Country Side Snaps

Wondering whose house this is?? well, it's my grandpa's home in the village. Went there for my uncle's marriage. That brown painted house is my grandpa's. The place from where I had clicked the picture is the house where we stayed. I was soooooooo bored.... My cousins didn't have vacations that time.... & I was roaming around, doing no good.... So thought of clicking a snap..... This shot is taken from the same place only.... Can you notice those mountain-like structures?? Guess what?!?! It's the Western Ghats....!!!! The mighty ghats towering the whole village. Cool, right?? Western Ghats follow you wherever you go in that village....

No, no, no! These are not post cards!! I took the them with the digicam!! These are the western ghats... We had been to our family temple located inside the forest...... It was the most pleasant trip, I can say.... Surrounded by the mystical ghats, wide spreading farms, banyan trees every where and... you name it..!! This place would have been a dream for any artist...!!! Peace mixed with Beauty and Majesty.... If you approach the forest more deeper you can even find wild animals like elephants, lions etc. (don't worry, the temple was located in a safe place only)....This is the temple which I had earlier mentioned. A small and cute temple!! Not even a temple, just looks like a sanctum, huh?? It was just renovated. You should have seen it a year back!! You would have had a great trouble to near the temple!! Your legs would have been prickled by that time! Now that they have cut the trees and levelled the ground, the process has become easy.

A pure village snap, huh?? cutting a coconut!! hahaha!! Actually, it was sooo yummy. The only reason why I didn't eat a lot was that there was no drinking water around..... how sad..... what a pity....:(

Evening in the village........ Cool, right?? I really mean it! It was cool..... Kind of becoming cold..... Just a few minutes before clicking this picture, the sky was blue in colour... Bright & lively.... All of a sudden dark clouds replaced the pleasant sky and the temperature was dropping down. The sky was looking beautiful though... With mysterious violet clouds.... Either side of the road was vast spreading farms.... then, the forest and beyond everything was the western ghats..... The evening panorama was highly enjoyable and I wished I had my friends around.... It would have been soooooooo fun if my friends were there....... The herders were on their way back home with their herds. Soooo many goats, buffaloes and many other animals too. On our way back we happened to enter the sugar factory. Strong odour of the sugar wafted in the air. O my goodness.... I couldn't stand that smell........ So I made my way out of the factory...... It was a nice walk. Wide spreading farms, animals, mountains, trees, lakes..... What else would a man need??

Madurai, the Temple Town

The train pulled-off at Madurai station at 6AM. Being on the train, we could already hear the devotinal songs played in the temples. Getting down, we headed for the auto-stand and reached the Hotel, Madurai Residency in a few minutes.

The Hotel was very welcoming. In the reception, there was a large painting, depicting Jallikkattu (game of taming a wild bull), temples, Madura malligai and many things. We had our room on 4th floor. We took rest for sometime. The hotel room was so convinient and compact and after sometime, we got ready for the Tour.

We hired a car and headed for Azhagar Kovil (kovil means temple). The drive took nearly an hour and I was dozing in the car.

Looks cool right?? Got this great snap on the way to the temple. Must be some statue of a temple.

After an hour or so, we reached Azhagar Kovil. The sun was beaming strongly and it scorched my bare feet. The temple was very beautiful and it was located in a mountain area. It was completely madurai, full of rich tradition. There were innumerous road stalls selling many fancy items lik bangles, earrings etc. on the way to the temple. Monkeys were seen wherever we went. The idols of Gods were looking very beautiful and it was a sight to my sore eyes. In Japan, you never get to see all these.....

Shading my eyes because of the scorching sun.....

Not only the Azhagar Kovil, we visited many temples, rich in architecture. I do not actually remember how many temples we visited as I am writing about it after a month.

That evening we planned to visit the famous 'Meenakshi Amman' temple. On the way, we bought jasmine (you would know why, if you were a South Indian). The scent was sooooo sweet and kind of breath-taking. Madhura Malligai rocks!!

We went to the temple by a cycle-rickshaw and wow! It was sooooooooooooo exciting!!! We reached the temple - at last! The temple was so vast, large, extravagant, beautiful, rich with tradition and and you name it.... Fortunately it wasn't that crowded on that day. And we could see many foreign tourists. I was eavesdropping the tour guides who were explaining about the temple's history and architecture to the tourists.

The main tower

The temple tower was very very very beautiful.... It was covered with dark clouds hovering on its top (later on, it rained). I don't know how to put it into words. The place was like heaven (I haven't been to heaven yet... lol), with no trace of foreign tang (I mean, the ambience). It was purely a classical traditional INDIAN place.

This is the Golden Lotus Tank. Actually, it's supposed to be filled with water. Anyway, water can't survive in an Indian summer season. The air was filled with the strong scent of holy powders.

Coming to the main point, we had a good Dharshan of both Meenakshi Amman and Shivan. Foreigners and non-Hindus were not allowed inside the sanctum.

One of the major reasons why I like Indian temples is that it is full of gorgeous rich paintings. But the thing is that, you got to know the whole history, geography, civics & grammar of the temple, then only you can know what the picture conveys. Well, am not an expert in all these. Anyway I could figure a vague meaning out of it.How is that?? Can you notice the Jasmine on my hair?? I just fell in love with it....

Snap of the Vacation!! I just love this shot!!

It was such a nice trip. I love Madurai!! Madurai rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Coutralam Falls

On 10Th August, we planned for a short trip to Coutralam with the whole family. I had been there before too, but never had a shower. Every time I head the falls with a thought to stand below the falls and get myself drenched. But....... As soon as I near the falls, when I feel the cold water on my hand, I back off immediately.

But this time I went with great confidence and promised that I would get myself under the falls at least for a minute. I had challenged myself. Soon, we were nearing the falls. The air had a wet and cold tang. I could the hear of sound of water hitting the ground forcefully. The great shower was divided into two sections, one for men and one for women. The falls allotted for women was very narrow and the water flow was not as forceful as the men's.

I queued up to get my chance. There were many women pushing each other in the narrow path. Its all common in India... pushing and pulling..... hahaha.......

No longer, it was my chance to enjoy the water. From far, the falls looked like it didn't have much force. But when standing under it, I could feel the pressure of water. Trust me..... It was terribly cold. I could feel my bones freeze..... I knew... I couldn't stand there any longer. I pushed myself out of the crowded falls. The wind was playing on my skin, giving me goosebumps.... I was completely drenched and started shivering terribly.

Soon after, I changed to dry clothes. We all met near our car. We were all drying our hair and taking pictures. One of my uncles had bought delicious mangoes and I was devouring it greedily.

With my uncles

It was such a nice trip. More people, more merrier. Nowadays, our lives have become so hectic that we don't have enough time to interact with our family. It is rare to find occasions to enjoy happily with everyone.