A Kerala Village

Kalpathi is a small village located in Palakkad District of Kerala. It is around 50 Kms drive from Coimbatore.We visited this village on Sunday 6th November'11. The village was getting readied for the annual chariot festival to be held later this month. I reproduce below some photographs taken during the visit:

1.The small chariot above will be used for transportation Lord Muruga

2 & 3: This chariot being readied is for Lord Ganesha

4 & 5: The biggest chariot is reserved always for Lord Siva & his consort Goddess Parvathi

Generally during the Chariot Festival big crowds gather in Kalpathy for the festivities which last for around one week. It has become so famous now that that large groups of tourists from India and abroad also visit during this time.
Pictures below are of the Kalpathy River which is in spate after the heavy rains in recent weeks. Rain in the month of Aipasi (in Tamil) or Thulam (in Malayalam) is known as "Thula Varsham"
I already have an earlier post on Kalpathy Heritage Village. Please log onto: http://sankriti.blogspot.com/2009/07/kalpathy-heritage-village.html

Saradambal Temple Coimbatore - Golden Chariot Festival

Navaratri Festival:(Sept'28-Oct'05): During the Navatri Festival the Rathotsavam or Chariot festival happens every evening on all 9 days. The Saradambal Temple in Coimbatore was established under the auspices if the Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri (Karnataka). The Peetham is the first and foremost of the four Peethams established by the renowned 8th century Hindu philosopher & saint Sri Adi Shankara, the principal exponent of Advaita (non-dualism). The Divinity of Knowledge, Goddess Sharada, installed at Sringeri by Sri Adi Shankara, graces the Peetham as the presiding deity.

See pics taken at Coimbatore Saradambal Temple during Navaratri festival :
1.Sri Saradambal in her sanctum sanctorum seated regally in her Golden Throne ( You can see both the Moolavar or fixed idol & the Utsavar festival idol)
2&3.The Golden Chariot in which The Goddess will be taken around
4.The Utsavar Idol being brought out by the temple priests.
5&6.The Goddess seated in her throne in the Golden Chariot
7.The procession begins - the chariot is being pulled by devotees
8.The goddess Queen is being fanned by priests
9.After being taken around the sanctum three times, the goddess returns to her sanctum

My Grand Daughter Mira

My daughter Bhavana & her daughter Mira are on an annual vacation to India: I present below some of the images captured of Mira in various moods :

Chandi Homam at Sri Saradambal Temple

Chandi Homam is a religious ritual performed by Hindus to invoke the blessings of Goddess Durga or Goddess Chandi. It begins with the Karta (devotee) invoking Agni (God of fire) and inviting him to carry the dravya (offerings into the fire) to the deity. The Goddess, pleased with the offerings grants the wishes of the devotees in the form of benefits like longevity, success in business,removal of obstacles, good health, prosperity, progeny etc.The core of the ceremony involves chanting of Durga Sapthashati. These are 700 secret & powerful mantras in praise of Goddess Durga in which she defeats various demons. With the recitation of each verse offerings are made in the sacrificial fire invoking the the goddess. In Chandi Homa Goddess Durga is considered to be a young Kanya girl, so while performing this homam girl children are worshipped and offered gifts.
During the recently concluded Navaratri Celebrations at Coimbatore I happened to participate in the Chandi Homam at the Sri Saradambal Temple - both as a devotee as well as a cameraman. I present below the series of pics of the homam:

Laksharchanai at Sri Saradambal Temple Coimbatore

Laksharchani was performed at the Shri Sharadambal Temple at Coimbatore during the first three days of the Navaratri. This was chanted by the temple priests as well as students of the Veda Patashala. The Laksharchanai or 100,000 times chanting of the name of Goddess Saradambal was completed over a period of three days. Generous quantities of Kumkumam (Vermilliom) was used during the ceremony. Some pics are given below:
1-3: Laksharchanai chanting
4: Sanctum of Shri Saradamabl
5:Young students of the Veda Parasala

The Madisar or Nine Yards Saree

The nine yard sari or "madisar" is traditional dress for South Indian women. A few decades ago this was a standard wear for all married women. Now a days nine yards saree is worn only on special occasions like weddings, death ceremonies, religious functions and festivals like Diwali.
A Tamil Brahmin girl customarily wears Red Koorai (9 yards silk saree) for the first time during her marriage -with the help of her sister in law just before the Kanya Dhanam( or the father giving away the bride.)
The madisar is complex to tie and even more complex to maintain due to its length.These factors have contributed to the madisar's steep decline in recent times. See below a recent picture of ladies wearing madisars at a religious function.

Rameswaram - Ramanathaswamy temple

18-9-2011: After bathing at the 22 Teertams we went back to the hotel for bath and a change to dry clothes. We returned again to the Temple for darsan of the presiding deity and other important Sannathis. This a very significant Thevara Sthalam (considered 8th of the Thevara Sthalams in the Pandyanadu) where the holy saints Appar and Sambandhar have sung praises of the Lord. While the presiding deity is Ramanathaswamy the Ambal or consort is known as Malaivalarkaadali ot Parvathavardini. There is another shrine for Viswanathar-the Shivalingam brought by Hanuman from Kasi - also known as Kasilingam and Hanumanlingam.This temple spread over an area of 15 acres has lofty gopurams,massive walls and a colossal Nandi.It also boasts of a 4000 feet long pillared corridor presumably the longest in the world.What is unique is that the rock is not indigenous to the island and has been brought from elsewhere in Tamilnadu. Some spectacular pics of the famed corridors are presented below: