Krishna Pushkaralu 2016

we planned to go on the second day of pushkaralu since the first day falls on friday which is celebrated as varalakshmi vratham. after performing pooja at home on friday. we started from Chennai central railway station on saturday morning by Lucknow express and reached the Vijayawada station by late noon. my uncle and niece were waiting for us in station. when  we got down in the railway station two young (girls) volunteers came to help us. they escorted us till we got an auto to the bathing ghats. we thanked the lovely girls and left for the river Krishnaveni.

Exit from the Railway station in Vijayawada

Pushkaram is festival of river that occurs once in 12 years and celebrated for 12 days and is celebrated with much glory.  Like we celebrated Godavari pushkaralu last year at Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, this year Krishna Pushkaralu welcomes us to vijayawada district the hub of Krishna pushkaralu in the state of  Andhra pradesh. we reserved the tickets for my family for the pushkaralu luckily i have holidays since it falls on weekend and independence day follows the weekend. so we felt it is the best time for the holy trip.

Dad and Uncle at Durga Ghat

Pushkar Staff are maintaining the cleanliness

Pushkaralu is a festival of River Krishna which normally occurs once in every 12 years The Pushkaram is observed for a period of 12 days from the time of entry of Jupiter into Virgo (Kanya rasi). The festival is "theoretically" observed throughout the twelve months that the planet remains in that sign, but the first 12 days are considered most sacred as pushkarudu takes holy dip in the river in those days. this year (2016), the celebration of pushkaralu starts on 12 August and lasts upto 23 August 2016.

Mom at Durga Ghat after holy dip

boating in the Krishna river

Media people are covering the Pushkar

people taking holy dip

River krishna from Durga Ghat 

Look at the crowd

waiting for the cab to clim the hill top

after the holy bath in the river, we left the luggages with dad and uncle and went to take the blessings of the holy maa kanaga durga. The Goddess (Maa) is beautifully decorated with glittering ornaments and looks so gracefully holding the trident in the standing posture opposite to the durga ghat. After the having darshan we are thinking how to climb the hill for the darshan of Kanaka Durga Maathaji.The river and surroundings of all the ghats and temple are  neatly maintained.Arrangements are neatly maintained by Andhra Government. Security arrangements are well planned and  executed.

Entrance for climbing the hill 

Colourful lights ready to lit up the river

Lights decoration near the river bank.

Venkatesh and his friends

The PVP Siddartha college students who helped me in climbing the hill.

Stalls on the road opposite to Durga Ghat

Balloonwala stood on the road to sell in big and colourful fancy balloons and dresswala stood next to him.

Drummer

The drummer is waiting to sell his wares by playing the drums whenever children cross that way.

the city of Vijayawada is fully decorated with colourful lights which made the city to glitter the whole 12 days and its a feast for eyes.

All in all, it was a memorable trip, which will forever be framed in our hearts for a long time. My first trip to vijayawada was wonderful and i will cherish every moment of it because of the lovely volunteers. Thank you guys.you made my trip the most cherishable one.

Did You Know....?

1. Your shoes are the first thing people subconsciously notice about you. Wear nice shoes.

2. If you sit for more than 11 hours a day, there's a 50% chance you'll die within the next 3 years

3. There are at least 6 people in the world who look exactly like you. There's a 9% chance that you'll meet one of them in your lifetime.

4. Sleeping without a pillow reduces back pain and keeps your spine stronger.

5. A person's height is determined by their father, and their weight is determined by their mother.

6. If a part of your body "falls asleep", you can almost always "wake it up" by shaking your head.

7. There are three things the human brain cannot resist noticing - Food, attractive people and danger

8. Right-handed people tend to chew food on their right side

9. Putting dry tea bags in gym bags or smelly shoes will absorb the unpleasant odour.

10. According to Albert Einstein, if honey bees were to disappear from earth, humans would be dead within 4 years.

11. There are so many kind of apples, that if you ate a new one everyday, it would take over 20 years to try them all.

12. You can survive without eating for weeks, but you will only live 11 days without sleeping.

13. People who laugh a lot are healthier than those who don't.

14. Laziness and inactivity kills just as many people as smoking.

15. A human brain has a capacity to store 5 times as much information as Wikipedia

16. Our brain uses same amount power as 10-watt light bulb!!

17. Our body gives enough heat in 30 mins to boil 1.5 litres of water!!

18. Stomach acid (conc. HCl) is strong enough to dissolve razor blades!!

19. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. & while you walk, SMILE. It is the ultimate antidepressant.

