SAMBAR

SAMBAR.

This is a dish which any“Madrasi’ (as the Mumbaiates call the South Indians ) would love to have in his daily eating menu whether for breakfast ,lunch or dinner.
This goes well with Vada, Idli or dosa and ofcourse with rice as well. In my house I can even have sambar with Chappathi also.
In Kerala this was mainly the dish for Brahmins and in fact in our school days Pattars ( Brahmins) were nicknamed as Sambar Kudikkum Pattars.
In the present days, this has become the national dish and it can be seen everywhere. The non Madrasis are seen to literally love it so much that they drink it with spoons.
Nobody seems to know the origin of this dish nor how the name sambar and its meaning,
During my browsing the net I came across a very nice justification of the origin of Samabar which I am reproducing below
Quote
The write up by Dr.Padmini Natarajan, which I quote Verbatim below: -
“South Indian food, people and culture are inexorably linked to a ubiquitous dish as in idli and sambhar, sambhar and rice and so on. Each state in the South prepares it with a typical variation, adapted to its taste and environment. The genesis of this dish has an interesting tale linked to it. The Marathas were ruling Tanjore. Sambhoji was a great cook (the male clan members to note) and very fond of his amti with a handful of the tart kokum thrown in. In a particular season the kokum that was imported from the Maratha homeland did not reach the bare larder of the king's kitchen. Sambhoji was cooking and the minions were shivering in their dhothis to tell
him that his favourite dish could not be made that day. A smart Vidushak, who had been elected sous chef for the day, decided to solve the problem. He whispered in the king's ears that the locals used very little tamarind pulp to gain a better sourness to the curry and that Sambhoji should experiment with this variation. Voila, the dish with the tuvar dal, vegetables, spices and the tamarind pulp was cooked and served by the king to his coterie. The court declared the dish an outstanding preparation (they had no choice with the king as Chef) and thus was born sambhoji's amti that in time became sambhar”
Thus the modern Sambar which we use is named after a king of Tanjore called Sambhaji. Due to distance from his native place and difficulty in getting Kokum, he used Tamarind and possibly added Toor dhal, which is mainly grown in Maharashtra and Gujarat. He might have added Pure Asafoetida which was used as a spice in Maharashtra. From then on lot of research must have gone in, in getting to the modern version of several types of Sambar.
Unquote
There are plenty of varieties of Sambar ,some of them I am giving below
Ulli Sambar ( small Onion)
Vendakkai Sambar ( Ladies Finger)
Muringakkai Sambar ( Drumstick)
Mulangi Sambar(radish)
Kerrai Sambar( spinach)
Mix. Veg Sambar
Capsicum Sambar and so on and so forth
This literally shows this dish can be made with any vegetables.
Every occasion whether it is Marriage ,Temple functions ,get to- gethers ,the one common dish will be the sambar. If you are in Karnataka or to be more specific Uduppi, sambar may have a slight sweet taste.
The Karnataka people have a unique concept. They make one dish with the coarsely ground paste of pepper, dhania and jeera seeds, red chilli, dal and coconut or copra and made into a vegetable stew. The curry is made quite watery and allowed to sit after cooking. The liquid that floats is laddled out and used as rasam and the thick bottom portion of the curry is eaten as sambhar. I understand this is typical of the Mandayam and Hebbar Iyengars. The sambhar that they cook otherwise has a dash of cinnamon and clove added that gives it the special flavour-it is used in their famous Bisi Bela Huli baath. Authentic Bisi bela has only tuvar dal, rice, puli, spices and onions. The addition of vegetables is a later development

The best sambar I have tasted is of course the one my mother makes, the recipe of which we are giving below.

INGREDIENTS

For Frying.

Channa dal 2kgs
Dhania seeds 2 kgs
Methi quarter tea spoon
Hing one teaspoon if powder or a mall piece
Whole red chillies 5 to 6
A few Baby onions, 4 to 5 curry leaves and two table spoon of grated coconut.

Other Ingredients.

Tamarind Lime size soaked and pulp removed One cup
Vegetables Baby onion one cup
Drum sticks 4 pieces
Capsicum One.
Cooked tur dal one cup
Salt, Haldi powder, mustard, oil dahnia leaves.

Method.

In a kadai add one tea spoon oil and roast the frying ingredients. Grind it with water to a fine paste. In the same kadai, fry the vegetables in a spoon of oil, pour the tamarind pulp on this ,add more water if necessary to cover the vegetables and let cook. Add haldi powder and salt to taste. When vegetables are cooked add the cooked dal and the ground masala, mix well and let boil well. Check for taste and consistency and add water if necessary. This sambar should not be very liquidy. Add one small piece of jaguarry to balance the taste. Temper in two table spoon oil, mustard seeds and garnish with dhania leaves.
Your sambar is ready.

I and my family always maintain that sambar like wine always tastes better as it ages.

CHENAI MASIYAL

After being in Palakkad for four months ,we started exploring the rich Palakkadan Cuisine which boasts of mouthwatering delicasies for foodies like us. The typical Iyer lunch generally consists of Moolagutal accompanied by Rasam , Pachadi and Thohayal. The food lover in us discovered a dish ,we call ,Chenai(YAM) masiyal which according to us is an ideal accompaniment for Molagutal especially Vazhathandu or Keerai varity. If made in a "KATCHATTI "the taste improves. We give below the recipe for everybody to try.

INGREDIENTS

Chenai ( Yam) quater kg cut into small cubes

Green chilly three to four

Haldi Powder and salt to taste

Tadka ingredients - One table spoon Channadal, half table spoon urad dal, one tea spoon mustard, Half teaspoon Hing powder.
Cuury leaves
Lime Half a piece



METHOD.

Boil Yam with enough water ,haldi powder and salt. When cooked add the green chillies, let boil for some time. Mash with a laddle to make a thick gravy . Add water if necessary. Do thadka in two tablespoons of Cocunut oil, adding the tadka ingredients and some cuury leaves. When the dals brown pour on to the already prepared gravy. Finally squeeze the lime.
Your tangy masiyal is ready to taste

