Chidambaram – An One-Dayer!

It was a long time plan that I go to Chidambaram with my family. Chidambaram is approximately 4.5 hours or 245 km away from Chennai. The city is a major pilgrimage city. The famous Chidambaram temple is situated here. The ancient Chidambaram Temple (Tamil: சிதம்பரம் கோயில் ) is dedicated to Lord Shiva in his form of the cosmic Dancer (Nataraja நடராசர்). It is one of the five dancing halls (Sabha) of Nataraja and the most famous one. Chidambaram is the Kanaka Sabha (Golden Hall). It is also one of the Panchabhoota Sthalams – representing five basic elements. This is the Akasa Sthalam representing ‘Space’ among the Pancha Bootha Sthalams. For Saivites all over the world this is the most important Siva Temple. The stand alone word “Kovil” would automatically mean Chidambaram Temple to Saivites. The others are – Tiruvannamalai (Thejo sthalam – Fire) Kanchipuram (Prithvi sthalam – Earth) Srikalahasti (Vayu sthalam – Air) Tiruvanaikaval (Trichy) (Appu sthalam – Water).

Courtesy: Wikipedia

The temples at Kalahasti, Kanchipuram and Chidambaram all stand on a straight line at 79′ 45″ east longitude – truly an engineering, astological and geographical wonder. The Chidambaram temple houses the Akasha Lingam of Shiva and is considered one of the greatest Shiva Temples of Tamil Nadu. The Govindaraja shrine adjacent to the Nataraja Shrine was constructed in 1639 C.E. by a Cholas. Nataraja in Chidambaram Temple has been sung by many Tamil saints including the Tevaram Trio – Sambanthar, Tirunavukkarasar, Sundaramurti Swamigal. Manikkavacakar attained Mukti in Chidambaram by becoming one with Nataraja. The other Saiva saint of importance who attained mukti here is Nandanar. Nandanar, born in a caste of untouchables became exalted by his bhakti, that even the most conservative Brahmins of Chidambaram worshipped him. Chidambaram hosts the most ancient set of the 108 Karana stone carvings, the key dance movements of Nataraja. The temple complex is spread over 40 acres (160,000 m²) in the heart of the city. Many thousands of devotees come to this auspicious temple to pay homage to the dancing Shiva.

I did not know much information about the temple and I have to borrow from Wikipedia. Thanks to them. The one thing that Wikipedia had missed is about the Chidambara Ragasya (Secret). Being the most important secret information, I do not wish to reveal it here. It actually displays the wealth and spirituality exhibited by the Kings of that time.

The Gopura of the temple has got amazing sculptures carved in. Below is one such sculpture. It displays the grand skills of ancient south Indian sculptors. It has undergone recent renovation and a fresh coat of paint has been given which adds beauty to it.

There are also many more sculptures in the temple which are fascinating. Below is one such of Lord Kali.

The temple has a large water tank. It is sacred to take dip in this tank. You can so many people take the holy dip. The water tank is located near the northern tower of the temple.

The temple has got the Golden Hall where young Bharathanatiya dancers display their hard-learned skill in front of a huge audience. I just tried to cover it wide and got the image with a stitch of 9 images.

Chidambaram is a great place to visit. But you need to know some key information. The temple is closed in the afternoon from 12 PM and is re-opened at 4 PM. There are also some other places nearby like Pichavaram, Port-Nova and Poompuhar. If you would like to visit all these places, I suggest you have a car so you will not have to waste time looking for a bus. Overall, I had a great trip with my parents and had an opportunity to closely worship Lord Shiva.

63 years of Indian Republic

INDIA is one of the fast growing nations in the world. India, on 26th January 2012, celebrated its 63rd Republic Day to mark the day when the nation actually instated the constitution. This is celebrated by organizing a grand parade at Rajghat in New Delhi, the capital of India. A grand parade is organized to display the weaponry, different regiments from the Indian Army, Navy and the Air Force. The President of India, the Chief of the Armed Forces in India take the honors and the salute. The chief guest of honor is usually a Head of the Government from another nation. Similar parades happened in all the Indian states where the respective Governors take the honor.

