Our wanderings and perceptions

கல்யாணத்தை பண்ணிப்பார், வீட்டை கட்டிப்பார் says an age old Tamil saying denoting the tedious nature of both as duties. The house warming ceremony denotes the culmination of building a house and entering into it for living. In a typical Tamil house hold, buying or building a new house is a pride and a dream. Building a house involves lot of rituals. First comes the 'Adikal naattu', laying the foundation stone. On an auspicious day, Just before the sunrise Bhoomi Pooja is done and the first stones are layed by the family and the builders involved. All present are given Prasad or sweets from the Pooja. This marks the kick start of the house building project. Once the building skeleton comes up with walls built and rooms differentiated there comes a time to fix the frame and threshold of the doors. This requires Vaasakaal Pooja to bring up the Vaasal. A team of married ladies in odd numbers form the main part of this ceremony. Navaratnas are buried below the Vaasal and e...

தீர்த்தனை, சிவனை, சிவலோகனை,  மூர்த்தியை, முதல் ஆய ஒருவனை,  பார்த்தனுக்கு அருள்செய்த சிற்றம்பலக்  கூத்தனை, கொடியேன் மறந்து உய்வனோ? asks Devaram in praise of the Lord Sivan. Entrance While entering the temple premises we see a ground where music sessions happen during festival occasions and serves as parking lot during non-season. Through the main entrance of the temple we are greeted by the ancientness of the temple and the modern flooring. The outer praharam starts with Pillaiyar in the left most corner and Murugar in the right most corner. While walking further from Murugar, the outer praharam also houses Adi Sankarar, Anchaneya and finally a separate shrine for Ayyappan in the right side.  Kailayam carving Once you enter the inner sanctum, Kachaleeswarar gives his darshan long side Soundarambhigai in a separate shrine to his left. The navagraha are in the left side and in the path around this praharam we can worship Panchamuga Pillaiyar, Urcha...

In today's fast moving competitive world we have no time to even stop and look around us. A deluge of selfish tasks keeps us secluded from the outside world. Very few come down to fight for common cause and not many willing to participate in legal proceedings benefiting society. We need to go out of way sometimes for betterment of mankind. Our country has numerous social activists who are the above said few. Dont we need more people to join them at least on a part time basis? Every citizen of this country need to join hands with these like minded people for the betterment of our society and the greater India. Recently two of such citizens from our very own Chennai caught our attention for their selfless work.  Are we not capable of planning our work and provide enough time to the society? Arun Krishnamurthy who runs his own firm and does election analysis is an activist for restoring lakes.  Environmentalist Foundation of India is the NGO which does thi...

Lake Malawi trip becomes the culmination of our places of visits in and around Blantyre. One cannot leave this country before making the trip to this UNESCO's world heritage site. It is around 365 miles long. Sun & sand At 5 AM from Blantyre we left via Chichiri - Limbe and drove through Zomba - Liwonde to reach  Mangochi by 8:30 AM. Few kilometers to Mangochi we could see the Shire river to the right, it leaves the lake and drains in lake Malombe. The lake is clear, deep watered and appears as a beach in the Monkey bay located in Mangochi district. Temperature is high here compared to Blantyre. Lake view Like the ECR in Chennai where the resorts facade the beach the Malawi lake can be seen through the resorts here. We entered one such resort called the Sun & Sand providing accommodation and dining facility. Lake Behind the resort we can see the lake Malawi as beach with a giant mass of rock behind looking like a small island in the beach. The at...

Trip to Blantyre will not be fulfilled until we visit 'St. Micheal and All Angel's church' and the 'Mandala House' is what we were told. So just set forth to witness the magnificent structures. Stopped by at the Shri Hindu temple before going in search of the above two. Its a small temple just opposite to FMB bank in Mt.Soche. Lord Vinayaka here blesses the visiting devotees. During Hindu festivals all are treated to good Indian food here it seems. Mandala House This is Malawi's national monument also called as Old Manager's house. It is the oldest building in Blantyre having been built in 1882 with dried grass,bricks and mud. This was built for the Managers of African lakes corporation to stay. Later became a bank too. Now it houses - La Caverna Art Gallery in the ground floor. Malawian handcrafts are displayed here for sales. 'Society of Malawian library and archive' with a vast collection of Malawi books and journals of the 19th century...

Our beloved city is now in the UNESCO creative cities list for its outstanding contribution to music! https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/events/64-cities-join-unesco-creative-cities-network Congrats Chennai! May the Carnatic season coming up next month take us to another level is ecstasy.. 😀😀😀

 On a new weekend we set out to explore Mount Mulanje which is the highest peak in this area. Being the end of summer, the temperature was soaring.  Trekking to the peak is estimated to be done in 2 to 3 days by hikers. So as commoners we decided to just make a visit. From Blantyre it took around 2 hours to reach the foot hills of Mulanje. From Blantyre we took the route towards Chichiri, this seems to be a upmarket area housing shopping malls including giants like shoprite and spar. After crossing this we drove towards Limbe then Thyolo district which is full of tea plantations. Unlike in India where tea plantations are on slopes only. Through out the drive your eyes will drink in the natural scenic beauty. The far away hillocks and green plains are just mystic. At the same time the roads built some fifteen years ago are still good and ensures a smooth  drive. In spite of the warm weather you enjoy the drive with a mild breeze. We also cross the market - Bv...