KALPATHY

Kalpathy Heritage Village.
Kalpathy is one of the oldest Agraharams(Brahmin Settlements) in Palakkad. It was declared a Heritage Village by the Government of Kerala some years ago the purpose being to preserve the original culture, tradition & lifestyle. Kalpathy is located on the banks of the Kalpathy River, a tributary of the Bharathapuzha. Viswanatha swamy temple (Kundambalam) and the Mandakkara Maha Ganapathy temple are the two main temples situated on both the sides of the Agraharam.
The Viswanathaswamy temple, whose origin dates back to 1425, is a Tamilnadu style temple & the deities are Kasi Viswanathar & Visalakshi. Other subshrines inside the temple are of Vinayakar, Subramaniar, Kala Bhairavar. There is also the Kanaka Sabhai where dancing idol of Natarajar can be seen. This temple reminds of the setting at Kasi hence sometimes referred to as half-Kasi.The famous annual Kalpathy Ratholsavam (Temple car festival) takes place in November of every year here. Kalpathy Ratholsavam is a spectacular procession of beautifully decorated temple chariots drawn through the streets by thousands of devoteesIt is believed that the Manthakara Mahaganapathy temple was established by the residents of the New Kalpathy village in recent times (less than a hundred years ago) to ward off 'Sivadhristi'.
Other side of the Kalpathy Agraharam another Ganapathy Temple known as Shipra Ganapathy also is there.
Kalpathy Agraharam (Brahmin village) in the heart of Palakkad town is being notified as the first heritage village in the State. An area of 22.36 hectares of Old Kalpathy and New Kalpathy, constituting the famous Kalpathy Agraharam,was notified for preservation.
Kalpathy village is famous for its architecture and music and car festivals. The agraharams were established by migrant Brahmins from Thanjavur.The pressure of modern aspirations and altered lifestyle is taking its toll on the heritage value of Kalpathy. Old buildings are slowly yielding way to new concrete structures. To preserve whatever is left, the State Tourism Department had taken up the Kalpathy Heritage Walk scheme.
As we walk down this Heritage Village you can notice and experience many things. For me and Uma this is the main street for walking either to visit the temples in the street or for shopping .
During the monsoon ,mainly in the afternoon ,it was felt necessary to have hot bajji/ bonda and hence we used to walk down the street at 4 o clock and the vendor will sell you banana bhajji/bonda/Vada ,hot taken out from the boiling oil ,accompanied by onion chutney.
The Aiswarya Mess which was adjacent was closed for long and suddenly we found it open one day. This is the most prominent food counter in Kalpathy famous for his Sevai and other snacks. Promptly next day when we were walking we found him selling ada with avial and as this was a new combination we had to try,
For the persons who have a taste for north Indian snacks at the end of the Agraharam road there is a vendor selling Bhel puri and for a Chinese connoissier we have a manchurian selling Brahmin.
The internationally famous ratholsavam is slated to begin on Nov 12 th and we are waiting for that.
Another shop right in the middle of the Agraharam is Café Coffee Day selling coffee Powder spreading the wonderful aroma around so that you feel like having a nice cup of hot decation coffee in a stainless steel tumbler and davarah.
While on coffee let me reproduce what I picked up as I browse the internet, something written on the great south Indian coffee.
COFFEE
“Many of us are brought up in the tradition of sniffing and tasting aromatic Coffee early in the morning. In Northern parts of India and in Kerala, it is ‘chai’ or ‘chaya’. You also have the lighter version of tea – ‘vella chaya’. Old timers would proudly recall Pothan Joseph’s weekly pontification ‘Storm over the tea-cup’, in Rajaji’s Swarajya Magazine. Rajaji used to drink coffee really hot during his daily visit to Kalki Gardens. Dr.Johnson rose to fame in the Coffee Clubs of England in the eighteenth century. Oliver Goldsmith, James Boswell, drama actor Garrick, Admiral Nelson and every one of their ilk were the products of coffee club of the time in England. If late Shri V.K.Krishna Menon had survived only on 20 cups of tea a day even while delivering an eight hour non-stop extempore elegant speech on the Kashmir problem in the UN General Assembly, numerous Iyers and Iyengars in the south begin their day with reading ‘Hindu Paper” and a tumbler full of coffee to provide them focus and inspiration.

Unlike tea, which always absorbs a large quantity of sugar, coffee thrives when the sugar level is low. Coffee always leaves it flavour in the mouth for a long time and hence is served as a last item during snack sessions. If the first cup of coffee in the morning provides the impetus to start the day, the second one, generally an hour and a half later and much lighter, would show that one is in a relaxed mood, if not in laid back one. Puritans would always keep ‘chikri’ at a distance, though many would mix a small quantity of ‘chikri’ to coffee powder, to make the decoction look thicker. Marriage contractors brought about numerous innovations, but they dared not dispense with coffee lest their claims to culinary skills should be questioned.

A few decades back, instant coffee like Nescafe or Bru was unknown. Green coffee seeds would be brought from India Coffee House outlets, roasted at home till they turn golden brown. When the coffee seeds were being roasted, the entire Agraharam ( or gramam in Kerala) would reverberate with the smell. Roasted seeds would be powdered, in hand-held grinder, minutes before the coffee is prepared. Degree of Culture of a South Indian Family could be deciphered from the quality of coffee they offer and enjoy. Often the colour of the coffee had caused commotion in marriages. Coffee in "Kooja" (Flasks were yet to come), would make tedious travels enlivening. Any tiffin session would end, only with coffee. What more, coffee could also be a stand alone serve. If the coffee does not measure upto expectations, even the other serves had to suffer in silence. Rama Iyer’s Café at Kumbakonam boasted of softest idlies in the south and yet Rama Iyer had the temerity to refuse to serve the second plate of idli if one did’nt order coffee, as the coffee in this joint was an apology for a real one. “If every body takes only idli’ who would buy my coffee’, Rama Iyer used to justify his rationing of Idli.

Dignified brahminical families dared not offer tea or other substitutes (no disrespect meant). Offering coffee to "Adhithis" was cultivated as a rudimentary lesson in extending hospitality. If a prospective daughter-in- law's "Bhavyam" is gauged from the way she served coffee, her culinary skills were admeasured from the quality of her coffee. How she mixes sugar would determine whether she is aware of the merits of proportion. The families’ wealth level would be evaluated from the cutleries used. If tea is served in bone china cup and saucer, coffee has to be poured in dabara-tumbler only. Daring to serve coffee in a cup to a tufted Tanjorian is considered as diabolic. If tea is to be sipped, Coffee has to be poured, however hot it may be, without touching the lips, into the mouth and this is a dicta in orthodox families. Many of the Mamas and Atthimbers in South have written Bashyas on coffee, in the manner the great Sankara wrote on the Prasthanathrayee.

It is heartening to learn that today the teenagers and those in their twenties flock to Cafe Coffee Day as the earlier generation gossiped at Ambi's Cafes. We have 24 hours Coffee Houses in Star Hotels where sipping black coffee is the sign of one having 'arrived'. A few days back, tempted by the aroma of coffee and the perfectly sugared and flavoured biscuits they offered, (though costing a fortune), I dared to enter a Café Coffee Day outlet in a fashionable locality at Mumbai, along with a friend when pairs of eyes pierced us to pieces. We learnt to our dismay that we were the only two in the forty plus category. What more, in that heterosexual group, we looked the odd homosexual.

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, a cup of coffee a day keeps head-aches, milder ailments and frowning faces away. Perhaps, coffee is the only 'hot' drink that doesn't cause but cleanse us of nausea in the morning. Cold coffee, like gay marriages, is an aberration. One may lend it legitimacy, but certainly not wide acceptability.

