A Wandering Mind

Encounters with Wildlife on our Ujjain-Omkareshwar-Indore Trip

2009-11-13T18:25:00.001+05:30

Travelling in an area which has some interesting wildlife sanctuaries, it was one of my greatest regrets that we couldn’t visit a single one on this trip, since it was primarily a pilgrimage to the two Jyotirlingams. However, we are now constantly on the lookout for birds, and make all efforts to photograph as many as possible. The only wild animals we saw on this trip were monkeys and snakes.

Indore - The city of the Holkars

2009-11-13T14:02:00.001+05:30

Indore is the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, known for its textile industry. For us, it was simply the station nearest to Omkareshwar, from where we could board our train to Bombay. Considering its importance as an industrial city, we expected to find accommodation easily, and it was a great surprise to us that MP tourism did not have a single hotel here! The only hotels available via

Omkareshwar Part 2 - The Parikrama

2009-11-11T16:32:00.000+05:30

The importance of Omkareshwar lies not just in its temples, but in the island itself. The island is a hilly area, and resembles the Hindu symbol “Om” (`) when viewed from above. This not only gives the island the name “Omkareshwar’, but this is what has drawn holy men to this site from time immemorial. Over the ages, so many temples were built on the island that at some point in time, a

Omkareshwar Part 1

2009-11-11T10:33:00.001+05:30

My trip to Omkareshwar, the home of one of the 12 Jyotirlings, was one I was looking forward to, since the temple lies on a small, hilly island on the Narmada, one of the seven holy rivers of India. I made our plans well in advance, checking out all details, and making arrangements for our stay. While I was amazed at the lack of information about the temple and the location, I was pleasantly

Ved Shala - The Observatory, Ujjain

2009-11-06T21:21:00.000+05:30

Our trip to Ujjain was purely a temple tour, but I simply can’t imagine a visit to a place without going all over it, looking at interesting places and things. From all I had read about the city, the Kalideh Palace seemed an interesting place, situated on the banks of the Shipra at the site where once stood a sun temple. Unfortunately, our driver absolutely refused to take us to the palace,

Some more temples in Ujjain

2009-11-06T06:00:00.000+05:30

Gadkalika Mandir This temple dedicated to the Devi has its roots in ancient times, and is related to the story of Kalidasa, one of the foremost poets of ancient India. It is believed that Kalidasa was a simple and stupid, but a handsome lad, who was devoted to Kali (hence his name, which literally means – the servant of Kali). His looks attracted a princess who married him, only to be soon

Bhartruhari Caves, Ujjain

2009-11-05T17:00:00.000+05:30

Bhartruhari was the elder brother of the legendary Vikramaditya (probably a step brother). He was unduly attached to his wife, Pingala, who conspired to get Vikramaditya thrown out of Ujjain. Once, it is believed, a Brahmin gave Bhartruhari a fruit which would enable him to live longer. The infatuated Bhartruhari gave his wife the fruit, who, in turn gave the fruit to the horse-keeper of whom she

Kal Bhairav Temple,Ujjain

2009-11-05T12:33:00.000+05:30

One of the most famous temples in Ujjain, this temple adds to the similarity of Ujjain and Kashi. As at Kashi, Kal Bhairav is the Kshetrapal, or the guardian deity of the city, and it is the custom to leave the keys with the deity when the temple is closed at night, in the belief that he takes care of the temple and its properties. However, this temple is famous, not for its origins or its

Sandipani Ashram, Ujjain

2009-11-04T06:00:00.001+05:30

The Sandipani ashram was the first halt on our temple tour of Ujjain, and we entered the grounds expecting a short 10 minute halt, warned by our driver cum guide not to waste too much time, and ended up spending close to an hour wandering around the ashram. The reason was an inmate of the ashram, an engineer by profession and a Veda scholar by choice, a descendant of Guru Sandipani – the

Harsiddhi Temple, Ujjain

2009-11-03T18:48:00.001+05:30

Ujjain might be a city most well known for its temple to Shiva as Mahakal, but it is also the abode of Parvati as Harsiddhi, a temple occupying a position equal to that of Mahakaleshwar. The Harsiddhi temple is one of the 52 Shakti Peeths situated all over India. According to legend, Shiva married Sati, the daughter of Daksha, a Prajapati who was proud of his position and disliked his

Mahakaleshwar Temple, Ujjain

2009-11-03T14:35:00.000+05:30

All roads in Ujjain seem to lead to the temple of Mahakaleshwar, which is the focal point of the city. Mahakal, as Shiva is known here, is not only the guardian and patron deity of this holy city, he is also regarded as the ruler of this city. Our car driver regaled us with tales of Vikramaditya, the legendary king of Ujjain, tales which were more of myths, interspersed with history. One such

A journey to the heart of India - Glimpses of Ujjain

2009-11-02T22:00:00.000+05:30

The ad for the MPTDC (Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development corporation) says “ ih

Diwali Celebrations

2009-10-18T22:11:00.000+05:30

You read about my Diwali celebrations in my last post, now you can read about the other Diwali celebrations I was part of…. Wherever we went this last week, all we saw were people celebrating Diwali in their own way – there was so much I wanted to photograph, but a hectic tour programme did not give me time to stop at all the places I wanted to, so here are just a few glimpses….. Many of you

Diwali Wishes

2009-10-17T11:55:00.004+05:30

Wish all of you a very happy Diwali…. May this festival of lights brighten your life….. Our Diwali celebrations began yesterday with a grand Rangoli pattern (a combined effort of me and my neighbour, Aarti), and the house being lit up with lamps of all shapes and sizes. Here are some snapshots…… Meanwhile, for those who have been wondering where I have been, well, the

Snails are interesting........

