was an eclipse of a moon more than a hundred thousand. Everything of the most precious was brought there as offerings. The edifice was built upon 56 teak pillars covered with lead. The shrine of the Idol was dark but was lighted by the jewel chandeliers of great value. The solid gold chains with bells weighed nearly 200 tones.

SOMANATH EXPERIENCE & ARCHITECTURE

The exquisite temple sits in the celebrated city of Somnath situated in the shore of the sea and washed by its waves. The most significant pilgrimage sites for Hindus and is also the first of 12 jyotirlinga temples in India. We entered the temple following the long queue of devotees walked in and out after Linga darshanam and decided to explore its external beauty.

ARCHITECTURE: https://www.gujarattourism.com/saurashtra/gir-somnath/somnath-temple.html

Somnath Temple: Late Evening

Hit by a sense of calmness and cosmic energy the moment I step inside the premises the entire time in that precinct was just out of the world experience for me, more so because of its legendry historical past. With almost choregraphed movements elated by the sight of the temple I walked with others. I could not help but lose myself into the figment of imagination marvelled at the power of the mind trying to reconstruct the same not one or two but 8 times. A massive timeless beauty. Oblivious to my surroundings I was engrossed consuming every bit of architecture. I now could easily discern that it was a combination of Nagara, Hoysala and Dravida style of architecture. The Adishtana undoubtedly resembling Hoysala architecture.

As we sat for almost 40 to 45 minutes on the lawn behind the temple I could only gape and wondered with the history of this Incredible and mind-blowing piece of Architecture. Still relishing the sight which came across the horizon of my heart gracing it with its beauty I walked like a lost soul to join the others.

We assembled back at the choutry by 7.45 pm. Dinner was served. Still dazed with the experience of Somanath we ate dinner almost in silence unlike our chatty selves. Lemon Rasam particularly was very tasty. We all relaxed, chatting as we waited for the cooking team to eat their dinner, clean up and join us. I made a quick call to Sameeksha (my daughter) who was staying at my mother's home to enquire about her performance in her exams. Somehow, I missed her here the most. Soon it was time to hop into our bus as we resumed our journey back to Ahmedabad by 9.15 pm.

My only apprehension of night travel in the bus was to find an appropriate position to sleep. I kept twisting and tossing all night. Uncomfortable and discomposed as I tried to position my arms, legs, and head suitably for most part of the night. It felt as though the movement of bus slow and laboured. I guess I might have had just about 2 hours of sleep in the night.

Day 5 : To be continued ... click here

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA - Day 3

2023-10-14T16:46:00.003+05:30

Om Namoh Narayanaya

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA

(2nd to 12th Aug 2023)

Author: Sindhu Satish (Architect & Professor)

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Every inch of my Bhaarat is a Teerthabhumi!

- Swami Vivekananda

DAY 3 - AUG 4th, 2023

GOMTI DWARAKA, BEYT DWARKA, RUKMINI DWARKA

Reaching Dwaraka by 4.00am we got out of our bus bleary eyed and entered Hotel “Swati”. Coming out of double height elegantly designed lobby the receptionist greeted and welcomed us in. A central seating hall separated the dining area from the lobby. At its rear end a staircase and a lift led to the upper floors. This seating hall formed a courtyard kind of a space with Corridors looking into this opening while giving access to rooms on all floors. I was little apprehensive about the hotel after what we experienced at Ahmedabad. However, once I entered the small but well-designed, neatly kept room and a super clean bathroom, I was happy. I tried to catch up on some sleep but in vain. Nevertheless, by 6.30 am we were already dressed up and gulping fresh, hot coffee which was served in the back yard of the hotel. I could hear the callings of peacocks although failed to locate it anywhere around the compound. One by one everyone from our group assembled in the seating area and soon we headed out to THE Dwarkadhish temple.

We ladies were all in madisar (traditional Iyengar style saree), hence took the local rickshaw while men decided to walk to the temple. It was about few hundred meters from the hotel where we stayed.

We sighted a breathtaking profile of a tall shikara as soon as we reached the neck of the approach road to the temple precinct. Above the stupi was the first Dwaja (flag) flying. After depositing our phones and footwears. We quickly fell into the lines which took men and women in separate queues nside. As we entered the courtyard, magnificent temple of Dwarkadhish held our attention.

Sketch by Ravi Krishnan

I stood there for a moment longer than the others appreciating the architecture, consuming its beauty before running to join the queue blissfully unaware of the possible crowd inside. I was taken by surprise with crowded ladies queue. The choc-a-block crowd was overwhelming but oozing out excitement from the chanting of Radhe Radhe. I stood stupefied not sure of which way to go. The crowd seemed impenetrable, yet I managed to stay in some line amidst all the push pulls and loud chanting. Divine darshan of Dwarkadhish left me in a trance. I was not sure if I had a good look at him. Wondering and lost in those thoughts I came out only to be pulled back again by my friend into what seemed like a secondary queue where both men and women entered, and this was short route which took us straight Infront of the sanctum. Infectious that it was we continued to go again and again in the short queue to feast our eyes of Divine Darshanam of Dwarkadhish. Finally, after four rounds we were happy and decided to see other deities in the precinct. We rode back in the rickshaws to Hotel Swati to have our breakfast. It was 8. 30 am. We trouped out again at 9.30 am towards temple greedily for few more darshans for it was only post lunch we were to visit Beyt Dwaraka.

This time a spontaneous conversation was picked up by a young local temple priest who recognised us as Sri Vaishnavas. Of course, dressed in traditional attire there was no doubt we stood out in the entire crowd. Nihal (the young priest) enthusiastically told us about Sthala purana, Dwarkadhish temple rituals, importance behind them and symbolic architecture of temple etc. while we stood waiting Nihal told us about how his ancestors who came from the Lineage of Vasudeva * Yadava clan and that he is very proud continuing his service in the temple. Nihal promised us to show Rajbhog Arthi, and so we remained in the prakara. With enriched awareness of the temple rituals unaware of the unexpected turn of events, I keenly waited along with the others in a corner of the temple prakara consuming all the activities around us. Amidst moving crowds, a group of ladies sat singing bhajans right in the center of the prakara, while another group of locals were busy with some more rituals in another corner. Harboured with fear and respect to the Lord Dwarkadhish coming from rural places these people seemed blissful in their own world.

KRISHNA’S CLAN: We are aware that Lord Krisna belonged to the Yadava clan. This clan could have been the first democratic society ever. The were a confederation of 18 tribes. Each tribe had their own chieftain. However, all of them elected one Yadav leader as their supreme governor. Lord Krishna was the elected governor and thus was the leader or head of all the 18 tribes but without a title of a King.

As we stood waiting Nihal went inside and tried to make a special way for us. "There was a great roar from the delirious crowd “gathered near the entrance line simply flooded in as soon as the screen was pulled, and Dwarkadhish unveiled with all the Rajbhog placed in front of him ready for the Aarthi. We were conveniently pushed behind and didn't have the luxury of time. Soon Rajbhog darshan was over. We had lost a good chance to observe Rajbhog seva. However, although I was utterly disappointed, I told myself to come again for the night darshan with resolve in mind and hope in my heart.

KRISHNA’S CITY OF DWARAKA

Lord Krishna and his beloved Golden city of Dwaraka would have been part of an evolved settlement, THE SARASWATHI DWARAKA. Krishna’s city was called Dwaravati, in Samskrutha, which means the city of many doors. Common belief of the local people was that the Lord Krishna’s city was submerged 6 times and rebuilt on each occasion. Hence the modern ay Dwaraka is supposedly the 7th incarnation of the original. Dwarka was an embodiment of Spatha Dweepa.

Krishna asks the divine architect Vishwakarma to build Dwarka city. Vishwakarma builds the city on the submerged remains of the previous empire Kushrasthali (ancient name of Dwarka). Massive expanse of land was reclaimed from the sea to achieve this. The fabulously beautiful city of Dwaraka that emerged in Gujarat was a city of palaces gardens, lakes, temples, sculptures, and unimaginable wealth.

Few kms off the cost of Gujarat the legendary city of Dwarika was explored in 80s by the famous archaeologist S.R. Rao led expedition. They dived the into the seas off the coast of modern day Dwaraka to search for the legendary Dwaraka. The team soon discovered stone walls underwater and 6 layers of ruins, proof of what was written in the ancient text that the city had been built upon previous cities. They located an ancient harbour seal with animal motifs, Vishnu idols, and even massive triangular stone anchors indicative of the maritime trade of Dwarika. The archaeological survey of India and the National institute of Oceanography initially discovered the submerged ruins just off the present day’s city of Dwaraka at a depth of 15 to 20m below sea level. Dwarka is a continuum a city built and rebuilt 7 times. The most recent reconstruction is the modern-day city and the oldest is out in the ocean where rising sea levels have inundated it. The estimation of it is around 9 km along the seabed of the gulf of Kutch at a depth of between 25 and 40 m. As a proof to the Dwarka here is the same Dwarka that has been described in the Mahabharat we need to do a cursory reading of the Harivansh. It tells us that the land was reclaimed from the ocean to construct Dwarka.

This text describes how Dwarka was conceived and constructed.

कल्पितेयं मया भूमिः पश्य त्वं देवसद्मवत् !

नाम चास्याः कृतं पुर्याः ख्यातिं यदुपास्यति!!

Lord Krishna said, ‘Look at this land selected by me. It is almost like heaven. I have also decided a name for this city by which it will become famous.’

इयं द्वारवती नाम पृथिव्यां निर्मिता मया!

भविष्यति पुरी रम्या शक्रस्येव अमरावती!!

‘This city made by me on Earth, named Dwaravati, will be splendid like Indra’s city of Amaravati.’

तस्मिन्नेव ततः काले शिल्पाचार्यो महामतिः!

विश्वकर्मा सुरश्रेष्ठः कृष्णस्य प्रमुखे स्थितः!!

At that very instant, the preceptor of architects, Vishwakarma, the best among the devas with great intellect, stood before Lord Krishna.

विश्वकर्मोवाच

शक्रेण प्रेषितः तव विष्णो धृतव्रतः !

किंकरःसमनुप्राप्तः शाधि मां किं करोमि ते !!

Vishvakarma said, ‘O Vishnu, the One who is firmly resolute! Sent here urgently by Indra, I have come here as your servant. Tell me, what do you want me to do?’

तदियं पूः प्रकाशार्धं निवेश्य मयि सुव्रत!

मत्प्रभावानुरूपैश्च गृहैश्चेयं समन्ततः!!

Lord Krishna said, ‘Construct a city for me, suitable to my splendour, along with houses showing your incredible skill.’

मम स्थानमिदं कारय यथा वै त्रिदिवे तथा!

मर्त्याः पश्यन्तु मे लक्ष्मीं पुरीं यदुकुलस्य च!!

‘Make my palace as though it were in heaven. Let men see my city as the seat of prosperity of the Yadava people.’

सर्वमेतत् करिष्यामि यत्त्वयाभिहितं प्रभो!

पुरीत्वियं जनस्य न पर्याप्ता भविष्यतीति !!

Vishwakarma said, ‘O Lord, I will do all that you wish but the area that you have marked will be insufficient as a city for your people.’

यदिच्छेत्सागरहा किमचिदुत्क्रष्टुमापि तोयरत ततः स्वायतलक्षण्य पुरी स्यातपुरुषोत्तम।

‘If the king of the oceans yields some space, O the best among men, then the city will be adequate and proper with all good signs.’

एव,’ प्रत्युवाच सर खनसिक्सबमेफामुक्तस्ततः कृष्णः प्रागेव कृतनिष-चायह सागरमसरिताम् नाथमुवच वदतं वराह |

Hearing what was said, Lord Krishna, the best among speakers, who had already made up his mind, spoke to the ocean—the lord of rivers.

समुद्र दशा च द्वे च योजनानि जलशये प्रतिसंहृतमात्मा यद्यस्ति मयि मन्यते।

‘O Ocean! Please leave an area of ten and two yojanas within you if you respect me.’

अवकाशे त्वया दत पुरयम् ममकं बलं पर्याप्तविशाय रम्य समाग्राम विसाहश्यति।

‘With the area that would be yielded by you, this city will be sufficiently large to support my entire army.

ततः कृष्णस्य वचनं श्रुत्वा नदानदीपतिः स मरुतेन योगेन उत्सर्ज जलाशयम्।

Hearing Krishna’s words, the ocean, along with the help of wind, left the area hitherto occupied by water.

In ancient texts even science was conveyed in magical terms. A complex task of engineering land reclamation has been described as praying to the ocean to yield 12 yojanas of land. All the structures that were discovered by the archaeological team so far show that the foundations are not on the ground, but they are on a bed specially made of boulders. The traditional method of land reclamation involves throwing massive quantity of boulders into the sea. As the water withdraw one is then free to construct on the bed of rock thus been created. This proves that land reclamation was undertaken in ancient times. Hindu scriptures talk of the universe consisting of Sapta dweep – All 7 islands could have been in ancient Dwaraka itself. It was the world!

HISTORY & ARCHITECTURE – GOMTHI DWARKA

Sitting impressively at the cusp of Gomti River and the Arabian, Jagat Mandir also known as Trilok Sundar (the most beautiful in all the three worlds) of Dwarkadhish, the main temple at the Dwarka city of Gujarat’s Devbhoomi Dwarka district is one among the Pancha Dwarka or Nava Dwarka. This temple site protected by the Archaeological Survey of India is visited by Vaishnava devotees all through the year in great number. Originally believed to be built by Vajranabh, the great grandson of Lord Krishna, more than 2500 years ago, it is a glorious structure.

In 800CE, the temple was renovated by philosopher and theologian Adi Shankaracharya, and a memorial of his visit is placed within the temple’s complex. Thereafter, there are believed to have been several renovations. The temple faced a major destruction in 1472. Thus, the present structure of the temple seen in Dwarka was rebuilt in the 16th century in the Chalukya style of architecture and is quite different from the original temple.

The temple is built of soft limestone and consists of a sanctum, vestibule, and a rectangular hall with porches on three sides. Its exquisitely carved Shikhar is of 7 storeys reaching 43 m high and the huge flag made from 52 yards of cloth over the kalash can be seen from as far away as 10 km. The flag which depicts the Sun and the Moon, symbolising that as long as Sun and the Moon exist, so will Lord Krishna. The walls contain carvings of mythical creatures as well as popular legends, pristine condition.

The temple has two gates – Swarga Dwar in the south and Moksha Dwar in the north. Moksha Dwar means the Door to Salvation. Salvation or Moksha is a key phenomenon linked to Lord Krishna since it is the central point of his message to Arjun in the Bhagavad Gita before war of Mahabharata ensued. This entrance connects the temple with the main market. On the other hand, the Swarga Dwar or Gate to Heaven leads to the Gomti River via the flight of 56 steps leading to the rear side of the edifice on the side of the river Gomti.

The grandeur of the temple is enhanced by Colourful dwaj which I believe is changed about 6 times. The temple is open to visitors between 6 am to 1 pm and then from 5 pm to 9:30 pm. Best time to visit the temple is during the Krishna Janmashtami, which marks the birth of Lord Krishna, as the festival is celebrated with much fervour and enthusiasm at the Dwarkadhish Temple.

Dwarkadhish Temple: Night view

We were aware that we must take a boat about 5 km in the ocean to reach Beyt Dwarka via Okha and that the boat connectivity can be sporadic and delayed in the evenings we left early by 3.00 pm after a sumptuous lunch and siesta.

Modern Dwarka that I saw on the way to Beyt Dwarka was simply a municipality of Jamnagar district in Gujarat, which seemed liked any other city of India hopelessly trying to cope with overcrowding, pollution, and traffic. I looked out of the window only to be greeted with usual mess like in any other city with potholed roads, stray dogs, vehicles, vendors justling for space a super chaos surrounding.

Description of Lord Krishna’s Golden city of Dwarka now occupied my mind. Excitement built up in anticipation of seeing Beyt Dwarka the residence of Lord Krishna during his ruling years at Dwarka my imagination was growing richer by minute. Floating in that imagination I sat oblivious to the surroundings. Before I realised, I was told that we were at Okha. It was just about 20 mins from Dwarka by road.

We got down from the bus and walked to the ferry terminal to get into the boat, which was identified by Balaji Maama, I could feel the sweat trickling down my back. The August air uncomfortably humid resulting in profuse perspiration. It was only drizzling lightly fortunately not heavy rains for, none of us carried any umbrellas. The boat ride in the ocean ended even before I could settle in to feel the ocean waft and the odour of the sea had just started to tickle my nose and we were already there. It took us only about 10 mins to reach. Upon reaching I saw scores of boats tied along the shore. We walked on what seemed like a long edge road about 300mts from the ferry terminal to reach the temple. There were many petty tea and sweet stalls along this road near temple. We were not allowed to carry mobile phones, but no place to deposit them. Hence, we all dumped them into a big bag and left it with Balaji Maama who waited for us outside. The temple closes at 12:30 pm and opens only at 4.30 pm hence we had to wait a good full hour before we could go in. The precinct was a huge courtyard which was dominated by a big banyan tree shading a vast ground below it. The place was incredibly crowded with many devotees. Like in all other temples here too there was two separate queues for women and men. The modest temple fine and beautiful sculptures showcasing scenes from Krishna’s life on its external wall. The deity resembles that of Dwarkadhish at Gomthi Dwarka. Most of this seemed to have reconstructed or restored on the old ruins. However, I was utterly disappointed probably because I was hoping to find some reference to my imagined golden city. I could neither appreciate the poorly maintained temple surroundings nor the lack of crowd management from the temple administration.

We climbed into the same boat that took us to Beyt and soon were on the sea. We came to know that the ferry rides would soon be a thing of the past as we saw a cable sea- bridge already manifested would soon be ready that would connect Okha to Beyt Dwarka making the island accessible by road. In the bus as we were heading back to Dwaraka, I noticed the Okha port housing 3000 odd fishing boats.

Beyt Dwarka: Ferry

HISTORY & ARCHITECTURE – BEYT DWARKA

Idol of Lord is at least 5000-year-old, dating minimum 3500 BC. It was created and worshipped by Rukmini Devi herself, thus being of significance.https://www.tirthayatra.org/bet-dwarka/

On the way back we visited RUKMINI DWARKA, yet another beautiful modest temple dedicated to Lord Lord Krishna’s chief consort Rukmini, incarnation of Goddess Laksmi.

RUKMINI DWARKA: 2500 years old reconstructed over times and the current one being built in 12th century with some reconstructions as late as 19th century this temple is located relatively at the outskirts of the Dwarka city. Carvings of gods and goddesses embellish the exteriors, and the main idol of Rukmini is housed in the sanctum. Modest but beautiful temple. As we started to walk up and into the modest temple for Rukmini Devi’s darshan we realised a crowd gathered already were being addressed by the priest. He was reciting the legend associated with this temple. We gathered behind the crowd. The place was simply infested by houseflies and soon they were getting too irritating. I was extremely distracted by these houseflies and could hardly focus on what was being told by the priest. Once the crowd started to move in, I let it slide from my thoughts and came to my senses, as planned before donating for water to the person who sat in a corner to collect the money for water on the way back after darshan. Goddess Rukmini looked beautiful with sankha, chakra and gada in her hands.

Rukmini Devi’s Temple

STHALA PURANA: After marriage, the newlywed couple (Lord Krishna and Rukmini) invited sage Durvasa to their abode seeking his blessings. But Sage Durvasa told them that he will come, only when they take him personally on the chariot without the horses. Sage Durvasa is renowned for anger. Lord Krishna and his wife Rukmini pulled the chariot removing the horses as desired by the great sage. After a certain distance, Rukmini was thirsty and informed Lord Krishna. He pressed his toe on the earth and Ganges came there to quench their thirst. However, when they forgot to ask their guest if he wanted some water as courtesy Sage got angry. Stating that he was insulted he cursed Rukmini, that she will remain there separated from her husband for 12 years. He also cursed that the water surrounding the area will be salty. Rukmini did a great yagna for 12 years and then was united with Lord Krishna. Pilgrims visiting this temple therefore can donate good water to the locals for a money, if they wish.

On return to our hotel, I wasted no time, quickly freshened up changed into fresh clothes, went to dining hall for our daily dose of evening coffee. Then I got out with Satish and Ranga to see the Dwarkadhish temple in the night light. We took a rickshaw that left us to the Gomti ghat at the rear end of the Temple. With almost choregraphed movements as I walked on the edge of the ghat feeling the cold wind caressing my face I could see the tip of the shikhara with a golden profile like a Figment of imagination. I walked now hurriedly to see it from a closer distance. As we came to the foot of the north entrance 50 steps leading to Swarga Dwar from Gomti ghat I was elated by the sight of gorgeously lit temple shikara and dwaj.

