World's Richest Temple !

The ancient and sacred, gold-gilded temple of Sri Venkateswara is located on the seventh peak, Venkatachala of the Tirupati Hill, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, is the richest temple in the world !

The temple is visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims daily, while on special occasions and festivals, like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrims shoots up to 500,000, making it one of the most visited holy place in the world.

We, my husband, daughter and I, visited this temple in March 2007, as we wanted to visit the Lord and take his blessings coupled with the fact that we wanted take our daughter auspicious haircut to this place too (It is considered auspicious, if a child has a haircut (complete tonsure) here at Tirupathi, before the attaining one year of age, or after 3 years of age)

The temple, was well lighted on the occasssion of Ugadi, the Telugu New Year,celebrated in March, in Andhra Pradesh. We attended the Shastradeepa Alankara puja (Thousand lamps puja - ceremony to praise the Lord) which starts at around 5.30 pm at Tirupathi, wherein the deities are carried outside the temple and puja is performed. The main deity resides in the sanctum sanctorum, situated in the main temple complex of Tirumala.

Each time I visit this temple I am mystified and awestruck by a strong divine force on seeing the huge idol of the Lord of the Seven Hills. Each time I was allowed (due to the large influx of devotees waiting in long queues, patiently for the Lord's darshan) to see the Lord's statue for only about a minute, but that instance, I was overwhelmed with immense satisfaction on seeing the Almighty ! But upon leaving this temple, instantly I feel the strong urge to see the Lord, one more time. I guess, this is reason, why so many people visit this temple again and again. One has to visit this temple again and again !
Govinda Hare Govinda !!

Palolem beach

Paradise on Earth
Yes, this is how I would describe Palolem !

During my childhood, I had been to this beach for a school picnic. But now, I had vague memories of this place and wanted to explore this beach once again. Thus one Sunday morning in March 2009, we, that is, my husband, my daughter, my mother-in-law and myself set out to enjoy a picnic lunch at the much praised Palolem beach.

After reaching Palolem village, we had to meander carefully through the narrow alleys and then on reaching the bend we waited eagerly to take a first look at the much praised beach of Goa.
As soon as we entered the entranceway to the beach, we all exclaimed in unison: Awesome !
Much more than it was anticipated !
A fantastic place to spend an entire day !

This three kilometer palm fringed, idyllic, sandy beach with placid blue cool waters is a "picture perfect beach", situated in South Goa, India. It has a crescent shaped bay lined with swaying coconut palms dotted at one end with some rocky crags.

The initial stretch of the beach is lined with beach shacks that serve cool drinks and food.
The shallow sea bed and lack of huge waves, this beach is safe for swimming.

It is located 40 kilometres away from Margao (a major town in South Goa), and 3 kilometres away from Canacona Railway Junction.
There regular buses and taxis from Margao to Palolem that would drop tourists at Canacona village. Panaji, the capital of Goa, is situated at a distance of 70 kilometres.

If you have watched Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) in The Bourne Supremacy film in 2004 - it was Palolem Beach, his hideaway in India, that he was running along.

On reaching the beach we strolled along the cool waterfront, for a few hours, collected sea shells, which my daughter loves to do and then returned to one of the beach shacks to enjoy a our picnic lunch. Admiring the beautiful scenery, we idled in the cosy cane chairs for another hour, sipping the cool Fanta. At 2.00 pm we decided to head back, home. Though we did want to spend the entire day amongst these pleasant surroundings, but had to leave as my daughter had to take her routine afternoon nap. But she did not want to part with the golden sand and the cool waters. After much cajoling, she agreed, provided that we would bring her back here , again, in near future ! We gladly agreed.

The peaceful surroundings coupled with the laid back nature of people around, act like a soothing balm to the tired senses ! We will definitely go back to this paradise, soon !

Crochet and Me

A crotchet fan, an avid yarn lover. Yes, that's me. I guess I developed this liking for crotchet somewhere in the ninth standard, when we were taught crotchet during our craft classes in school.

From that time onwards, I have been making doilies, flowers etc. off and on. But after a gap of almost 15 years, this passion for crotchet has been rekindled in me. I have again started persuing this hobby with renewed enthusiasm.

Basically I think that this is a great hobby and in my view I crotchet for the following reasons:

a) Completing a crotchet project, like making a doily or an afghan, gives me a sense of accomplishment.

b) I can spend quality time without feeling that I am whiling away my time. Being a full time professions, I am habituated to do SOMETHING ALL the time !

c) Effective stress reliever, as by doing crotchet I can concentrate on completing the project and get immersed into it.

d) A means to express my creativity. Though in reality I am not a very creative person, but I do try my hand at working on a range of designs in varied colors and hues.

Ah ! Not to forget I have this pattern Acquisition Syndrome too and love to collect patterns in symbol crotchet in anticipation that some day (some day ....) I will be follow these patterns and make beautifil items out of yarn. I am currently on many such projects ! Some of the patterns in symbol crotchet have been posted here for easy reference.

I will post some of the photos of my crotchet projects too, in the forthcoming blogs.

Till then, Happy Crocheting !