Coffee shall live as long as semblance of South Indian life in this earth continues. "

Kalpathy apart from being a heritage village has found its way to the latest Shankar Mahadevan hit song “PITCHAVACHA NAL MUTHAL” in Puthiyamugham which is the caller tune in mobils ,for many including me.

KALLRKULANGARA TEMPLE

Kallekulangara Temple.


As I had started reading Malayalam books and magazines, I bought a magazine called “Yatra”, by Mathrubhoomi publications. This turned out to be very good magazine giving plenty of thoughts about the locations in and out of Kerala. As we were browsing I found an article on Devi temples and one of the temples mentioned was Kallekulangara Emoor Bhagavati temple situated in Palalkad. This aroused my curiosity as I have never heard about this and was curious to see. As usual did some research and then went to visit on a rainy day,
This temple is about 8 kilometers from Palakkad town on the road to Malampuzha Dam. The temple also is called Emoor Bhagawathy temple or 'Kaipathi' Ambalam (temple of the hand) or also Hemambika temple. In this temple only the hands of the Bhagawathy are consecrated.
There are several legends about the origin of this temple. “On their regular trek through the dense Vadamala forest to worship at the valley shrine of Durga, one day Kurur and Kaimukku Nambudiris were granted a vision. The golden Goddess stood beside an elephant under a tree. When the aged Kurur was disheartened by his inability to undertake hazardous pilgrimages, the Goddess assured him in a dream that he would find her in the neighborhood. The next day he witnessed the emergence of her hands in the middle of a lake close by. When Kurur swam through to clasp them, the divine hands turned into stone. The lake was filled and a shrine erected by the local ruler, whose descendent remains in charge of temple administration.
Another story is like this. The goddess had once agreed to appear before a devotee on the condition that he would not disclose it to anyone. The excitement led the devotee to disclose the fact to others. When the goddess appeared before the devotee, she noticed many people along with him. The displeased goddess vanished suddenly. By that time the devotees had seen only her upraised hand and in the temple her upraised hand is worshipped. Another variation of this story is that the devotee saw the form of the Goddess rising from the middle of the huge tank and he was so frightened that he cried out and suddenly the Bhagavathy stopped her appearance except for her two hands. A temple with the two hands was consecrated here.
It is believed, the deity takes three forms a day – in the morning as Saraswathi, in the noon as Laxmi and in the evening as Durga. The rituals vary according to the form of the deity at the time of worship.
Emur Bhagavathy (Hemambika), the bestower of prosperity, boons and auspiciousness raised her divine hands in the middle of the blessed pond Kallekulam. In a paroxysm of devotion, her impatient priest jumped in to the pond and caught hold of those hands before she fully manifested. The Devi stopped appearing. The priest got only the Devi’s emerging hands. This is the great legend of the famous Hemambika Temple where the Devi’s hands are enshrined in the sanctum sanctorum.
This temple is unique with the idol of only " two hands ".It is widely believed that the "DEVI" the goddess emerged from the midst of pond to bless an ailing devotee, who out of excitement caught hold of two hands before it could come out.Then a temple was consecrated with those two hands as goddess. This beautiful temple is surrounded by 5 ponds and paddy field, a nature kissed environment
Another story or the belief behind this unique deity of two raised The Hands was that a girl (incarnation of the Goddess Parvathy), who escaped from molestation jumped into the river, holding her hands for help. And the story or belief goes that she was helped by the Lord Shiva, on seeing the hands floating above the river.
Daily pooja timings are 0500 hrs to 1130 in the morning and 1700 hrs to 2030 in the evening
This temple is the family deity of Palakkad kings. In fact the ariyittu Vazcha of the king (coronation) used to be conducted here. Main attraction is the nine day festival of shivratri. Thousands of devotees attend the festival with pomp and fanfare. The celebration ends at the Kalpathy River. Apart from this in the month of May every year a Laksharchana is conducted. The Navarathri festival also is celebrated in this temple.
There is the snippet about this temple. It seems the former Prime Minister of India; Indira Gandhi visited this temple after the Congress split along with Sri Karunakaran. She was impressed by the goddess and made the palm of the goddess as her election symbol.

Tomatto Fry and Keral Parotta

Here we go finally some more recipes . Our children's couple of favorite dishes, Try it and enjoy.

TOMATO FRY.

Ingredients.

Tomatoes 4 large thinly sliced.
Onions 2 medium thinly sliced.
Garlic 3 flakes.
Ginger 1 inch piece.
Green chillies 4 slit.
Salt, Haldi Powder, chilly powder, Garam Masala Powder and Saunf.

Method.

In two table spoon of oil, add jeera, saunf and onions, ginger, green chilly, garlic and all the powders. Let fry onions till they are light brown and then add tomatoes. Cover and cook in its own juices. Add curry leaves and dhania leaves. Tomato fry ready to serve.


KERALA POROTTA

Ingredients for appr 15 porottas

Maida…….. one and half cups
Ata………… one and half cups
Eggs…………….3 optional
Curd……. .Half cup at room temp
Baking powder…half tsp
Salt to taste and a tsp of sugar

Little milk.
2 tsp butter.

Method

On a wide plate, sieve the Maida and atta, add salt, sugar and butter, Mix and then make a depression in middle, put baking powder, pour the curd on top and wait for it to bubble ,then mix together.[ if egg is used now is when to add ] . Make into dough adding milk if needed. Cover this dough with wet cloth and keep for 2 to 3 hours.

Prepare porottas thus……..keep a katori of refined oil ready; spread a ball of dough to a small chapatti, pour half tbsp of oil and then tear the chapatti pulling from centre to all sides such that it becomes one long strip and roll this strip to form a small round. Do this with all the dough. Before making pre heat tava , roll each ball lightly to make a chapatti without the help of any ata powder and put on tava .Cook on both sides . When four are done u can beat the porottas from all sides so that the layers can be visible. Repeat with the rest.

Parottas are ready and now ready to eat with Tomato fry

A tale of two snakes

The house in which we are staying has a nice garden attached to it. Plenty of plantations are there as my uncle is fond of gardening. It has banana ,mango ,nellikai, Guava and all sorts of trees.

One day as we were watching ,after our afternoon tea and snacks ,the lady who does some gardening in the house,announced that there was a snake in the garden We came out and I was thrilled to see a huge 10 ft snake slowly moving in the garden. As I came out with my camera it started moving into the stone wall and just had its head out. I was waiting for it to come out. Uma was upstairs in the balcony, giving me the running commentary from top.

As we were watching, I could make out another snake very close to the snake No 1 and then I could see that they were attracting each other for mating. This was a sight I am sure worth waiting and I was able to capture some as photographs.

Both suddenly stood as tall as 2 feet facing each other before cuddling . After about half an hour they started playing with each other, one following the other ,one of them around 10 ft and the other 8 ft, one being fat and the other slim. After about ten minutes both went away one following the other.