We decided to walk around it to reach Moksha Dwar in the south which connected the main market since the others would come there to meet us before going into the temple. We met the others deposited our phones and footwears and proceeded to have 8.00pm Shayan Aarthi and darshan.

Anticipating the usual crowded situation, I carefully made my way into the queue and stood on my toes to get the better view of the Aarthi. I managed to balance myself on a ledge near the door which gave me a straight view to the divine sight of Dwarkadhish. I stood there for the entire time of Aarthi. I truly cannot describe the feelings of that time in words. My eyes brimming with tears of happiness thanking the Lord for his gracious darshan I could only mutter hope in the heart never lets u down. I guess this truly made it up for the loss of Rajbhog Aarthi.

We ladies could not find the men and so we decided to go out and do some quick shopping. We must have been at store for more than 30 to 40 mins and still men were not out of the temple yet. Wondering we stood near the footwear counter waiting for them. It must have been close to 15 mins when they came out grinning end to end. Taken over by the desire to see the Lord again and again, they went 4 times in the queue for darshan and the last time they were stuck as the screen was drawn and until it was opened, they could not move. Anyways, everyone seemed tremendously happy and so we all hoped into rickshaws to return to the hotel.

Soon we were holding plates and lined up again, only now to worship our bellies.

Day 4 : To be continued ... click here

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA - Day 2

2023-10-14T16:08:00.006+05:30

Om Namoh Narayanaya

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA

(2nd to 12th Aug 2023)

Author: Sindhu Satish (Architect & Professor)

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Every inch of my Bhaarat is a Teerthabhumi!

- Swami Vivekananda

DAY 2 - AUG 3rd, 2023

Dakor Dwaraka

As instructed, we were all gathered in the dining hall at sharp 5.00 am. We sat sipping hot coffee eagerly to hear about the day’s schedule. We were asked to assemble at 6.00 am to proceed to Dakor for Ranchhodrai’s darshanam. This would be our first place & temple among Pancha Dwaraka.

Why did Lord Krishna shift to Dwarka from Mathura? Why is he referred as Ranchhodrai?

Sri Krishna was born in Mathura which was not less than 1000 km North East of Dwarka. This brings us to wonder why the new city of Dwaraka was established so far from his birthplace. Now as we recount, in the Mahabharatha, Lord Krishna kills his maternal uncle and the evil ruler Kamsa of Mathura. He then places Kamsa’s father Ugrasena as chief of Mathura. Jarasandha Kamsa’s father-in-law who was the powerful ruler of Magadha wanted to avenge Kamsa’s death and attacked Mathura 18 times. However, he fails due to the defensive tactics put in place by Lord Krishna and his brother Balarama. But soon Lord Krishna realizes that all the material resources were expending only to defend Mathura. For the sake of progress of the people it is but imperative to make a strategic withdrawal. Thus, the new city of Dwaraka was to be located 1000 of kms to the southwest of Mathura which was simply out of reach of Jarasandha’s army. Mathura lay along the banks of the river Yamuna a tributary of the once mighty Saraswathi. If Lord Krishna had simply followed the route the Yamuna to the point where it met Saraswathi and followed Saraswati to the point where she drained out into the sea it would be the Run of Kutch a metaphoric stone’s throw away from Dwarka. Mathura and Dwarka were simply the starting and ending points provided by the bountiful Saraswathi. This decision resulted in Lord Krishna being branded “Ranchod.” The one who leaves the battlefield for ever. Even today people of Gujarat refer to Lord Krishna as Ranchod.

At 6:00 am, ladies dressed traditionally in sarees (some in Madisar) men in Kachche panche, shalya with tiruman (Nama) and Sricharanam everyone gathered at the hotel’s lobby fully charged. We clicked few selfies as we waited for two AC buses to arrive. The bus which took us around the previous day was to be now replaced by another AC bus of larger capacity. By 6.30 am we were all settling in the bus and in two and half hour reached later we were at Dakor by 9.00 am. We were all taken to what looked like a Mutt. It had a huge Hall with a raised chamber which housed Krishna and Radha deities. Few cells on to the right had idols of Gurus and Archaryas including Ramanujacharya. On the left side of the hall were many rooms, typical rooms on the mezzanine floor above them indicating, that at times this served as a wedding hall. Tasty Pongal, vada, halwa with coffee was quickly served. We then walked about 200 to 250 m to Dakor temple.

I could feel my adrenaline rush as I came out into the buzzing street which seemed awfully chaotic. With tourists, temple visitors walking in groups, locals mostly on two wheelers, dogs, cows all on the same narrow street. The stretch had usual souvenir shops on either side with colourful luring items displayed. I couldn’t help but make note of things that I might want to see on the way back. The loud and continuous horns from passing vehicles pierced our ears masking all other possible street noises. This seemed the only way that local people on bikes could move through this street full of people and stray animals. We also managed to wade through this narrow galli to emerge right outside the temple precinct. soon we identified the long queue along the outside wall of the temple and hurriedly joined it.

As we moved swiftly with crowd from one of the side entries to the right, I was dumb struck by overwhelming sight. The hall looked round and vast with a high ceiling of the central large dome richly painted. Although baffled by the pushing confused crowd I could not but loose myself in the admiration of the beauty of this temple. Every inch be it ceiling of the dome or walls all covered in glittering colourful paintings. Stories from Lord Krishna’s life. The maddening crowd simply pushed everyone ahead. I had to forcefully tear my mesmerized self from the physical envelope of the temple towards the sanctum which was located on the right side as I moved closer to the sanctum sanctorum. I struggled and strutted my neck out amidst the entangled people to get a glimse of Dakorji , but suddenly saw a young priest swinging from the high platform in front of the sanctum tied on a rope holding a big bowl taking it right into the assembled crowd of devotees to collect their offerings. I managed to put a note that I was clutching all along in my palm and just then I was shoved by the crowd on to the railing which separated the rest of the crowd mostly men. I managed to rest on the railing raising on my toe stood straight balancing myself. I was now directly in line with the stunning deity of Dakorji. He looked beautiful adorned with gold jewels and expensive clothes. He appeared to be smiling as I stood there for a long time at the edge buttressing against the railing from pushing women in the crowd who appeared like waves in the ocean raising and falling. Standing there for a long while satisfied with good darshan of Dakorji I decided to join the ocean of people. I was literally pushed out. It was only when I came out clearly separated from my group that I realised there were two separate queues for men and women. The men were at the back while we women were given the privilege of standing in the line right opposite the diety. Soon, one by one our group members assembled out and moved ahead to locate ourselves strategically to see the flag (dwaja) hoisted on the shikara. At that time a person assigned was changing the flag. We then sat in a shade and recited few shlokas with our guru Ravi Maama. Chanting shlokas inside the temple gave me an unexplainable happiness and peace.

Coming out of the temple we gathered our footwear and went straight to Gomati Ghat which was right there a few meters way. The ghat was very dirty and disappointed me. River looked extremely filthy with all the garbage trashed into the river gathered effortlessly on the edge. However, the small domed structures that sat lined on the other side of river edge defined the skyline. This looked beautiful. Some of us tasted the local savoury dish Dakor Gota with thick curds which was amazingly tasty. I managed to do a bit of quick shopping and walked back to where our bus was stationed near the mutt.

Dakor Ghat

Architecture, Dakor Temple -The main temple situated near the banks of Gomti is enclosed by a fort wall. The temple sits on a high plinth with steps on all side and is surrounded by a courtyard. The temple is covered with 8 domes 24 turrets. The central dome is about 27m high crowned with golden Kalasha and a white silk flag is the tallest temple in this district of Kheda. Although the temple built of brick walls and stone pillars has no carvings like the typical temples this structure built in 1772 CE built by Shri Gopalrao Jagannath Tambwekar a shroff of a peshwa’s court in Poona, is magnificent. The main cupola derives its influence from Maharashtrian style of temple architecture. The main deity Ranchhodrai is a petite framed idol made in black touchstone about 1m tall. Throne of Ranchodrai is an ornate masterpiece of wooden carving plated in silver and gold. The upper floors of the gate there is a tokorkhana (Music room) where music is played on shehnai and drums daily every three hours.

Dakor- Ranchhodrai’s temple

We travelled back to Ahmedabad reaching our hotel by 2.30pm. Finishing lunch, soon we headed to our respective rooms. We had about an hour to take a quick nap and pack a small bag with clothes for two days. Rest of our bags were to be kept in one of the two rooms identified. This was to be kept under lock and key until our return from Dwaraka.

We assembled back in the lobby with our small bags, had evening coffee and hopped into the bus. By 5.30 pm we were on our way to Dwaraka. It was a night journey to Dwarka. For almost 2 hours inside the bus Ravi Maama kept us all busy and occupied for he was conducting a quiz on the deities of our Hindu pantheon. Time flew as we enjoyed this thought-provoking quiz. At 8.30pm our bus stopped near a hotel to serve us dinner. While we were eating someone from our group noticed Havmore Icecream store and that's it, within next few minutes we were all busy selecting our favourite flavours. Enjoying Ice cream, we strode back to our bus. I failed despondently trying very hard to fall asleep. I read a novel for a while, listened to audio book sometime. Somehow sleep evaded me for a long time. Bumpy road added to the discomfort enormously. To me, it seemed like a never-ending night journey to Dwaraka. With another short break at the break of dawn we reached Dwarka at 4.00 am.

Day 3 : To be continued ... click here

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA - Day 1

2023-10-14T12:14:00.006+05:30

Om Namoh Narayanaya

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA

(2nd to 12th Aug 2023)

Author: Sindhu Satish (Architect & Professor)

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Every inch of my Bhaarat is a Teerthabhumi!

- Swami Vivekananda

DAY 1 - AUG 2nd, 2023

Bengaluru

The shrill sound of the alarm clock woke me and my husband up instantly. It was 2.00am. We hurriedly pulled ourselves out of the bed to finish bath, quickly got ready and soon were wheeling all our suitcases near the front door by 3.15am. My heart thumped with excitement although saddened a little since Sameeksha (our daughter, studying in II PUC) had to cancel her ticket due to term exams. While I gave her few instructions, Satish raced up to first floor guest room to wake my brother Vasista. He was supposed to drop us in the car to our friend’s place from where with two other families we would be going to Airport.

INDIGO flight 6E586 was scheduled to leave at 6.00am. We were at airport by 4.30am. Since we had both uploaded our flight and personal details into Digi Yatra app, we got into the Kempegowda airport in a hassle-free manner. Of course, we had to wait for others who had to enter through conventional process before checking in. Soon, as we (Satish, me, Ranga, Radhika, Rukmini Maami, Surya Maama, Shree and Balanujan) entered the waiting lobby, post checking in we met Ravi Anna, Vatsala Akka , and their son Dhruv. Eleven of us from Bengaluru. On the flight we all enjoyed methi chapatis rolls smeared with thokku and pickle. Rukmini Maami had made some yummy thokku, Radhika had packed some methi chapatis and pickle. I tried hard to shut my eyes just to catchup some sleep seeing others do so but in vain. Luckily it was only 2 hours flight to Ahmedabad from Bengaluru, and soon we were landing.

8.15 am sharp we landed at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Airport at Ahmedabad. As we moved towards belt number 2 to collect our luggage, Ravi Maama stood grinning with his family waiting for us. Delighted, happy greetings were exchanged. They helped us to load our luggage on to the trolleys and soon we were all out trying to locate our bus. It took us almost 45 minutes to collect all our luggage from belt number 2 and to come out. Huddling into the bus we rode off to the hotel by 9.00 am.

The avenue of trees along the road caught my attention since they looked pretty with lower part of their trunk being painted with brick red colour and white polka dots. At some points where these trees had green wild background they resembled like spotted dears in a lush green forest.

I enjoyed viewing the city streetscape, old houses with lovely balcony, grill designs. All these buildings must have seen their glory days in 70s, 80s. I found the exclusive BRTS lanes very practical and sensible. Perhaps this was possible as the roads were wide all through the city.

We reached hotel "Cambay Sapphire" at Vishala by 9.40am. As I entered the hotel a musty smell greeted me. It felt like a smallest shake would make the plaster fall off flaking from the walls. As I made my way through stairs to our room assigned in upper floor almost deserted shabby, musty corridors, it the appeared as though the spirit of this hotel was long gone. Pandemic impact on this hotel was obvious and lack of maintenance evident. Two rooms were given immediately to just freshen up before every family got their own. We took a brief break and trouped into the dining hall. Despite the methi paratha roll that I ate during flight I was still very hungry. The catering team were already there and they welcomed us by serving hot Pongal, sambar vada and chutney. We finished breakfast with piping hot coffee. They gave us each a pair of shining stainless steel tumblers that we were to keep it along with our plates (which we carried from home) all the time throughout the yathra.

It was an open day. This meant we could spend the day at Ahmedabad with our own itinerary. We spent some time discussing all the feasible options of places that we could visit. We decided to start with Kankariya Lake, which is a huge manmade lake in the middle of Ahmedabad.

Kankariya Lake - Boating

Despite the August heat and sultry weather of Ahmedabad, I enthusiastically entered Kankariya Lake with the others. The Butterfly Park inside was closed, a mini train which went around the entire lake was paused since it was noon and not many people around. Therefore, we decided to take boat and enjoyed the shortest boat ride ever which lasted for only 20 mins. I believe the lake comes alive late in the evening with all lights and people milling around. Most of us were not hungry although it was half past 1.00 pm. We headed towards our next destination Sabarmati Ashram. It was 2.00 pm when we reached the ashram.

This was my second visit to Ashram after a decade. Last visit was with my students from architecture school. Elated to be there again for two reasons, it was the month of August, Independence Day was just a week later which lifted my heart with patriotic spirits and secondly this month in our podcast “Kannada Pusthaka Parichaya” we were reviewing works of few Kannada authors who wrote about freedom fighters. I had recorded a review on “Ananda Matt” which tells about the birth of Bankimchandra’s “Vande Mataram”, our National Song

Located on the banks of river Sabarmati the ashram has an ambience that is almost peace and tranquillity in building form. It has a Museum and Hriday Kunj, the residence of Mahatma Gandhi (from 1917–1930). Located between a prison and a cemetery, Gandhi believed that a Satyagrahi is likely to end his life either in prison or in a cemetery and this was the reason he chose this place to stay. We got to know that Seth Mangaldas, an Industrialist had given the seed money for the planning of this Ashram. It is also known as Gandhi Ashram, Harijan Ashram, Satyagraha Ashram. This is also the place from where Gandhi began his Dandi March.

Gandhi Memorial Museum

Built as a tribute to Sabarmati Ashram and designed by one of India’s renowned master architects Charles Correa, Gandhi Memorial Museum attracts many visitors.Completed in 1963, the museum is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the life and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, during his stay in the Ashram from 1917 to 1930. The museum houses a rich collection of Gandhiji’s personal items, including books, letters, and photographs, and serves as a testimony to his life and ideals. Some important ones include excellent captures of Gandhiji's Satyagraha, Dandi march 12th March 1930, Gandhiji's invitation to Tagore for Sahitya Parishat, Gandhiji's letters, Ashram activities, interesting timeline of Sabarmati ashram from 1915 to 1930, Swadeshi and swaraj movements, founding of Gujarat Vidyapith, educational experiments, Letters to Mohan Charlie, Sarojini Naidu. Some interesting intriguing questions and answers of Kasthurba and Gandhiji...as he lovingly calls her Ba....asserts that he finds only her bravery enduring as years pass. Her quest to fight for Nation’s freedom... advocates strongly to boycott of foreign clothes...and that women are stronger adn have common sense...can understand the language of sorrow. etc, all undoubtedly evoking patriotic feeling so strong as we can almost comprehend the time before independent India.

ARCHITECTURE: The museum’s design embodies the spirit of swadeshi, which describes Gandhiji’s philosophy of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. The architecture is characterized by its modest scale, using traditional building materials such as brick piers, stone floors, and tiled roofs to create a contemporary and traditional space. The museum uses a simple but delicately detailed column and beam structure. Load-bearing brick columns support concrete channels, which also support the wooden roof. The foundation is made of concrete and is raised a foot from the ground.

To reflect the simplicity of Gandhiji’s life and the incremental nature of a living institution, the architect used modular units 6 meters by 6 meters of reinforced cement concrete connecting open and covered spaces, allowing for eventual expansion. Correa’s subtle changes in the enclosure allow for variety in the module’s lighting, temperature, and visual permeability.

Gandhi Memorial Museum

By the time we were through with Ashrama, the sharp sting of hunger pierced all of us. I was now so hungry that I could wolf down anything edible put on table. Maha (Mahalakshmi) suggested that we could go to Nini’s kitchen since it is the closest and that food there was excellent. Well, by the time we reached it was 3.45pm well past lunch time. Luck evaded all of us since we had to wait eternally before our ordered dishes were served adding irritation to our already grumbling stomach. Pleasantly done interiors and AC kept me occupied for a while but soon peaking hunger and the endless wait made me restless. However, when the dishes arrived it tasted so delicious that all the anger melted in my mouth. Finishing lunch at teatime we realised that we are now too late to visit Adalaj vav and so decided to do some shopping. Some of us decided to go to GURJARI to buy authentic Gujarathi traditional sarees while the others went elsewhere for shopping. We managed to hire three rikshaws. We told one of the rikshaw guy the place and others to follow him. To our surprise this guy parked right in front of Gujari street grinning he said “elloh madam agaye”. I didn’t know whether to laugh or get upset. Instead of the “Gurjari “which is a Govt Store for authentic sarees, this street usually sold seconds. I then tried to make him understand that it was a wrong place but somehow, he refused to take us to the other place. Right then it started to drizzle. He was arguing and asked for exorbitant charge almost double the meter to take us to this new place. We were going bonkers and getting wet in the rain. I guessed he simply did not know that place. Meanwhile, Vatsala akka quickly checked google map and told us that it was just round the corner, less than half a kilometre. We decided to walk. What would be just 10 mins walk on a normal day it took us nearly 30 mins for we had to stop taking shelter couple of times as it started to rain heavily.

We returned to the hotel by 8.00 pm. Since we had extremely late lunch none of us were hungry but tired and sleepy. However, since dinner was ready, and caterers were waiting to serve we decided to have little besides, we were to receive the next day’s schedule by Balaji Maama (Tour Organizer) we dragged ourselves into the dining hall half sleepy. I was pleasantly surprised to see many elderly couples from Chennai who were to join us for Dwarka Yathra the next day already eating dinner. We were instructed to assemble at 5.00 am for coffee and later at 6.00 am to leave to our first destination Dakor.

Day 2 : To be continued ... click here

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA

2023-10-14T12:02:00.019+05:30

Om Namoh Narayanaya

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA

(2nd to 12th Aug 2023)

Author: Sindhu Satish (Architect & Professor)

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Every inch of my Bhaarat is a Teerthabhumi!

- Swami Vivekananda

READERS NOTE: 15-08-2023

This travelogue intends to not only share an exquisite experience of this memorable teerthayaatra but most importantly to share the benefits of taking up such an endeavour with Guru /Acharya who would, help discern the real purpose of teerthayaatra making it more meaningful and eventually helping us to gather essence of our Sanathana Parampara undoubtedly making us proud to be born in this land of “Lord Krishna” more so as a Sanathani.

Like any other travelogue this too would give a brief idea of itinerary, schedule of time, list of places that have been visited with brief information including Sthala Purana. It would also cover A brief Architecture, reference to Mahabharata, few Sketches made by members of the group at sites to add visual layer, and my own personal experience unleashing my imagination at the time of this endeavour highlighted in bold for, this would be the narrator’s perspective. (This part, however, could have been experienced differently by the others in the team).

It is given in three parts. The first part covers all the Pancha Dwarka including places which are part of Nava Dwarka. It also would cover briefly the other places covered on the way. Second part covers Pushkar. Third part covers Jaipur.

TEERTHAYAAThRA: तरणात तीर्थ इत्याह: Teertha means that which enables us to cross any blocks (worldly attachments) for our own elevation. A Kshetra where we can contemplate, meditate, introspect, and help ourselves to slowly release ourselves from this bhava bandana. Vishnu Dharma Sutra (2.16.17) considers Teerthayatra as one of the Saamanya Dharmas, that every sanathaniya should do in life. Skanda-Purana presents 6 saṁhitās (with several khaṇḍas each) each named after a teerthasthalam. Padmapuraana, Vayupuraana, Matsyapuraana & Skaandapurana all glorify the teerthakshetras.

