This weekend is a festive one in the house. First Varalakshmi Nombu/pooja was celebrated by the girls and ladies in the house Friday evening. The house was standing room only and the food (all taken care of by MIL and San) was yummy!
The girls dressed up in their last set of new clothes and posed for me as usual.
Today was Aavaniavittam aka thread ceremony, which comes with some more yummy food for me. Considering this is the one festival for the men in the house (man in our case) the ladies were kind enough to cook new goodies today!
Yoga was bunked because of all the over eating and that was a double whammy. Tomorrow will be a day of yoga and meditation. There is a 1008 Gayathri mantras to be done and some hot yoga to go with it...
Another year has rolled by and we enter the festive season !
On the way back from Allahabad, the driver strongly recommended a stop at Sita Mardi.
There are signs to this place from the time you leave Allahabad and a lot of hype. What beat us was that we had never heard of this place before as an important historic place in connection to the Ramayana. Ayodhya yes! Panchavati, yes! etc. etc. Sita Mardi. . not really.
Still curiosity and the fact that we had exceeded the daily limit of 200 km and were paying extra anyways made us say "okay. it is on the way and a small detour.. so take us there"
Amazing artwork on the dome!
Was told by driver that the wall work was done by Japanese artists. Do not know if it is true..
Some really nice bas relief murals on the walls..
Shiva with the ganges from his head flowing on steps into a pond. Nicely done! The place definitely had some unique artistry compared to typical temples.. There was almost a feeling that a FengShui expert had designed the whole premises!
Shopping for trinkets. What would any trip be without it?
Flit like a butterfly, sting like a bee? Jr. boxes flies like Mohammad Ali!
It was so funny to watch her being so mad and angry and trying to box the flies away with her fists!
The Giant Hanuman was nice but there was no place to stand in a shade and admire it. Lot of concrete around the statue, that was too hot to step on barefoot. No footwear and lot of heat with no shade was difficult for me to walk around and take photos, and it was impossible for the kids. So it was a one minute trip around this statue.
We went through a one lane mud road for 9 km and finally reached a market. There was a beautiful temple there (built by Birla is what we were told but could not see any signs there) in what was a gorgeous setting. A small river, temple on the river and a bunch of shops around it. Apparently the small temple has been built over many times and the later attractions like the Giant Hanuman statue were built by Japanese architects. The Hanuman for some reason looked more like a Japanese Hanuman than an Indian Hanuman!
The kids were not impressed what with the heat and the flies in the place. We stopped there for an hour and enjoyed the temple. On a cooler day with some breeze, this would have been a great outing.
Definitely recommend a visit if you are going on the Varanasi - Allahabad route!
Indha puliyum Pullai thinguma? (will this tiger ever eat grass? in reference to a change of preference when it comes to dire circumstances)
Jr. did it in our India trip. A girl who has never had a penchant for planes, trains and automobiles when it comes to toys, a girl who uses purses and handbags as her only props for playing daycare, or school or hospital or anything for that matter..
had to make do with boys toys because that is all my nephew had! Planes, train sets and cars and vans of every kind.
The little one did nor care what the game was as long as there was fighting for ownership involved!
These days elders we visit with the kids give them cash and ask them to go buy clothes. We rounded up all the cash and got a few sets of fancy wear for the kids from a place called Cents and Pence in Adyar.
They have a decent collection!
Jr. is having a problem fitting into practically anything as she is now outside of the kids sizes! Pretty soon she will be shopping in the young adults section at Target. Don't know why she is in a rush to grow up. Wish I could slow it down a little and keep her the same Jr.
The little one seems to be okay as far as physical maturity goes, but mentally she talks like a 60 year old. She makes sure I don't miss my mother! At least she fits in clothes in the kids section..
Saturday, August 13, 2011 at 8:05PM 