Next day as we were again watching in the morning we saw both of them back in their earlier place playing with each other. What a sight . I took enough photos. This time the thin fellow went through a small opening in the compound wall outside and the fat one was not able to slide through this opening and hence it stayed back. After some time this snake went out through the opening from where it came.
Next day at around 3 o cklock again the fatso was back at its original position and it was looking for its mate all over the garden . After about one hour the it went back the same way disappointed and after that we havenot seen either of them .
From that day onwards we never saw any of these snakes as of today

It was fun to study the way these react with the company of each other. check out the pics here :-

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/appa.ananths/ATaleOfTwoSnakes#
bye for now...

ANAYUTTU

ANAYUTTU


The only thing regularly we were doing after our shifting to Palakkad was walking as in Johnie Walker or the ad of Idea mobile, walk and talk. And during one of these walks; we read a poster announcing that there is going to be an Anayuttu at Valiapadam Subramania Swamy Temple. Anayuttu means feeding elephants. As both of us were fond of elephants we decided to watch the fun and waited for 9th of August for this.
The day dawned as usual and we got up and prepared for our walk. The Valiapadam temple is on our radar of daily walk and as we reached there we were stunned to see the activities there. Six elephants were already there and the best sight was that of Kannan ,the baby elephant having his bath. He was just lying down as the mahouts were rubbing him after water being poured from an hose in an house near the temple.
After we saw it getting up ,we walked little further and found another three giant tuskers parked in a compound of an house .
We decided enough of walk and came back home ,had our bath, finished b/fast and proceeded to the temple to watch the fun. By the time we reached, there were 13 giant sized elephants standing face to face and in between we could walk and feast our eyes watching the elephants. I was curious to know the names and was able to find out and it was as follows
1. Kannan 6 year small fellow with mischievous eyes smallest of them all
2. Ganesh

3. Rajasekharan
4. Vignesh.
5. Ramankutty

6. Kesavan I
7. Kesavan II
8. Gopalan
9. Padbanadhan
10. Manamadhavan
11. Govindan
12. Sunderasan and
13. Ramachandran

As I write all these names it looks like saying achuthaya namah saying the various paryayams of Vishnu and Ganesh. Uma adds saying that some are my colleagues name in HPCL.
There was quite a nice crowd now in the temple. The priest of the temple came and did the Gaja Puja to all the elephants and then with the little fellow ,Kannan leading the elephants were taken as a procession to the famous Mandakkara temple in Kalpathy, We reached and watched the fun sitting in Uma’s father’s house in Kalpathy. After about 15 mts of puja done on Kannan at this temple by the priest we started our journey back to the Valiapadam temple for the Anayuuttu. It was really cute to see Kannan standing in front of the main temple and allowing the others to do the puja . A nice pottu was put on its big forehead.
With panchavadyam in frontand elephants following, we walked back to the temple.
We reached this temple and the elephants were back in their old position standing face to face. Now we were ready to start the feed. As we were standing we could see big vessels full of rice balls being carried by volunteers and kept in front of each elephant. The main priest after some puja gave the first piece to the giant elephant and then it was pandemonium. Every body wanted to give food to these magnificent animals. I managed to pick up one big ball and managed to put it in Keasavan ‘s mouth. I asked Uma to do it and she was scared. Forcing her she picked up one piece of rice cake and promptly put it down . But I was proud when she picked up another and put it in the elephant’s mouth.
We were quite thrilled and walked back home satisfied for having seen such a spectacular sight.

We have taken some photos which can be viewed

KULADEIVAM

KULADEIVAM
While you are working literally you have no time for anything except work. Once you retire you seem to have more than 24 hrs in a day. You start thinking about other things.
One thing which always fascinated me was the concept of Kuladeivam. I have heard from my parents that our Kuladeivam is Peruvambu Bhagavathy and every time we go to Palakkad we used to visit this fine temple.
These Kula Deivams are considered as the ANCESTRAL God..meaning our forefathers and relatives have been worshiping that god for ages. It is the unshaken belief of most of the Hindus that these family deities take care of our family and save from all hardships and hindrances. Every family has a guardian angel called Kula Deivam (Kulam -- Lineage/Family, Deivam -- God). This in most communities tend to be different from the Hindu Gods that are generally worshiped in a common temple. A temple to a Kula deivam constructed in one's ancestral village/town, will have it as the main deity (Sanctum Sanctorum) while other Gods may also be present in the periphery. The Kula deivam can be formless as well. People who have migrated to other places still visit their ancestral village/town and pay their respects by offerings (donations /charity /breaking coconuts) and feasting (called pongal -- which is also the name of Thanksgiving festival and a dish made of rice). Since in most villages, people of the same community tend to be related, everyone will have the same Kula Daivam.People visit the temple of their Kula Deivam every year and make special pujas from their family.
We had Peruvanbu as our kuladeivam, Uma's father's Deivam was Manapallykavu and my daughter-in-law Laksmi's was Mangottukavu. We visited all three of them and I thought that in this blogg I will describe all three of them.


PERUVAMBU.
As already said this is our KulaDeavam. It is a small village around 25 kms from Palakkad. The surroundings are beautiful with lush green paddy fields and surprisingly good roads. We started around 7 o' clock in the morning and in half an hour flat we were there in the temple. As typical of all these temples there was a very nice temple pond right in front where you can see people having bath. I was very much tempted to have a dive into the water and the only thing stopped me from doing was because I was dressed in dhoti and did not have my swim suit with me.
The temple per say is a very small one but cute.
On enquiry we were able to find a story about the temple which is as follows.
A farmer was digging in his fields when he struck something from which blood oozed out . On digging further he found it to be an idol of Devi. Before he could attract attention he heard a divine voice which told him that the idol is that of Sita devi, The voice also added the this idol may be placed facing north and should not be enclosed but should be open to all forms of nature. Thus the temples known as Peruvambu.
We went inside and prayed at this powerful temple .
The Peruvemba is well known for its Ootukulangara Bhagavathi kshethram. The most important service performed at the temple is the Chaandu abhishegam to the Bhagavati Devi. "Pattham Pathayam" is a festival celebrated in the last week of December every year. During that time, there is a day when everyone is allowed to freely enter the inner portals of the temple and reach very near the goddess. The temple has its own Aalmaram and temple pond. The dewaswom building is now newly built alongside the kalyana mandapam.
MANGOTTUKAVU.
This temple is the Kuladeivam of our daughter in law Laksmi's family.So when her brother and wife came to Palakkad we decided to go to this temple.
This place again is around 30 kms from Palakkad. You go on the NH47 towards Trichur and reach Alathur. At this place you take a right turn and proceed for another 10 kms amidst typical villages and finally we reached a place. On enquiry we found that we have reached where the original temple was there .This place is known as Moolasthanam,after praying at this location we proceeded to a place called Athipatta.
The goddess in this temple is supposed to be in her very fierce form. She is also considered as the younger sister of Parakkattu Bhagwathi who has a temple in Kavasseri near by.
Mangottu Bhagawathi is supposed to have come to this place to fulfill the desire of a weaver. This weaver,Kuttan, was a great devotee of the Goddess. He and his people wove clothes and sold them in places where festivals were held. It is said that at one place, he was so enchanted by the appearance of the Devi there that he mentally requested her to come along with him. At that time, there was a whirl wind which removed the clothes of the idol of the Goddess which was being taken out in a
procession. Kuttan immediately threw the cloth that he had brought to sell on to the goddess. This cloth fell on the Goddess and got attached there. Next day Kuttan returned to his village. He was carrying an Umbrella. At a particular point he got so tired that he kept the Umbrella on floor and slept near by. When he woke up, he was not able to remove the umbrella from the ground. An astrologer was summoned who told Kuttan that the Goddess has occupied the Umbrella and she wants to live in it.