तीर्थ-माहात्म्यम् : पुण्यदायकम्-fetches merits पापनिवारकम्-removes sins चित्तश द्धिकारकम्- purifies the mind.

It is said in Vamana-Puranam that those who perform teerthasnaanam become pure and their 7 generations of ancestors and descendants obtain punya.

Purpose of Teerthayatra could be broadly put into these four categories.

1. Dharmika - To fulfil deva-rna (obligations of nature, pitr-rna -obligations of our ancestors, and rshi-rnam, obligations of our sages

2. Maanasika - for mental contemplations japa dhyana etc

3. Aadhyaatmika- For spiritual benefits of kshetra-punyam

4. Kaamya - for seeking purushartha (worldly aspirations) benefits. In Devi-Bhagavatam Sage Ajaavana explains to Prahlada -Without bhakti one cannot profit by living in or visiting teerthakshetras. Teerthayaatra must be done with Bhakthi and humility.

(Source: Temple studies- Vibhu Academy, AUTHOR’S Personal notes)

STRUCTURE & PRESENTATION

1. Narrative follows journey in chronological order of the places and temples that we visited.

2. Sthala puranas based on what was gathered at temples from local guides, some from websites and personal notes, extracts from Book “The krishna key” by Ashwin Sanghi.

3. Basic description of architecture, links to know more along with some illustrations done on site by Sri. Ravi Krishnan Narasimhan and I, Smt. Sindhu Satish to enhance the visual material and to support the read.

4. In bold are the situational emotions, my experiences although personal and mostly subjective it is still provided to add tiny wings to the reader’s imagination.

PANCH DWARIKA – These are the Kshetras that are associated with Lord Krishna, either by his presence there or by his devotees honouring his legacy. The other important Kshetras like Brindavan and Mathura are not covered in this Yaatra.

Nava Dwaraka is a collection of 9 temples which are the holy Dhams and is held at extremely high reverence by the Vaishnav followers. These 9 temples are – Gomti Dwarka, Rukmini Dwarka, Beyt Dwaraka, Moola Dwaraka, Sudama Dwarka, Nathdwara, Kankroli Dwaraka, Prabhas Teerth and Dakor Dwaraka. Prabhas Teerth is also referred as Mukthi Dwaraka. Refurbished into a corniche-style area for visitors, the Triveni Sangam marks the confluence of rivers Hiran, Kapila and the Saraswati, where they meet the Arabian Sea on the west coast.

Dakor Dwaraka, Gomati Dwaraka, Beyt Dwaraka, Nathdwara and Kankroli Dwarka are the Pancha Dwaraka Kshethras.

Although Pushkar does not fall under this category it is still a very sacred place, and hence has been covered in this yatra.

15 DAYS BEFORE THE PILGRIMAGE

Gasping from work and multitude of people I was yearning for a long spiritual break. It was one of those long tiring days at college. Just as I sat stretching my legs with my usual cup of black coffee in one hand and mobile in the other, trying to relax in the evening twilight a message appeared in the WhatsApp group “Dwaraka Pilgrimage”. Our Guru – Adiyen Ravi Maama had sent a message –

Hello -With just another 15 days left for our travel, hope you all have packed your baggage kept ready. It’s preferred to carry the following things –

1. Thiruman box

2. Silver /brass / steel sombu of compact size for daily sandhyavandhanam

3. Silver / brass/ steel plate for food and a tumbler set for coffee.

4. Nylon rope for drying cloth then and there

5. A torch light

6. Your regular medicines if on regular medication like BP / Sugar tab.

7. Woolen blanket shawl

8. Extra empty bags for shopping

9. Five set of veshti uthariam / saree / chudi

10. Pants shirts / T shirts

11. Aadhar card original, ATM card, little cash to meet petty exp en route.

12. A towel, toilet set, soap, hair oil, lipstick etc

Chuckling at the last item mentioned in the list, this message instantly pulled up my spirits and as though knocked off from a deep slumber realizing that I have not yet started putting things together to be packed eventually, I sprung up to action.

This group was created on 16-02-23 by Ravi Maama which included members of all the families (from Bengaluru and Chennai) who were to be part of Pancha Dwaraka pilgrimage. Since then, it had been active being booking flight tickets, clarification on hotels, modes of payments, itineraries, Check list for packing etc. This group was currently most active displaying spirited conversations with known and yet be known people.

Teerthayaatra Group: (20 seats) 65 people were part of this Yatra. Two AC buses full of people.

I would like to briefly introduce members in this DPG (Dwaraka Pilgrimage Group) through my connect. Myself, Sindhu Satish (Practicing Architect & Professor), my husband Satish Narasimha(IT), our close friends Ranga ramanujam(IT) and his wife Radhika Ramanujan,(Accomplished Bharathanatyam dancer), our Tiruppavai teacher Rukmini Maami, her husband Surya Swamy(IT), their kids ShriPadmavathi (Shree) and young Balanujan(8th std), our “ Nalayara Divyaprabandham” guru Adiyen, Ravi Maama, his wife Rama Maami, their younger daughter Mahalakshmi(MAHA), Murali Maama RaviMaama’s brother- in-law, Adiyen Ramesh Chatharai (Ravi Maama’s younger brother, US) his son Vishnu, RaviMaama’s friends- Ravi Krishnan (IT), his wife Vatsala Ravikrishnan (Finance, NGO) and their son Dhruv (2nd year Eng. - BITS Pilani), Sri Ramanujam, his wife Chitra and her friend.

PIC -2: Sri Balaji, (4th from left) the yathra organiser from (STARS) Sathyanarayana Tours and Religious Services, Chennai, and his team (cooks & volunteers) were indeed the stars behind the successful “healthy” Yatra. Some of them still working in IT. Hats off for their service.

Day 1 : To be continued ... click here

Day 2 : To be continued ... click here

Day 3 : To be continued ... click here

Day 4 : To be continued ... click here

Day 5 : To be continued ... click here
Day 6 : To be continued ... click here

Day 7 : To be continued ... click here

Living Root Bridges of Meghalaya

2017-08-15T18:23:00.000+05:30

What I still remember of that day is the smell of sweat. Sticky, sweet, with an underlay of week old socks. Sweat pouring off my body and being soaked up by my jacket, dripping off of my hair and into my eyes. Sorry people! This isn’t the beginning of a crime novel nor am I remembering anything grotesque, only what was a punishing, yet rewarding trek to the famed Living Root Bridges of Meghalaya.

Nestled in the lush and fertile valleys of Meghalaya, the Root Bridges are a lifeline for these rainy mountains which are lashed with the highest rainfall in the world and where flooded streams are a part of daily life. Bridges made of stick, metal, stone and concrete tend to require constant, repetitive and costly repairs and reinforcements. Root bridges are part of nature and quite unlike such bridges. They are not “built” but, rather “grown” from the roots of the Ficus elastica, commonly known as the Rubber Fig. The people of Khasi and Jaintia tribes of the eastern Khasi hills of Meghalaya have been growing their footbridges for centuries. Each root bridge requires approximately 15 years of loving care by the tribal families to be fully functional and they can, in principle sustain for hundreds of years, as long as the trees whose roots make up the bridges stay healthy and upright. The art and science of growing these bridges is passed on from parents to children through generations of the tribes. Due to their astonishing and unique nature, the root bridge has been recognised as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On a wet April morning, our group of five set off from Cherrapunjee, hoping to see one of the best known examples of sustainable, living architecture in the world: The Double Decker Root Bridge of Nongriat.

The Bridge is a 3 km descent from the village of Tyrna , a punishing trek of 2500 steps, up and down steep, slippery stairs surrounded by vivid green forests. Apart from the occasional fellow climber, our descent and the subsequent climb was mainly made in retrospective silence. I’m not sure what the quiet can be attributed to- our urban naivete in recognising wild sounds, or perhaps the birds were themselves still and hushed, or the animals were more active at night rather than the day. But, the forests were calm and serene, not buzzing with the calls of animals or birds; quite unlike our earlier treks of the Western Ghats.

The sounds were all water: streams gushing, rain falling, water dripping off the ledges of huts and waterfalls bellowing in the distance. The air smelt fresh, brisk and crisp, the colors all shades of green, soothing and reassuring.

The trek is memorable for all these reasons and more. We had to cross two other bridges before we actually reached the root bridge. These non-root, wire and concrete bridges seemed incomplete, somehow unfinished.

I, for one, was not prepared for the challenges that came with tiptoeing on a bunch of metal ropes. The heavy torrents of water rushing underneath my feet, the frightening sway of the wires in the wind when I got to the point of no-return are stories worthy of my future grandchildren. No matter how many times my out of shape self has cursed my dear husband for enticing me into the arduous climb, these wonderful moments make it all worth it.

Climbing down through the jade forest, we rounded a cluster of houses and found ourselves at the top of the last flight of stairs leading down to our destination. Unkempt dreadlocks hanging hither and thither, covered with thick moss, looking for all the world like the famed Jack Sparrow, the Double Decker hung across a mini waterfall. The water was cool, inviting you to drag off your clothes and jump right into the middle. But, with propriety riding on my shoulders, I restricted myself to pulling off my shoes and splashing my feet in the refreshing stream underneath the Double Decker. Meanwhile my niece dragged my hubby across our journey’s end shouting with all her teenage glee and I sat, tired, but content. The sounds, smells and the moisture ridden breeze of Meghalaya soothed my sores and calmed my senses. The thought of the as yet unaccomplished climb, back up to Tyrna only a tiny little worm at the back of my mind.

So, here I sit, all these months later, perspiring in the midday heat of a Sunday afternoon, tapping away on my keyboard and smelling my perspiration all over again.

Author : Aarbhi
Photography : Vasistha

ಕೆರೆ ತೊಣ್ಣೂರು ಪ್ರವಾಸ (Thonnur Lake travelogue)

2015-06-21T10:17:00.000+05:30

ಕೆರೆ ತೊಣ್ಣೂರು ಪ್ರವಾಸ

ಕಲ್ಲಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಭೂವರಾಹ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯ ದರ್ಶನ ಪಡೆದು ನಮ್ಮ ಪಯಣ ಕೆರೆತೊಣ್ಣೂರಿನತ್ತ ಸಾಗಿತು. ತೊಣ್ಣೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊದಲು ಕೆರೆಯ ಬಳಿಗೆ ಹೋದೆವು. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಜನಗಳ ದಂಡೇ ನೆರೆದಿತ್ತು ಹಿಂದೂ ಮುಸ್ಲಿಂ ಭೇದವಿಲ್ಲದೆ. ಬಹು ವಿಶಾಲವಾದ ಕೆರೆ. ಕೆರೆ ಎನ್ನುವುದಕ್ಕಿಂತಲೂ ಸಮುದ್ರ ಎನ್ನುವುದೇ ಲೇಸು. ಅದಕ್ಕೆಂದೇ ಇರಬೇಕು ಅದನ್ನು ಯಾದವ ಸಮುದ್ರ ಎನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಇತಿಹಾಸದಲ್ಲಿ ಅದು ಎಂದೂ ಬತ್ತಿದ್ದಿಲ್ಲವಂತೆ. ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ ತುಂಬಿ ತುಳುಕುತ್ತಿರುವುದಂತೆ. ಈಚೆಗೆ ಕೆ.ಆರ್.ಎಸ್ ನ ನೀರಿನ ಸಂಪರ್ಕವನ್ನೂ ಕಲ್ಪಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅಂದ ಮೇಲೆ ಕೇಳಬೇಕೆ ಅದರ ಸೊಭಗನ್ನು. ನಮ್ಮ ಜನರ ಮನೋ ವರ್ತನೆ ಕೇಳಬೇಕೆ? ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಏನೆಲ್ಲ ತಿಂದು ಎಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಬಿಸಾಕಿ ಏನೊಂದೂ ಯೋಚನೆ ಇಲ್ಲದೇ ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಪರಿಸರ ಹಾಳುಮಾಡುತ್ತಾ ತಮಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧವಿಲ್ಲದಂತೆ ಅಡ್ಡಾಡುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅದರ ಪಾವಿತ್ರತೆಯಂತೂ ದೂರವೇ ಉಳಿಯಿತು. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಇದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕಾಳಜಿ ವಹಿಸಿ ಹೇಳುವವರು, ಕೇಳುವವರು ಯಾರೂ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಯಾರನಾದರೂ ನೊಂದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವಂತೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಸ್ಥಳೀಯ ಪಂಚಾಯಿತಿ ಆಡಳಿತವಾಗಲೀ, ಪ್ರವಾಸೋದ್ಯಮ ಇಲಾಖೆಯಾಗಲೀ ಇದರತ್ತ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಗಮನ ವಹಿಸಿ ಕ್ರಮ ಕೈಗೊಂಡಿದ್ದೇ ಆದರೆ ಇಲ್ಲೇ ಸ್ವರ್ಗ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯವನ್ನು ಸವಿಯಬಹುದಾಗಿದೆ. ಆ ದಿನಗಳಿಗಾಗಿ ಕನಸು ಕಾಣುವುದೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಜಾಯಮಾನವಲ್ಲವೇ?

ನಮ್ಮ ಈ ಕರ್ಣಾಟಕ ಶಂಕರ, ರಾಮಾನುಜ, ಮಧ್ವ, ಬಸವಣ್ಣ, ಜೈನ ತೀರ್ಥಂಕರರು, ಗುರುನಾನಕ್ ಮುದಲಾದ ಎಲ್ಲ ಮತ ಧರ್ಮ ಸುಧಾರಕರಿಗೂ ತವರುಮನೆಯಲ್ಲವೇ. ಭಗವದ್ರಾಮಾನುಜರು ತಮಿಳುನಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ರಾಜ ಕ್ರಿಮಿಕಂಠ-ಚೊಳ ನ ಉಪಟಳ ತಾಳಲಾರದೆ ಕರ್ಣಾಟಕಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದು ಸುಮಾರು ೧೨ ವರ್ಷಗಳಷ್ಟು ದೀರ್ಘಕಾಲ ಮೇಲುಕೋಟೆ, ತೊಣ್ಣೂರು, ಸಾಲಗ್ರಾಮ ಮುಂತಾದೆಡೆ ತಮ್ಮ ಕರ್ಮಭೂಮಿಯನಾಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಶಿಷ್ಯರೊಡನೆ ನೆಲೆಸಿ ಧರ್ಮಪ್ರಚಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ತೊಡಗಿ ಸಮಾಜ ಸುಧಾರಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿರತರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ತೊಣ್ಣೂರಿನ ಈ ಕೆರೆ ಮತ್ತು ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನಗಳು ಅವರಿಗೆ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಪ್ರಿಯವಾಗಿದ್ದವಂತೆ. ಕೆರೆಗೆ ಹೊಂದಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವ ವಿಶಾಲ ಪಂಟಪದಲ್ಲೇ ಜೈನ ಧರ್ಮೀಯನಾದ ರಾಜಾ ಬಿಟ್ಟಿದೇವನು ಶ್ರೀವೈಷ್ಣವ ದೀಕ್ಷೆಯನ್ನು ಪಡೆದು ವಿಷ್ಣುವರ್ಧನನಾದುದಲ್ಲದೇ, ಆದಿಶೇಷಾವತಾರಿಗಳಾದ ರಾಮಾನುಜರು ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಜೈನ ಪಂಡಿತರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಏಕಕಾಲದಾಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ತತ್ವವಾದ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾ ವಿಜಯಿಗಳಾಗಿ ಅವರೆಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಶ್ರೀವೈಷ್ಣವ ದೀಕ್ಷೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟರೆಂಬ ಐತಿಹ್ಯವಿದೆ. ಅದರ ಕುರುಹಾಗಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿನ “ಯೋಗಾನರಸಿಂಹ” ದೇವಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಗುಹಾಮಂಟಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಯೋಗಸ್ಥರಾಗಿರುವ ರಾಮಾನುಜರ ಭವ್ಯ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಕಂಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದು, ಆದಿಶೇಷ ಸರ್ಪವು ಅವರನ್ನು ಬಳಸಿ ಹೆಡೆಎತ್ತಿರುವ ದೃಶ್ಯ ’ಮೈಜುಮ್’ ಎನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.

ಯೋಗಾನರಸಿಂಹ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನವನ್ನು ಕೃತಯುಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಹ್ಲಾದನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ್ದನೆಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಅರ್ಚಕರು ನರಸ್ಂಹ ವಿಗ್ರಹದ ಬಳಿ ಇರುವ ದಂಡವನ್ನು ನಮಗೆ ತೋರಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಸ್ಪರ್ಶಿಸಿದರು. ಭಗವದ್ದರ್ಶನ ಪೂಜಾದಿ ಕೈಂಕರ್ಯಗಳು ಬಹಳ ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿ ಆಯಿತು.

ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ನಂಬಿನಾರಾಯಣನ ದೇವಳಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದೆವು. ಅನೇಕ ಕಂಬಗಳಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿ ವಿಶಾಲವದ ಆವರಣ, ವಿಶಾಲವಾದ ಪ್ರಾಂಗಣ, ಶುಕನಾಸಿಗಳಿಂದ ಕಂಗೊಳಿಸುವ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ ಬಹಳವೇ ಆಕರ್ಷಕವಾಗಿದೆ. ಶ್ರೀ ಭೂ ಸಮೇತನಾದ ಆ ನಾರಾಯಣನ ಚೆಲುವನ್ನು ಬಣ್ಣಿಸಲು ಪದಗಳಿಲ್ಲ. ಅವನನ್ನು ನಂಬಿ ಕೆಟ್ಟವರಿಲ್ಲ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಅವನು “ನಂಬಿನಾರಾಯಣ”. ಪೂಜಾದಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮುಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಪ್ರಸಾದವಾಗಿ ದೊರೆತ ಸಕ್ಕರ್ಪೊಂಗಲ್ಲನ್ನು ಸವಿಯುತ್ತಾ ಗರುಡಗಂಬ ಪುಷ್ಕರಣಿ (ಸಣ್ಣದು, ಜನ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ ಹಾಳುಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ.) ಪ್ರದಕ್ಷಿಣೆ ಮಾಡಿ ಎದುರಿನಲ್ಲೇ ಇರುವ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು “ಗೋಪಾಲಸ್ವಾಮಿ” ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕೆ ನಡೆದೆವು.

ಗೋಪಾಲಸ್ವಮಿಯ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಮುಂದಾವರಣವು ಗಿಡಮರಗಳಿಂದ ಹಚ್ಚ ಹಸಿರಾಗಿದೆ.ವಿಶಾಲವಾದ ಆವರಣದ ಒಂದು ಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ತುಲಾಭಾರ ಮಂಟಪವಿದೆ.ದೇವಾಲಯದ ಅರ್ಚಾಮೂರ್ತಿ ಭವ್ಯವಾಗಿದೆ. ಇದೂ ಸಹ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಪುರಾತನವಾಗಿದ್ದು ಪಾಂಡವ ಧರ್ಮರಾಜ ಪತ್ತೆ ಮಾಡಿದನು ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಅರ್ಚಾಮೂರ್ತಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಪಾರ್ಥಸಾರತಿಯಾಗಿ ಕರೆಯಲ್ಪಡುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೀಕೃಷ್ಣ ವಿಶ್ವರೂಪದರ್ಶನದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾನೆ ಎಂದೂ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ೮ ಅಡಿ ಎತ್ತರ ಮತ್ತು ೫ ಅಡಿ ಅಗವುಳ್ಳ ಈ ಸಾಲಿಗ್ರಾಮ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಅಕ್ಕ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೀ – ಭೂ ದೇವಿಯರೊಡನೆ ಮೋಹನರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಂಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದು ಚಿತಾಪಹಾರಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದಾನೆ.

