Jaipur - Trip starts

Jaipur the pink city of Maharajas housing forts and palaces has been ticked from our bucket list this March. Beyond March the temperatures becomes scorching heat so just completed the trip on time. By Friday evening closed our chores and left to Chennai airport in a autorickshaw. On reaching the airport we learnt that autorickshaw are not allowed beyond that. So we started to walk towards the departures. Battery operated cart gave us some respite for some distance. We had done the web check in during the afternoon so had to only check-in our baggage and go for the security check. Our air India express flight was already delayed by 45 mins. While waiting at the gate it was further delayed. We had a cup of coffee for Rs.250 and waited further. We were allowed to onboard by 8:40 pm. Flight which was supposed to take off at 7:25 pm actually took off at 9:30pm. We had to call up the driver and hotel on the delay. After the 2 hours 15 mins journey we reached Jaipur airport at 12 am. Our driver dropped us the hotel by 12:40. After getting refreshed we had our dinner around 1:20 am which the hotel staff had kindly packed and left for us in the room. Roti with panneer subji, jeera rice with dhal and gulab jamum was too much for that time to eat.

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Mannargudi - Day 2

On the next day at Mannargudi, we had an early start. After having tea through room service we left to the Rajagopalaswamy temple. The temple gopuram can be seen at a large distance as the from the space was allocated for parking. Early morning we could see only 2 cars before us. After paying the parking fee we went inside the temple. Due to the maintenance work we were devoid of enjoying the beauty of the temple gopurams. We got to see the temple's famous elephant - Sengamalam as soon as we got in. This temple is called as south Dwaraka, there is small Krishna statue inside which we can worship by taking in our hands. The main deity Lord Vasudevaperumal is seen here along with his cow. Next to his the baby Krishna idol which can we worshipped by devotees for their special prayers. We had a good darshan of the Perumal. Had theertham, jadaari and then walked towards the Goddess. The consort of Lord Rajagopalaswamy is Goddess Sengamala Thaayar. We had a very peaceful...

Vijayawada trip - Part 2

On the third day morning of our trip we were much energetic and ready to take on the day after a largely rested night. By 8:30 an we came down to the reception and was soon followed by Raju garu. He first took us to the restaurant near Vijayawada SP office for breakfast. This again was similar to the yesterday's, self-service, get your dish and eat it as you stand. As the crowd was less we for a table to place the plate. Had two maida poori, ghee dosa and coffee here for less than Rs.200. Our first place today was the Kanaga Durga temple. Its in the middle of the city on top of a small hill. The entrance charges Rs.50 for the car. Mobile phones are not allowed inside the temple. The queues to the darshan was very huge. With the help of Raju garu we connected to one of the person inside the temple. He took us through the Rs.500 ticket queue, near to the Goddess Kanaga Durga for a much blessed darshan. In turmeric kaapu the was glowing. The temple inside was very well decorate...

Aadi koozh vaarthal

Aadi koozh vaarthal is a religious occasion for most Tamil house holds. In the month of Aadi raagi koozh is served to all thirsty people around the neighborhood. Koozh is prepared and offered to Amman followed by the distribution. While offering koozh there are also other heathly eatables included in the Padayal. The koozh preparation starts a day earlier. Rice is cooked first and raagi flour mixed in water is added to it and cooked till ragi gives a glazed look to the koozh. This is then left over night to ferment. The next day water is added to the koozh to get a drinking consistency. To this we add finely chopped onions as topping and curd to give that cooling effect. Once the koozh is all set we go about the padayal to the almighty Amman. Aadi, the Tamil month solely dedicated to Amman is for celebrating her and her kindness to her devotees. So we first offer the koozh to her in the Padayal followed by white rice and other items. The USP of Aadi koozh is that...

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