I visited the Republic Day parade that was held here in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The celebration was held with Governor K Rosaiah and Chief Minister J Jayalalitha taking the salute and honors respectively. Vehicles displaying the might of armed forces were displayed.

Latest weaponry and models of naval ships and aircrafts were showcased. Below is a very special Anti-tank guided missile system. These are effective weapons which can bring down a huge battle tank in two correctly aimed shots.

Below is a 7.62mm Medium machine gun which can fire up to 1000 rounds/minute. Indeed a nasty weapon to kill everyone in medium range.

Pride men display the 81mm Mortal which is a very accurate weapon. These are modern-day canons that fire explosive projectiles at low velocities. It would take more time to load the mortar again once you have fired.

It was a moment of pride for the people who serve for the nation. This young man who is part of the National Cadet Corps Air-wing is proud and keeps his head up as he marches ahead.

Some more pictures from the celebration to share with you all.

Though India is very much involved in nuclear weaponry and other battle enhancements, it has always been a peace-loving nation and has not waged war on any other nation ever since its birth. It has only defended when other nations waged war. Proud to have been born in India, the land of cultures. Wish India becomes a Super-power very soon. Jai Hind!

Bessi!

Besant Nagar is a name that is very popular among people here in Chennai and suburbs of Chennai. The place was named after Annie Besant who leaded the Theosophical society here. The place is home for Kalakshetra, the temple and academy of dance styles. Also, it is famous for the Ashtalakshmi temple, Arupadai Murugan temple and the all-time favorite beach.

I started off with the early morning sunrise with my bro Jaggy. We had gone there for a private shoot. I never did expect clouds early in the morning and to my surprise, the clouds were awesome that day.

And every time we visit the place, Murugan Idli shop falls in our itinerary.  I like the food there so much but unfortunately not the cost. :D. Also I hate the way they charge for Idli podi (cereal powder mixed with oil as side-dish for rice cakes) and the very small amount of ghee pongal (delicious boiled rice cooked with ghee).

I also had some office work to do that day which would earn me a 1000 bucks.  Not willing to lose the 1000 bucks and also not willing to miss the place, I had gone there with my laptop borrowing the mobile internet dongle from Jaggy. You would have heard of “Work from Office”, “Work from Home”. Have you come across “Work from Beach”? Sounds funny, ha?! Yes, but I did connect from the beach. Luckily the work was scheduled one hour later and I again resumed my work with the camera and started clicking around.

Finally, after spending some time there in the early morning breeze, we decided to move. I, however, still admired at the clouds and clicked another one below.

Mylapore – ‘Land of the peacock scream’

Mylapore is a locality in the southern Chennai. It is famous for many reasons and one among them is Kapaleeshwarar temple. The temple was built in the 7th century by the Pallavas. But there is huge debate about who built this temple and about the actual location of the temple. Visit Wikipedia to know more about Mylapore.

I had gone for a photo-walk with my colleagues, I would rather say, friends. We walked in and around the temple and the market nearby to click some good photographs.

Above is the tallest Gopuram (Rajagopuram) of the temple.You can see a lot of faces in the Gopuram. The Gopuram consists of thousands of small  structures of Gods and Goddesses. It is a wonder that these were built in the 7th century where there was no special technology.

The temple has been renovated recently and vibrant colors give a magnificent look to the Gopuras. Young people in the right age to wed are brought here by their parents and are allowed to talk to their would-be wife/husband to share their thoughts before their wedding. Once they are happy with each other, they proceed with the wedding preparations. This is an ongoing custom for so many years now.

Temple being the place of worship for Hindus, people light small oil lamps praying their wishes to the God. They believe this brings light into their life and ultimately prosperity and happiness.