ಪಾರ್ಥಸಾರಥಿಯ ಮೂಲ ವಿಗ್ರಹದ ಮುಂದೆಯೇ ಶ್ರೀ ಕೃಷ್ಣನು ತ್ರಿಭಂಗಿ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಣ್ಮನ ಸೆಳೆಯುತ್ತಾನೆ. ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಶೈಲಿ ಚೋಳರಕಾಲದ್ದು ಎನ್ನಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಒಟ್ಟಾರೆ ಸುಂದರ ಶಾಂತ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಪೂಜಾ ಕೈಂಕರ್ಯದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಪವಿತ್ರತೆ ತುಂಬಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೊರಬಂದು ಗತ ಕಾಲದ ಚರಿತ್ರೆಯ ಹಿಂದೆ ಸುತ್ತಾಡುತ್ತಾ ಇಕ್ಕೆಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಹಸಿರಿನಿಂದ ತುಂಬಿ ಸಂಜೆಯ ತಂಗಾಳಿಯನ್ನು ಅನುಭವಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಕಡೆಗೆ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಸಲು ಮುಂದಾದೆವು. ಗೋಪಾಲಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಮತ್ತು ಯೋಗಾನರಸಿಂಹ ದೇವಾಲಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಒಬ್ಬರೇ ಅರ್ಚಕರಿದ್ದು ಅವರು ಸರದಿಯಮೇಲೆ ಎರಡು ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನಗಳಿಗೆ ಅಡ್ಡಾಡುತ್ತಾ ಪೂಜಾದಿ ಸೇವೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡುವುದನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದಾಗ ಒಂದು ಕ್ಷಣ ’ಅಯ್ಯೋ ಭಗವಂತಾ ಇದೆಂತಹ ಕಾಲ ಬಂದಿತಪ್ಪಾ” ಎಂದು ನೊಂದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವಂತಾಯಿತು. ಮುಜರಾಯಿ ಇಲಾಖೆಗೆ ಸೇರಿದ ಈ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನಗಳಿಗೆ ಇಲಾಖೆ ಇತ್ತ ಗಮನವಹಿಸಿ ಈ ಕೊರತೆಯನ್ನು ಬೇಗನೆ ನೀಗಿಸಲು ಕ್ರಮ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳುವಂತಾಗಲಿ ಎಂದು ಹಾರೈಸೋಣವೆ.

ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಪಯಣದ ಮಾರ್ಗದ ಇಕ್ಕೆಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಬ್ಬಿನ ಗದ್ದೆಗಳು ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಕಬ್ಬಿನ ಗಾಣಗಳು, ಇದನ್ನು ನೋಡುತ್ತಾ ನಮ್ಮ ಬಾಯೂರಿ ನಾಲಿಗೆ ಚಪ್ಪರಿಸುವಂತಾಯಿತು. ಕಬ್ಬಿಣ ಗಾಣದ ಒಂದೆಡೆ ವಾಹನ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ ಒಳಹೊಕ್ಕೆವು. ಗಾಣ ಆಡುತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ನಿಂತಿತ್ತು. ಆದರೂ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಕಂಡ ಗಾಣ ಅರೆಯುವವರು ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಆದರದಿಂದ ಬರಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ಸಾಕೆನಿಸುವಷ್ಟು ಕಬ್ಬಿನ ಹಾಲನ್ನು ಅರೆದು ಕೊಟ್ಟರು.

ಲೇಖಕಿ ರಜನಿ

ಸವಿಯಲು ಬಿಸಿ ಬಿಸಿ ಬೆಲ್ಲ ಕೊಟ್ಟರು. ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲ ನಮ್ಮ ನೀರಿನ ಬಾಟಲುಗಳಿಗೂ ಕಬ್ಬಿನ ಹಾಲು ತುಂಬಿ ಕೊಟ್ಟರು. ಎಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ಹಣದಿಂದಲೇ ಅಳೆಯುವ ಈ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಈತರದ ನಡಾವಳಿ ಈ ಆದರ ಸತ್ಕಾರಗಳಲ್ಲವೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಕನ್ನಡ ನಾಡಿನ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಸಾರುವುದು. ನಾವೂ ಸಹ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಬೆಲ್ಲದ ಅಚ್ಚುಗಳನ್ನು ಕೊಂಡು ಅವರಿಗೆ ಧನ್ಯವಾದ ಹೇಳಿ ಮುಂದೆ ಸಾಗಿದೆವು. ಬೆಳಕು ಕರಗಿ ಕತ್ತಲಾಗತೊಡಗಿತ್ತು. ಮತ್ತೆ ನಗರ ಸೇರಿದ ನಾವು ಇನ್ನೂ ಆ ದಿನವನ್ನು ಮೆಲಕು ಹಾಕುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇವೆ.

ಲೇಖಕರು : ಎನ್.ಎಸ್.ರಜನಿ
ಫೋಟೋಗ್ರಾಫಿ : ವಸಿಷ್ಠ

ಕೀಯಿಂಗ್ : ಜಗನ್ನಾಥ

ಕಲ್ಲಹಳ್ಳಿ ಭೂವರಾಹ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ದೇವಾಲಯ (Kallahalli Bhoovaraaha Swami Temple)

2015-06-18T21:02:00.002+05:30

ಕಲ್ಲಹಳ್ಳಿ ಭೂವರಾಹ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ದೇವಾಲಯ

ಹೊಸಹೊಳಲಿನ ಐತಿಹಾಸಿಕ ದೇವಾಲಯದ ದರ್ಶನವಾದ ಬಳಿಕ ಸಮೀಪದಲ್ಲೇ ಇರುವ ಕಲ್ಲಹಳ್ಳಿಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಪಯಣ ಸಾಗಿತು, ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಈಚೆಗೆ ಬಹಳವಾಗಿ ಕೇಳಿಬರುತ್ತಿರುವ ಭೂವರಾಹ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯ ದರ್ಶನ ಪಡೆಯುವ ಸಲುವಾಗಿ. ದೇವಾಲಯ ಇನ್ನೂ ಜೀರ್ಣೋದ್ಧಾರದ ಹಂತದಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಕೆಲವು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ದುಬಾಯಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾರ್ಯ ನಿರ್ವಹಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಉದ್ಯಮಿಯೊಬ್ಬರಿಗೆ ಕನಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ ಈ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ನನಗೆ ಪೂಜಾದಿಗಳು ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ಪಾಳು ಬಿದ್ದಿರುವೆ ಎಂಬ ಕನಸು ಪದೇ ಪದೆ ಬೀಳುತ್ತಿತ್ತಂತೆ. ಕುತೂಹಲದಿಂದ ಅವರು ಬಂದು ಈ ಸ್ಥಳವನ್ನು ಹುಡುಕಿ ನೋಡಲಾಗಿ ಆಆಳೆತ್ತರದ ಈ ಭವ್ಯವಾದ ಸಾಲಗ್ರಾಮ ಶಿಲೆಯ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಕಾಣಿಸಿತಂತೆ. ಆಗ ಅವರೇ ಮುಂದಾಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲ ಆರ್ಥಿಕ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯನ್ನು ವಹಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಮೈಸೂರಿನ ಪರಕಾಲಮಠದ ಪೂಜ್ಯ ಸ್ಮಾಮೀಜಯವರ ಆಶೀರ್ವಾದದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಜೀರ್ಣೋದ್ಧರ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿದರಂತೆ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಈಗ ಪರಕಾಲಮಠದ ಶ್ರೀ ಶ್ರೀ ಶ್ರೀ ವಾಗೀಶಬ್ರಹ್ಮತಂತ್ರ ಮಹಾಸ್ವಾಮಿಗಳವರ ನೇತೃತ್ವದಲ್ಲೇ ಜೀರ್ಣೋದ್ಧಾರ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಭರದಿಂದ ಸಾಗಿದೆ. ವರಾಹಸ್ವಾಮಿಯು ತಮ್ಮ ಎಡಬಗಲಲ್ಲಿ ಭೂದೇವೀ ಮಾತೆಯನ್ನು ಹಿಡಿದು ಕುಳಿತಿರುವ ಭಂಗಿಯಂತೂ ಕಣ್ಮನಗಳಿಗೆ ವರ್ಣಿಸಲಾಧ್ಯ. ಅದನ್ನು ದರ್ಶಿಸಿಯೇ ಅನುಭವಿಸಬೇಕು. ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಹೊಯ್ಸಳರ ಕಾಲದ್ದೆಂಬ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಇದೆ.

ದೇವಾಲಯ ಜೀರ್ಣೋದ್ಧಾರದ ಹಂತದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದರೂ ಭಕ್ತಾದಿಗಳು ಅಧಿಕ ಸಂಖ್ಯೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ದೂರ ದೂರದಿಂದ ಬರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಶನಿವಾರ ಭಾನುವಾರದಲ್ಲಂತೂ ಇನ್ನೂ ವಿಶೇಷ.

ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ವಿಶೆಷವೆಂದರೆ.ಹೊಸದಾಗಿ ಮನೆ ಕಟ್ಟುವವರು ಜಾತಿ ಮತಗಳ ಭೇದವಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಬಂದು ಇಟ್ಟಿಗೆಗಳನ್ನು ಪೂಜೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಿ ಕೊಂಡೊಯ್ಯುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಹಾಗೆ ಮಾಡಿ ಆ ಇಟ್ಟಿಗೆಗಳಿಂದ ಮನೆ ಮೊದಲಾದುವುಗಳ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿದರೆ ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ನಿರ್ವಿಘ್ನವಾಗಿ ಸುಸೂತ್ರವಾಗಿ ಪೂರ್ಣಗೊಂಡು ಕುಟುಂಬಕ್ಕೆ ಸುಖ ಶಾಂತಿ ದೊರೆಯುವುದೆಂಬ ನಂಬಿಕೆ ಎಲ್ಲರಲ್ಲೂ ದಟ್ಟವಾಗಿರುವ ಹಾಗೆ ಕಂಡುಬರುತ್ತಿದೆ.

ದೇವಾಲಯದ ಬದಿಯಲ್ಲೇ ಕಾವೇರಿ ವೈಯ್ಯಾರದಿಂದ ನಡೆದು ಸಾಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಳೆ. ಸುತ್ತ ಮುತ್ತ ಹಸಿರು ಮನಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಮುದ ತುಂಬಿಕೊಡುತ್ತದೆ. ದೇವಾಲಯದ ಮುಂದೆ ಎರಡು ಬದಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ರೈತರು ತಾವು ಬೆಳೆದ ಸೊಪ್ಪು ತರಕಾರಿಗಳನ್ನು ಆಗ ತಾನೇ ಕಿತ್ತು ತಂದು ಮಾರುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಬಂದ ಯಾರೊಬ್ಬರೂ ಅಪರೂಪಕ್ಕೆ ಸುಲಭ ಬೆಲೆಗೆ ಸಿಗುವ ಆ ಶುದ್ಧ ತರಕಾರಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕೊಳ್ಳದೆ ಹೊರಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ನಾವೂ ಅದೇ ಕೆಲಸ್ ಮಾಡಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಮುಂದೆ ಕೆರೆ ತೊಣ್ಣುರಿನ ಕಡೆ ಪಯಣ ಬೇಳೆಸಿದೆವು.

ಲೇಖಕರು : ಎನ್.ಎಸ್.ರಜನಿ

ಫೋಟೋಗ್ರಾಫಿ : ವಸಿಷ್ಠ
ಕೀಯಿಂಗ್ : ಜಗನ್ನಾಥ

ಹೊಸಹೊಳಲು ಪ್ರವಾಸ - Hosaholalu Travelogue

2015-06-07T19:41:00.000+05:30

ಹೊಸಹೊಳಲು ಪ್ರವಾಸ

ಸಂಜೆ ಆಫೀಸಿನಿಂದ ಮನೆಗ ಮಗ ಬರುತ್ತಿದ್ದಂತೆ ಖುಷಿಯಾಗಿ ಹೇಳಿದ ಅಮ್ಮಾ ನಾಳಿದ್ದು ಭಾನುವಾರ ಒಂದು ಸೊಗಸಿನ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಕ್ಕೆ ತಯಾರಿ ಮಾಡು ಎಂದು.

ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ಇದ್ದು ಬೋರು ಬೋರೋ ಎಂದು ಆಗಾಗ ಹಾಡುವ ನನಗೆ ಅವನ ಮಾತು ಕೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಹಾಗೇ ಕಿವಿ ಚುರುಕಾಯ್ತು.ಎಲ್ಲಿಗೋ ಈ ಬಾರಿ ಎಂದೆ ಉತ್ಸಾಹ ತಡೆಯಲಾರದೆ. ಅದನ್ನ ಆಮೇಲೆ ಹೇಳ್ತೀನಿ, ಸಧ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಈಗ ಊಟ ಬದಿಸು ಎಂದು ಕೈಕಾಲು ತೊಳೆಯಲು ಹೋದ. ಸೊಸೆಯನ್ನು ಕರೆದು ತಕ್ಷಣ ಒದರಿದೆ. ಈ ಬಾರಿ ಒಂದು ಪುಟ್ಟ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿದ್ಧಮಾಡಿಕೊ. ಮಗುವಿನ ಅಗತ್ಯತೆಗಳ ಚೀಲ ಸಿದ್ದಪಡಿಸಿಕೋ ಎಂದೆ. ಅವಳು ನನ್ನಷ್ಟೇ ಉತ್ಸಾಹಿ, ಹೊರಗಡೆ ತಿರುಗಾಡಿ ಬರುವುದೆಂದರೆ. ಅವಳೂ ಖುಷಿಯಾದಳು.

ಭಾನುವಾರ ಬೆಳಗಿನ ೫:೩೦ ಕ್ಕೆ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಹೊರಡ್ಲು ಸಜ್ಜಾದೆವು. ತವೇರಾ ಗಾಡಿ ಆಗಲೇ ಬಂದು ನಿಂತಿತ್ತು. ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಕುಳಿತ ಹಾಗೇ, ಮಗ ಹೇಳಿದ ಮೈಸೂರು ರೋಡಿಗೆ ಚಲಿಸಿ ಎಂದು. ಈಗಲಾದರೂ ಸಸ್ಪೆನ್ಸ್ ಮುರಿಯೋ ಎಂದೆ ಆಗ ಬಾಯ್ಬಿಟ್ಟ. ಹೊಸಹೊಳಲು, ಕಲ್ಲಳ್ಳಿ ಭೂವರಾಹ, ಕೆರೆತೊಣ್ಣೂರು, ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆರೆ, ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನಗಳು ನಂತರ ಹಿಂತಿರುಗೋದು ಎಂದ.

ಮೊದಲಿಗೆ ನಾವು ಕೆ ಆರ್ ಪೇಟೆಗೆ ಹೊರೆಟ್ವಿ. ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ನಮಗೆ ಹೊಸಹೊಳಲು ನೋಡುವುದಿತ್ತು. ಹೊಸಹೊಳಲು ಕೆ ಆರ್ ಪೇಟೆಗೆ ಮೂರು ಮೈಲಿ ದೂರದಲ್ಲಿದೆ.

ನಮಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಬೋರ್ಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ವಿಚಾರವೆಂದರೆ, ಹೊಸಹೊಳಲು ಗಂಗ ಚೋಳರ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸೀಮೆಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದು, ನಂತರ ಹೊಯ್ಸಳರ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಅಗ್ರಹಾರವಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಈ ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಊರು ೧೩ ನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ನಿರ್ಮಿತಿಯಾದ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮೀನಾರಾಯಣ ದೇವಾಲಯದಿಂದ ಬಹಳ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧಿ ಪಡೆದಿದೆ. ವಿಜಯನಗರದರಸರ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಊರಿನ ಸುತ್ತ ಒಂದು ಕೋಟೆ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣವಾಗಿತ್ತು ಎನ್ನಲಾಗಿದೆ.

ಈ ದೇವಾಲಯವನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದ ಕೂಡಲೇ, ಇದು ಹೊಯ್ಸಳ ಶೈಲಿಯ ವಾಸ್ತು ನಿರ್ಮಾಣ ಎಂಬುದು ಯಾರಿಗಾದರೂ ಅನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.

ಅಮೋಘವಾದ, ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಸುಂದರವಾದ ನಕ್ಷತ್ರಾಕಾರದ ತಳಕಟ್ಟಡದ ಮೇಲೆ ಭವ್ಯವಾದ ದೇವಾಲಯ ನಿರ್ಮಿತಿಗೊಂಡಿದೆ. ತ್ರಿಕೂಟಾಚಲವಾದ ಈ ದೇವಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂರು ಗರ್ಭಗುಡಿಗಳಿವೆ. ಎತ್ತರವಾದ ಜಗಲಿಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಪೂರ್ವಕ್ಕೆ ಮುಖದ್ವಾರವಿದೆ. ಪಶ್ಚಿಮದ ಗರ್ಭಗೃಹಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಶುಕನಾಸಿ ಮತ್ತು ವಿಮಾನವಿದೆ.

ಮಧ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಸುಂದರವಾದ ಕೆತ್ತನೆಗಳಿಂದ ತುಂಬಿದ ಕಂಬಗಳಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿ ಗುಂಡನೆಯ ನೃತ್ಯಮಂಟಪದೊಂದಿಗೆ ನವರಂಗಮಂಟಪವಿದೆ. ನವರಂಗಕ್ಕೆ ಪೂರ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಭದ್ರಮಂಟಪವಿದೆ. ಒಂದೊಂದು ಕಂಬಗಳೂ ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟವಾದ ಕೆತ್ತನೆಗಳಿಂದ ತುಂಬಿವೆ. ಕಂಬಗಳ ಮೇಲ್ಛಾವಣಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಆನೆ, ಕುದುರೆ, ಕಾಲಾಳು, ಬಳ್ಳಿ, ಪೌರಾಣಿಕ ಕಥಾನಕಗಳು ಇವುಗಳ ಶಿಲ್ಪಗಳಿಂದ ದೇವಳದ ಹೊರಮೈ ಕೋಷ್ಠ್ಹಕಗಳು ತುಂಬಿ ಮನ ಸೂರೆಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತವೆ. ಇವೆಲ್ಲವೂ ಹೊಯ್ಸಳ ಶೈಲಿಯನ್ನು ಘೋಷಿಸುತ್ತವೆ. ಒಳಗಡೆ ಭುವನೇಶ್ವರಿಗಳೂ ಸಹ ಮಿಥುನ ಶಿಲ್ಪಗಳಿಂದ ಹಾಗೂ ಇತರೆ ಅನೇಕ ಸುಂದರ ವಿನ್ಯಾಸಗಳ ಕೆತ್ತನೆಗಳಿಂದ ತುಂಬಿ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ರಮಣೀಯವಾಗಿವೆ. ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಶಿಲ್ಪ ವೈಭವ ಯಾವ ಬೇಲೂರು ಅಥವಾ ಹಳೇಬೀಡುಗಳ ಶಿಲ್ಪ ವೈಭವಕ್ಕೆ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಏನೂ ಇಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ನಮಗೆ ಅನಿಸದೇ ಇರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಸುಂದರ ಆವರಣದಿಂದ ಕಂಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಈ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಕರ್ತೃ, ಕಾಲ ಇವುಗಳ ಸರಿಯಾದ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಇಲ್ಲದಿರುವುದು ಖೇದದ ಸಂಗತಿಯೇ ಸರಿ.ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಅರ್ಚಕರ ಹೇಳಿಕೆಯ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಕ್ರಿ.ಶ ೯೪೩ ೧೦೫೦ ರೊಳಗೆ ಈ ದೇವಾಲಯ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣವಾಗಿರಬೇಕು.

ಮೊದಲನೆಯ ಗರ್ಭಗುಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ವೇಣುಗೊಪಾಲ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಇದೆ. ಇದು ಸಾಲಿಗ್ರಾಮ ಶಿಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಡೆಯಲ್ಪಟ್ಟು ಮನಮೋಹಕವಾಗಿದೆ. ಎಲ್ಲ್ಲಾಗರ್ಭಗುಡಿಯ ದ್ವಾರದ ಹೊರ ಮೇಲ್ಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಳಗಿನ ಮೂರ್ತಿಯನ್ನೇ ತದ್ರೂಪವಾಗಿ ಕೆತ್ತಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ವೇಣುಗೋಪಾಲಸ್ವಾಮಿಯ ಗರ್ಭಗುಡಿಯ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಹೊರ ದ್ವಾರದ ಮೂರ್ತಿಗಿಂತ ಭಿನ್ನವಾಗಿದೆ. ಅರ್ಚಕರ ಅಂಬೋಣ ಏನೆಂದರೆ ಈಗ್ಗೆ ಸುಮಾರು ೬೦ - ೭೦ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಮೊದಲು ಮೂಲ ಗರ್ಭಗುಡಿಯ ಮೂರ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಏನೋ ಕಾರಣದಿಂದ ಕೆ ಅರ್.ಎಸ್ ನದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಕಲಾಗಿ ನಂತರ ಈ ಮೂರ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ತಂದು ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠಾಪಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ, ಹೊರ ದ್ವಾರದ ಮೂರ್ತಿಯ ಸುತ್ತಲೂ ತಳಿರು ತೋರಣದಂತೆ ಕಂಡುಬರುವ ಕೆತ್ತನೆ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮ ಕೆತ್ತನೆಗಳಿಂದ ಸಿರಿನಿಧಿಯಂತೆ ಕಂಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಗಣಪತಿಯು ಮಗುವಿನಂತೆ ಕುಳಿತಿರುವ ಭಂಗಿಯ ಶಿಲ್ಪವನ್ನು ನೋಡಬಹುದು.