It was very nice to see a quite a good crowd here and we were lucky to see the Deeparadhane and got some appams and payasams as prasadam.

The one big noticeable feature when you visit these temples is that most of these temples are flourishing as the devotees are contributing liberally and the Deavasom Board is spending money in the up gradation of these smaller temples.

MANAPALLIKAVU
My father-in law's family deity, Manapally kavu was our next visit. As this temple is in Palghat town itself we decided to go there one evening. This was just 2 kms from were we were staying, close to the Tippu 's fort in Palakad. Surrounded as usual by the temple pond and disappearing lush green paddy fields this powerful Devi temple has a huge papal tree in front of it. You can witness quite a good crowd in the temple.

The Goddess appears as a flat black face against red cloth, with metal etchings marking her features. The starkness is reminiscent of both primeval and modern sculpture. In the circling camphor flame those golden eyes leap to life with a startling suddenness. The tilakam flares into molten gold. You feel the power in those eyes, at once cool and burning. The image blends with its living backdrop of tree trunk folds.
The priests in these types of temples are really great artists who decorates the idol beautifully. As you pray you feel like continuously stare at the sanctum sanctum. Praying and walking around these places gives plenty of peace for your mind.
This completes our visits to these Kuladevams.

Ulli Theeyal

An onion dish which is a family favorite is "ulli theeyal" It is a dish which is synonymous with god's own country , Kerala.
The irony is that we had to settle down to eat this delectable dish in a place that is not in Kerala. We were visiting our son and daughter in law in Mumbai. I decided to cook the dish in its traditional style as it is a family favourite.
So here goes my favorite "ulli theeyal" .ulli meaning baby onions or shallots... and theeyal meaning a burnt dish.

Recipe:- Serves - 4 people.

Ingredients

Sambar onions - 2 cups, Sliced

Coconut Grated - 1 coconut

Tamarind - a big lime sized ball

dhania seeds - 2 tbsp

Methi seeds - 1/4 teaspoon

Red Chillies - whole - about 8 - 10

Tadka Ingredients - Mustard and curry leaves

Method of Preparation

On Dry pan , roast the dhania seeds , methi and red chillies . remove on plate and in the same pan, Dry roast the grated coconuts, evenly until red in colour.

Add the Dhania mixture and fry for another 2 minutes and remove from fire.

Let cool , meanwhile in pan pour 2 tbsp oil , add mustard and curry leave and the cut onions, haldi powder - 1 spoon, salt to taste and let fry well.

Soak tamarind in water, squeeze out juice and pour into the fried onions. let the whole thing boil till raw smell of tamarind goes.

meanwhile grind the coconut mixture, adding water little by little until you get a fine paste.

Put the paste onto the onion mixture , add water to get a semi loose consistency. Simmer the gas and let the theeyal cook in its own juices till the oil seeps up.

serve with boiled rice and pappad and chepankazhangu roast.

happy eating.

TRIP BACK

RETURN TRIP.

It was time for us to return to Palakkad on the third day, after having spent the two days in Kumarakoom in absolute bliss, good healthy air all around.
We decided to leave early so that we can visit the famous three Siva temples, Ettumanoor, Kaduthuruthy and Vaikom. It is said that it is auspicious to visit all these temples in the same day .

ETTUMANOOR

The Ettumanoor Shiva Temple is an excellent example of the extensive usage of beautiful and expertly created murals in the temples of Kerala. The themes of these murals are stills from the Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata and the Upanishads and Puranas. Located 12 km north of the city of Kottayam, this shrine attracts devotees and connoisseurs of art alike. The glorious temple architecture of Kerala can be identified as a striking aspect of this temple. The majestic conical gopuram or copper plated roof of the sanctum commands respect and obeisance and is awe inspiring as well.


The present building with its gopuram is supposed to be reconstructed in 1542 AD. It is believed that the great Sankaracharya wrote the famous “ Soundarya Lahiri “ staying in this temple.

Legend has it that Khara (of the Khara Dhooshana demon duo) of Ramayana worshipped Shiva at Chidambaram and obtained from him three Shivalingams and journeyed holding one shivalingam on each hand and one in his mouth. He sojourned at Vaikom, and set the shivalingam on the ground and to his dismay realized that it had gotten rooted to the ground. Kharan therefore installed the other two shivalingams at Ettumanur and Kaduthuruthy. It is believed that visiting these triad of temples in a single day is of great significance.
Legend also has it that Khara installed an image of Krishna in the north western corner of this temple.
The temple: The west facing temple here has a circular sanctum covered with a conical copper plated roof crowned with a kalsam. The mukhamandapam in front of the temple bears two images of Nandi, one of stone and another of metal. Although there is no shrine to Parvati, the rear of the sanctum is revered as Parvati's shrine.
A golden staff, visible from a distance is in front of the shrine.
At the entrance to the temple is a large metal lamp; visitors make offerings of oil and the soot that collects from the burning of the oil is believed to have medicinal value.
The Ezharaponnaana Ezhunallathu is the ten day long annual festival of the temple. It is held during the month of Kumbha (Feb- Mar). On the eighth day of theEzharaponnaana Ezhunallathu, the Lord’s idol is bedecked and placed in a
specially prepared pavilion to the north east of the shrine. Thousands of devotees throng the temple to catch a glance of the Lord Shiva during this sacred festival. The Maharaja of Travancore had once made a unique offering to the deity. He had gifted seven and a half elephants (ezhara pon aana), seven of which are two feet tall and last is one foot tall. These are displayed on this eighth day of the festival.

