Travel Buffet

...Continued The only reason my sister-in-law was moving forward was to see Lord Jagannath who we thought was next to follow Lord Balaram. So with that thought in mind, we waited for the red and black chariot to cross us with a wave of crowd bigger than what we felt for Lord Balaram. But there were hardly any people around and we got a good darshan of the deity inside the beautifully decorated red and black chariot. Everyone was still shouting 'Jai Jagannath' but the magnitude of the collective voice was not so much. We were so happy and surprised at the same time. And I was relieved. Subradra's Chariot at Gundicha Temple Crowd cheering for Subadra Again, I tried convincing my sister-in-law to go back home because I felt it was fine if we missed Subhadra's procession. But she said that we might not be able to visit again so we might as well get this over with. I think I panicked more than my little niece on that occasion. In my defense, I couldn...

We started from home around noon after watching the news about the inauguration of Ratha Yatra. This was initiated with a Ganesh pooja and a Shiva pooja. Now, Lord Jagganath is a form of Vishnu, or to be precise a form of his poorna-avatar, Sri Krishna. I was so shocked to hear that Shiva pooja initiates the Ratha Yatra. My cousin, whose house in IIT - Jatani I stayed in, told me that in north (Odisha is in the east but for anyone who comes from the five southern states of India, everything else is north India) it is very common. Down south, there is no question of Shiva and Vishnu deities in the same temple let alone one kick starting the rituals for another. So after watching a shocking news about the commencement of the Ratha Yatra, my cousin, his wife, his little girl and I started towards Puri to meet the Lord Himself and clarify things. Jagannath Temple at the end of the horizon We tried to go by train but it was raining heavily and we presumed that given the festival sea...

I had just gotten married and was all set to visit different countries in Europe. My husband had to attend a conference in Brno, so we decided to spend our honeymoon in Czech Republic. Tram stop at Liberty square Brno is a small city near Prague , Czech Republic. We went there in February 2016 during winter. It was really cold for me as I come from a tropical country. Leather jacket did not satiate the purpose. On the way to Liberty Square from my hotel, there were several show rooms and restaurants and bars. We managed to buy a winter coat from Mango, at a very economical price, economical compared to Luxembourg. Since we were converting Euros to Koruna, everything seemed a little cheaper in Czech, especially Brno. When my husband was at his conference, I explored the city on my own a little. I visited Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul and took a 30 Kc ticket to the terrace. A panoramic view of the city under the sun from the lonely terrace filled my eyes complete...