Le Royal Meridian Hotel

Painting that adored the wall of Le Royal Meridian hotel

Black forest is ready to bite

saffron dashed Rasmalai

Colourful arrangements

few clicks at Le Royal Meridian, Chennai

Chennai - Area names

Some history about various  area names in Chennai 

* Syed Shah Pettai has become “Saidapet”

* In 17,18-th centuries this area was under control of a Nawab and this was the garden were his horses were resting and getting fed. So it was called "Ghoda bagh"  (Horse Garden). It later became “Kodambakkam”

* Armoured Vehicles And Depot of India became “Avadi” (AVADI)

* Several Chrome leather factories in the region resulted in this area being called “Chrompet”

* This area was full of coconut trees. Therefore named as “tennampettai”. It was later changed as “Teynampet”

* Urdu word “che baug” (six gardens) became “Chepauk”.

* Saundara Pandian bazaar became “Pondy Bazaar”

* “vilva marankal” area with the flowers used for the Lord known as Mahavilvam over time has become “Mambalam”

* pallavapuram became “Pallavaram”.

* Madras Presidency head was Panagal Raja at one point and based on his name, the park was named as “Panagal Park”

* Based on name of Justice party leader Sir. Thiagarajan Chettiar, the area is known as “T Nagar”

* “Purasai” trees were in abundance in the region, leading it to be called “Purasaiwalkam”

* “Puspakavalli” in Sanskrit due to the large amount of Jasmine plants / trees in the region became “puviruntavalli” in tamil to get transformed as “Poondamali” now.

* In the 17th century, a Muslim saint who lived here 'kunankuti Mastan Sahib'. Thondi was his native town in Ramanathapuram district. Therefore, the local people called him tontiyar. That's the current areas known as “Tondiarpet”.

* Before the area was used for feeding cattle. So called as Mandai veli before becoming “Mandaveli”

* Peacock were roaming freely in the area leading it to be called Mayilai puram and later becoming “Mylapore”

* Pallavas used to conduct or wage wars in the region now known as “Porur”

* Bamboo (Perambu) trees were throughout the region was a few hundred years ago, now known as “Perambur”.

* Based on Thirusula nathar temple area became “Thirusulam”. (BTW Trident hotel name came from the same source.. Trident means Thirusulam).

* The pond with lots of lilies opposite to Parthasarathy temple was known as Thiru allikkeni  transformed itself to “Triplicane”

* Thomas Parry used to do business in this area. He gained the respect from people resulting in the name “Parry’s Corner”. That is also why it is not “Paris Corner”  

*This area had many Neem trees around a big lake in Tamil Neem+Lake is Veepa+yeri this is now called Vepery

Samsung mobile

Here is the new Samsung J7 mobile

Raahu kalam Chart

Whenever we supposed to do something. Mom and dad used to ask me to check the Raghu kalam, in order to be cautious that nothing should be done in wrong time (i.e.Raghu kalam) 

Most of the time it was pretty difficult for me to remember the timing of these kalams.

so here is a simple way that to remember the so called Raghu kalam.

The only thing that one should remember is the phrase

“Mother Saw Father Wearing the Turban”

M(other)    -   MONDAY       -  7:30 – 9:00

S(aw)         -  SATURDAY     - 9:00 – 10:30

F(ather)     -  FRIDAY          - 10:30 – 12:00

W(earing)  -  WEDNESDAY  - 12:00 – 1:30

TH(e)         -  THURSDAY     - 1:30 – 3:00  

TU(rban)    - TUESDAY        - 3:00 – 4:30

Left with Sunday                 – 4:30 – 6:00

Assuming the Sunrise is at 6:00 AM

Share the Laundry Load

Since generations laundry is considered as women’s job. By that period of time women were staying at home taking care of children and elder people.now things has been changed due to population growth and both male and female should work to fulfill the necessities of their family members.
In the current senario it is mandatory for both husband and wife to work. Hence it is a difficult task for a wife alone to take care of all the household work like cooking, cleaning, mopping, washing etc.
Taking care of kids are a very difficult which needs so much patience as well as time. In the busy schedule, it is really a tough task for a woman to do the laundry alone. So the so called better half can share the load of the laundry by helping her.
It will not only reduce the work load, it will also reduce the stress of the woman which she has to go.
Sharing the load helps her to do the work faster with joy.  

“I am taking part in the #ShareTheLoad Challenge with Ariel and Akshara at BlogAdda.”

Kalahasti – Pancha bootha sthalam

Kalahasti is one of the pancha bootha sthalams of lord shiva and famous for its Vayu linga, representing wind. Lord Shiva in his aspect as Vayu (wind) is worshiped as Kalahasteeswara.

This temple is also known as Rahu-Ketu kshetra, as Rahu-Ketu pooja is done here to get rid of doshams of the devotees. This temple is also regarded as Dakshina Kasi. 