Kodimaram (Flag Post) are seen in temples here mainly in South India. These flag posts are made up of wood and covered with brass coated with gold. The height of the flag post nearly matches the tallest gopuram (Rajagopuram) in the temple. These flag posts are used to hoist flags during the festivals.

There is a temple pond adjacent to the temple. This water body is regularly cleaned and maintained and is an important good water resource in the locality.

We also walked around the local market and spent some good time together. Thanks to my friends for being with me that evening. One more picture of the market to share with you all.

T.Nagar – Chennai’s China Town!

T.Nagar aka Thiyagaraya Nagar (Theagaraya Nagar) is one of the crowded places in Chennai. Being a shopping center of the city, the land price here is sky-high. You can get almost everything that starts from A-Z here except for a few at very reasonable prices (hopefully). People shop here for two continuous days without a break and shopkeepers earn some real good money. Ranganathan Street is one of the famous crowded streets in T.Nagar. It is very hard to see an empty street but I managed to pull off a picture of an empty street early in the morning. The street is also famous for being not very clean. 😀

Within 20 minutes of time, there were so many people walking on this street. Most of them were commuters who were changing from the suburban trains to the local city bus services.

There is small temple which is near the stairs that leads to the train station. I have known this temple right from my childhood. Not sure how many years it was there before my birth.

I would like to share some more portraits from the place. To know more about the place, visit here: T.Nagar

Random Clicks!

Photography is not about waiting for the right time and location to shoot a picture, it’s about creating a perfect picture at any time and location. Carrying my camera everywhere seems to be a good habit for me.I happened to visit my friends at a cricket match and got the below picture.

I had one day taken my camera to my friend’s place to show him. It was a bright sunny day until suddenly dark clouds formed to pour a shower and I clicked this picture from the fourth floor of the building. I was hoping for some lightning but got this.

I tried a panorama at my favorite place, Muttukadu. It’s located in the East Coast Road (ECR), Chennai. This shows the boating area and a few buildings coming up in the background. This locality is tipped to become one of the costliest place to buy a piece of land.

My father was also very much influenced by my pictures and he took a snap of the bus stand at Madurai. It is really amazing that my dad took this picture with a normal digital camera.

Kovalam – A Village with a Beach!

Kovalam is a small village nearly 25 km from Chennai along the East Cost Road (ECR). It’s one of the favorite destinations for the locals of Chennai. Kovalam has been an important place of production of sea salt in the region. You can swim and go up to some 5 km into the ocean with proper safety gear. There are boat men who can take you into the ocean but you will have to pay them good. There is also a fungi and plankton research center near the shore.

I had the opportunity to click the sunset at the beach. There are a lot of coconut trees near the beach. Below is one of the shots of the sunset.

Two of my friends and I visited the place that day and one of my them held the helmet when I clicked the picture. The picture looks like a person carrying some sack like thing on his head.

The day we went to the beach was a full-moon day. The tides were rough that day. I was wanting to get some good shots with the DSLR and was happy to have got the following pictures.

I held my camera near my knee and took the following pictures to get a nice click. The tides missed me very close and I luckily saved my camera from getting wet.

My friend wanted a good picture that day and enthusiastically climbed on this rock only to get hit and wet by the tides. He was so excited that he jumped from the rock shouting loud.

Eddie Cantor once said “Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” So, live your life happily. After all life’s once. 🙂

Flowers – Faces of Nature!

“Earth laughs in flowers” said Ralph Waldo Emerson. Flowers are the faces of the Nature. It appears like nature smiles/laughs through each flower. Each flower uniquely expresses a feeling. Some flowers look like they are smiling at you and give you a hearty joy and some are even poisonous. Flowers are widely used for various purposes. Be it a wedding or a funeral, you shall find so many flowers. They add peace to the surrounding.

The above flower belongs to the Asteraceae family which also consists of daisies and sunflowers. This flower plant has a long thin stem with a widely spread yellow flower. There are also white and red shades of these flowers.

