Chilka lake
Our hotel at Puri
Frolicking in the sea
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Sun, sand, dolphins, temples …
The trip to Orissa came about suddenly as all good things do. A chance discussion with friends while out on a walk, and we had decided to join up on this trip. Left on March 26 and returned four days later. Our train reservations weren’t confirmed until the time we boarded, but that’s a given and we are used to traveling on RAC. Our hotel, Samudra is on the beach but away from the Chowpaty area of Puri. It’s quite an exclusive area and we were enjoying the waves at 5.30 am.
We visited Puri, Bhuvaneshwar, Konark and Chilka. Anyone who has been there knows that temples dominate skyline here. For me, the architecture held a special attraction, being unique in design. The Jagannath temple is the centre of Puri. Everything seems to revolve around it. It is said that pilgrims come to this temple mainly to eat, and if you haven’t made a meal of the prasad here, you should do so at once. Not only because it is a good thing to do so, but also because the meal is too delicious to miss. This included three preparations of Basmati rice (plain rice with ghee and salt, pulao, sweet rice), dal, mixed vegetables, vegetable in mustard, rabri and malpua.) Too good to miss, huh? I also had my fill of Orissa sweet specialties - Chhana Pora (baked cottage cheese) and Khaaja (deep fried sweetened longish fritters). The evening ceremony of flag changing is fascinating. Two men climb up to the temple top on to the 12 foot spire and replace the red flag everyday.
All would have been fine had the priests (pandas) left us alone. At the Gundecha temple and the Jagannath temple, we were almost forced to pay up for each and every deity there! We then decided to go through the temples at a run.
In Bhuvaneshwar, the Lingaraj temple complex is quite rightly known as the Varanasi of the east because of the amazing number of Shiva temples within the walls. The suns had baked the stones so we had quite a game of hopscotch while trying to negotiate our way from one shaded area to the next. The Udaygiri and Khandgiri caves were a marvel and these caves for Jain students always amaze me. The utter starkness of it! A raised area cut out on the floor served as pillows! Small vents provided air and I suppose they studied by daylight.
Konark was heart wrenching for me. To think that I was seeing almost nothing of the original was too much to swallow. The main temple was no longer standing. The magnet placed at the apex was removed by the British when it was found that ships passing through the area crashed because of its interference. Once the magnet was removed, the huge iron pillars that held the temple straight together lost balance and the inevitable happened. The only structure remaining in stuffed with sand and stone and closed to public. Even the positions of the four sun (Surya) sculpures are no longer appropriate. The Wheels are indeed fascinating in the way they kept time based on prahar. The less said about the sculptures and engravings the better since I will be unable to do justice to them.
I was glad to notice that my daughters were also saddened by the loss of such craftsmanship. Since Malavika plans to study architecture, she needs to feel for these artifacts.
Chilka was reserved for the last day and the Irrawady dolphins did not disappoint us nor did the red crabs. What disappointed was the number of pearls that were produced by the fisher folk there. They simply asked for the pearl colour of our choice, then smashed open a clam shell and presto, a pearl. They were selling it for as cheap as Rs 10!!! I really do not know what to make of it.
Our return tickets were on the wait list and we left it all to Lord Jagannath. And sure enough we were given three berths!! So a satisfying end to this quick trip.
We visited Puri, Bhuvaneshwar, Konark and Chilka. Anyone who has been there knows that temples dominate skyline here. For me, the architecture held a special attraction, being unique in design. The Jagannath temple is the centre of Puri. Everything seems to revolve around it. It is said that pilgrims come to this temple mainly to eat, and if you haven’t made a meal of the prasad here, you should do so at once. Not only because it is a good thing to do so, but also because the meal is too delicious to miss. This included three preparations of Basmati rice (plain rice with ghee and salt, pulao, sweet rice), dal, mixed vegetables, vegetable in mustard, rabri and malpua.) Too good to miss, huh? I also had my fill of Orissa sweet specialties - Chhana Pora (baked cottage cheese) and Khaaja (deep fried sweetened longish fritters). The evening ceremony of flag changing is fascinating. Two men climb up to the temple top on to the 12 foot spire and replace the red flag everyday.
All would have been fine had the priests (pandas) left us alone. At the Gundecha temple and the Jagannath temple, we were almost forced to pay up for each and every deity there! We then decided to go through the temples at a run.
In Bhuvaneshwar, the Lingaraj temple complex is quite rightly known as the Varanasi of the east because of the amazing number of Shiva temples within the walls. The suns had baked the stones so we had quite a game of hopscotch while trying to negotiate our way from one shaded area to the next. The Udaygiri and Khandgiri caves were a marvel and these caves for Jain students always amaze me. The utter starkness of it! A raised area cut out on the floor served as pillows! Small vents provided air and I suppose they studied by daylight.