 My weekend trip to Kalahasti is a wonderful experience with my nephew Hari and my darling Mom.

We started here on saturday evening and went for shopping and munching some street food with my cousins there. Bangles is one of the best item in the top of  my shopping list. So i purchased as much as i can and we roamed around the streets and reached home with loads of snacks for my aunt family and slept as our stomachs are already filled with enough chats and chai.

 Devotional journey started the very next day. Yes at first we went to the temple for darshan. After darshan we had prasadams sold by the temple as we are very hungry due to fasting since morning. As i have office the next day and my cousin had college we are supposed to leave by evening bus. 

Hence we were left with a short time. So we took two bikes and started to roam again crossing the river Swarnamukhi leaving mom behind with the uncle and my little cousin in the bus stop to book the tickets.

First, my cousin suggested to go a nearby waterfalls which is called as Veyilingala Kona Waterfall. It was really a fantastic experience there. We sat on the rocks with our legs submerged in water. Clicked pictures in that dense forest area and enjoyed the water fall. 

We went to the temple near the falls after clicking photos over there we left to suka brahma ashram another peaceful shrine of lord sai ram neatly maintained with a colourful park around the temple which gives a pleasant ambience to the temple with a cool evening breeze. The hightlight of the temple is a huge shiv lingam constructed on top of the mandap.

HOLI DAY DOODLE AND WISHES

Wishing you all a very happy and colourful Holi with my doodle with pen...

Khul Ke Khelo Holi

Holi the Festival of vivid colours, it is celebrated by very few chennaites, School children and college goers will celebrate this festival here in Chennai, I have a wonderful memories of Holi with my in school days,

When i was in school my friends i used to buy colours and keep it safely in our school bags till the last bell. We wish everyone happy holi and share some delicacies with eachother. When the bell rang we will start splashing colours on each other and make the white uniform into a multicolor one. Some girls try to hide themselves or ran into other class rooms. By the end of the day  everyone used to get painted with vibrant colors to the extent that we become almost unrecognizable. That is not the end we end up throwing colours on other class girls and teachers who are very close to us. Though they try to avoid themselves from getting coloured our boys wont leave them.

                When i reach home with a mixture of colours already my brother will be there drenched with colours and getting scolding from Mom.

After getting a earful of scoldings from mom my brother takes bath and again goes to play Holi with the his friends in our Apartment.

Those moments are still unforgettable... Missing those wonderful days....

Wishing you all a very happy, colourful and safe Holi....    

“ #KhulKeKheloHoli sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”

Kedara Gowri Vratham

Kedara Gowri vratham is celebrated in my friend house. Iam happy to share the Beautiful moments clicked by Sarvesh. Goddess Gauri Devi obtained the half part in the body of Lord Shiva by observing this vratham. Hence it is observed by people to get rid of sorrows and Sins and to lead the life with happiness and pleasure. 

Love and laughter

A fun ride

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Voice of a Common Man

Read more stories of Youth ki Aawaaz

Happy New Year 2016

Hi and Hello,
Wish you all a very happy and Prosperous New year 2016.

Another ​ year has passed. It's time to start over with a clean slate. Maybe 2015
didn't go the way you planned; you didn't follow through with your great
ideas and your goals weren't met. Well it's a new year and a can be new you
on January 1.

Or maybe 2015 was amazing and you need to keep the momentum going. You
don't want to stop now! No matter how this past year went for you, use
these  motivational quotes to start 2016 off right.

Trying to improve your health?
1.     "Strength does not come from physical capacity, it comes from an
indomitable will." -Gandhi

2.     "Fitness is not about being better than someone else, it's about
being better than you used to be."

3.     "Excuses don't burn calories."

4.     "The difference between try and triumph is a little umph." -Marvin
Phillips

5.     "The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full
potential: these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal
excellence." -Confucius

6.     "Do or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

7.     "Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look
back, everything is different?" -C.S. Lewis

8.     "A year from now you'll wish you had started today."

9.     "The voice in your head that says that you can't do this is a liar."


10.   "Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try."

11.   "If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done."

12.   "Don't wish it were easier. Wish you were better." -Jim Rohn

13.   "The only workout you'll regret is the one that didn't happen." -Bob Harper

14.   "Don't put in half of the effort unless you're okay with half of the results."

15.   "I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.' " -Muhammad Ali

16.   "If you're tired of starting over, stop giving up."

17.   "Get comfortable with being uncomfortable." -Jillian Michaels

18.   "Suck it up so one day you don't have to suck it in."

19.   "Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." -Jim Ryun

20.   "It doesn't matter what others are doing. It matters what you are doing."

