We also made a silly movie for our New Year's Eve kiss
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New Year's Eve in Bangalore
Abhay and I went with his cousin, Suchitra to a New Year's Eve party at the Lalit Ashok Hotel.
We also made a silly movie for our New Year's Eve kiss
We also made a silly movie for our New Year's Eve kiss
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Overnight Trip to Mantralayam
Today we left Bangalore at 6am to take an overnight trip to Mantralayam. This town is about six hours north of Bangalore in Andhra Pradesh. We stopped for some coffee at a roadside fast food restaurant.
An interesting site along the way.
On the way, we stopped at a small Hindu temple in Chippagiri. Sri Vijay dasaru lived here because he loved the serenity of this place. I have to agree - it was just so quiet and calming.
This is where devotees stay when they travel here.
Abhay's family has helped to build a function hall here for the temple.
Lunch.
The cutest little boy. He is the grandson of a couple of lives here at the temple to help care for it.
On the road again we encountered some interesting sites.
We arrived into Montralayam late in the evening.
It is the site of the Hindu Temple, Sri Raghavendra Swami Brindavan. This is where Sri Raghavendra Swami, who lived in the 16th century, placed himself inside a small enclosure called a Brindavana and while was still alive had the enclosure sealed around him. He remains in the Brindavana to this day where a temple has been built around it and thousands of followers make the journey to this site every year.
I didn't take too many pictures inside the temple at first because I wasn't sure if it was proper - but I got this which shows the covered area around the core of the temple.
At this temple, it struck me that some of the most amazing cultural artifacts are not located behind glass in museums – they are in fact still in use by the communities that cherish these items. These are a pair of pure gold sandals worn by Sri Raghavendra Swami and they are used in a ceremony daily in his honor. http://www.mantralayam.com/pop2.htm Also, you can see these chariots used on a daily basis to carry the statues of the Gods around the temple. One is made of pure gold and the other pure silver. These items were beyond compare in their artistic detail and high quality craftsmanship. I’m sure they would be a prize piece for any museum collection, however to me, it seems as if their splendor is much more appreciated in these humble surroundings
An interesting site along the way.
On the way, we stopped at a small Hindu temple in Chippagiri. Sri Vijay dasaru lived here because he loved the serenity of this place. I have to agree - it was just so quiet and calming.
This is where devotees stay when they travel here.
Abhay's family has helped to build a function hall here for the temple.
Lunch.
The cutest little boy. He is the grandson of a couple of lives here at the temple to help care for it.
On the road again we encountered some interesting sites.
We arrived into Montralayam late in the evening.
It is the site of the Hindu Temple, Sri Raghavendra Swami Brindavan. This is where Sri Raghavendra Swami, who lived in the 16th century, placed himself inside a small enclosure called a Brindavana and while was still alive had the enclosure sealed around him. He remains in the Brindavana to this day where a temple has been built around it and thousands of followers make the journey to this site every year.
I didn't take too many pictures inside the temple at first because I wasn't sure if it was proper - but I got this which shows the covered area around the core of the temple.
At this temple, it struck me that some of the most amazing cultural artifacts are not located behind glass in museums – they are in fact still in use by the communities that cherish these items. These are a pair of pure gold sandals worn by Sri Raghavendra Swami and they are used in a ceremony daily in his honor. http://www.mantralayam.com/pop2.htm Also, you can see these chariots used on a daily basis to carry the statues of the Gods around the temple. One is made of pure gold and the other pure silver. These items were beyond compare in their artistic detail and high quality craftsmanship. I’m sure they would be a prize piece for any museum collection, however to me, it seems as if their splendor is much more appreciated in these humble surroundings
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Amma's Parents House
On the anniversary of a parent's death a special pooja (religious ceremony) called a Sharadha is performed by the sons in honor of the parent. The day after we returned from our honeymoon was the anniversary of Amma's father. The family gathered for a morning pooja and then everyone ate lunch.
Amma's Father
Arun Uncle prepares for the pooja with the priest.
People starting to gather
Arun and Kiran Uncle
The lunch is almost ready.
Abhay with his banana leaf - almost ready to eat!
Amma's Father
Arun Uncle prepares for the pooja with the priest.
People starting to gather
Arun and Kiran Uncle
The lunch is almost ready.
Abhay with his banana leaf - almost ready to eat!
Monday, December 28, 2009
End of the Honeymoon
Unfortunately, today marks the final day of our honeymoon. Udaipur was a fantastic choice by Abhay as a last stop for us. It was peaceful and relaxing, not only because the hotel was the epitome of luxury, but the city itself is just outright stunning. We left to catch our flight, again by a boat across the lake, and I got a little camera happy taking as many shots as I could as we left.
Our luggage came over on a separate boat.
There is so much to see and do in India it is amazing. Our travel in these past two weeks hit some “must see” cities but throughout the trip we have been talking about the other areas we will see next time we come. But I think the itinerary Abhay put together was great for our first exploration on our own and for our honeymoon. We were able to relax some, see a lot of great cities and enjoy some of India’s finest hotels.
