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...
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
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
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
Monday, August 10, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
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.
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.
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