21.   "Slow progress is better than no progress."

22.   "There are no traffic jams along the extra mile." -Roger Staubach

23.   "The secret to getting ahead is getting started."

24.   "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Lao Tzu

25.   "Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -Earl Nightingale

26.   "A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work." -Colin Powell

27.   "Unless you puke, faint, or die, keep going." -Jillian Michaels

28.   "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." -Confucius

29.   "No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everyone sitting on the couch."

Changing your attitude?
30.   "Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it." -Charles Swindall

31.   "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass but learning to dance in the rain."

32.   "Life is like photography. You need the negatives to develop."

33.   "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, 'I'm possible!' " -Audrey Hepburn

34.   "Things work out the best for those who make the best of how things work out." -John Wooden

35.   "If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, you'll never have enough." -Oprah Winfrey

36.   "When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." -Henry Ford

37.   "Change your thoughts and you change your world." -Norman Vincent Peale

38.   "If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else." -Booker T. Washington

39.   "Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace." -Dalai Lama

40.   "Don't fear failure. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail." -Bruce Lee

41.   "Believe you can and you're halfway there." -Theodore Roosevelt

42.   "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."

Learning to love yourself?
43.   "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?" -Dr. Seuss

44.   "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." -Lao Tzu

45.   "I'm not weird, I'm a limited edition."

46.   "When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too." -Paulo Coelho

47.   "Whatever you are, be a good one." -Abraham Lincoln

48.   "You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it."

Preparing for a new challenge?
49.   "What you do today can improve all your tomorrows." -Ralph Marston

50.   "Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough." -Og Mandino

51.   "Either you run the day, or the day runs you." -Jim Rohn

52.   "If you can dream it, you can do it." -Walt Disney

53.   "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." -Theodore Roosevelt

54.   "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." -Henry Ford

55.   "The only way to do great work is to love what you do." -Steve Jobs

56.   "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." -Ayn Rand

57.   "Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs." -Farrah Gray

58.   "I would rather die of passion than of boredom." -Vincent van Gogh

59.   "What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do." -Bob Dylan

60.   "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

61.   "There is no substitute for hard work." -Thomas Edison

62.   "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." -Les Brown

63.   "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." -Winston Churchill

64.   "The only place SUCCESS comes before WORK is in the dictionary." -Mary Smith

65.   "No great achiever--even those who made it seem easy--ever succeeded without hard work." -Jonathan Sacks

66.   "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." -Henry David Thoreau

Getting a handle on your finances?
67.   "Too many people spend money they earned to buy things they don't want to impress people that they don't like." -Will Rogers

68.   "You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you." -Dave Ramsey

69.   "Every time you borrow money, you're robbing your future self." -Nathan W. Morris

70.   "Never spend your money before you have it." -Thomas Jefferson

71.   "Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget and I'll tell you what you value." -Joe Biden

72.   "The person who doesn't know where his next dollar is coming from usually doesn't know where his last dollar went."

73.   "The man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest." -Henry David Thoreau

Dreaming of traveling the world?
74.   "If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat. Just get on." -Sheryl Sandberg

75.   "Not all those who wander are lost." -J.R.R. Tolkien

76.   "You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore." -Christopher Columbus

77.   "Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear." -George Addair

78.   "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." -Robert Frost

79.   "Die with memories, not dreams."

80.   "Focus on where you want to go, not where you currently are."

81.   "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do." -Mark Twain

82.   "It's better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times."

83.   "Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

84.   "The journey not the arrival matters." -T.S. Eliot

85.   "Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey." -Pat Conroy

86.   "Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves." -Henry David Thoreau

87.   "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." -St. Augustine

88.   "I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." -Robert Louis Stevenson

89.   "You don't always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens." -Mandy Hale

Just need general motivation?
90.   "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." -Albert Einstein

91.   "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison

92.   "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." -Pablo Picasso

93.   "Don't worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try." -Jack Canfield

94.   "The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." -William Arthur Ward

95.   "I'm gonna make the rest of my life the best of my life."

96.   "The secret of life is to fall seven times and to get up eight times." -Paulo Coelho

97.   "We were born to succeed, not to fail." -Henry David Thoreau

98.   "It's hard to beat a person who never gives up." -Babe Ruth

99.   "The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra." -Jimmy Johnson

100.   "There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." -Beverly Sills

101.   "Courage is looking fear right in the eye and saying, 'Get the hell out of my way, I've got things to do.' "

Look at this list often. Write your favorites on your mirror. Leave sticky notes in your car. We all need little reminders to keep us going. As Zig Ziglar once said, "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing--that's why we recommend it daily.