ಮಧ್ಯಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಳೆತ್ತರದ ಸಾಲಿಗ್ರಾಮಶಿಲೆಯ ನಾರಾಯಣನ ದಿವ್ಯಮೂರ್ತಿ ಕಂಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಮುಂದಿನ ಕೈಗಳಲ್ಲೇ ಶಂಖ - ಚಕ್ರಧಾರಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ಹಿಂದಿನ ಎರಡು ಕೈಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ತಾವರೆ ಹೂವನ್ನು ಪಿಡಿದಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ನಸು ನಗುತ್ತಾ ನಿಂತಿರುವ ಆ ಸುಂದರಭಂಗಿ ಎಂಥಹವರನ್ನೂ ಸೆಳೆಯುತ್ತದೆ. ಸ್ವಾಮಿಗೆ ಪೂಜಾದಿಗಳನ್ನು ಅರ್ಚಕರು ಮಾಡಿದರು.

ನಂತರ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲೇ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮೀನರಸಿಂಹಸ್ವಾಮಿಯ ದಿವ್ಯವಾದ ಮೂರ್ತಿ. ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ವಿಶೇಷವೆಂದರೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಹ್ಲಾದನೂ ಕೈಜೊಡಿಸಿ ನಿಂತಿರುವುದು. ಪ್ರಹ್ಲಾದನ ಈ ಭಂಗಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಆಂದ್ರಪ್ರದೇಶದ ಕದ್ರಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ನರಸಿಂಹ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ ಬಿಟ್ಟರೆ ಮತ್ತೆಲ್ಲೂ ಕಾಣಸಿಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಇದೇ ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ವಿಶೇಷ. ಪ್ರತಿ ಮಂಗಳವಾರ ಮತ್ತು ಭಾನುವಾರ ಪ್ರಹ್ಲಾದ ನರಸಿಂಹರ ದರ್ಶನ ಬಹಳ ಪುಣ್ಯಪ್ರದ ಎಂಬುದು ಅರ್ಚಕರ ಅಂಬೋಣ.

ಎತ್ತರವಾದ ಪಾಣಿಪೀಠದಲ್ಲಿ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮೀ ಸಮೇತನಾಗಿ ನರಸಿಂಹನು ಕುಳಿತಿರುವ ಹಿಂದೆ ಇರುವ ಪ್ರಭಾವಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ (ಕಲ್ಲಿನ) ಅವತಾರಗಳ ಕೆತ್ತನೆ ಇದೆಯಂತೆ.

ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಹೊರಗಿನ ಆವರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದೆವು. ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯ ಎಡ ಬದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸೌಮ್ಯನಾಯಕಿಯ ಸುಂದರ ಶಿಲಾಮೂರ್ತಿ ಇದೆ. ಅದು ಈಚಿನದು ಅಂದರೆ ಸುಮಾರು ೯೦೦ ವರ್ಷಗಳಷ್ಟು ಹಳೆಯದು ಎಂದು ಅರ್ಚಕರು ತಿಳಿಸಿದರು. ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಹೊರಗೋಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಪೂರ್ಣ ರಾಮಯಣವನ್ನು ಚಿತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿಡಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಅಮ್ಮನವರ ಪೂಜೆಯನ್ನು ಮುಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಇರುವ ಬಾವಿಯನ್ನು ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಪ್ರದಕ್ಷಿಣೆ ಹಾಕಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತು ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಕುಳಿತಿದ್ದು, ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಸಾನಿಧ್ಯದ ರಸಾನುಭವವನ್ನು ಮನದೊಳಗೇ ತುಂಬಿಕೊಂಡು ಸವಿಯುತ್ತಾ ಮುಂದಿನ ಪಯಣಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊರಟೆವು.

ಲೇಖಕರು : ಎನ್.ಎಸ್.ರಜನಿ
ಫೋಟೋಗ್ರಾಫಿ : ವಸಿಷ್ಠ
ಕೀಯಿಂಗ್ : ಜಗನ್ನಾಥ

Buddy’s Day Party- A special idea by a little girl!

2014-07-13T10:09:00.001+05:30

Author and Photographer: Sindhu Jagannath
Party concept: Sameeksha Iyengar

Idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was striking 10 at night on a cold Friday in December and I was hurriedly cleaning the kitchen, my mind consumed with thoughts of the next day's class (I teach architecture students). I had to get up at 5 in the morning to cook enough food to last the entire day for both my husband and daughter Sweetu (Sameeksha). Preoccupied with these thoughts I was still in the kitchen when I was startled by an exited squeal. Sweetu came running into the kitchen, her eyebrows raised and grinning from ear to ear.
She declared “Mamma I have an Idea! I'll have a totally different party this Sunday!!!”

The endearing enthusiasm in her voice solely tempted me to say yes (though she was making a statement and not asking my permission), but, I knew from experience that a YES could never be turned into a NO without hurting Sweetu's feelings.

So, with a heavy heart, I stared to say "Sweetu, we still have whole month till your Birthday…." But, before I could complete my sentence, she ran into the bedroom, drew up the comforter and started reading her book. I shrugged and turned back to my work assuming that it was the end of the discussion.
I managed to finish up my chores and joined her, picking up my book to read.
Soon, Sweetu turned to me and said: "Mamma I need your help for Sunday’s party."

There she goes again, I thought.

I might have sounded a little too mean when I replied in an unyielding tone “Sweetu! No party sharty until your Birthday.”

“But Mamma I am not talking about my birthday party…”

I raised my eyebrows and she turned away, her eyes brimming with tears and started flipping the pages of her book in anger. Within a few seconds she fell asleep like an angel. I twisted and turned in guilt for almost an hour.

The next month, when we were planning her birthday party, I asked her about the ideas that she had but she just dismissed me saying ”Those are for Buddy’s day party not birthday party!"
I was taken aback. Curious, I asked her "Whats that? Never heard of anything like that."She went on about it for good 15 minutes and at the end of it I wanted to have the party more than her. What surprised me was the extent to which she had planned the party, the minute details that she had worked out. Of course, at that time I just gave her a smile of assurance and told her that for any party we must have a strong reason. So, you find the reason and we will have the party.She immediately said “Mamma this party is to celebrate the end of holidays and to welcome the fresh academic year!!! And that’s how the date for Buddy’s day party got fixed as June 1st.

The months dragged on and we both forgot this discussion. Then, I was little free by the 3rd week of May so I asked sweetu about the Party and told her that we should start preparing.

As I said that, I witnessed something that is beyond words. The smile that lit her eyes was mesmerizing. I realized how much this party means to her.
Her ideas and concepts were very clear. Most of the program was already planned by her. She had the event sheet ready. It had a welcome speech followed by distribution of badges, quiz, games, art activities and last but not the least, a concert. She had the list of her friends whom she wanted to invite for the party ready.

The theme for the party was REUSE. The seed of the idea derived from her classes in school. She wanted to reuse everything possible for this party.

Plan on the Table

The party fever had caught both of us now. I was bowled over by the idea of Buddy’s day party, so every evening, I sat with her to work on it. She wanted to personally invite friends with invitation cards. But many stayed far away. So, we came up with an alternative. We made an invitation card and sent it to all via WhatsApp. We also invited them over phone. We got instant replies from almost all.

Next thing were the Badges.
Sweetu decided that the concept would be either flowers or butterflies; for she believes that they are the most beautiful creations of God.

Butterflies and Flowers!

One of my friends gave us star shaped reminder slips which we thought could become the base over which we could attach paper flowers cut from old wedding/party invitations.

We wrote the names of the invitees on it, stuck it with double sided cello tape and 20 Badges were ready.
She then managed to get 50 questions for the witty quiz from her previous year’s collection of TOOTS and the Quiz cards were ready.

She had some informal games planned and I let her take care of that completely (most of it being mind games, did not require any accessories). For the art and activities she thought of two things. Clay modeling and painting. We managed to pool in all the paints, color pencils, crayons, 2B and 4B pencils, gerasers and sharpeners that Sweetu had in her stash for the art supplies. One set for two kids. I was shocked at the collection that Sweetu had! When I told her that she could manage to finish her 10th grade with the stationary she already had, gave me a sly smile and a naughty wink.

Now for the paper to draw, I managed to get unused sketchbook sheets torn from the old submissions from college. We highlighted the borders to make the plain drawing sheets a bit more interesting.

Sweetu decided the topic for that as ”Nature and City”.

As a souvenir, she wanted to give them all Bookmarks since one of the reasons for the get together was to welcome the new Academic year (signifying studies). But, she also wanted to write something about friendship as the occasion was Buddy’s day party. We again used the invitation cards for the flowers and butterflies and made bookmarks. Along with the book marks she handpicked gifts (parameter being the age of her friends). Something that could be used for school work at their level.

The Bookmarks

Sweetu’s initial idea for putting up a stall was discarded for many reasons. She wanted to build a stall reusing cartons and other waste materials at home. In the stall, she would keep all her books (which is a fairly good collection ranging from books for little ones to the highschool kids). On the party day she wanted to lend these books to her friends to motivate them to read. Apart from the library, she wanted to sell birthday and friendship cards which she hoped to make out of waste materials. She wanted to display her toys and even planned to gift some toys to her friends if they liked it, as a token of friendship. She also wanted to create designer costumes for that day for which she wanted to reuse old cloths.

Now this was a big business idea for a little girl of 9. Due to time constraints, I convinced her to cancel most of it promising her that it will all be done for the next year’s Buddy’s day party. But she insisted that she has to make cards and sell them. For she wanted to give that money to an orphanage. I teasingly asked her what would be the price for the card and she squeezed her brows, thought for a while and said that it could range from Re 1 to Rs2 and since the cards were to be sold, their quality should be very good. So, “Mamma you should make the cards and write up the messages because my writing is not good and you are the best card maker” was her apt logic.

On hearing this, I just could not control my laughter. I said: "I never made one. How can you say that Sweetu?"

She replied: "I know! I can see your talent inside my mind!!!" And gave me her best trust me kind of smile.

Though I had no clue what to do we got started anyway, using the same concept as the bookmarks.

Sweetu parallely googled for some sayings on friendship and write-ups for birthday cards. We could only manage ten cards.

The best part of the preparatory two weeks was Sweetu entertaining me with her singing. In the name of practice I made Sweetu sing all the songs that she planned to sing in the concert. She had downloaded the songs and learnt it all by herself for the concert. All four songs were for friends. “Light up the world”, "You are the one", "Be a friend" and "Gift of a friend".

The most important task was food. It would be about 30 people in all, kids and elders put together. Mamtha, Sweetu's best friend Pratista’s mother suggested that we could buy paav and make bajji at home along with some snacks and juice. Pratista’s elder sister Tara happily agreed to make cake for the party. My friend Soumya said she would come early to help me make baaji. My friends, Bhagya and Shilpa declared that they would bring paav in spite of me objecting vociferously. Sushma, Saumya and Arpitha said they would bring snacks and insisted me not to buy any. At the end the food was a splendid treat from all my friends to us.

It's Party time!!!

Neither of us could sleep well on Saturday. Me, thinking about preparing baaji for 30 people having never cooked for so many in the 10 years of married life. And Sweetu, too excited to close her eyes.

I was a bit tensed, but Sweetu got up early the next morning, took bath and got ready so quickly that she actually surprised us all at home. We had never seen her getting ready by herself (without some form of poking and prodding) and in less than 20 minutes!!!! She wore her new Butterfly painted, lacy, off-white top and a red capri pant and tied her lovely long hair into a high ponytail. She powdered her face, put on a tiny bindi and applied strawberry lipbalm.

She looked so sweet. All decked up like a doll, she yelled at me “Mamma you are still not ready!!!!! U must finish cooking and help me decorate. Give a reminder call to all the friends. So much more to do and you are still sipping coffee?????”

I gave her my 'don’t worry' smile and told her that the party was at 3 pm and it was only 7.30 am now. We still had time. In response, she just sat on the sofa making a long face as if to say "It is too long a wait!"

Soumya, as promised, promptly arrived at 12 pm and walked in with a broad smile and two huge bags of vegetables. She took over the kitchen completely and forbid me from helping out, saying "See to the other things."

The Yummy Cake

Ah!!! What bliss to have such friends. I happily let her do all the hard work and started arranging other stuff. We changed bedsheets in Sweetu‘s room. A new bedsheet with colourful butterflies painted on it. By 2pm, Tara and Bujju (Pratista) walked in with a huge tray covered with a towel: The Buddy’s day cake !!! A very beautifully decorated yummy looking pink and blue cake!

The hype around the cake

For the next 2 hours Tara , Bujju, Saanvi and Sweetu decorated the home as all her other friends trickled in slowly. Finally, we started the party at 5 pm with Sweetu's welcome speech and badge distribution. While we ladies got busy talking and gossiping, Sweetu conducted the quiz. We had allocated 30 minutes for that but, it lasted more than an hour. By 6.30, the kids were hungry and we decided to cut the cake. We all sang "Happy Buddy's Day to you" and cut the cake. Thanking Tara for such a delicious cake, we then served Paav Baaji to all in steel plates and cold drinks in steel tumblers (No disposable cutlery!) Aaah!!! Baaji tasted so good and all of us enjoyed it. Including little Chinku (Ananya) who was just 4 years old. Honestly, if not for Soumya, I don’t know what Baaji I would have made. Anyway, it became quite late by the time we finished up with the food and we had to skip art and activity.

Friends at the party

The Floral Badges

Since kids were all in a playful mood, Sweetu engaged them in games. Then, she distributed the gifts and kids selected their book marks. After all the fun the grand finale of the party, the Concert began. Sweetu started singing by dedicating all the songs to her friends. As she sang, two of her friends joined in the song from the movie Frozen. It was lots of fun.

After the concert, all Sweetu's cards sold like hot cakes, raking in Rs.100 which she kept aside for the orphanage. It was almost 8 by then and we had to wrap up the party.

Donations for the orphanage

What left Sweetu and me in high spirits were the hearty appreciation from our friends. Sweetu's dream of Buddy's Day party had come to an end (well... According to her, the Buddy's Day party had just been born). Without the tremendous support from our friends, it would not have been so successful and cherishable.

The Gossipy Ladies Club

Three cheers to all the Buddy's Day party participants for making it a grand success! Thanks to my mother and father (for bearing and cleaning all the mess we made at home), and specially to my brother Vasista and Aarabhi (SIL) who, though abroad, managed to convince me to write this blog.

Tirtha yatra along the Great American East Coast

2014-05-18T21:41:00.000+05:30

Author: Aarabhi

Photographer: Vasistha

At a rest stop in Texas, first US trip with parents

My father-in-law stared at the brown ring of bread in his palm.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's a bagel Appa, a kind of bun. Here, they eat it with butter sometimes, for breakfast" I replied.
He sighed and bit into it determinedly.
I pulled a face at Vasistha.
We were at the Boston airport in USA on the layover of our flight to New Jersey; on our way to a short vacation along the east coast of USA.

The Trip:

The day Vashu got his onsite posting at Dallas, Texas, he had started planning for this trip. It had always been a dream for my hubby to show his parents at least one other country apart from our own. Once he married me, my parents naturally got included in the equation. So, here we were, 6 vegetarians. Hunting for a proper meal, reading labels and wondering if the Caesar dressing mentioned on the salad box had eggs in it or not.

Yeah, yeah, I know. It is awfully cliched these days. The whole "Niagara and east coast" trip. Every desi with a relative visiting him/her plans it. Almost like the tirtha-yatra of USA. Even though we planned the exact same trip, I simply do not understand the hype, that is Niagara falls. I mean, our own Jog falls, Athirapalli falls and plenty of others seem more breathtaking than it.

The Change in Plans:

At our cousin Sri Rama's place. A delightful time spent with his family. Shammi is in the grey T-shirt

"Hello Mama, Amami! Yepdi irkingo?" asked our cousin Shammi. We were 3 hours early due to our connecting flight being brought forward unexpectedly. He had most kindly taken a day off and was chauffeuring us to his home.

"Wasn't that a Stop Sign we just passed?" asked Vasistha.

Amused, Shammi replied: "It's ok Vasistha, the rules of the road are a little relaxed here in New Jersey."

Speeding was the only rule we had witnessed being broken in Dallas.Used as we were to the mostly strict adherence to traffic rules there, this was news for us.

Spending a delightful night with his family (with the world's biggest chatterbox of a 3 year old) and after visiting another relative, Sri Rama; we discovered that my dad-in-law's foot ulcer had worsened overnight, he had a burning fever and was in no state to travel. He had been the most enthusiastic person in our little troupe and we were all quite sad. Seeing our long faces, he ribbed, "I am taking some much needed rest here. I'll enjoy a couple of days with the kids. You guys go ahead."

The Story of the Bathroom:

"The beauty in front of you is NOT the whi hou, I repeat, it's not the whi hou!" said Jerry.
The five of us were exploring with our guide Jerry (Take Tours) with a bus full of Chinese tourists.
The Chinese-American accent of Jerry, was largely unintelligible to our ears. His "building" sounded like "beauty", "white house" sounded like "whi hou" and the Chinese translation of the place-descriptions amusingly took twice as long as in English.

Independence Hall, Philadelphia

We almost just passed through Philadelphia; viewing just the Liberty Bell and the Independence Hall. The fun thing was using the first public bathroom in the USA (opposite the hall, said to have been the one George Washington used). Reading the board proclaiming this, my dad remarked: "These guys turn everything into a tourist hot spot! Really? A bathroom?"

Memorials and exhaustion:

The Capitol building, "The beauty in front of you is NOT the whi hou, I repeat, it's not the whi hou!"

The usual circuit of Washington D.C took us to the National Air and Space museum (our guide gave us such little time here that most of the museum just got a cursory look-see; just had time to stamp a souvenir coin and withdraw some much needed cash from the ATM), the Madame Tussaud's wax museum and the four major landmarks around the Washington monument: the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, the Supreme Court and the grounds around them (read Korean war veterans memorial and such).

With Abe Lincoln

Walking with the Beatles at the wax museum

Grecian Colonnade huggers, right out of a movie song

Behind the Lincoln Memorial

We had some fun taking pictures in front of the huge Grecian colonnades, but were mostly tired by the long walks these places required us to make. At the end of the day, footsore and mostly exhausted, the elders decided to take some much needed rest and Vasista and I set out to get the last of the pics around the Lincoln Memorial in the fading light of the day. The lake waters and the huge golden statues flanking the roadway behind the memorial were really mesmerizing.

Glass: Infinitely varied, Inexplicably beautiful:

Gorgeous Tulips

The second day saw us making a loooong journey by bus through green valleys. The tall trees were sadly lacking in flowers but were mysteriously shrouded in mists. They vividly reminded us of our Nilgiris. We were to visit the 60 year old Corning Museum of Glass.

My MIL Rajani with her favourite pieces

The museum was absolutely wonderful! The meager 2 hours (including the lunch time!) that we were allowed to spend there was nowhere near enough to really enjoy and appreciate the amazing glass artifact displays. From exquisite tulips (contemporary) to 3500 year old glass-wares, the museum has it all. THE favorite place for my mother-in-law whose love for color, glass and intricacy was thoroughly satisfied here. We barely had time to rush through the museum and see a quick hot glass show, where professional glass-makers blow molten glass into vases, bowls and other such pieces of art.

The glass making show at the Museum, mesmerizing molten glass

The Hype:

A view of the falls

Our next stop was the famous Niagara falls. Such hype has centered around this falls that our troupe felt quite a bit let down when we finally saw the falls! At the risk of repeating myself, I concure that it is beautiful, and wide, aand well maintained. But, to call it the best waterfall would be stretching it. After having seen the majesticness and lush greenery of our own Gagana Chukki-Bhara Chukki and the Jog falls during the monsoons; Niagara seemed ordinary enough to us.

