13 Reasons to holiday in Jammu & Kashmir this summer....

Planning your summer vacation?

I'll give you 13 reasons to holiday in Kashmir this year.

1. The roadblock such as political unrest and militancy in Kashmir has fizzled down which is evident in the upsurge of tourism figures of Kashmir in 2011 which state that in the last 20 years, the year 2011 saw the highest number of tourists visiting Kashmir – more than 10 lakh tourists apart from the 1 crore-plus pilgrims who visited Mata Vaishnodevi’s Shrine and the 7 lakh pilgrims who took the Amarnath Yatra. This boost in tourism in Kashmir has revved up the Government’s plan for better tourist trails and trip packages and amenities this year to keep the momentum going and for a strong hold on the long-awaited triumph of Kashmir Tourism.

2. Winter is over and the snowy mountains are friendlier now for adventure snow sports such as snow-strolling, snow-rolling, snow-skiing, snowboarding, sledding and snow-shoeing or just mountain-scaling. Or how about you just hover over the snowy mountains in one of theworld’s highest gondola cable cars? And if you are trained and have nerves of steel, how about you try helicopter skiing at 12,000 feet?

3. The Himalayan rivers and springs run again in Kashmir after a dormant freeze-period making it a happening place for adventure water sports such as river-rafting, kayaking, canoeing,boating and not to mention trout-fishing and fishing in general.

4. The Lakes of Kashmir – Mountain-lakes as well as the lakes at the glaciers have thawed and add splendour to the landscape and provide excellent boating, camping and picnic spots.

5. The Mughal Gardens have turned bright plush green and present to you ‘Royal Walks’ in the centuries-old gardens with ponds, waterfalls and fountains. The dense Cedar Woods are waiting to woo you.

6. Multi-coloured flowers are in full bloom for miles together in mountain valleys as well as in the plains. The Tulip Garden in April is like Holland in spring. World’s most expensive spice –Saffron is in full purple-bloom for hundreds of acres. The Rose Gardens add ornamental value to these landscapes with their beautiful multi-coloured presence.

7. The wildlife in these high-altitude National Parks, Sanctuaries and Biospheres is out to soak up the sun and to let you see them and photograph them.

8. The high altitude trekking trails through mountains, valleys and meadows and grasslands are ready to take you places you have never been before. And camp in the most gorgeous never-even-considered-sites of the country.

9. The chill air has cleared up and has made the skies more paragliding-friendly.

10. World’s highest motorable pass – Khardung La has gone a little easy on the snow and is waiting to challenge the foreign and domestic dexterous bikers.

11. World’s 7^th highest golf course – among the other golf courses in Kashmir, is waiting to play it rough and tough with you at 9000 feet altitude.

12. And shopping!!!!!!!!!! Tibetan handicrafts and Kashmiri handicrafts especially the precious stones-studded silver jewelry and woollen carpets and other wooden and silver handicrafts just keep taking newer and more attractive dimensions to suit global markets. Need I entice you more?

13. And of course, Shri Amarnathji and Goddess Vaishnodevi and Lord Buddha beckon you for an annual visit to their abode on earth!

And when winter sets in again....get set for the world famous and much awaited Chader Trek on the frozen River Zanksar !!

Har Har Mahadev.....

Tryambakam yajaamahe sugandhim pushti-vardhanam |
Urvaarukam Iva bandhanaan mrityor muksheeya maamritaat ||

is the Trayambaka Mantra popular as the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra from Yajurveda.  

Roughly translated it means we bow with respect to the One with a natural fragrance, one who is benevolent to his devoted, and one who is three eyed and we pray Him to maneuver us from this cycle of life and death and guide on to the path of salvation.

With this prayer on our lips we were on our way to Tanjore to visit the Brihadeeshwara Temple.  All that we heard about this temple and read through the net did not prepare us enough to what we found there. It was the sunny midday of 7 January 2012 and we were proceeding from Tiruvannamalai after visiting the Lord Arunachaleshwara and reached the Brihadeeshwara Temple by 1pm. Our trip was meant to visit Lord Siva pilgrimages in advance to Shivaratri which is on 20 Feb 2012. The idea was to to avoid huge crowds thronging in all Siva temples and have a peaceful darshan of the Lord.  

The moment we looked at the entrance was magical.  The entire structure including the boundary wall seemed to possess a great and ancient charm.  We felt as if we were walking into past in a time machine. Only a divine intervention or co-operation would have made such massive structure to be built centuries ago. We were not at all in a hurry and had no energy to run across the vast expanse of the temple premises after a 17km long walk around the Arunachalam Hill or Tiruvannamalai the day before.  We left our footwear at the entrance with the keeper and moved on.  

We stopped by the Temple History displayed and moved slowly across. The beautiful green and soft lawns of the temple premises were very inviting and we all went to relax for 30 minutes as the temples were closed and were to open only by 4pm.  In the meantime we looked around the huge premises and looked around the statue of the Bull.  The platform on which the Bull stands has a roof adorned with beautiful murals in bright blue colour. It is amazing to notice the fast colors not fading till date. Please zoom in to the image of the write up to read all the historical details of the temple.    

The entire length of the temple boundary wall has several small Shiva Lingams and little bulls (Nandi) placed one behind other forming a beeline.  We walked around the temples and found many scriptures in Devnagari and Tamil languages.  There were students from Chennai who were perched up on the walls making notes of the scriptures.  I asked them if they understood what is written on, one of them said that it was their project that each one of them must copy one line from the wall inscriptions and provide meaning.

