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:

Rameswaram Teertha Yatra - 22 Holy Teerthams

18-9-2011: After the holy dip in the sea we proceeded towards the Eastern Vimanam of the Temple. It is customary for devotees to visit all the 22 Holy teerthams located within the temple precincts and bathe in the water. Accordingly we bought tickets for the Teertam Yatra and we garnered a young student to accompany us with a rope & bucket to draw the water from the Teerthams (wells) and pour water over our heads. The names of the 22 Teerthams where we bathed are: Mahalakshimi,Savithiri, Gayatri,Saraswathi,Sethumadhava, Gandhamadana, Kavatcha,Gavaya,Nala,Neela,Sanku,Sakkara,Brahmahathi Vimochana,Soorya, Chandra, Ganga, Yamuna,Gaya,Siva,Sadyamirtha,Sarva & Kodi Teertams. These waters are said to possess medicinal qualities.
Pics below tell their own story:

Rameshwaram Theertha Yatra - part 1

18-9-2011: I have never visited Rameswaram and have pondering over this for several months now - but always postponed travel owing to lack of a convenient transport from Coimbatore to Rameswaram. My prayers were answered when the Railways suddenly introduced a direct overnight train on this route couple of months ago. So we hastily planned and booked our tickets and took the train leaving Cbe on 17th night. The train stopped briefly at Mandapam then crossed over the Pamban Bridge built over the Bay of Bengal. This is the 2nd longest sea bridge in India at a length of 2.3 Kms (after Bandra Worli sea link). We reached Rameswaram early on 18th around 7.00 am took a ricksaw and checked into a decent hotel room located near the temple.
The temple island of Rameswaram has acquired this name because Lord Rama worshipped Lord Shiva here on return from Sri Lanka. According to legend, after killing Ravana, Rama returned with his consort Seetha to India first stepping on the shores of Rameswaram. To expiate the `Brahmahathi Dosha' of killing a brahmin Lord Rama wanted to offer worship to Lord Shiva. Since there was no shrine on the island he had dispatched Sri Hanuman to Benares to bring an image of Viswanathar. Anticipating delay in Hanuman's return Rama offered worship to a Shiva lingam fashioned out of sand by Sita. This lingam is called Ramalingam and thus the place got the name of Rameswaram. The temple is one of the holiest Hindu Char Dham shrines that has to be visited in one's lifetime and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holy abodes of Lord Shiva.
As per tradition we first went and had a dip in the ocean located on the East side of the temple. The water was cool and refreshing and the dip was energizing.
See above & below photos of Pamban Bridge & sea dip:
1:View of Bay of Bengal
2&3: Pamban Road Bridge as seen from the train
4-6:Devotees having dip in the Bay of Bengal at the special bathing ghat
7&8:View of East side Vimanam as you enter after dip in the sea ......................to be continued