Our wanderings and perceptions

During any Chennai child's school days in the late 2000 picnic or school excursion meant Mahabalipuram or the Crocodile park. In line of two's, kids will folk the Shore temple, the pancharathams, the Arjuna thapas and the butter ball in Mahabalipuram. A day's trip to this Mamallapuram - as it was curated by the Pallava king Mamallan, takes around 2 hours drive from the city as we have to cover a distance of 85 kms through OMR (Taramani, Padur, Thiruporur) and ECR. After crossing 2 tolls in OMR, the last bit of the path is through ECR whose toll charges Rs.56 and then the entry to Mamallapuram monuments  is for a fare of Rs.75. There is ample parking space in the Sri SthalaSayana Perumal Temple compound. Just diagonally opposite to this is the Pancharthas. The elephant carving is seen here. Being a weekend we could see huge number of visitors here, many north Indians. The stone art was appreciated by all witnessing it.  Selfies and photographs keep flashi...

In a lazy weekend afternoon we decided to take a drive to the dutch fortress - Sadurangapattinam alias Sadras. This is few kilometres away from Mahabalipuram. When the ECR ends the right takes you to Sadras while the left is towards Mamallapuram. After driving for 10 mins we come across the fly over above the Buckingham Canal and a small distance from Kalpakkam. At the end of this fly over we end up at  Sadurangapattinam village and a little left turn at the end of it takes you to the fort and end up near the beach. The beach had no visitors, we could see few fishermen netting near by. A few minutes there enjoying the beach wind we came across this scene of two boats coming across each other. Opposite this beach site is the Fort. Adjoining this site is a the play area for kids. The entrance to the fort is on the other side and not towards the beach. The fort has a secret chamber in its cemetery space, leading to the beach waters. The entrance ...

There are various types of cooking world over depending on the style of cooking, the ingredients available in that part of the region, the weather conditions pertaining to that landscape and also the religion practised. In today's world as the universe converges to one, the availability of multi-cuisine food has become the norm of gourmet. Most of us are aware of Chinese food like dumplings and spring rolls; while we have never kept our foot near its boundaries. The much conservative city of south India - Chennai, has now opened up to international cuisine. Though the star hotels of Chennai have specialisation in internationally acclaimed cuisine, it served only to the more affordable class of the society and the rest got a taste of it only when the specific restaurants came up. With the food delivery Apps - its is easy to try variety of food from the confines of our home and also reserve tables in the top restaurants of the city with just a click. Majority of the households ...

துதிப்போர்க்கு வல்வினைபோம் துன்பம்போம் நெஞ்சில் பதிப்போர்க்குச் செல்வம் பலித்துக் கதித்தோங்கும் நிஷ்ட்டையும் கைகூடும் நிமலர் அருள் கந்தர் சஷ்டிக் கவசம்தனை அமரர் இடர்தீர அமரம் புரிந்த  குமரன் அடி நெஞ்சே குறி - Kandha Shasti Kavasam in the evergreen voice of Sulamangalam sisters rings in our ear as we enter the temple to worship Lord Dandayudhapani. At last the Vadapalani Andavar gave his darshan, a long pending temple visit fulfilled this month. The temple is located in the middle of the very busy commercial area of Chennai - Vadapalani or Kodambakkam. While travelling from Koyambedu one has to cross vadapalani terminus and forum vijaya mall to reach the temple arch on the left hand side. You have to maneuver through the traffic to reach the arch and the temple in due course. Temple gopuram stands huge with colourful statues depicting Skandha puranam. Parking space is  available for two-wheelers near the gopuram along with the near by footwear depositin...

During air travel one tends to visit various airports during transits. The transit airport serves as a respite during a break in between a long travel. Any airport bares the cultural symbols giving us glimpses  of its country.  While witnessing several transit airports abroad we are inclined to think about other airports in India. Want to know how they describe our country and how they appeal to foreigners. Recently one such opportunity came up when the destination could only be reached from Delhi as direct flights to the destination wasn't flying from Chennai. Airport of Indian Captial - Indira Gandhi International Airport was a revelation. At par with international standards it was an interesting transit for us - Interactive maps were available, wide range of gourmet was found, connectivity and conveniences were good and provides a very relaxing space. As per Airports authority of India this is the largest one in India and in terms of air traffic too. ...

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...