Still, we had come to visit it; so we did the usual touristy things-went on the Maid of the Mist boat ride and watched the short movie about the falls in the IMAX theater.

On board the Maid of the Mist

Had the first truly filling lunch of the entire trip at the small Punjabi mobile cart outside the Chinese mall. Since we all were starving and quite desperate for a proper vegetarian meal, the simple roti and dal were a heaven sent blessing.

The truly great thing was the lighted view of the falls in the evening. It was something worth seeing. Jerry had arranged for us to watch a cultural show- a dance and display about the American Indian people. Though the costumes were a little too garish (I suspect they were pandering to the crowd and not too authentic), this too was worth the pretty penny.

The Native Indian dance

Vivid blue of the St. Lawrence:

The last stop on this particular trip were the 1000 Islands. After making another long bus journey from Niagara to the jetty on the St. Lawrence river, we set off on an hour long cruise down the river, past the big mansions of reclusive billionaires.

The stories of the Bolt castle, Skull and Bones society of the Deer Island and the alleged shortest International bridge made spicy little tales for us to carry home.

The story goes that George Charles Boldt was a billionaire hotelier of the eighteen hundreds who drew up plans to build a magnificent 6 story castle for his wife. But, her untimely death put a halt to the construction for nearly 75 years. The castle rebuilding restarted only in 1977. Quite a tale worthy of our Taj Mahal.

The Boldt Castle Yatch House, the actual Castle was hidden among trees and we couldn't get a good enough pic

Not much needs to be said about the elitist society of Skull and Bones (select students and alumni of Yale University) which Hollywood has immortalized in the movie "The Skulls". The summer retreat of this society is located here on Deer Island.

Alleged shortest bridge in the world- Zavikon Island

The Zavikon Island has two parts with the smaller Island allegedly being located in the USA and the larger one in Canada. This is a false but popular tale carried by most of the tourist guides (including our own). The Island is actually located entirely in Canada.

Our official photographer ;) against the backdrop of t vivid blue of St. Lawrence river

We enjoyed amazing vistas of the castles and the brisk breeze which set our clothes flying hither. The background of the vivid blue of the river made for some amazing portraits for our family.

A truly memorable experience for us all.

p.s. Before I came up with the current title for this post, I had considered using:
OK, TX for all the great memories... we see you (CT) & enjoy (NJ)... All my friends would envy (NY) us...
The most atrocious title ever! But I couldn't help it. I just had to put in all those state names in it; it was just too irresistible.
These are the states we visited in the USA:
OK- Oklahoma (of the clanking oil wells)
TX- Texas (of the blistering sun and flattest land I'd ever seen)
CT (my CU)- Connecticut (lovely state, of which we saw so little)
NJ- New Jersey (of the Indian-style driving)
NY- New York (of the weirdly clean and posh Chikpet feel)

How to send a FREE sms to any national/international number without the help of third party websites

2013-11-14T09:33:00.003+05:30

source: asginformationtechnologies.com

source : theweek.com

How cool will it be, if you could send an email to a phone number?
Just imagine, you want to send an important information to your parents / friends. What you do ? Whatsapp? FB ? SMS ? Call ?
If the recipient doesn't have immediate access to internet, the only option is to SMS or call. And if they are not picking the call, then the only option left is to send an SMS; which will cost you. But, there is another better way, you can email this info to their mobile number.

We can send a mail to any phone and its FREE for many phone numbers (based on your service provider). When so many Indians are famous for the "missed calls", this option certainly beats that.

In the current market, many telecoms operators have 'free email to SMS gateways' which we can use to forward simple text emails to a mobile phone. In simple terms, you can drop an email to any phone number using the recipient's service provider's SMS Gateway.

How? Its simple. Just drop an email to <10 digit="" number="" phone="">@ServiceProvidersGateway

You just need to know your friend's phone number and the carrier (Eg. Airtel, Sprint) to start emailing to their mobile phone.
The table below lists a few free 'email to SMS gateways' for different carriers. You can use this as a quick reference for India, USA and International mobile numbers.

Eg:
Airtel (Karnataka, India) number@airtelkk.com
919845n@airtelkk.com Karnataka Airtel
919895n@airtelkerala.com Kerala Airtel
9842n@airsms.com Tamil Nadu Aircel

T-Mobile [10-digit phone number]@tmomail.net
Example: 1234567890@tmomail.net

Verizon [10-digit phone number]@vtext.com
Example: 1234567890@vtext.com

Sprint PCS [10-digit phone number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Example: 1234567890@messaging.sprintpcs.com

AT&T [10-digit phone number]@txt.att.net
Example: 1234567890@txt.att.net

I have tested this for Sprint (US number) and for Airtel Karnataka (Indian number).

I sometimes use this method to inform myself about any new mails coming to my Gmail. I set my Google settings to forward any incoming mail to another email id. Of course, the other email id is my phone number@airtelkk.com. So, whenever I am travelling and I can't check my mails, I get an SMS with the subject and a brief message content to my phone !! Even you can be contacted any time, provided your phone has a signal.

Beware, your wife might misuse this for sending shopping lists, but on the plus side this costs nothing if she has internet access!!!

Ref Sites:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/email-to-sms/
http://martinfitzpatrick.name/article/using-email-to-sms-gateways-to-send-free-sms

Bread Jamoon- The Reduce, Reuse and Recycle way

2013-06-21T05:19:00.000+05:30

Bread Jamoon, simplest sweet, ready in just under 20 minutes.

Our friend moved to New Jersey.
Now, that statement is definitely not related to any recipe you say?
You would be so wrong about that.
See, what happened was that he couldn't carry all his stuff with him; so he left us with most of the contents of his fridge, which included a half-finished tin of Rasgullas.
My sweet-toothed hubby, +Vasistha kj finished off the half which was leftover, in just about 3 days.
That is to say, the rasgullas were finished. The syrup, on the other hand sat in our fridge for a couple of weeks more. It was too sweet to be eaten directly and I was too chicken to waste good food.
The second time I had to rearrange the fridge contents to make space for the veggies and the usual left-overs of the day, I was pretty frustrated with the whole process of take them out, put back in and repeat.
Seeing my plight Vashu said: "Do something with that sugar syrup. Either throw it or reuse it."
Hearing that, I rooted through my brain looking for some recipe. Voila! Something a long lost girlfriend once had done popped into my mind.

So, here's what I did:
Ingredients:
A sliced bread loaf (Sweet white bread, a bit firm would be best)
Leftover sugar syrup (Could be from rasgullas, jamoons or any bengali sweet), preferably a little thick
Vegetable or sunflower oil (tasteless oils work better, so that rules out groundnut oil)
Knife
Tissue paper
Method:
Cut the bread slices into squares (about 1 or 1.5 inches)
Heat sufficient oil in a shallow vessel till it starts smoking slightly.
Fry the bread slices in hot oil on low flame till they turn golden brown.
Spread out the fried bread squares on tissue paper to drain the excess oil.
Dunk the fried bread into the sugar syrup for a minute.
Serve hot or cold, tastes good anyway.
Simplest thing in the world! :) :)

Dubai, Mashallah!

2013-06-13T06:19:00.000+05:30

World's tallest sky-scraper, The Burj Khalifa

Author & Photographer: +Aarabhi H R

"How do you wanna come to the US, via London or via Dubai?" asked my husband +vasista k.j .
"Do you have to ask? Of course London!" said I.

Being brought up on a literary diet of Famous Five, Sherlock Holmes, Pride & Prejudice and Harry Potter, no wonder the UK was my first choice. But, this particular dream was not destined to be fulfilled yet. The visa process for traveling into this country, even for a short layover of 23 hours between my flights proved to be both cumbersome and costly. Then we heard that Emirates gave us free transit visa and hotel bookings. So, Dubai it was.

Being more enamored of natural wonders than manmade ones, I did not have any special desire to see Dubai. It was, as I said my second choice. This not so flattering opinion was reinforced when I saw the bottom two floors of the Dubai International Airport. Huge glass and steel enclosed spaces, but not a body in sight. The utter absence of crowds was jarring, especially after the crowds in Bangalore. To be truthful, it was somewhat eerie.

One of the huge lobbies at the Dubai Airport. You can count the number of people on one hand.

I had heard a lot about this airport from my friends and from my husband who had seen it before. About how big it was, how posh, how hi-tech.... So naturally, my expectations were high. The airport did live up to its description. Lot of other people would've fallen in lust with it perhaps; but for me, it lacked a certain something. I could see huge sleek columns, vast marble lobbies, sparkling fountains and couture-feel styling in everything; from elevators and bathrooms to chair designs and signboards.
But, the most engaging of things, the human element was sorely lacking.

This impression did a back flip once I saw the duty-free area on the fourth and top-most floor. It was sparkling too, but it was also bursting with travelers. Totally my kind of a place. But, I was there at an unearthly hour of 2 in the morning, without any companions and jet lag riding on my heels. Not conducive to a pleasant romp of window shopping.

The Blue Mosque, in the Jumeriah District

But I did squeeze-in four hours of "The Sights" of Dubai. Courtesy of the Emirates, I could stay at the Hotel Copthorne (Great, yummy food) and was able to book a $30 tour from the Sun Tourists in the hotel lobby. My Indian guide, Nehru (Mumbaiwalla) did a good job. Clear, informative and no butler english. What more can a girl want?

We started by cruising the Jumeirah district of the city. These are beach side, residential properties where most of the population are foreigners (80%). Lovely, villa-type homes bordered neat streets. For a desert, Dubai is amazingly green. Nehru explained that 90% of Dubai's water is reclaimed from the Persian Gulf (salty, briny nightmare) and only 10% comes from rain and groundwater. Great water management.

Sky scrapers- here, there, everywhere!

Tall, twisted and sparkling structures covered in glass of all known shades and hues lined the sides of most of the streets of Dubai. The stations of the fully automated Dubai metro which circumnavigates the city-state are golden brown tubes twisting here and there and everywhere. Watching these sights I slowly went from "Ayyo! Ade boring buildings, swalpa yetra irbodu ashte..." to "Abba! yeshtu kashtapattu, yeshtu kammi time nalli, yenella yochane madi kattidarappa!" (How much hard work, time, effort and thinking has been put into these buildings!)

In front of The Burj Al Arab

The most publicized picture of Dubai, is that of the palm island which houses the famed Burj Al Arab (Shaped like the sail of a Ship) and the Atlantis hotel. These are actually artificial islands, smack dab inside the Persian Gulf. We traveled over the stem of the palm tree through the multi-million dollar apartment buildings via the fronds of the palm, which houses luxury villas of the kind dreams are made of; finally reaching the five-star Atlantis Hotel shaped like a series of arches (sort of apes the Hawa Mahal, if you ask me ;) ) after travelling through a kilometer-long, under-sea tunnel.

The Atlantis Hotel

Wonderful statues of Arabic people at the Dubai Museum

My favorite part was in old Dubai. Centuries-old buildings were beautifully restored and had wind towers (for pre-electricity air-conditioning). The 2 centuries old Dubai fort is compact, and has been converted into a museum. A traditional arabian souk and home are painstakingly recreated underneath the fort, in a series of winding passages. The nooks and crannies hold statues of arabic men, women and children, dressed in traditional costumes. The story of desert life is told in songs, text and recordings. A place worth visiting.

Gold bangles at the Gold Souk

Dubai Creek- a beautiful sight at night

The gold market, meena bazar (clothing and artwork from India and Pakistan) and spice souk were pit stops along the way to the Dubai creek which was the final stop.

This creek is the backwaters of the Gulf and divides Dubai into two halves. It is a beautiful sight by boat at night. All the hotels, shops and buildings lit-up and reflecting in the water. A fine end to a short look into modern Arabia.

An Evening in Tranquebar

2012-09-01T15:38:00.002+05:30

Tanquebar Danish Fort

Author: Aarabhi

Photographer: Vasistha

“Shoot that one!” I cried.

“It just came out of the hole!”

“There are holes all over the place. OMG! I’m standing on one!” exclaimed Vashu and jumped away from the spot.

I could say we were shooting rabbits on a Danish estate, the location seemed foreign enough. But, I’d only be fooling you. We were in Tharangambadi on the Tamil Nadu coast where the late 17^th century Danish fort still stands tall.

Crab on the beach

We were shooting pictures of the multitude of crabs that had dug their homes in the beach beside the fort. The tiny sand-colored crabs were swarming all over the beach and the fallen brick walls on the waterfront. They kept popping out of tiny holes in the sand and scaring the bejesus out of my dear husband, who kept trying and failing to get good shots of the tricky suckers.

Fallen brick walls

We had wandered down to the beach after spending nearly an hour of our time ogling the lovely fort and the small museum inside it. Built of mellow olive colored bricks, the fort stands three stories tall and is a testament to the geometric functionality of the people of Denmark.

Dungeons and funny cor ner bastions

Small, dark, dungeon like spaces are barely visible through arches in the main courtyard at the ground level, while funny shaped corner bastions peak over the rooflines, looking for all the world like the wizard caps straight out of a Harry Potter flick.

The cool dimly lit reception rooms inside the fort overlook the sea and now serve as the museum.

The upper courtyard at the first level wraps around the fort and holds the ancient canons placed strategically at frequent intervals.

A lovely place for an evening’s outing.

Canon

Android Rooting- Many problems, one solution!

2012-08-22T22:56:00.001+05:30

Author: Vasistha ( As told to Aarabhi)

Photographer: Google

Many problems, One solution- Rooting!

My niece Sameeksha ambled into our room and complained to me: "Vashu mama! This game is stuck; I can't go to the next level!" She then handed over my mobile to me and walked away in a huff.

Warning messages for "Low Memory" were blinking on the screen. The internal memory was running lower than 20MB leaving me cursing my supposedly high-end LG android phone.

This memory problem kept bugging me and eating away at my thoughts. The only way I had of increasing the internal memory was to uninstall my favorite games and apps or clear the caches of most of the apps; hence losing all settings and stored passwords.

"What's the point in having an android if it can't autopilot itself?" asked my friend. To answer his question I started digging. Apart from the temporary files mentioned above, what else was eating up my memory? How could I analyze the memory usage of the different sections of my phone? LG had also installed some apps like Bollywood and Newspaper which were utterly unnecessary. I couldn’t uninstall them nor move them to the SD card! How to get out of this vicious circle became the question of the day.

This was where the Android OS's specialty came into light. This OS is designed in such a way that we can do a lot of things and customize the phone according to our interests or lifestyle. To do most things on the android phone and to overcome problems of the memory sort, the only criteria required is to ROOT the phone. Of course, once the phone is rooted its warranty expires; but rooting will not harm the phone in any way unless you screw it up due to lack of knowledge.

Just googling "how to root my phone" will get you about 43,500,000 results (0.17 seconds), many of which are good blogs detailing the process. Once the phone is rooted, what all can we do? The following are a few things that are possible:

1. Uninstall unwanted inbuilt APPs in the phone memory.

2. If you don't want to remove the app but move it to SD card instead, then, just uninstall the APP and download the APP from market. This time either it will directly be installed on SD card memory or you can move it to SD memory once installed using another APP called APP2SD (available in market)

3. You can take a backup of your preinstalled APPs or any APP installed on your phone. This is very useful when your phone crashes, or when you format the memory. You can even reinstall the APPs without downloading from the market again and again. This can be done by copying these APPs to your PC. This will also allow you to share the APPs across devices (to your Tablet or another smart device).

To take backup of system APPs (like bluetoothclient.apk, webbowser.apk, keyboard.apk etc), you'll have to use APPs like Titanium backup, Appsbackup etc. You have to give root permission for these APPs before you take backup.

Changing LCD density using rooting

4. If you want to see which portion of your phone is taking up how much memory, use APPs like "Storage Analyser" , it requires root permision to see entire phone and SD card memory usage in depth. If you are an APP developer or Inventor, you would be building APPS of your own. When you move them to your phone, a copy of the .apk file is moved to /data/local/tmp. To view this path you need root permisiion. Normal file browser will not show this path and files inside this folder. But Storage Analyser shows the exact path enabling you to delete or add files according to your preference.

A Glimpse of Pandavapura

2012-08-07T23:28:00.000+05:30

Author: Aarabhi

Photographer: Vasistha

Doorway and Mantapam- Gopalaswamy Temple, Tonnur

My stories always begin with Vasistha, my husband. He is the spearhead, instigator and planner of any vacation/ outing in our family. This trip was no exception.

“Pandvapura” taluk in Mandya district of Karnataka is well known for its centuries old Srivaishnavite temples. We visited three of them, namely, the Gopalaswamy temple, the Nambhinarayanaswamy temple and the Yoga Narasimhaswamy temple.

Lush greenery of Pandavapura

Spread around the huge “Tonnur lake”, these temples nestle amidst the lush paddy fields characteristic of Mandya. The temples of Gopalaswamy and Nambhinarayanaswamy lie on either side of the main road leading into the village of Tonnur.

The temple of Gopalaswamy, said to have been founded by none other than the most virtuous of the Pandava brothers, Dharmaraja; is built in the Chola style of architecture.

The state bird of Karnataka, the Indian Roller, sighted on the way

The main diety, Sri Krishna is in his “Vishwa Ropa Darshana” pose. Standing eight feet tall and five feet wide, he has shanku (conch) in his left hand and chakra (wheel) in his right; also, one hand gives us the “Abhaya Hastha” while the other is fisted on his thigh. This is an unusual depiction of Sri Krishna and is not commonly seen in any temple. Sri Krishna is flanked by his consorts Sridevi and Bhoodevi. Krishna and Bhoodevi idols are full-bodied in the way of the Cholas as opposed to the nymph like, proportioned Hoysala style idol of Sridevi which seems to be a later addition.

Gopalaswamy temple

The temple courtyard

Another unique feature is the “Utsava Murthy”. Sri Krishna as Venugopala is in his "Tribhangi Nrithya" pose. Holding a flute to his lips with both hands, he has his left foot in the front (not the usual right foot). His chin, elbow and left toe are clearly aligned in a straight line, one below the other (Tribhangi Nrithya, i.e. thrice-bent pose).

After a peaceful darshan of this quiet temple (there were only two more devotees apart from our troupe), we crossed the road to the Nambhinarayanaswamy temple. Surprisingly, this temple has outer walls and pillars in the older chola style, while the sanctum sanctorum (Garbha Gruha) has intricately carved pillars of the newer Hoysala style.

Nambhinarayanaswamy temple

Standing ten feet tall, Narayanaswamy has 2 maces in his front hands. He also holds, shanku and chakra. Both temples have huge walled-in, well-paved courtyards. But the condition of the Lakshmi temple inside the Gopalaswamy temple courtyard is pitiful. All sorts of construction materials and implements are dumped inside the temple with garish wall of concrete built in the middle. Truly a sad state of a beautiful place.

Pitiful state of Lakshmi temple

The last temple, Yoga Narasimhaswamy is the most renowned of the three. This temple was restored from its dilapated state by the Sri Ramanujacharya. The main diety Yoganarasimha is small and compact- barely three feet tall. But, this does not distract us from its beauty or serenity.

Legend goes that this idol was founded by the demon King, Hiranyakashipu’s son, King Prahalada in the Kritha Yuga. The temple had turned to ruins by the time Jain king Bittideva reigned. The king’s daughter was possessed by an evil spirit and none could get rid of it. When Sri Ramanujacharya’s SriPada Theertham (Holy water obtained by washing his feet) was sprinkled on her, she was cured. In gratitude and influenced by the acharya’s teachings, the king converted to Srivaishnavism and took the name “Vishnuvardhana”. The King then rebuilt the temples around the lake. Angered by their king’s conversion, 1000 Jain scholars marched to the banks of the Tonnur lake; to the temple of Yoga Narasimhaswamy, where Sri Ramanujacharya was residing. The acharya managed to answer a thousand spiritual and philosophical quizzes by all the Jain scholars simultaneously. Since he is known as the incarnation of “Adishesha”, he was said to possess a thousand tongues like the divine serpent.

Sri Ramanuja’s idol in his “Adishesha” avatar is housed in a small space inside the temple. Snake hoods arch up behind his idol which itself has a face featured in a markedly snake-like way with narrow nose and mouth and deeply arching eyebrows over slanting eyes.

When the temple priest holds up a lamp to the idol’s face and to the snake markings on the belly, the resemblance to Adishesha is quite clearly apparent. The hands of the idol are in the yoga mudra and the feet are unusually clearly visible. An ancient drum fabled to be more than thousand years old is housed in a glass case beside the idol.