Kaduthuruthy

Out of these three temples this temple situated exactly 12 and half km from Ettomanoor and Vaikom has not been modernised as much as the other temples.
Another story of these temples is that three Sivalingas were being cariied by a Rakshasa ,two in his hand and the third one in his mouth. The lingam in his mouth was erected at Kaduthururhty ( Kadichu Iruthy which in Malayalam means kept in the mouth) and the other two at Vaikom and Ettumanoor exactly12 and a half km apart, the length of the hands of the rakshasas extended .
In all Siva temples you are supposed to do only partial Pradakshinas . You go initially to the right a quarter of Pradakshina, come back and go clockwise till ¾ of the temple and then come back.
As per some school of thought, Lord Shiva's Assistant "Chandeeswar" sits on the right side of "Avritta" of the temple. He is supposed to take attendance of the devotees visiting the temple and the list is narrated to Lord Shiva during night at the closure of the temple. So devotees first used to go to the right of avritta of the temple and shout their name, gotra and star. (People to shout as "Chandeeswar is believed to be deaf). After completing the attendance ritual people revert to left side to complete the circle. It became a practice in gradual course.

VAIKOM.

Vaikom in Kottayam district of the southern state of India, Kerala, is one of the main pilgrim centres of the south. Famous for the Vaikkath Asthami celebrations in November/December, it is one of the few temples which is held in reverence by both Shaivaites and the Vaishnavaites. Vaikkom’s Shiva is fondly called Vaikkathappan. The Shiva Linga here is believed to be from the ‘Treta yuga’ and considered as one of the oldest temples in Kerala where pooja has not been broken since inception.
The rakshasa who carried the three Siva lingams was called Khara. Another school of thoughts is that the Sivalingam was not carried by mouth but on the neck of the Rakshasa
Kharasura on receiving the Shaiva Vidya Upadesh from Malyavan went to Chidambaram, and did severe penance and Tapasya for the attainment of Moksha. Pleased with his penance Lord Siva granted all the boons he asked, and presented him with three great Siva Lingas drawn out of Him. Assuring that He will ever be present in them, Lord Siva disappeared, asking Khara to worship the Lingas to attain Moksha. When Khara was returning south from Himalayas with the three Lingas, one in his right hand, one in left hand and other by the neck, he felt tired and rested awhile. After rest when he tried to pick up the lingas, they wouldn’t budge. He realized that it was Shiva’s maya and when called unto, the heavens spoke thus, “I shall remain here giving Moksha to whom so ever * take refuge in Me”.
Khara having attained Moksha entrusted the holy Lingas to the custody of Maharshi Vyaghrapada who had followed him invisibly and asked the sage to protect and worship them.

Belief is that the Siva Linga placed by Khara Asura by his right hand is being worshipped at Vaikom, the one in left hand at Ettumannoor and the one by neck at Kaduthuruthy even to this day.
Vyaghrapada Maharshi continued the Pooja in most esteem and devotion for some time and went on pilgrimage.Months and years passed. Sri Parasurama – the Chiramjeevi was going by the sky one day. Seeing good omens alighted here and saw a Holy Siva Linga emerged in water emitting heavenly rays. He could understand that it was the Siva Linga placed by Khara.
Sri Parasurama thought himself that, the holiest and noblest Siva Chaitanya could be a great refuge for the devoted who wish to attain Moksha. He consecrated the auspicious Linga here with His earnest Prayers and recitation of Siva Manthras.

The most benign Lord Siva at once appeared with his consort Parvati Devi before Parasurama. He was so pleased that the Linga was consecrated with the Manthras by Parasurama – the incarnation of Vishnu, his greatest devotee. The kind Lord Siva said to Parasurama, “From now onwards I shall stay here as Shaiva-Vaishnava Chaithanya granting all blisses and Moksha to all devotees”.

Full of joy and gratitude Parasurama performed Siva Linga pooja there for some days. Then he himself built a temple here and entrusted a noble Brahmin of Taruna village whom he taught Pooja Manthras. The Brahmin had learned all the 28 Sivagama and wore rudraksha and bhasma. Parasurama donated the whole temple with Linga to Brahmins and disappeared.It is the belief that the temple and all rites and customs are planned and fixed by Parasurama himself.

By the time we finished these three temples we were hungry enough so that we went to SAROVARAM , my favourite lunch joint at Cochin, and had a sumptuous lunch befor we poceeded to Palakad

PARIKKAI VARUTHATHU

Being vegitarians for was quite tough moong the Christian dominated cumminity of Kottayam. In fact vegetables were a rarity at the markets. Out of these vegs ,light green varity of bitter gaurd was available in plenty .
As necessity is the mother of invention a we discovered many ways of using this vegetables. All of us developed a great liking for this vegetable.
One such recipe is given below, which we guarantee that even persons who hate bittergourd will love
PARIKKAI VARUTHATHU
Ingredients:
Bitter gourd half Kg( Washed ,slit into half, seeds removed and sliced thinly)
Big onions 2 large also thinly sliced
Green chillies 6 to 7slit into half
Oil for deep frying, and salt to taste
Method :
In a large plate mix the cut bittergourd ,onion and green Chilly. Sprinkle some talt and let remain for half an hour. Keep oil in a pan for deep frying. Take handful of the mixture ,squeese out the water and put into the smoking oil and deep fry until dark brwn and crisp. Drain on to paper towel for removing oil.
This is ideal to have with rice and Ulli Thiyal, the recipe of which will follow soon.

KOTTAYAM

During the first day and the second day, we went to Kottayam and roamed around the old place where we used to live,
We saw the house, A2 Indira Nagar,not much change though they have modified the house externally, We saw Deepak's school which is now named as Pallikudam.
Evening we went to the famous Thirunakkara Temple.
Thirunakkara Mahadeva temple is situated 1.5km away from Kottayam Railway Station. Right in the heart of the city of Kottayam ,this Siva Temple built in the grand architectural style unique to Kerala,by the Maharajah of Tekkumkoor. Sri Parameswara is the presiding deity..

Legend has it that a local ruler was an ardent devotee of the Vadakunnatha temple at Thrissur and that he would make frequent trips to Thrissur from Kottayam. Such trips became harder as the king advanced in age.
During one of his trips, he had a dream in which Shiva of the Vadakkunnathan temple told him that he would manifest himself in the Tirunakkara hill in Kottayam.
True to the dream, a plough struck rock on the Tirunakkara hill and blood started oozing out; further careful excavation yielded a buried Shivalingam and a Nandi.
The theme of this legend is seen at several Shiva temples all over the land, where the Shivalingam is regarded as a self-manifested one and not one created with a chisel.
Another interesting fact about the temple is that Nandi, the steed of Lord Shiva is given lot of importance here.
It seems long ago one night some people saw a bull eating their crops. They threw a stone at it and it was injured. Then the Bull ran away. That day that bull which was actually Nandi came in the dream of the king and told him, “You consecrated me here. But you are not giving me any food. What alternative do I have except eating what is available. I am now injured because your people threw stones at me. “ Next day the king
called the owner of the field from which Nandi has eaten and ordered that the produce from the field should go towards Naivedyam for Nandi.
It seems in some years a boil appears on the stone statue of Nandi in this temple. Then the Ayurvedic doctors treat the boil. During the years when the boil appears, it seems some calamity will happen to the people or country. The last time it appeared was in the year 1932.

