Adventure…living on the edge?

 Last week I  suddenly  found myself escorting 25 girls to the Summer Education Camp in Dudhsagar Forest Camp . This is part of the Bhagwan Mahavir National Park  near Collem. As  the duty was totally unexpected I had a thousand questions buzzing in my mind. I contacted the organisers and realised that we would be staying in tents…

My mind went into a tizzy. I packed my bags with a little apprehension , a little thrill and because of the inevitability- with a I don’t care attitude too!

The next morning we left the school towards Collem. The parents had a thousand questions . I was as curious as them!We reached Collem at 9 AM. The organisers were to meet us there and take us into the jungle.They were soon located. They told us that we were to walk for 1/2 a kilometre and there a vehicle would be waiting for us. We soon reached a rivulet.A pick-up came and took our bags. We crossed the rivulet by treading in crystal clear waters….shoes in hand , the kids shreiked in happiness and playfully splashed water around. Our adventure had begun.

To be continued…

Shiva Linga in the Pandyan cave.

This is said to be of seventh century AD.

Harvalem Waterfalls

Harvalem… Pandyan caves of laterite stones

 From Sanquelim we went a few kilometres north to Harvalem.

It is a protected site . It has five laterite caves housing Shiva Lingas in each. Each linga differs in shape. Some have Bramhi inscriptions too.One looks like  an arrowhead, another has a halo around it.There is yet another cave which is said to be a kitchen..The ASI has  posted a personnel there who guides and guards the place.He was helpful.

We then went to Harvalem / Arvalem’s Rudreshwar temple. It is situated near a roaring waterfalls . The water collects into Bheem Kund. This is a cool,green pool used for performing last rites.The whole place is very peaceful. we had our lunch there. I had carried food from home .When we were about to leave a foreign tourist arrived . He was smoking. When I gestured for him to go elsewhere, he argued that it was an open space. I protested that it was a place of worship. It fell on deaf ears…We just chose to leave the place.

 Sadly this is the picture of Goa now.

Haree haree valvanti

Har Har Harvalem..

 This weekend was a surprise planned for V. He had  worked hard for his exams and needed a change.. The exams got over  on 19/3 and results are to be announced on 28/3. At KVs the new session begins after a 6-7 day break. The next academic session begins on 1/ 04. So V  got a break ( and me too  from corrections and timetable making and report cards…!!)

We started after a light breakfast and heavy lunch basket.  Goa is known for not having too many good veg. restaurants. And we were travelling to the interior !In fact I took along coffee too.

We decided to go to a few places in North Goa. There are some famous temples and  other places of interest there. In Sanquelim, the mining town are three temples of repute. The  RadhaKrishna temple, The Dattaprasad Temple and the Vittal temple.. Anjunem Dam built on the River Valvanti is close by on the Chorla Ghat road.Also at a short distance is Harvalem laterite rock -cut caves of the 7^th century and the Rudreshwar temple and Harvalem water falls.

We were eager to see the Vittal temple first .Here several  utsavs take place through out the year. On Gokulashtami, it is believed that Sant Tukaram visits this Vittal !!On Tripuraari Pournami,   this temple holds boat races.People build model boats and  float them down the River Valvanti. A night long mela is held. Chaitra Pournami is the time of annual jatra. It is said that this temple is 500 years old and that the Ranes were the ones who  built the temple. The River Valvanti meanders down below.The steps going down to the river are neatly paved and made skid proof.The  ghat has many small shrines holding paintings of famous devotees o Vittal like Sant Namdev , Jaana bai , Eknaath…The temple has the idols of Vittal ,Rukmini and Satyabhama. The neatness and beauty are seen to be believed. The wonderful chandeliers  and huge deepasthambas…lovely.

The river as seen here is bordered by trees . It is very  green all around. The water looked welcoming…but some people were washing clothes on the ghat .

To be contd.

Have you seen this in Goa ?

Goa is famous for beaches,churches and temples.

But there is more to Goa..

Waterfalls, spice gardens,heritage sites…

Check out this site and know about Netravali. It is  gloriously clean here- undisturbed by tourists…

http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=112524

Dhakti and Vhadli Deepavali in Goa

Each festival in Goa is  uniquely colourful.here people follow most od our traditions and there are some special ones which are unknown to many.