Frolicking in the huge Tonnur lake

After finishing all the darshans, it was time for some fun and games. So, we drove up to the Tonnur lake and splashed around in the water. Deep, vast and extremely windy; the lake is a popular picnic spot. The stairs around the lake were filled with tourists in bathing suits and frolicking children. We had a light lunch from our lunch boxes and drove back to Bangalore, to the hustle and bustle of our daily lives.

Art and Heritage at Venkatappa Art Gallery and Government Museum

2012-07-09T19:31:00.000+05:30

Author: Aarabhi
Photographer: Vasistha

Government Museum

We are a travel crazy family, with my husband, Vasista as the Kapitan. Any travel news in the media first catches his eye. So, when The Hindu published an article about the Government Museum in Bangalore, his curiosity was piqued and he asked me if I would like to go there. Starting any trip very early in the day is our modus operandi. This time though, it wasn’t an option for us. This museum and the attached Venkatappa art gallery open at 10 am and close at 5. So, there we were at the stroke of 10 staring up at the colonial style building with cornices and Corinthian columns. Painted a bright red color, it stood out amongst its ultramodern neighbors like UB city.

The ultramodern UB City in contrast to the colonial Museum

The entry fee for the museum is a measly four rupees per head, but the plaque beside the ticket counter reads: “No tickets will be issued if there is a power failure”. This is because the tickets are electronic, like BMTC tickets. But, refusing people entry just because there is no power seems to be a typical apathetic behavior of a governmental institution.

The museum houses an eclectic collection of megalithic pottery, jewelry, tools, weapons, and sculpture mostly found in and around Karnataka. There are also, paintings of different styles such as Mysore, Persian, Mughalai and Deccan.

A beautiful four spouted pot and painted clay beads from tombs long lost are noteworthy. Few artifacts of the Vijayanagar Empire such as ivory dice, and eerily symmetrical faces of mythological characters are also on display.

Vijayanagar Carvings

Sculpture

The famous Halmidi inscription circa 450 AD, renowned to be the oldest Kannada inscription is also housed here.

The first floor of the museum is a treat as it houses good paintings. Amazingly well preserved wooden idols of Narasimha, Hanuman and other gods can also be seen here. The most striking display is a series of Mysore style paintings of Ramayana. These painstakingly worked panels cover almost half a wall on this floor.

The annex building of the museum displays rock sculpture of gods and goddesses. The name boards of these idols are queer. The museum’s archeologists seem to have been in great doubt about their discoveries. Seeming to guess the identity of the idol they have excavated, the nameplate reads: “Goddess: 11^th century BC: Durga?” The next ones are even better: “Vaishnavi? Parvathi? Ganesh?” I felt like asking the gatekeeper: “What’s with these question marks?”

One more example of governmental apathy is the section displaying sculptures of the Vijayanagar Empire which are carelessly exposed to the elements. They are displayed in an open courtyard without even a canopy for rain protection!

Sculptures open to the elements!

In front of the Gallery

The adjoining Venkatappa art gallery is a feast for the eyes. There aren’t adjectives in this language which can describe what a person can experience from the art of Venkatappa.

Marble panels depicting mythological scenes are wonderfully realistic. The figures are embossed in a raised pattern on the marble and show the delineation and sinuous lines of the human form in loving detail. The sheer range of fine-art forms in which Venkatappa was proficient is mind boggling. He played musical instruments like the Veena, sculpted marble, painted in water colors and oils, designed and executed the interiors of Mysore Maharaja’s palace, the list is endless.

He was one of the best of his contemporaries in all the fields he touched. The displays in this gallery are living proof of his genius and a visit to view and enjoy them in an unforgettably uplifting experience. His water color depictions of Ooty in its many avatars: ‘during the monsoons’, ‘in the fall’, ‘moonrise on a hill’ are wonderful renditions that bring alive the ethereal quality of the Nilgiris.

A huge contrast to this beauty is the first floor of the gallery which houses modern art by many famous artists, including M F Hussain. My husband and I have never been big fans of this art form. The display put up here, at the gallery, just cemented our opinions. Maybe we lack the understanding ability of this particular art, but come on? A splash of 12 different colors on a canvas is called "Art"? My six year old niece can do that! It was a complete emotional letdown. Venkatappa's art enlightens, makes you think and brings you joy. Whereas this art gets a reaction of: "Huh! What's that thing on the wall?"

Author with a Nandi

Sikkim - Small, but Beautiful!

2012-05-13T14:27:00.000+05:30

Mt. Kanchenjunga

It seemed blisteringly hot at Bangalore this March which made us long for rain or snow. Since Mohammed cannot come to the mountain, the mountain should go to Mohammed or in our case we should go to the Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim. Escaping the heat (both of the temperature and of our jobs) Vasistha and I fled to Gangtok, Sikkim for a weeklong vacation. Having never seen BIAL, the airport was a pleasant experience for us. Throughout the process of check-in and security check I’d been aware of a continuous chirping noise. Assuming it was some new age music from the speakers, I just ignored it. Imagine my surprise when a fat sparrow landed on my table at the café and started pecking away at the crumbs. This bird, supposedly extinct in Bangalore is found in abundance at the airport!

View from our Aeroplane

Our flight took us via Delhi to Bagdogra airport at Siliguri, West Bengal. It was sweltering at Siliguri after our long hours spent in AC which led us to wonder if we had landed from the frying pan of Bangalore to the fire here! Our driver, Pravesh picked us up and off we went to Gangtok. The weather continued to be dry and hot for more than half of the four hour drive to our hotel.

Teesta and Rangeet

The road followed the curves of the meandering rivers, Teesta and Rangeet and wound through valleys and mountains. Soon enough, we encountered cooler climate and greener hillsides heralding our entry into Sikkim, locally known as Nye-mae-el or paradise. The sheer variety in shades of green of the foliage around us reminded us of Charmudi Ghat of the Nilgiris.

Arriving at the very homely Rhenock House, we were checked in by the warm and friendly staff. The hotel had a very Colonial feel to it. It was barely 6pm and surprisingly night had already fallen. Our room was on the third and highest floor. The twinkling lights spread on the steep slopes of the city made for a gorgeous view from our window.

View from our room- The twinkling lights of Gangtok outside our window

Music in the lobby

Eight days might seem too long for a state as small as Sikkim, but not when it holds so many places to see and things to do.

Gangtok Flower Exhibition

Our first day was earmarked for some local sightseeing. The flower exhibition at the heart of the capital Gangtok has a beautiful collection of orchids. The amazing colours and textures of these and the other flowers are a sight for sore eyes. The peaceful temples of Hanumantok and Ganeshtok just a few kilometers from the city give a great view of Mount Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak of the world. On a clear day (as it was for us, fortunately!) one can clearly make out the jagged edges of the snow-covered peak glowing in the morning sun. It seems just within an arm’s reach, but is as unattainable for a simple mortal as the moon.

Dressing up as a Sikkimese and Snow covered peaks

Trail through the Zoo

The sprawling Himalayan Zoological Park is home to some rare species of Pheasants, the Red Panda, the Snow Leopard and to a wide range of animals, of which only a select few are caged. The steep winding slopes of the park loop through the fir trees of the hillside and need a trekker’s physique for proper exploration.

Panther

Sikkim is also known for its adventure sports. We decided to go Paragliding and signed up at one of the roadside shops. Weighing us up (literally and figuratively), the owner quoted the price to be Rs.2350/- per person for a 10 minute flight. We were driven up a cliff for 15 minutes followed by a trek on foot, up an exceedingly steep trail to the top for a further quarter hour. Huffing and puffing, I barely had time to swallow a few mouthfuls of water before my pilot securely strapped us both to a seat harness and tied the glider to his back. He also gave me a long pole attached to a video camera and casually instructed me to run off the cliff! Needless to say, I did not share his blithe disregard for my life. I experienced a moment of muscle freezing, heart stopping fear, and then Shangri-La! The wind had caught me at the moment of fall and was like a living entity. I was gliding at an astounding speed, buffeted by the stiff breeze which pushed and pulled and kept trying to sweep me off to distant lands. If not for the pilot behind me, I’d have reached who knows where?

Ready for take-off!

The landing is another experience that I will recount to my grandkids. I was moving slowly in a lull in the wind. Suddenly, a strong gust caught me and I felt like I was at the top of a giant roller coaster, poised to fall to my doom. In spite of the sudden loops and twirls my pilot succeeded in letting me down gently. The adrenaline rush was a constant companion, but it was exhilarating.

Pravesh and Vashu at Ban Jhakri Falls with the solar panels :)

The hydel project of Banzhakri falls was our last stop for the day. Very scenic and well maintained, it is a governmental initiative for green energy conservation & generation. The whole park is powered by solar energy. Life-like statues of Banzhakri (Shaman of the local tribes) are placed at strategic places throughout this energy park. There is also a small museum where you can play quizzes about energy conservation and some models of green energy products.

All in all, it was a very successful first day of our little trip.

Kolar: ಕೊಲಾರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಸುತ್ತು

2012-04-21T15:38:00.001+05:30

ಲೇಕಖಿ : ರಜನಿ.ಏನ್.ಎಸ್

ಫೋಟೋಗ್ರಫಿ : ವಸಿಷ್ಠ

ಕೊಲಾರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಸುತ್ತು

ರಾತ್ರಿಯ ಕತ್ತಲು ಕರಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಬೆಳ್ಳ ಬೆಳಕು ಮೂಡುತ್ತಲಿತ್ತು. ನಸುಕಿನ ಹಿತವಾದ ತಂಗಾಳಿ ಕಾರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಳಿತ ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಮೈಮನವನ್ನು ಅರಳಿಸುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ದಾರಿಯನ್ನು ಸೀಳುತ್ತ ನಮ್ಮ ವಾಹನ ಕೋಲಾರದ ಕಡೆ ಸಾಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು.

ಕಳೆದ ಬಾರಿ ನಾವು ಕೋಲಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋದಾಗ ಅನೇಕ ಸ್ಥಳಗಳನ್ನು ಸಮಯದ ಪರಿಧಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಲಾಗದೆ ಹಿಂತಿರುಗಿದ್ವಿ. ಈಗ ಆ ಎಲ್ಲ ಸ್ಥಳಗಳ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯವನ್ನು ಸಮಿಲು ಹೊರಟಿದ್ವಿ.

ಮೊದಲಿಗೆ ಕೋಲಾರದ ಸುಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ ಸ್ಥಳವಾದ ಅಂತರಗಂಗೆಗೆ ಹೊರಟ್ವಿ. ಮುಂಜಾನೆ ೮ ಘಂಟೆಗೆಲ್ಲಾ ನಾವು ಅಲ್ಲಿದ್ವಿ. ಅಂತರಗಂಗೆಯನ್ನು ದಕ್ಷಿಣದ ಕಾಶಿ ಎನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಿಂದ ಸುಮಾರು ೬೫ ಕಿ.ಮೀದೂರದಲ್ಲಿದೆ.

ಸುಮಾರು ನೂರು ಮೆಟ್ಟಲುಗಳನ್ನು ಹತ್ತಬೇಕು. ಅಕ್ಕಪಕ್ಕಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನೀಲಗಿರಿಯ ಅನೇಕ ಗಿಡಗಳನ್ನು ಬೆಳಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅದರೆ ನೀಲಗಿರಿಯ ವೃಕ್ಷಗಳನ್ನು ಅಷ್ಟೊಂದುಬೆಳಸಿರುವುದು ಸರಿಯಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ನಮಗೆ ಅನಿಸಿತು. ಆ ಮರಗಳು ೧೦೦ ಮೈಲಿಗಳಿನಿಂದಲೂ ನೀರನ್ನು ಸೆಳೆದು ಕುಡಿಯುವಿದರಿಂದ ಸುತ್ತಲಿನ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನೀರಿನ ಜ್ವಲಂತ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಯಾಗಬಹುದು. ಅಂತರಗಂಗೆ ಬೆಟ್ಟವನ್ನು ಹಿಂದೆ ಶತಶೃಂಗ ಪರ್ವತ ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯಲಾಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ವಿಪರೀತ ಕೋತಿಗಳಿವೆ. ಆದರೆ ಯಾರಿಗೂ ತೊಂದರೆ ಕೊಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಏನಾದರೂ ತಿಂಡಿಯನ್ನು ನಿರೀಕ್ಷಿಸುತ್ತವೆ.

ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಶಿಖರವು ಹಾವಿನ ಆಕಾರದಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಬಸವನ ಬಾಯಿಂದ ಸಿಹಿಯಾದ ನೀರು ಒಸರುತ್ತದೆ. ಒಳಗೆ ಮೂರು ಗರ್ಭಗುಡಿಗಳಿವೆ. ಗಣಪ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲೇ ಸುಬ್ರಹ್ಮಣ್ಯರನ್ನು ಕೆತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಮಧ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಶಿ ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥನ ಲಿಂಗವಿದೆ. ಅದರ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಗರ್ಭಗುಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಶಾಲಾಕ್ಷಿ ನಿಂತು ದರ್ಶನ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾಳೆ. ಹೊರಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಲಾಗಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಲಿಂಗಗಳಿವೆ.

ನಾವು ದೇವರನ್ನು ದರ್ಶಿಸಿ ಪ್ರಸಾದ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತು ಕುಳಿತು ಆ ಸ್ಥಳದ್ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯವನ್ನು ಸವಿದು ಮುಂದೆ ಕೋಲಾರಮ್ಮನ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದತ್ತ ಸಾಗಿದ್ವಿ. ಕೋಲಾರಮ್ಮನ ದೇವಳವು ಬಹಳ ಪ್ರಾಚೀನವಾದ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ. ಸುಮಾರು ೧೮೦೦ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಇತಿಹಾಸವಿರುವ ದೇವಳ. ರಾಜರಾಜ ಚೋಳನೆಂಬ ಚೋಳರಸ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ್ದನೆಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿ ಎಂಬಂತೆ ದೇವರ ಗುಡಿಯ ಎಡ ಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವನ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಕೆತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಕೋಲಾರಮ್ಮ ಸ್ಥಳೀಯ ಗ್ರಾಮ ದೇವತೆ ಶಲ್ತಿರೂಪಿಣಿ. ಅವಳನ್ನು ನೇರವಾಗಿ ನೋಡಬಾರದೆಂದು ಮೊದಲು ಕನ್ನಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆ ತಾಯಿಯನ್ನು ವೀಕ್ಷಿಸಿ ತದನಂತ ಆ ತಾಯಿಯ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಉಗ್ರವೇ ಎನ್ನಬಹುದಾದ ಮೂರ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ವೀಕ್ಷಿಸಬಹುದು.

ದೇವಳದ ಮುಂಬಾಗದಲ್ಲೇ ಏತ್ತರವಾದ ಕೆತ್ತನೆಯಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದ ಗೋಡೆಗಳು ಬಾಗಿಲುಗಳು ಇವೆ. ದ್ವಾರ ಮಂಟಪಗಳಿವೆ. ಮುಂದೆ ವಿಶಾಲವಾದ ಪ್ರಾಂಗಣವಿದೆ. ಭವ್ಯವಾದ ಮುಖಮಂಟಪವಿದೆ. ದೊಡ್ಡ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಕಂಬಗಳು ದ್ರಾವಿಡ ಹಾಗೂ ಗಂಗರಸರ ಶೈಲಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆತ್ತಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿವೆ.

ಗೋಡೆಯಮೇಲೆ ಯುದ್ಧ ಮಾಡುವ ಚಿತ್ರಣವನ್ನು ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿ ಕೆತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಒಳಗೆ ನಡೆದರೆ ಅಲ್ಲೊಂದು ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಪ್ರಾಕಾರ. ಗುಡಿಯ ಒಳಗೆ ನಡೆದು ಒಳಗೆ ಹೋದರೆ ಸಪ್ತ ಮಾತೃಕೆಯರ ಮೂರ್ತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಬಹಳ ದೊಡ್ಡದಾಗಿ ಕೆತ್ತಿರುವುದನ್ನು ನಾವು ನೋಡಬಹುದು.

ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ನಾವು ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಪ್ರಾಚೀನ ದೇವಾಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋದ್ವಿ. ಅದೇ ಸೋಮೇಶ್ವರನ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ. ಈ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನವು ಚೋಳರಸರ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಟ್ಟಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು ವಿಜಯರಸರ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿಅವರದೇ ಶೈಲಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪುನರೋದ್ಧಾರಗೊಂಡಿದೆ. ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ ಕೋಲಾರದ ಹೃದಯ ಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಮುಖಧ್ವಾರದ ಎತ್ತರವಾಗಿ ಸುಂದರ ಕೆತ್ತನೆಗಳಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿ ಆಕರ್ಷಣೀಯವಾಗಿದೆ. ದ್ವಾರಗಳ ಅಕ್ಕಪಕ್ಕಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮಂಟಪಗಳಿವೆ. ವಸಂತಪಂಟಪವು ಸುಂದರವಾದ ವಿಜಯರಸರ ಶೈಲಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಸ್ತಾರವಾದ ಕಂಬಗಳಿಂದ ಕೆತ್ತಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿದೆ. ಗೋಡೆ ಬರಹಗಳಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದೆ. ಕಲ್ಯಾಣಮಂಟಪವು ಸುಂದರವಾಗಿದೆ. ತುಲಾಭಾರ ಮಂಟಪವಿ ಈ ದೇವಳದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದು ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟವಾಗಿದೆ. ಮುಖ್ಯ ದೇವರು ಸೋಮೇಶ್ವರ ಲಿಂಗದಾಕರದಲ್ಲಿ ಇದೆ. ಹೀಗೆ ಸುಂದರವಾದ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನವನ್ನು ಮನದಣಿಯ ನೋಡಿ ಹೃನ್ಮನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಲಿವಿನ ಚಿತ್ತಾರ ಬಿಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ನಾವೆಲ್ಲ ಮಾಲೂರಿನತ್ತ ಸಾಗಿದೆವು. ಮಾಲೂರು ಕೋಲಾರದ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಸ್ಥಳ ಆ ಊರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿಕ್ಕ ತಿರುಪತಿಯೆಂದು ಕರೆಯಲ್ಪಡುವ ಪುಣ್ಯದೇಗುಲವಿದೆ.

ದೇಗುಲ ವಿಸ್ತಾರವಾಗಿದೆ. ಸರಳವಾಗಿದೆ. ಭಕ್ತಾದಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಎಲ್ಲ ಸೌಲಭ್ಯಗಳಿವೆ. ವಿಸ್ತಾರವಾದ ಪ್ರಾಕಾರವಿದೆ. ಪೂರ್ವ ಹಾಗೂ ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಧ್ವಾರಗಳಿವೆ. ಪೂರ್ವಧ್ವಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದು ಶ್ರೀ ಭೂ ನೀಳಾಸಮೇತನಾಗಿ ನಿಂತಿರುವ ಕಲ್ಯಾಣ ಶ್ರೀನಿವಾಸನ ಕಣ್ಮನ ಸೆಳೆಯುವ ಆಕರ್ಷಕ ಸುಂದರಮೂರ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ಧನ್ಯರಾದೆವು. ಶ್ರೀ ಭೂ ದೇವಿಯರ ನಗೆಮೊಗದ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯ ಚಿತ್ತಾಪಹಾರಿಯಾಗಿದೆ. ಶ್ರೀನಿವಾಸನ ಭವ್ಯತೆಯು ನಯನಮನೋಹರವಾಗಿದೆ. ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯನ್ನು ಮನದಲ್ಲಿ ತುಂಬಿಕೊಂಡು ಪ್ರಸಾದ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಿ ಆಚೆ ಬಂದಾಗ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನಸ್ಸ್ಸು ಆನಂದಪರವಶವಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಆ ಮಂಗಳಕರನ ಸನ್ನಿಧಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತು ಕುಳಿತು ತದನಂತರ ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಅನತಿದೂರದಲೇ (೧೦ ೧೫ ಕಿಮೀ) ಇದ್ದ ಕಲ್ಕುಂಟೆ ಎಂಬ ಪುಣ್ಯಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊರಟೆವು. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೀರಂಗನಾಥ ೫ ಹೆಡೆ ಶೇಷನ ಮೇಲೆ ಮಗ್ಗಲಾಗಿ ಮಲಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲರನ್ನೂ ಕೈಬೀಸಿ ಕರೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾನೆ ಎಂಬಂತಿದೆ. ಸಾಲಿಗ್ರಾಮ ಶಿಲೆಯಿಂದ ನಿರ್ಮಿತವಾಗಿರುವ ಮೂರುನಾಮವನ್ನು ಧರಿಸಿ ಯೋಗನಿದ್ರೆಯ ರಮಣೀಯ ಭಂಗಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಲಗಿ ನಸುನಗೆ ಬೀರುತ್ತಿರುವಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಭಕ್ತರನ್ನು ಚುಂಬಕದಂತೆ ಸೆಳೆಯುತ್ತಾನೆ.