Konark was heart wrenching for me. To think that I was seeing almost nothing of the original was too much to swallow. The main temple was no longer standing. The magnet placed at the apex was removed by the British when it was found that ships passing through the area crashed because of its interference. Once the magnet was removed, the huge iron pillars that held the temple straight together lost balance and the inevitable happened. The only structure remaining in stuffed with sand and stone and closed to public. Even the positions of the four sun (Surya) sculpures are no longer appropriate. The Wheels are indeed fascinating in the way they kept time based on prahar. The less said about the sculptures and engravings the better since I will be unable to do justice to them.
I was glad to notice that my daughters were also saddened by the loss of such craftsmanship. Since Malavika plans to study architecture, she needs to feel for these artifacts.
Chilka was reserved for the last day and the Irrawady dolphins did not disappoint us nor did the red crabs. What disappointed was the number of pearls that were produced by the fisher folk there. They simply asked for the pearl colour of our choice, then smashed open a clam shell and presto, a pearl. They were selling it for as cheap as Rs 10!!! I really do not know what to make of it.
Our return tickets were on the wait list and we left it all to Lord Jagannath. And sure enough we were given three berths!! So a satisfying end to this quick trip.
Monday, 2 March 2009
Dilli 6
I meant to write about this earlier. In fact, quite unlike me, I saw Dilli 6 on the second day of its release seated in the front row at the left. My spine took quite a twist. Thanks to Rahman's music, I happily endured my physical discomfort. Without doubt, he is at his best. If Slumdog M won the Oscars, this movie's soundtrack must be heard by the Americans. The movie opened beautifully but somewhere in the second half things got a bit mixed up with the kala bander and communalism and the moralising. I felt a bit let down but thanks to Sonam and her extended family, the cinematography and the editing, the film worked for me.
Calcutta Walks
Yesterday I took a walk through the bylanes of North Kolkata. I have been meaning to do this for quite sometime now. So when the opprtunity presented itself in the form of Iftekar and his Calcutta Walks, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I took in all the beautiful architecture of the old buildings, in the Sovabazar area, to my heart's content and captured them on film, and I decided to do a piece on Cal Walks for Kindle. Iftekar with his two other buddies are genuinely in love with their work and that really made all the difference. The enthusiasm was palpable and I learnt a lot. I was treated to a fabulous lunch at Anand (best South Indian restaurant in Kolkata, they say) and got to taste sweets at Chittaranjan, one of the best sweet shops of Kolkata. I hope to do the other walks sometime soon.
Sunday, 15 February 2009
Check your morality levels
I would call it the Talibalization of Hinduism. What else would it be? Women had better beware, we the moral custodians of the Hindu culture are here... You listen and obey or else get beaten up, raped, insulted while the rest of the world looks on. This is the message given out by the likes of the Sri Ram Sene, the Bajrang Dal and the rest of them, whatever they call themselves. The rest of the world, incidentally, includes the menfolk mostly. So what do the women do? Stay indoors to survive or fight it out to live? What would you choose? Yes, I chose the same. As an adult Iknow very well what I am supposed to do and what not to do. The so concerned can mind their own business.
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
The President is Coming - the Movie
The President is Coming is a hilarious and fresh spoof on the art of commercialization of each and everything in today’s world. George Bush visited India and so this incident was made full use of. He wants to shake hands with the most deserving face of India and promptly this is converted into a game show in the lines of Big Boss! So these six contestants, chosen from the best of different categories under the age of 30 yrs, get together and all hell breaks loose. Each one tries to outdo the other in whichever way possible including the two ladies judging the entire affair. The end is very slick, well thought out. Let’s hope there are many more such comedies on the way.
Saturday, 3 January 2009
A Visit and a Movie
Its 2009 - In case you hadn't realized it!! I like the word NEW attached to the year. Gives a sense of anticipation. Like 2007, 2008 too ended with me travelling, though this time it was within the State. Visited Malda after a long time. It is always lovely to meet relatives after some years and when the joy is reciprocated what more can you want. Villages I visited have changed but not much. But the state of the town really depressed me. Seems as if it is on edge -- such is the topography now. The construction business is eating up space in the most haphazard manner and there is garbage dumped almost everywhere. I hear that land is more expensive in Malda than in Kolkata!
Anyway, I returned by bus and it took 11 hours. Crossed Behrampur, Shantipur and Krishnanagar. My travelling companion was my mother. Needless to say, the tour was enjoyable.
Last month I saw a Felu da movie-- Tintorettor Jishu. The plot was interesting as all Satyajit Ray stories are. I really enjoyed the cinematography. Sobyosachi is getting a little older for the role but then his age wasn't specified so I guess that'll do, since he's a good actor.
Anyway, I returned by bus and it took 11 hours. Crossed Behrampur, Shantipur and Krishnanagar. My travelling companion was my mother. Needless to say, the tour was enjoyable.
Last month I saw a Felu da movie-- Tintorettor Jishu. The plot was interesting as all Satyajit Ray stories are. I really enjoyed the cinematography. Sobyosachi is getting a little older for the role but then his age wasn't specified so I guess that'll do, since he's a good actor.
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