 Naraka Chaturdashi is called Dhakti(small ) Deepawali.Though it is celebrated on a large scale…. The previous night huge Narkasurs are burnt in most streets.Cultural organisations hold narkasur making contests.The tradition of going around to people’s houses to greet is quite common everywhere. The  snacks that are made here during this time is very traditional. reddish avalakki   is used for several preparations called Fauv.Sweet Fauv is accompanied by savoury ones served with Ambat chutney.

In the morning   after the aarti  all the family members stamp a bitter fruit symbolising the end of evil.

Crackers are not limited to Deepawali here. A lot more crackers are burnt during Ganeshotsav.

Tulsi Lagna is called Vhadli (big) Deepawali.A branch of a tree is kept along with Tulsi in the vrindavana which are freshly painted and a bhatji (priest ) comes to solemnise  the divine wedding.   An antarpata is used and a grand feast follows.

Though I have lived here for many years, I don’t have much knowledge about these traditions. The local paper has started publishing these tidbits this year.I thought I must share this on my blog.

A pan Indian pooja

Last Sunday I attended a Satyanarayan pooja in my neighbourhood.It was celebrated on a grand scale though the ‘yajmaan ‘ had planned it to be a small affair initially.

When I reached the house where it was being performed,the little drawing room was transformed into a wonderful pandal.Coconut and mango leaves had worked wonders.Colurful lights and streamers added to the beauty.The photo of Sri Satyanarayan was surrounded by  idols of other gods.Mats of various hues were spread for us to sit on.I just peeped into the kitchen to say ‘hello’ to the lady of the house..I was surprised to see all her neighbours busy chopping veggies/ mixing the dough/ stirring huge pans full of curry….

The bhatji- as the aachar is called here arrived from Sanquelim which is  a good 50 kms away from my place.He conducted the pooja in a dignified manner.His instructions were in Hindi for the benefit of the Yajmaan,in Konkani for the Y’s wife  and in Marathi for the lady who was helping them.Added to this he conversed in Kannada with my husband in between to clarify his methods!

The pooja was done to the satisfaction of the Konkani family who brought him down, to the satisfaction of the Telugu family which performed it and to the satisfaction of all of us who  had gathered there.

The story was narrated in Samskrit and the meaning told in a mixture of Konkani, Marathi, Hindi and English!
We were then given gifts.(Yeah,I too was surprised.)Then the hosts started the preparations for serving a traditional lunch.Banana leaves and disposable tumblers arrived.
The vegetable curries, then the pulao, the plain rice the dal and ghee over it,the kesari bhaat,the prasaada….
Why I called it the pan S pooja is this great variety in food items, the languages used, the cooks who prepared the food…

The Tamilian neighbour had prepared the pulao, The Marathi speaking neighbour had prepared the K. bhaat, one curry was Andhra style the other was typical Goan saraswat style!The style and order of serving the dishes were also truly Indian!!The Malayaali neighbour made the poories .

There was an air of inclusiveness(?) and acceptance apart from the bonhomie and liveliness of a sarvajanik utsav.
I came home feeling elevated mentally and I am sure it was not just because of the pooja.

You won’t believe this…

Today’s Navhind Times carries a special supplement on Teachers’ Day.

Actually one should be strictly saying that this supplement is to supplement the paper’s earnings…

Or we can say that it is a special supplement to tuition givers syndicate.They have advertised en masse.

Amidst all these ads a prominent ad is :

Special offer.

Buy 2 and get 1 drink free.

Buy 5 and get 3 drinks free.

By Hotel Sea Coin,Colva.

Which is incidently open 24×7,365 days.

I can’t understand why they choose this paavan parv of T’s day to advertise ?

Also is the paper so eager to supplement its income that it accepts ads from bars for its T day  special?

I  am stumped.

All the  other  articles read :”make spirituality an inherent part of curriculum” ,

“Teachers are lamps that shatter darkness” ,

“trust the teacher for best results”…

I guess the owner of Hotel Sea Coin also trusts the teachers only for best results..

hiccup, hiccup, hurray.

N.B   The post began in anger and ended in intoxication…

Viva Goa.