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Showing posts from April, 2020

SPRING 2020!

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Ah Spring! Nothing like the fresh greens and explosion of flowers in spring! Mother Earth's bounty, after a few months of winter, the change in landscape is special! Every year, I wait with bated breath as first the snow-drops make their appearance, followed by daffodils, primulas, magnolias, hyacinths and cherry blossoms and then the magic happens - the leaves appear, the green so fresh, so heart-touchingly green, I pause, I keep taking pictures but then they never ever match what the human eye and heart can see and feel! There is something so special about this green against the backdrop of the blue blue skies, probably after months of gray scapes, it fills me with such optimism and joy!

Kerala Puja Flowers

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I grew up in my hometown of Trichur, Kerala. Vadukkunathan temple, Kuttangulangara, Sankarangulangara, Paramekavu, Thiruvambady, Punkunnum Shiva Kshetram, Ponganam Ramaswamy temples and the temples in my ancestral village Trikkur were some of the temples we visited quite often. Early in the morning on any monsoon day, with the rain and the accompanying gentle breeze, visiting a temple was something special, something I treasure, especially some of my visits to Vadukkunathan temple and Trikkur temples during this season. Kerala temples with their conical tile structures, burning oil and ghee lamps, the smell of sandal paste, turmeric paste, home grown local flowers and leaves as adornments are special - very earthy and powerful. No artifice is allowed here. One mandatorily has a hair bath before entering the temple. There is such an emphasis on purity(hence local flowers and ingredients) and cleanliness, that one can't help but feel pure and serene. The electric lighting within