While the honeymoon portion of our trip is over we are still here in India for another two weeks spending time with Abhay’s family and preparing for the reception on the 6th. We are currently sitting at the airport in Mambai to connect to Bangalore and in true Indian fashion our flight has been delayed. Thankfully, this terminal is pretty nice compared to some of the smaller airports I’ve seen on this trip and we have been enjoying the Café Coffee Day (the Starbucks of India) while we wait.
Our luggage came over on a separate boat.
There is so much to see and do in India it is amazing. Our travel in these past two weeks hit some “must see” cities but throughout the trip we have been talking about the other areas we will see next time we come. But I think the itinerary Abhay put together was great for our first exploration on our own and for our honeymoon. We were able to relax some, see a lot of great cities and enjoy some of India’s finest hotels.
While the honeymoon portion of our trip is over we are still here in India for another two weeks spending time with Abhay’s family and preparing for the reception on the 6th. We are currently sitting at the airport in Mambai to connect to Bangalore and in true Indian fashion our flight has been delayed. Thankfully, this terminal is pretty nice compared to some of the smaller airports I’ve seen on this trip and we have been enjoying the Café Coffee Day (the Starbucks of India) while we wait.
Sightseeing in Udaipur
With a relaxing late start to our day, we ventured out into the city for some sightseeing. We first went to the City Palace complex. This Palace was built by several different generations of the ruling family. While it looked beautiful from afar – the interior of the palace has been poorly conserved and is in need a good scrubbing throughout the entire grounds. This palace, unlike the others we have seen, is more compact and stacked up high which created a maze of rooms and tiny passages. The best part of the palace is that each floor has a view of the lake. The passageways are very tight and rather than being able to wander around at our leisure like the other palaces, here, we were forced to tour in a set path along with hundreds of other tourists. Needless to say, the experience was very hectic given the holiday time and the large amount of tourists visiting the attraction. We skipped a lot of photo opportunities here just to get out of the crowded areas.
You can see our hotel from the palace.
After emerging from the City Palace relieved that we had finally made it out we made our way up the street to the Jagdish Mandir. Located just north of the City Palace is a fantastically carved Hindu temple built in 1651.
View from the top of the temple steps.
After sightseeing we wandered around the area looking at items in shops and just enjoying the afternoon. It was nice to be on our own since in other cities we had a guide with us the whole time. We bought a couple of handicraft items as souvenirs and although I negotiated my best, I’m sure we probably paid too much.
Some nice sunset and night photos.
That evening we ate at the hotel restaurant, Sheesh Mahal.
While the cuisine was a mix of all regional Indian food we tried the specialty Rajasehani dishes suggested by our server. As a nice touch the dining experience included several different Rajasehani ceremonies throughout the meal:
When we were seated, the host was sure to place me on the left of Abhay. It is a Rajasehani tradition that the women sit to the left of the man since your heart is located on the left side of your body. After being seated, warm rose water was poured over our hands to cleanse them for dinner. At the end of the dinner, our server tied a string tied on my left arm and another one on Abhay’s right arm so that we will return to the city. When signing the check, Abhay was presented with a camel bone ink pen and ink well to sign with. Maharajas used to sign important documents this way and I think he had fun writing with the pen. Finally, each table was named something different – ours was the peppercorn table and they gave us peppercorn to take with us as a souvenir.
Altogether, it was a wonderful dinner under the stars while we enjoyed the beauty of the city and lake.
You can see our hotel from the palace.
After emerging from the City Palace relieved that we had finally made it out we made our way up the street to the Jagdish Mandir. Located just north of the City Palace is a fantastically carved Hindu temple built in 1651.
View from the top of the temple steps.
After sightseeing we wandered around the area looking at items in shops and just enjoying the afternoon. It was nice to be on our own since in other cities we had a guide with us the whole time. We bought a couple of handicraft items as souvenirs and although I negotiated my best, I’m sure we probably paid too much.
Some nice sunset and night photos.
That evening we ate at the hotel restaurant, Sheesh Mahal.
While the cuisine was a mix of all regional Indian food we tried the specialty Rajasehani dishes suggested by our server. As a nice touch the dining experience included several different Rajasehani ceremonies throughout the meal:
When we were seated, the host was sure to place me on the left of Abhay. It is a Rajasehani tradition that the women sit to the left of the man since your heart is located on the left side of your body. After being seated, warm rose water was poured over our hands to cleanse them for dinner. At the end of the dinner, our server tied a string tied on my left arm and another one on Abhay’s right arm so that we will return to the city. When signing the check, Abhay was presented with a camel bone ink pen and ink well to sign with. Maharajas used to sign important documents this way and I think he had fun writing with the pen. Finally, each table was named something different – ours was the peppercorn table and they gave us peppercorn to take with us as a souvenir.
Altogether, it was a wonderful dinner under the stars while we enjoyed the beauty of the city and lake.
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