It was quite peaceful to pray in this huge temple.
We tried to locate the Beeges, the drive in restaurant ,was not there. Amma could not wait to enter Seemati her old joint .And we had some dinner at a new veg hotel. We also went to Baker Memorial pump and met my old friend Unni still managing the petrol pump.
Maaman Mappilai hall was standing as prominent as ever.
Being the first place of posting for me this town has a special love for me and hence some general details of this beautiful place.
Kottayam has its place of honour in the cultural map of Kerala. Kunchan Nambiar, the Father of Thullal, a popular temple art form was supposed to have lived at Kidangoor.
Kottayam stands first in the field of education, mass communication, printing and book publication. The part played by Deepika, Malayala Manorama and Bhashaposhini for the cultural and literary development is of immense significance. There are many printing presses and book publishing companies in Kottayam. D.C. books started publication from here in 1974. Kottayam is the headquarters of Current Books from 1977. It is estimated that 70 per cent of the State's book publication take place in Kottayam.
Late Kottarathil Sankunny, Kandathil Varghese Mappilai, Kerala Varma Valiyakoi Thampuran, K.C. Mammen Mappilai, , Vadakkumkoor Raja Raja Varma, Karoor Neelakanta Pillai, Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, D.C. Kizhakkemuri are dignitaries worth mention. Ponkunnam Varkey,Mahakavi Pala Narayanan Nair, Kudamaloor Karunakaran Nair, Booker Prize winner Arundhathi Roy, film actor Mammootty, writer Vaikom Chandrasekharan Nair, music director L.P.R. Varma and film director Jayaraj are some other notable personalities from the district.

The birth place of MRF tyres, the town which can boost of Mrs . K.M.Mathew's cooking classes ,Kottayam brought back plenty of nostalgic memories for both me and Uma

MANGO CHAMANTHY

Chamanthy is the local Malayalam word for chutney, Typically these are ground in flat stones called "ammikal", which makes it tastier.We are giving below the latest mixie version.

INGREDIENTS.

Cocunut Grated one cup
Raw mango Sliced quarter cup
Red chilly 5 to 6 nos
Sambar onions 4 to 5
Salt to taste, Curry leaves.

Mrthod.

Grind all the above in a mixie with as little water as possible.

This chutney is nice with rice or Kanji and can also be had with iddli or dosa.

Try it

Houseboat at Kumarakam.

After Darshana came and settled in Palghat,we decided to have a holiday away from Pallakad. We zeroed in on Kumarakam. This brings lots of old memories for me and Uma . First posting assoon as I joined HPC,got married while I was posted in Kottayam, Deepak was born here and 7 long years as Sales Officer. Those days we used to go to Kumarakam and stayed in the Baker’s house there ,at 40 Rs per day. This same place has now been converted as Taj , Kumarakam. I took a driver and we left in the morning, reached Kumarakam at around 12 o clock. We were booked at KTDC’s Waterscapes. Being off season there were hardly any body. All the rooms here are made like Machans and are on the first floor. Beautiful rooms and wonderful views from each room. Downstairs they have hammocks for you to relax. As soon as we landed we were hungry and all three of us were in a mood to have typical Kerala food. We went to the restaurant at KTDC and were highly disappointed as they were serving only North Indian dishes, Chapattis, Mutter panner etc. Strange!!. Since we had the car and the driver we took off. Kumarakam has totally changed. There are hotels and hotels everywhere. We saw some wonderfully decorated hotels, but highly expensive. When I suggested visiting TajHotel, both my partners, Uma and Darshana immediately protested as they felt they have not dressed enough to go there. Anyhow finally we found a place where we were able to get what we wanted. Rice, Pulicherri. Thoran, Pappadam etc. After the sumptuous sadya we had a nice siesta in the tree house. Evening we went for a walk, yes even Darshana came with us. We could see plenty of birds all coming home from wherever they go during the day. You can see varieties of beautiful birds in huge numbers flying in patterns in the sky. The entire atmosphere was full of bird chirping.We came back and relaxed for the day. Dinner at KTDC only Day two started with a walk and then we decided to go on the houseboat ride. This was the highlight of the entire trip. We reached the boat around 10’ o’ clock and were stunned to see the houseboat. This was a huge one with three bedrooms, a nice sitting room and a dining table. The boat also had a very modern kitchen with even a microwave. There were four persons apart from the three of us. A driver, cook and two helpers. You will have to tell them what we want for lunch. Typically we decided to have a Kerala Sadya at 1 o clock. Exactly at 10.30 am the boats took off and believe me it was just too good to describe. These are the times when even in people like us poetry comes. The weather was wonderful with sky overcast, gentle breeze to cool you down, birds, varieties of them, chirping and fishing in the lake, ladies washing on the lakeside, men fishing. The boat had a soft violin music being played on the background. We just relaxed and were immersed in watching the beauty of nature of this Vembanattu Lake, Drinking cold beer in this atmosphere was the ultimate bliss. Suddenly we found that the overcast sky became dark and it started poring rain. What a sight! The boat was covered on all side and the rain stopped exactly in ten minutes and we were back to clear sky. One o clock, the lunch on plantain leaves was ready . Sambar, Puliserry ,thoran, mezhukkuvaratti , mango sampanthy these were the main dishes and of course Jaguary payasam as a desert. At 2.30 PM we landed back shore and headed back to Hotel for a well earned siesta. Remaining in next part

RASAKALAN

RASAKALAN



This blogg is a joint one as can be seen from the profile and it was announced that each blogg will contain a recipe of some dishes we would like to share. Rasakalan was one such dish and here it is.
The word rasa in Tamil or Malayalam means "taste", so rasakalan means, a very tasty kalan. Kalan is a very famous curd based curry of Kerala, which is a must for all big functions, like marriage or festivals, like Onam. Kalan and Rasa Kalan are the original pet dishes of Namboodiris (Kerala native brahmins) .They were using only pepper and not chillies. The iyers modified it with the addition of chillies.


Ingredients

Vegetables - White Pumpkin (Elavan), Yellow Pumpkin(Mathan),
Drumstick all cut into cubes-one big cup,
Cocunut - half ( grated).
Sour buuermilk - Half a cup
Red chilly, Mustard, Methi , Cuyrry Leaves Haldi powder and salt.

Method.

In two cups of water, add the cut vegetables , haldi powder and salt and let it cook.
Meanwhile, grind the coconut and five to six red chillies, well. When the vegetables are cooked, add the ground masala and the thick buttermilk and let it boil. Keep stirring, adjust consistency by adding water. Put off gas .Temper with one spoon of mustard, ¼ spoon of methi,one red chilly and a few curry leaves.

Serve with the cooked rice and mezhukkuvaratty( oil fried vegs).