Hibiscus is a very commonly found flower in India. It is grown on most of the households and and is mostly used as offerings to Hindu Gods. These flowers are also used to make oil which is believed to aid growth of your hair. There are also white and white-red mixed shades of these flowers.

Allamanda is tropical shrub also knows as Golden Trumpet or Yellow Bell. They are native to Central and South America. However, these flowers are available in India as well as my house.

The City of Canóvanas in the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico, has named the Allamanda Carthica (Yellow Bell) it’s official flower/plant due to the vast amount of these through the entire city and it’s rivers. It’s also in their seal and downtown plaza.

One more picture of an unknown flower to share with you all.

Dakshinchitra – A Cultural & Traditional Potpourri!

Dakshinchitra is a center of all south Indian cultures, traditions, arts, craft and architecture. It is a project by Madras Craft Foundation. This is located in the outskirts of Chennai along the East Coast road (well-known as ECR). You will have to take a 30-minute drive to the place from the center of Chennai.

You can visit their website, Dakshinchitra, to know about the events, location and timings. You can also download application forms to enroll into their performing arts programs. Sharing some pictures of the place.

The above picture shows the Chettinadu house. Houses on this style are very common in Tanjore, Karaikudi and surrounding southern districts of Tamil Nadu, India.

The pillars are made of teak wood and sport minute details carved out of single piece of wood.

The Kerala house (shown above) resembles the exact architectural style from the South Indian state “Kerala”, known as God’s own country.

Lamps are an important and integral part of the Hindu traditions. Kerala has an exquisite collection of lamps.

The place also has the interesting architecture of Karnataka and Hindus from Tamil Nadu. The Hindu house is ventilated with numerous windows, leaving an air-conditioner unnecessary, aiding to high amount of air circulation.

Some pictures of the Karnataka house and other houses from Tamil Nadu.

Pottery and Glass blowing are also demonstrated here. Activities are available for children where they are indulged in creating small pots and building card-board replicas of houses. You can also get a close look at how glass articles are created.

There is a temple of Ayyanar, a Hindu God who is believed to guard villages and towns. The temple is built-in such a way that it strictly resembles the temples from southern states of Tamil Nadu.

Mahabalipuram, a 7th century port city

Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) is a port city near Chennai, TN, India. Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60 km south from the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The name Mamallapuram is believed to have been given after the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who took on the epithet Maha-malla (great wrestler), as the favourite sport of the Pallavas was wrestling. It has various historic monuments built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries, and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For more information about the place, please visit the Wikipedia page

Courtesy: Wikipedia

Mahabalipuram was my first one-day tour with my DSLR. The 60-kilometer drive by motorcycle was a nice experience in the early morning. After reaching, my friends and I walked straight to the shore temple.

The clouds were beautiful that day and the cool breeze from the sea was very soothing and pleasant. I tried out some uncommon angles and got some cool pictures.

The below picture shows the “Butter Ball” at Mahabalipuram. Wikitravel quotes “Krishna’s Butterball is a giant natural rock perched on a hillside, seemingly in defiance of all laws of physics—it’s a common sight to see visitors placing hands under the stone posing for pics, which looks as though they are holding it! The rock provides welcome shade if you dare to sit underneath it, and local kids have discovered that the slippery nearby hillside also makes a great natural slide.”

It is told that British rulers, when they had occupied and ruled Mahabalipuram, tried to move the Butter Ball using huge ships and failed to move it by an inch. This amazing natural rock simply leaves us all in awe.

Some more pictures to share with you all!

The below picture shows the Pancha Rathas (Five Raths), a monolith rock-cut temple from the late 7th century. The five monolithic temples are named after the Pandavas (Arjuna, Bhima, Yudhishtra, Nakula and Sahadeva) and Draupadi known from the Mahabharata, an ancient Sanskrit epic of India. It is not possible to cover all the five raths in a single frame.

Below picture is one of the Pancha Rathas.