2009-10-04T13:03:00.000+05:30

Snails are interesting creatures... Did you know that they are herbivores? Well, last week, we were waiting for Samhith's school bus when we saw this one eating up a flower. We were curious about how long it would take, and photographed it..... It took less than 5 minutes for the small creature to finish it off! Here are some pics in slideshow form.... Here is another one, on a branch,

Memories of bangs and scares.....

2009-09-30T21:39:00.000+05:30

I have been tagged by Sujata and the rules of the photo tag are: 1. Open your first photo folder. 2. Scroll to the 10th photo. 3. Post the photo on your blog and tell the story behind it and 4. Tag people to do the same. So here is mine……. This one is certainly not one of my better shots, and the only excuse I can offer is that I was just learning to use my new digital camera. My

Vijaya Dasami 2009

2009-09-29T11:07:00.000+05:30

After the nine nights and days of navaratri, the festival culminated with Dusshera, or Vijaya Dashami. For us, the highlight of the day was our visit to the Fine Arts Society, Chembur for Guru Vandana and Vidyarambham – where we pay our respects to our teacher and begin a new year of musical education, or rather, Samhith does, progressing from the junior music level to senior this year….. I

Navaratri 2009 - the last two days - Ashtami and Navami

2009-09-28T09:13:00.000+05:30

The last two days of navaratri have been as hectic as the first……. I have tried to visit all my relatives, and return in time to be home to receive those who come to my house, and it has been a race against time, with my wishing for a few more hours each day. However, I have some interesting kolus for you today. The first is the one at the Marubai Gavdevi Mandir, Wadala. I have heard of

Navaratri 2009 - Days 6 and 7

2009-09-26T09:01:00.000+05:30

Shashti and Saptami passed by, as if in a dream, for it was full of visits. Samhith was thrilled with everyone coming home and appreciating our work. The sixth day being Shashti, a special day for Karthikeya, the temple decoration was Skanda Matha – the mother of Karthikeya, who is also known as Skandha…. She is depicted here as giving her son the Vel – the spear – with which he proceeds to

Navaratri 2009 - Day 5

2009-09-24T12:53:00.000+05:30

The fifth day of navaratri dawned, along with the sudden realization that we were already halfway through the celebrations, and in five more days we would be back to the normal grind of day to day life. The realization spurred me along to call all those I had planned to invite home, and ask them to come home on Friday, make a few visits, and, in the evening, it led me to the Sringeri Mutt and the

Navaratri 2009 - Day 4

2009-09-23T12:41:00.000+05:30

After 3 hectic days of Navaratri, the fourth day was a day of rest and relaxation, which means that the minute Samhith left for school, I was overcome by a bout of laziness and decided to do none of my usual routine stuff, including the puja. I spent the day chatting with Usha probably wasting her day in the process……but then we all deserve a day off now and then, don’t you think???? The evening

Navaratri 2009 - Day 3

2009-09-22T14:18:00.001+05:30

The third day of navaratri coincided with Id, giving us an extra holiday. Samhith’s exams starting on Tuesday meant that we were expected to use the holiday to catch up on studies, but we threw everything to the wind and spent the day at Thane, visiting my mom and Shankar’s aunt. Both keep beautiful golus and are extremely enthusiastic about the arrangements. Here are a few photos….. First, at

Navaratri 2009 - Days 1 and 2

2009-09-21T09:47:00.002+05:30

The first day of navaratri was even more hectic than I had thought it would be. The day began with my trying to complete the arrangement of the Kolu, but wasn’t able to, since I had to leave at mid-afternoon for the NCPA, where we attended a symphony orchestra concert, the highlight of which was a performance by their students, many of them about Samhith’s age! Having gone all the way to

Navaratri 2009 - our Bommai Kolu

2009-09-21T09:11:00.000+05:30

The most anticipated festival of the year is here at last, and we are all done with the preparations, and ready to make the most of the celebrations during the next nine days. Mornings are busy with all the work involved, but evenings are something to look forward to, with people coming home to look at our Bommai Kolu, and us visiting others’ houses for the same reason. The day ends with a visit

Navaratri Preparations - Part 6 - Ready at last!!!!!!!!

2009-09-19T13:37:00.000+05:30

A hectic day and a sleepless night! That's how I spent the whole of yesterday - getting the Bommai Kolu ready. But at last, I am done, and only the finishing touches need to be added, for which Samhith needs to have enough free time, something that's going to happen only this Sunday. While I get ready to celebrate the festival, take a look at my Golu. This is just a preview of my Golu and