Time went by so quickly and we realised it was 4pm and the temples were all open.  We went in the queue to visit Lord Ganesh first.  We noticed that these temples were architectural marvels in terms of the beautiful and intricate carvings on every wall and entrance.  Even the idols of the Deities were so lively and attractive.  The beauty of the deity was competing with the divinity in all the temples of Lord Ganesh, Lord Murugan and Goddess Parvati. The peacock on which Lord Murugan was seated looked marvelous with each feather carved with great care to make it appear real.

After all the above deities we lined up for the Darshan of Lord Shiva (Brihadeeshwara) the main deity of the temple.  Though it was very crowded no one was in hurry or pushing.  The interiors of this ancient temple were peaceful and cool with very highly perched roofs.  The wait in the queue was peaceful and we were for a change enjoying the waiting and appreciating the delay. The main deity is in the form of a 3 ft tall Linga which is placed on a high platform.  Serene and holy surroundings added fervor to the Darshan we had of Lord Brihadeeshwara and we left the temple with great satisfaction. Our next destination on the trip was Srirangam temple at Trichy and calls for a detailed blog for itself which will follow. 

                                               

Animals forever and ever !

Having your live pet dog prance around you is one thing. Now imagine your pet - stuffed and mounted on the wall in your living room?

Clearly….Taxidermy is NOT for all.

Those unfamiliar with this territory ought to be told that Taxidermy is considered as a fine mix of science and art world over – a process by which dead animals are preserved for educational purpose. Taxidermy is also a fetching profession if you do it right. Full mounts, trophy heads and skins of the deceased animals – popular ones being of Lions, Tigers, Snow Leopards, Crocodiles, Polar Bears, Black Bears, Red Deers, Eagles, Ostriches make a multi-billion dollar industry across all geographies. In fact, the older the ‘mount’ the more it is valued.

If you think this is weird and can’t help making faces, think of the alternative to Taxidermy. Do we just let the dead animals go without a trace? How else to preserve a race? It follows the same principle as does the mummification.

While mummification might have been started by the prehistoric South Americans and Egyptians to ensure that deceased’s soul continues into the afterlife, these same ‘mummies’ are our window into a race, a culture, a kingdom, an era – thousands of years ago!

Who knows? Today’s taxidermy could open a window to our world few millenia from now!

And for now….we can take solace in and marvel at a Taxidermist’s skill at keeping a deceased animal looking alive!

A pleasant break in a long walk....

We were on our way to do the Circumambulation of Tiruvannamalai and visiting the Lord Arunachaleshwara in Tamil Nadu.  Six of us started off by mid day of 6 Jan 2012, on this 17km walk; it was a hot and sunny day.  We kept crossing many foreigners on our way and one of them a school teacher named Voila from Canada was also walking along with us.  She told us that after reading the teachings of Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi which impressed her deeply, she came down to India to spend a couple of months here. We were pleasantly surprised to note that she is checked into a small home stay at Tiruvannamalai and does walk up and down to the Ramanasramam daily. After walking for 3 hrs we reached Ramanasramam and walked in with lot of expectations. 

First we stopped by the big hoarding detailing the Asram site map. After checking out all the places to visit we went on to Bhagavan Samadhi Shrine.  It is a huge and peaceful hall where a Shiva Linga is placed on the Samadhi of Bhagavan and a close to real life idol is also there.  Black and white life size pictures of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi adorn the walls of this hall.  Every picture leaves you spell bound as the eyes are so full of life and seem to look through your soul. 

We sat in that hall along with few others and meditated for a while.  It was interesting to note that surroundings make a huge impact on the state of mind, as I found it was easy to focus and meditate positively here than usual.Our next stop was of Mathrubhuteshwara temple which has the remains of Bhagavan’s mother.  This was inaugurated by Ramana Maharshi himself. We found a group of people singing some very pleasant and melodious Tamil songs in the hall of this shrine.  We all found them so interesting and sat for a long time listening to that rhythmic and captivating music despite not understanding the language, it is so true that music has no language barriers to enjoy.

We went ahead and looked around the dining hall, meeting area, well and the residential quarters of the Asram.  Everything is excellently maintained and we found many residents cleaning, sweeping and mopping these places as part of their routine. Then we visited the soul of the Asram, Sri Raman Maharshi’s personal chamber where he used to live and the articles that he used were also kept on display.  The area was kept intact and gave a feeling as if He is still there and spreading some positive energy around. From here we went towards the Cow sheds or Gosalas.  All the animals here are named and reared with love and affection.  The helpers and the residents of the Ashram take good care of these cows and showed us around the place. We fed the cows with the fruits we carried after taking permission to do so, took few pictures and were surprised to see the way each cow responds when called by name.  We were told that even Bhagavan had a favorite cow named Lakshmi that always stayed outside His quarters and grazed around close by.

 There is a Veda Pathasala (Vedic School) where the mid day classes were going on.  We waited outside and listened to the clear, rhythmic way of pronouncing the Sanskrit Shlokas. There were many Peacocks around this part of the Asram and we were lucky to see a Peacock dancing in very close quarters, it was so magical that we forgot to capture it on roll.

On our way back we visited the Book stall which stocks Books on Ramana Maharshi, Books written detailing his teachings and many other publications on Hindu religion, Vedic transcripts and many more.  All the above books are available in different languages as well including Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and English. Cotton hand bags with long strap were on sale here with the logos of the Asram.  They are so useful to carry along that I bought many to gift my friends and family.  I also bought the Diaries that carried Pictures and quotes of Ramana Maharishi.  

With that we walked out of the Ashram and were back on to the Parikrama of the Arunachalam Hill.  My experiences of this walk deserve another blog altogether hence I will detail them later.