Ooty's Homemade Chocolates-A Treat for Tastebuds

Wealth of Ayurvedic Oils from Nilgiri Hills

Tea Gardens of Coonoor

 

Amazing Monolithic Statue of 'Bahubali'

The world was believed by certain section to be doomed in December of 2012, however, survived. And, what a way it was for us to start the next year 2013 as on the first day of the new year we trekked to the amazing monolithic statue of Bahubali. The statue is located at Shravanbelagola, a small town in Karnataka state of India. the town is approx. 160 km from Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state. The journey from Bangalore through a highway, which is being widened and had many diversions, took three hours to reach by KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) bus. We were told that the town is not connected by railway. The bus ticket costed only Rs. 124 per head upto Chennarayapatna and Rs. 11 per head from Chennarayapatna to Shravanbelagola.

Bahubali monolith standing firm and tall

Bahubali is a jain siddha who is believed by Jain Digambars to be the first human who has attained liberation. He is believed to be one of the two sons of the first Jain Tirthankar namely Rishabh, who is referred to as the founder of Jainism, a popular religion in India. His monolithic statue at Shravanbelagola is an amazing figure neatly carved out of a single granite stone more than a 1000 years back during 978-993 AD. The approx. 18m (60 ft) tall statue is also known as Gommateshvara. Built by  Chamundaraya, a minister and commander in ancient Western Ganga dynasty which is believed to rule the area from about 350 to 1000 AD, the statue is located on top of a hill. The majestic statue shows a standing Bahubali in meditation with closed eyes and without any clothes. The distinct carvings  of creeper plants on the legs and arms indicate the expertise of artisans during that period. The quality of work with intact features even after 1000 years is considered unparalled.

A coconut offering on toe of Bahubali monolith

During school, I had read about Bahubali statue with amazement and keenly followed news items in magazines and newspaper about Bahubali's Mahamastakabhishekam, an event which is held every 12 years. The photographs of huge statue being washed or bathed in pure milk, ghee, curd, turmeric, saffron etc. during this event not only used to impress me as a child but also filled me with curiosity to know more about the statue. The visit on the new year to the statue filled me with a sense of satisfaction, though I never dreamt of visiting the place.

Vindhyagiri hill  with Bahubali  atop

The gate at the entrance to the stairway at the start of the trek mentions the name of the hill as Vindhyagiri. The trek, which includes climbing 680 steps carved neatly on the hill, was completed in half an hour. There are separate stairs for pilgrims for coming and going separated by a ramp like structure. During climbing down, my wife found it easier and faster to climb down which we could do in just 10 minutes flat. During climb up, we enjoyed the view at different levels of the hill as various distant places unfolded from the height to give a panoramic view of Chandragiri hill and surrounding areas.  There were hundreds of people including children, ladies and elderly trekking up and down the hill. It is learnt that millions of pilgrims and tourists visit the place every year.

While writing this entry to the blog, I learnt that Bahubali statue at Shravanbelagola was voted as the first of seven wonders of India in Aug 2007 with 49% votes in a poll conducted by The Times of India, a top English newspaper in India. There are other Bahubali statues at other places like Venur, Dharmasthala, Karkala and Gommatagiri in Karnataka state and Kumbhoj in Maharashtra state of India. All of these statues are of lesser height as compared to the one at Shravanbelagola.

We were overwhelmed by this chance visit to the statue and happy to see a neat and clean religious place with no one harassing in the name of religion.   

Rock Art of South America

Rock Art sites in Peru

The International Rock Art Exhibition at New Delhi intimates following regarding rock art of South America.

 

'Rock art sites are found from almost all the countries like Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru and Argentina. Major concentrations are in Toro Muerto and Lima region site complex in Peru, Serra da Capivara in Brazil, Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands) in Argentina. Among them Serra da Capivara in Brazil is the oldest rock painting site where the earliest evidence of paintiing goes back to more than 25,000 years. The stylized human figures depicted on the Volcanic Tufa blocks of the huge site Toro Muerto and the complex motifs from the sites of the Lima region are the significant examples from Peru. Recently, emphasis has given into the study of the Bolivian rock art. Mask like motifs from Santa Cruz, Bolivia are unique in nature. Besides, animal and human figures, hunting scenes and geometric designs, there are numerous hand stencils executed at the same place continuously for thousands of years on the walls of the 'Cave of the Hands' from Patagonia in Argentina. These are fascinating indeed'.

 

Rock art depicting human figures in Argentina

 

 

Rock Art of North America

The visit to International Rock Art Exhibition, which is currently running in New Delhi, has been a great effort where rock art formations from across the world have been displayed. The amount of information displayed indicates the depth of research which has gone into organising such an exhibition.

Major Rock Art sites in North America

 

The following has been displayed at the exhibition regarding rock art of North America.