ಬಲ ಪಾರ್ಶ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಂಡಾಳ್ ಬೆಳ್ಳಿ ಒಡವೆಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಬೆಳ್ಳಿ ಕಮಲದಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತು ಬೆಳ್ಳಿ ನಗೆ ಬೀರುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೆ ಎಡ ಪಾರ್ಶ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಂದಾವರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತು ಕಿರು ನಗೆಯ ಚೆಲ್ವಿನ ಮೋಡಿ ಮಾಡುವಂತೆ ಕಂಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಳೆ ಮಹಾಲಕ್ಷ್ಮೀದೇವಿ. ಅಂಗಳದ ಮಂಟಪದ ಮುಂದೆ ಆಳ್ವಾರರುಗಳ ಸಾನಿಧ್ಯವಿದೆ. ಶ್ರೀವೈಷ್ಣವ ಆಚಾರ್ಯರಾದ ಭಗವದ್ರಾಮಾನುಜರ ಭವ್ಯ ಚಿತ್ರವು ಎಲ್ಲರ ಚಿತ್ತಭಿತ್ತಿಗೆ ತಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ.
ಪ್ರಶಾಂತವಾದ ರಮಣೀಯ ರಂಗನಾಥನ ರ್ಮ್ಯ ಪವಿತ್ರ ಸಾನಿಧ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತು ವಿಶ್ರಮಿಸಿ ತಂದಿದ್ದ ಭೋಜನವನ್ನು ಭುಂಜಿಸಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಏಳುವ ಮನಸಿಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೂ ಎದ್ದೆವು. ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಸ್ಥಳದ ಆಕರ್ಷಣೆಯೂ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಆಗ ಕಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾದ್ದರಿಂದ. ಆಗ ನಮ್ಮ ಕಾರಿನ ಪಯಣದ ದಿಕ್ಕು ಬದಲಿಸಿತು. ನಾವೀಗ ಕನಕಪುರ ಸಮೀಪದ ಕಲ್ಲಹಳ್ಳಿ ಶ್ರೀನಿವಾಸನನ್ನು ದರ್ಶಿಸಲು ಧಾವಿಸಿದೆವು. ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನದ ಸುಮಾರು ನಾಲ್ಕರ ಸಮಯ. ಸಂಜೆಯ ಇಳಿಸೂರ್ಯನ ಹೊಂಗಿರಣಗಳು ನಿಸರ್ಗದ ಮೇಲೆ ಮೋಡಿಮಾಡಿದ್ದವು. ಪ್ರಕೃತಿಯ ಸಿರಿಸೌಂದರ್ಯದ ರಮ್ಯತೆ ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಮನವನ್ನು ಮುದಗೊಳಿಸಿತ್ತು.

ಆಗ ಥಟ್ಟನೆ ಒಂದು ಜಾಗಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದಾಗ ನನ್ನ ಮಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಸೊಸೆ ಒಳಗೆ ಕಿರುಚಿದರು. ಕಾರಿನ ದಿಕ್ಕು ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಲು. ಕಾರಣವಿಷ್ಟೆ. ಮಾನವ ನಿರ್ಮಿತ ಪಿರಮಿಡ್‌ವ್ಯಾಲೀ ಎಂಬ ಸ್ಥಳವನ್ನು ನೋಡಲೆಂದೇ ಆಗಿತ್ತು. ಈಜಿಪ್ಟಿನ ಪಿರಾಮಿಡ್‌ನ ಆಕಾರದಲ್ಲೇ ಅತಿ ಭವ್ಯವಾದ ಎತ್ತರವಾದ ಧ್ಯಾನಮಂದಿರವನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಬ್ರಹ್ಮರ್ಷಿ ಪತ್ರೀಜಿ ಎಂಬ ಮಹನೀಯರೇ ಇದರ ನಿರ್ಮಾತೃ. ಇದೊಂದು ಆಧ್ಯಾತ್ಮಿಕ ಕೇಂದ್ರ. ಸುತ್ತಲಿನ ಸುಂದರವಾದ ನಿಸರ್ಗದ ಪರಿಸರದಿಂದ ಬೆಳಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ನೀವು ಅವಶ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿ ಪ್ರಕೃತಿಯ ಸೊಬಗಿನ ಸವಿಯನ್ನೂ ಧ್ಯಾನದ ಮೌನವನ್ನೂ ಅನುಭವಿಸಬಹುದು. ಓದಬಯಸುವವರಿಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ರಂಥಾಲಯದ ಲಭ್ಯವಿದೆ. ತಿನ್ನಲುಣ್ಣಲು ಸೌಲಭ್ಯವಿದೆ. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಯಾಂತ್ರಿಕತೆಯ ಬೇಸರವನ್ನು ನೀಗಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬಯಸುವವರು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ದಿನಗಳನ್ನು ಆರಾಮವಾಗಿ ಕಳೆಯಬಹುದು. ರಾತ್ರಿ ತಂಗಲೂ ಸಹ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯಿದೆ.

ಇಲ್ಲಿಂದ ನಮ್ಮ ಪಯಣ ಕಲ್ಲಹಳ್ಳಿ ಶ್ರೀನಿವಾಸನ ಬಳಿ ಸಾಗಿತು. ಅದಾಗಲೇ ಇಳಿಗೆಂಪು ಕಳೆದು ಕತ್ತಲೆಯ ಬೆಸುಗೆಯಾಗಿತ್ತು. ೮೦೦ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಳೆಯ ಶ್ರೀನಿವಾಸನ ದೇಗುಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವನ ದರ್ಶನ ಪಡೆದೆವು. ಅಭಯಹಸ್ತನಾದ ಪುಟ್ಟ ಸುಂದರಮೂರ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಕಣ್ಮನ ತುಂಬಿಕೊಂಡೆವು. ಪ್ರಸಾದ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಿ ಮನೆಯತ್ತ ನಡೆದಾಗ ಕಡುಕತ್ತಲಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಚಂದ್ರೋದಯವಾಗತೊಡಗಿತ್ತು.
ಮುಂಜಾನೆಯಿಂದ ಮುಸ್ಸಂಜೆಯವರೆಗಿನ ಪಯಣದಲಿ ನಾವನುಭವಿಸಿ ಉಂಡದ್ದು ಭಗವತ್ಸಾನಿಧ್ಯದ ದಿವ್ಯರಸದೂಟ. ಮರೆಯಲಾಗದ ರಸದಚಿಲುಮೆಯಷ್ಟೆ.

New Year at Sumukha

2012-02-07T21:52:00.000+05:30

Ding-Dong!

“Aarabhi, will you get the door?” asked my husband, Vasistha.

I opened the door to find our apartment watchman on the doorstep with a memo in his hand. It was intimation from our Apartment Association’s organizing team about the New Year celebrations which are held every year. I signed for it and strolled back to our room reading its contents.

“Vashu, this year’s celebration starts at 8pm on Dec 31^st. No stage arranged this time. Same goes for the music system and loudspeakers. But, there’ll be food and games!” I said.

“Oh! Last time was fun, wasn’t it? Remember how I won the chess competition?”

“Yeah! How could I forget that, when I lost dismally at it?” I joked.

Last year we had had games, like chess, carom and shuttle-cock organized for all the weekends in December. But quite a number of our regular participants had either moved out or were busy with other things this year. This ritual was entering its 4th year and the novelty had worn off for many of the residents. Especially, most of the teenagers, youngsters and kids were missing. Hence, the simple celebration.

Given all these odds stacked against it, I really had not expected it to become an enormous success. But, I was proved wrong.

Praying to Lord Ganesh

New residents: Suma and family

A small group of people turned up in the basement and the evening began with a prayer of Lord Ganesha, sung by my mother-in-law Rajani and few others. This gathering then became a nice platform for the newcomers to the apartment to introduce themselves and mingle with the others.

Then, the fun and games began. Poornima and Suma had organized One-Minute games. So, we had to do things like peel maximum number of peas, blow more balloons, stack apples etc.; all under one minute.

Stacking the maximum number of apples was a challenge for most of us. Out of the 15 people who tried, only 4 succeeded in stacking 5 apples at a time. Nobody succeeded with the sixth.

Stacking Apples

Hum Honge Kamiyaab…

Interspersed with the games there were entertaining songs sung by our resident singer Vinay and few others. The surprise came when my normally shy niece, Sameeksha volunteered to sing a song by herself. She boldly walked up to the host and bravely stood in front of everyone singing the patriotic song “Hum Honge Kamiyaab, Hum Honge Kamiyaab ….”

The solos concluded by her performance, we took a break and headed off to dinner. It was a simple meal of north-karnataka’s Bhakri (roti), Yennagai, pulav, curd rice and Maddur vada. Taking turns in serving each other, we were all smacking our lips at the wonderful taste.

Following the meal, Ravindranath took over by singing the funny and mouthwateringly described “Uppinkai, uppinkai”. Keeping beat by clapping, we were soon all cheering him on in singing this fabulously rhythmic song.

Uppinkai, uppinkai!

As the evening progressed, the atmosphere became highly charged and more jovial by the minute. We began a modified version of the children’s game “Pin the Donkey’s tail”. Our “Donkey” was a picture of Aishwarya Rai Bachan and the “Tail” was a Bindi for her forehead. It was exceedingly funny watching our blindfolded friends fumbling to find “the Spot” for the bindis. Our Aishwarya ended up looking like she had a bad case of Chicken-pox at the end of the exercise.

Aishwarya Rai with her Chicken pox of Bindis

Singing the Golden Oldies!

Following this rousting sport, we all settled down into groups to play Antakshari. Since not many youngsters were there, most of the songs sung were the golden oldies. The time passed quickly with lots of joking and laughter and soon the clock struck 12.

Sameeksha cut the cake and we all spread around eating and chatting heedless of the passing hours. Looking at my watch some time later I discovered it was nearing 2 pm! Time flies when you are having fun!

Wishing Au revoir to everyone and a happy new year, we went back home after a surprisingly fun beginning to the New Year.

Mantralaya - ondu pakshi noota

2012-02-07T21:07:00.000+05:30

ಲೇಕಖಿ : ರಜನಿ.ಏನ್.ಎಸ್

ಫೋಟೋಗ್ರಫಿ : ವಸಿಷ್ಠ

ನೂತನ ಮಂತ್ರಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿನೂತನ ಅನುಭವ.

Pencil Sketch by Sindhu Srikanth

ಪೂಜ್ಯಾಯ ರಾಘವೇಂದ್ರಾಯ ಸತ್ಯಧರ್ಮರತಾ ಚ.

ಭಜತಾಂ ಕಲ್ಪವೃಕ್ಷಾಯ ನಮತಾಂ ಕಾಮಧೇನವೇ.

೨೦೦೪ ರಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವು ನಮ್ಮವರು ಮಂತ್ರಾಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ರಾಯರ ದರ್ಶನಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗಿದ್ದೆವು. ಅದಾದ ಮೇಲೆ ಈಗಲೇ ನಾವು ಹೋಗಿದ್ದು.

ಮೂರು ದಿನ ತುಂಗೆಯ ಪ್ರವಾಹದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳಿಗೆದ್ದ ಹಳೆಯ ಪುಣ್ಯಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ ಈಗ ನೋಡಿದಾಗ ನನಗೆ ನಂಬಲೇ ಆಗಲಿಲ್ಲ, ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣ ಬದಲಾಗಿತ್ತು. ನವ ವಧುವಿನಂತೆ ಶೃಂಗಾರಗೊಂಡ ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ ಸುವ್ಯವಸ್ಥಿತ ಕಟ್ಟಡಗಳಿಂದ ಶೋಭಿತವಾಗಿರುವ ಈಗಿನ ಮಂತ್ರಾಲಯ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರವು ಭವ್ಯವಾಗಿ ರಾರಾಜಿಸುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಆದರೆ ಬಾಹ್ಯದ ಅಲಂಕಾರ ವೈಭೋಗ ಏನೇ ಇದ್ದರೂ ಒಳಗೆ ನಡೆದಾಗ, ದಿವ್ಯವಾದ ರಾಯರ ಮೂಲ ಬೃಂದಾವನ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ ವಾದಿರಾಜ ತೀರ್ಥರ ಬೃಂದಾವನ, ಎದುರಿಗೆ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಪ್ರಾಣನ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ನೇರ ಅಂತರಂಗದ ಆಳಕ್ಕೆ ಸೆಳೆದೊಯ್ಯುವ ದಿವ್ಯ ಶಕ್ತಿಯಾಗಿತ್ತು ಅನ್ನುವುದು ನಿಜ.

ಈಗಿನ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯನ್ನು ಬಹಳವಾಗಿ ಮೆಚ್ಚಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ರವೇಶ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಹಾಗೆ ವಿಶಾಲವಾದ ಪ್ರಾಂಗಣವಿದೆ. ಒಳಗಡೆ ಮಂಚಾಲಮ್ಮನ ದೇವಾಲವನ್ನು ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಸುಂದರವಾಗಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಪ್ರಾಂಗಣದ ಒಂದು ಗೂಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿನ್ನದ ರಥವಿದೆ. ಧರ್ಮ ದರ್ಶನದಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಯರ ದರ್ಶನ ಮಾಡಿ ಊಟದ ಟಿಕೇಟ್ ಪಡೆದು ಶುಚಿ ರುಚಿಯಾದ ಪ್ರಸಾದ ಊಟವನ್ನು ಮಾಡಬಹುದು. ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಕಡೆ ಪರಿಮಳ ಪ್ರಸಾದ ಪಡೆಯುವ ಕೌಂಟರ್ ಇದೆ. ಕ್ಯೂನಲ್ಲಿನಿಂತು ಅದನ್ನು ಪಡೆಯಬಹುದು, ಎಷ್ಟು ಬೇಕಾದರೂ ಕೊಂಡು ಒಯ್ಯಬಹುದು.

ಮೊದಲು ಮಂಚಾಲಮ್ಮನನ್ನು ದರ್ಶಿಸಿ ನಂತರ ರಾಯರ ದರ್ಶನ ಪಡೆಯಬೇಕು.
ಮಂತ್ರಾಲಯದಿಂದ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟಂತೆ ನಾವು ನೋಡಬೇಕಾದ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಗಳೆಂದರೆ ನವ ಬೃಂದಾವನ (ಬಿ ಚ್ಚಾಲೆ ಎಂಬ ಊರು), ನಂತರ ಪಂಚಮುಖಿ ಆಂಜನೇಯ.

ಎಲೆ ಬಿಚ್ಚಾಲೆ ಎಂಬ ಊರು ಮಂತ್ರಾಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ಕೇವಲ ಅರ್ಧ ಗಂಟೆಯ ಹಾದಿ ಅಷ್ಟೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಗುರುರಾಯರು ಸನ್ಯಾಸತ್ವ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡರ ಹೊಸದರಲ್ಲೇ ಬಂದಿಳಿದಿದ್ದರಂತೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ತಣ್ಣಗೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ರಭಸವಾಗಿ ತುಂಗೆಯು ಹರಿಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಳೆ.

River Tunga

ದಡದ ಮೇಲೆ ಒಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಅಶ್ವಥ ಕಟ್ಟೆ ಇದೆ. ಅದರ ಮುಂದೆ ಆಂಜನೇಯನ ಸುಂದರ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಇದೆ. ಎದುರಿಗೆ ಒಂದು ಸುಂದರ ಬೃಂದಾವನ ಹಾಗೂ ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಉಗ್ರ ನರಸಿಂಹನ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಕೆತ್ತಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿದೆ. ಆ ಕಟ್ಟೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಕುಳಿತ ರಾಯರು ಮೌನವಾಗಿ ಜಪ ನಿರತರಾಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದರಂತೆ. ಅವರಿಗೆ ಜಪದ ಕಟ್ಟೆ ರಾಯರು ಎಂದು ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಜನ ಕರೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು.

Japada Katte, Nava Brindavana

ಅಲ್ಲ್ಯೇ ಹತ್ತಿರದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಪ್ಪಣ್ಣಾಚಾರ್ಯರ ಮನೆ ಇದ್ದು ಆ ವಂಶಜರು ಈಗಲೂ ಆ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅವರು ರಾಯರನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದಾಗ ಅವರಿಗೆ ದಿವ್ಯ ತೇಜಸ್ಸಿನಿಂದ ಬೆಳಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ರಾಯರನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ಇವರು ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಸಂತರಲ್ಲ. ದೈವಾಂಶ ಮಹಿಮರು ಎಂದು ಅನಿಸಿತಂತೆ. ರಾಯರ ಸೇವೆಯನ್ನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾ ಅವ್ಚರಿಗೆ ಪರಮಾಪ್ತ ಶಿಷ್ಯರಾದರು.

ಬಹಳ ಪ್ರಶಾಂತವಾದ ವಾತಾವರಣದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಆ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರವು ರಾಯರ ದಿವ್ಯ ಮಹಿಮೆಯ ಕಥೆಯನ್ನು ಲೋಕಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾರುತ್ತಿದೆಯೇನೋ ಎಂದೆನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.
ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಅನತಿದೂರದಲ್ಲಿ ಪಂಚಮುಖಿ ಆಂಜನೇಯನ ಸ್ಥಳವಿದೆ. ದೊಡ್ಡ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಕಲ್ಲು ಬಂಡೆಗಳ ಒಳಗೆ ವಿಶಾಲವಾದ ಗುಹೆ ಇದೆ. ರಾಯರು ಅಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ೧೨ ವರ್ಷ ತಪಸ್ಸು ಮಾಡಿದಾಗ ಪಂಚಮುಖಿ ಆಂಜನೇಯನು ಉದ್ಭವವಾಗಿ ದರ್ಶನ ನೀಡಿದನು. ಅಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಕೊಲ್ಲಾಪುರದ ಮಹಾಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ಹಾಗೂ ತಿರುಪತಿಯ ವೇಂಕಟೇಶನ ದರುಶನವೂ ಆಯಿತು ಮುಂದೆ ಮಂಚಾಲೆಗೆ ಹೂಗಿ ನೆಲಸುವ ಪ್ರೇರಣೆಯೂ ಆಯಿತು. ಅಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಸಹ ಸ್ನಿಗ್ಧ ಸೌಂದ್ದರ್ಯವಿದೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ದೂರದಲ್ಲಿ ಎರ್ಕುಲಮ್ಮ ಎಂಬ ಗ್ರಾಮ ದೇವತೆಯ ಗುಡಿ ಇದೆ. ಸುತ್ತಲೂ ಕಲ್ಲು ಬಂಡೆಗಳ ಪ್ರಪಂಚವೇ ತುಂಬಿದೆ.

Our Family, on the steps of Panchamukhi Anjaneya

Helicopter Rock

ಹೀಗೆ ಎಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ನೋಡಿಕೊಂಡು ಬರುವಾಗ ಹಾದಿಯ ಎರಡು ಕಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲೂ ಹಚ್ಚ ಹಸುರಿನ ಗಿಡಗಳ ಹೊಲಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದೆವು. ಆ ಗಿಡಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಗೊಂಚಲು ಗೊಂಚಲುಗಳಾಗಿ ತೂಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಅಚ್ಛ ಕೆಂಪು ಮೆಣಸಿನ ಹಣ್ಣುಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ಆನಂದಿಸಿದೆವು.

ಪ್ರಯಾಣ ಹಿತಕರವಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಗುರುರಾಯರ ದರ್ಶನಭಾಗ್ಯ ಪಡೆದ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ವಿನೂತನ ಧನ್ಯತಾ ಭಾವವು ನೆಲೆಗೊಂಡಿತ್ತು.