Please try and enjoy

Trip to Trichur

Darshana had already booked for her holiday to Palakkad while we were in Mumbai.Hence both Uma and me went to pick her on 18th June from Coimbature. She landed at CBE and after some refreshments which we had picked up from Nilgiris reached Palakkad in the evening.
To make her holiday complete we had planned couple of trips outside Palakkad. We decided to go to Trichur to finalise our kitchen design for our new house.
Trichur is around 60 kms from Pallakad and is famous for the Pooram festival. Thrissur Pooram is celebrated at the surroundings of Vadakunathan Temple , situated on a hillock ,right in the centre of the city, on the Pooram day in the month of Medom (April-May). Processions of richly caparisoned elephants accompanied by percussion ensembles from various neighbouring temples culminate at the
Vadakumnathan temple. The most impressive processions are those Thriuvambadi Bhagavathy from the Thiruvambadi nSri>Krishna Temple and the Paramekkavu Bhagavathi from Parmekavu temple. The celebrations which last for over 36 hours includes parasol displays . Early morning at around 3' 0 Clock a spectacular display of fireworks begins which lasts for almost three hours. The display of fireworks is a competition between two parties representing the two divisions of Trichur, Paramekkavu and Tiruvuvampadi vying with each other to make their displays grander than the other. The festival terminates by afternoon.
Trichur also is famous because I had studied almost three years here.

It was a very tough job but I was able to navigate and reach this school without outside help. It was a nostalgic feeling of reaching this place after 45 years. The entire surroundings had changed. Darshana was thrilled .
We also went to see the house where I stayed during my student days . The famous house "Gitanchali" is not there anymore but a very modern house stood in that place.We were very easily able to find the house where Uma's parents had stayed , there is not much of change for that house.
My brother Suresh had studied in a "Kundanedavazhi " School which has totally disappeared.
Before we reached Trichur there is a ghat section which is known as Kuthiran hills. In the olden days this used to be tortourous drive and there is a Ayyappa temple there right on top of the hills. We decided to get down at the temple, I was very pleasantly surprised to find this temple also quite prosperous .They have a huge mandapam where I understand every day Annadanam for everybody visiting the temple is performed.
Rest in next.

My Palakkad

My final settling in Palghat was a real surprise to everyone including me and my wife Uma. This little town bordering Kerela and Tamilnadu is the home town for both of us. Kalpathy for Uma and Sekharipuram for me. Even the name has changed to Palakkad from Palghat .But both of us have never stayed here, though we had visited this place enough. In fact it was in this same place Palghat ( it was known as Palghat at that time), that I had the only Ponnukannal ceremony( seeing the girl) and saw Uma for the first time at the BPL guest house way back in 1976 . We tried to see those houses but were unable to find them.
During our first week here in Palakkad with nothing special to do, we did plenty of walking. Each day we used to travel in different directions. We went to Vinayakanagar where my father had a house, Suraaj . This house has been modernised and was looking quite nice,
We saw Uma’s father’s house,Srimatha ,also. The surrounding of this house has totally changed .I recollect the paddy fields opposite to this and the ducks in these fields (as Darshana also remembers). None of them are there. Now you can see only houses in all shapes and colours. I am suddenly reminded of the famous writer Malayatoor Ramakrishanan’s book “VERUKAL” (meaning roots) in which he tells the story of how he comes with his children to Palghat from the city for a holiday. This was these children’s first visit to the village and as soon as they saw the lush green paddy fields, one of them commented, “What a nice lawn”. The father corrected him saying these are paddy fields and not lawns and the son says “ Arisi Chedi”.( Rice tree). Palakkad is moving in this direction and very soon we may have to show our children paddy fields, village wells etc in the museums.

During our walks we went and saw my father’s house in Sekharipuram and also Uma’s

ancestoral house Kalpathy and Sekharipram. It is so ironical that after having disposed off five houses between two of us , we are finally back to our roots in new surroundings .
Palakkad has changed. Like the name has changed we could see that even the sleepy and conservative town has changed . As you walk in the morning you can see quite a lot of people of all ages with different dresses also walking. Amidst tee shirt and shorts wearing men we can see men with the typical Mundu( dhoti) tied up also jogging. The weather here was outstanding with little rain.
On Monday, it was fun to go to a typical Chanda( Flea Market ) and buy village grown fresh vegetables,
On the other side, going into the town you can see BIG BAZAAR, selling all the latest products from across the globe under one roof(a three floor building as good as you can see in any other city). Palghat has grown out of its conservatism.
Classical examples are while you are walking in the morning through Kalpathy, you can see ladies doing rangoli in front of the house .In the evening you can see girls with laptop sitting on the verandah along with ladies discussing .
Aiswarya mess in the heart of this gramam serves you typical Palakkad cuisine like Sevai, pongal , vada , etc.. On the other side you can also see bhel puri, veg. Manchurian on the same street.
Palakkad has arrived for us

Ayakkad

It is almost a week since we came to Palghat from Mumbai to start my retired life. As my house was not completed we had decided to stay with my Uncle’s house in Vaidyanathapuram. My uncle hails from a village called Ayakad, about 20 kms from Palghat.
When he announced that Kumbabhisekam is being celebrated at this Ganapathy temple and he is planning to go, we decided to start our journey of visits of temples from there and hence we decided to join him.
So we left in the morning around 9.30 am and after a beautiful drive for an hour we reached this village. We cruised along the NH47 towards Trichur till we reached Vadakkenchery and took a turn towards right to Ayakkad. This Vadakkencherry is in Palghat district as there is one more Vadakkenchery in Trichur district,
It was fun driving in the small roads which had paddy fields on both sides and finally we reached the village. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see the village temple and quite number of cars . The temple of MahaGanapathy is a small temple and looks quite prosperous. Vedic chants filled the air as number of Brahmins staying in the village and visitors from outside participated in this last day of the Kumbhabhisekam festival.
We were able to witness different types of abhisekam taking place live. Quite an interesting abhisekam was the one made of coconut water. After these abhisekams the idol which was about two feet in height was decorated with sandalwood paste,
The young priests who took over the decorations made a very professional job and ultimately the Vigneswar was looking wonderful. Later Puja by the priests took place and by now we were quite hungry.
Meanwhile we went around the Gramam and saw the old house which belonged to my uncle. Quite a nice house but has been modernised for the latest facilities. It was noticed that most of the houses in the Agraharam has been dilapated .We proceeded for the temple lunch. This was provided inside the temple. All of us sat down on the ground and had a full meal. The village youngsters were the persons serving us. It was a proper Sadya (feast) and was very tasty.

The old temple and surroundings were looking prosperous and we were told that people around the globe belonging to this village are regularly participating in the upkeep and maintenance of this temple and hence it is quite heartening to notice that the old culture of taking care of your ancestral village is becoming popular.

One of the main dishes at the feast was RASA KALAN the recipe of which we are trying to give below for all to try.All in all a very enjoyable outing.