"It has been displayed The North America is very rich in Rock Art distributed throughout the continent. Rock art sites are known to occur from the northern most point at Bering Strait in Central Alaska to Panama, the southernmost country of the Latin America. All these countries have rock art sites but the richest concentration is in the south western part of the USA. The states include California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. The traditions practised here have great variations in subject matter, style and technique reflecting diverse thought processes of the early inhabitants of America. The colourful and complicated geometric images of Chumash people in Western California are believed to be done in trance or in intoxicated condition. Thousands of petroglyphs in the canyons of Coso Range are one of the richest concentrations of rock art. The noteworthy among them are Patterned Body of Anthropomorphic figures, sometimes associated with animals and depictions of 'Big Horn sheep'. The delicate Fremont Style and large mummy like figures of Barrier Canyon in Utah, the mysterious shamanistic representations of Texas etc. are the other notable traditions". 

Rock Art geometrical designs in Arizona

 

GD Goenka School Christmas Carnival

It was the first thick fog of winter season near Delhi on Dec 23, 2012. A perfect weather for a nice gathering. Pleasant, cloud-like fog, little traffic and no wind-chill. In this perfect setting, a Christmas Carnival was organised at the school campus by GD Goenka School, Greater Noida near Delhi. A very well organised event, had everything what the kids would love to have on a perfect Christmas outing. As the Sun peeped through the vanishing fog a while later, the arena was brightly lit to present a soothing atmosphere.

The school bus commuting visitors through fog to carnival.

The stage decorated with Red & White.

The school lawns were dotted with splash of red colour of Santa Clause and white colour of Snow all around. The red and white baloons and the same colour combination for pavilions offering Christmas special goods mainly for children were added attractions.

Celebrating CHRISTMAS at GD Goenka School

A little kid enjoying horse ride at Christmas Carnival

The carnival was visited by many school going kids with parents and friends. They were kept engaged throughout with many events and games of fun and frolic. Many were seen enjoying the horse rides with their parents shooting pics for fond memory. A band comprising of many bagpipers swaying melodiously filled the air with lovely music. 

Swaying Bagpipers at Carnival.



Shopping for Christmas goodies.

The stalls at the carnival brought Christmas specialities to spread festive warmth which included toys, gifts n return-gifts, selective jewellery, educative robots, winter wear, handicrafts  etc. A stall owner informed that invisible pens, magic erasers and goody bags were among great hits with children. Of course, the food court satisfied the culinary tastes with  street delicacies from various parts of the country.

A joy ride for kids at carnival.

Fun all around.

Various games for fun and leisure kept visitors of all ages engaged in festivities. Art competition, baby show, talent hunt, housie organised by school teachers saw grand participation. The star attraction of the event was the presence of former fast bowler of Indian cricket team, mr. Kapil Dev Nikhanj, who graced the occasion with his brief presence to award winners of the lucky draw with grand prizes. The cricketer called upon the students to make sincere efforts and realise their dreams.

Kapil Dev, ex-cricketer, arriving to grace the occasion.

The grand event will be remembered by the participants for a long time to come.


 

Rose Show

Rose show is going on at chanakyapuri

1st Krackerjack Carnival, New Delhi

First Krackerjack Carnival for kids at Delhi.

Banner showing Activity Schedule at venue.

Entrance to the Krackerjack Carnival

Crowd busy in playing 'Chhota Bheem' theme games.

The activity area at the Carnival

A view of stalls selling mainly kids items.

 

2nd India-ASEAN Business Fair



2nd India-ASEAN Business Fair

 

The visit to 2nd India-ASEAN Business Fair (IABF) & Business Conclave at New Delhi today gave an insight view about the participating countries. The three day event, which was inaugurated by Mr. Anand sharma (Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry)  provides a platform for furthering the business interests of participating nations. The theme of the event is ‘India-ASEAN : Forging Partnership for Economic Integration'. ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) comprises of 10 member nations namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Understand that India shares a close bond with ASEAN countries based on mutual interests and common challenges. The event is considered a golden opportunity for B2B meet between the participating nations in various sectors.

 

A wooden handcrafted sailing ship at a stall from Vietnam

 

The stalls at the fair, which showcase wealth of items, offer various B2B opportunities for joint economic developement by bringing together the business leaders across various industry segments. The fair facilitates sharing of knowledge and business strategies in various sectors like agriculture, construction, plastics, health care, jewellary, handicrafts, fashion accessories, garments etc. from each country.

 

The handcrafted antique ships of Thien Thuong Boat (Vietnam), handicrafts and fashion accessories of Pt. Asia Moon (Indonesia), plastic furniture items of Pt. Rovega Kirana (Indonesia) etc. impressed me in particular.