Jallikattu Sport in Pongal Festival-Tamil Nadu/South India

In my Last Article on Pongal Festival. I was searching for a suitable live picture on jalli Kattu Sport During Pongal Festival In Tamil Nadu. You see one such live photo here. Courtesy: http://www.dinamalar.com As reported by the Press, a few die and a good many get injured while taming the bullock which is ferocious. But as you know the adventurous among the young risk even their lives to demonstrate their physical stamina and will to achieve their goal.

 

Pongal Festival.

Celebrate Pongal Festival Pongal, also known as Magara Sankranti, is celebrated by Tamils all over the world on the first Day of the Tamil Month Thai (pronounce it as 'thy') mostly synchornising with 14th of January every year. Pongal is the day when the farmers agriculturists thank God Surya for his Mercy towards tillers and show their gratitude by worshipping Him. In the early hours they draw Rangoli . http://cuisine.com/FestivalMakarSankranti.htm

Pongal Festival draws its very name by the Sweet Pongal, which is a boiled mix of rice, dhal, jaggery, coconut milk, cashew nuts, ghee, dry grapes and fruits. One has to be cautious about preparing this, since it is essential when to mix the jaggery boiled paste with the boiled rice. The flavour of a good pongal draws even the ones seated some 500 yards away. Along with Sweet Pongal, a sort of salt pongal is also prepared as a CONTRAST. The side dishes are aviyal, thayir vadai,etc.

For better understanding of these dishes, you may visit

http://ghayu.kaaninilam.com

or

http://hyderabadcakes.com/pongal-recipes-02.htm to name only a few sites on the subject. In Southern Districts of Tamil Nadu, there is a Jallikattu Festival on the following day, when bullocks and cows are decorated. A few bullocks are let loose with money and gifts tied to their horns, and those young lads who succeed in taming these bullocks get hold of these gifts. A good many are injured in the process also, but ambitious and bold young men of Tamil Nadu hardly look at the risk factor. These festivals in southern Districts are good attractions of foreign tourists also. Simply said, Pongal is a day of mirth and merriment. A good many of ortodox men and women visit temples and pray to God, as the day marks the beginning of the period of prosperity in a Tamil Year. You may hear the hymns recited in the pujas by clicking the site: http://www.mypurohith.com/Festivals/Sankranti.asp In short, Pongal signifies Sweet dishes and Rangolis, high-flying kites, and new dresses and greetings for everyone. The Government of Tamil Nadu distributes new clothes to nearly 10 million people.

What is Good Music ?

What is Good Music? You and I have grown enjoying the lullabies that mom sang when we were infants. Over the years, we developed an ear for the music that came from the environment, I mean the TV, the operas, the cinema, and the big big orchestra. Now, we listen to all types of music, the classical, the eastern and the western music. Several musical instruments also enchant us. Violin, Sitar, guitar lure us . What is good amongst these? It is relative. None is bad, if it pleases and relaxes you. For the job of "music" is to pacify your physique and drive you into an oblivion where you forget your physical ills of the moment to elevate yourself into a seventh Heaven of JOY. For me it is Carnatic music. When someone sings Bairavi, even when I am on some other job, I stand there to listen. For you it must be classical western. Or something else. Then, what is important in a music ? Is the rhythm, the tune, or the lyric or all? In our days, the lyric was most important. Nowadays it does not appear to be so. Words hardly matter in today's environment. There are ragas which are of particular value to the time in which they are tuned. In Southern India, we normally say : Early Morning Ragas: Boopalam, Morning: Hamsadhwani, Hindolam Noon: Thodi, Kamboji, Evening: Kalyani, Naattai, Bandu Varali Night: Anandha Bairavi, Nilambari, Sahana We have in our midst musicians who have elevated themselves to versatile scholars in the grammar of music. Dr.Bala Murali Krishna is one such musician who has done a lot of research in the field of new ragas. Apart from musicians we have also critics, who are not musicians themselves, but could pass on their value-based constructive criticism of any performance. Dr.Yesudas is known throughout the world for his heart rendering performances. you may visit his website to know more about his contribution. I am equally a fan of Bombay Jayashree, Nithyashree, Aruna Sairam, Unnikrishnan, whose performances make any listener spell-bound. The beauty of Carnatic music is that once you get accustomed to it, or say develop an ear for the particular type, you become a die-hard addict. Other music is taboo for you. There are many websites which give a lot of information about Carnatic music in the area of curing many ailments. You might have heard of the famous Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, the violonist turned cine-music-director whose melodies lure the folk and the masses apart from the classes. If you visit Chennai, in Southern India in the months of December and January, please do not forget to attend performances by any of our great carnatic musicians, both vocal and instrumental. After listening to the performances, you will agree, that yours was a thrilling one-time life experience.

Good Food, Good Music, Good Humour and Good Sleep

Good Food, Good Music, Good Humour and Good Sleep

Good Sleep

What is sleep ? What is sleeping ? Sleep is a Divine Gift. Every being sleeps. Not only homo-species. Animals sleep. Even as researchers put it, plants sleep. Sleep is a process by which the physical organs are allowed to rest for a while, giving time for repair and rejuvenation. When you and I sleep your mental alertness is down. But when after sufficient sleep, when you wake up, you find that you are alert and feel like fresh fish. But when you sleep more than what your physique needs, you drown yourself into a zone of laziness and lethargy. How much sleep you need, depends upon your age. How best you can sleep also depends on your age. When you and I age, we can't sleep for more than 6 to 7 hours a day. There are different stages in sleep, which zone I am not entering. There is a stage of deep sleep when you get dreams etc., . This is not our immediate concern here. Sometimes however you cannot sleep. Even with a pill. That is when you overburdened with stress situations. The emotive environment around may not allow you to sleep. This causes restlessness and anxiety. The other situation is when you overeat. When you treat your stomatch as a dustbin and put everything you find outside inside. You may be aware that when the stomach inner linings are uncomfortable with what has gushed in, they repulse. They rebel. sometimes, they succeed in throwing the intruder out, by upward reflexes. Which the doc may call vomiting. You may have feelings of nausea also when the stomach is uncomfortable. All these things you may learn when you study what food is most suited to you. BUT THIS IS NOT OUR CONCERN HERE. WE ARE CONCERNED HERE THAT YOU MUST NOT SLEEP OVER CERTAIN THINGS. We would like to stress that regular exercise is a need for your physical well being. So walk for a while every morning, even if you are not doing any other exercise. Walking briskly is a good exercise, when you push up your heart rate and give enough work for the cardiac system. For people past 50s walking will alone be enough to keep trim. Next thing, do not postpone things to morrow which you have to do today. Do not postpone things which you will have to do this moment itself. Sleeping over things which you may have to do may cause avoidable hardship resulting later. You might have heard of Kabir who said, Kal kare so aaj kar. AAj kare tho ab kar. The great Tamil Sage also stressed on this point by emphasizing that sleeping over things will harm the body and mind irreparably. There are things that you may have to do after a wait. There are things which require your immediate attention and execution. Always distinguish between the two. So, when I say, have a good sleep, do not be sleeping over. Bye.

Floral Tribute to Maha Vishnu 

VISUAL DELIGHT:

The floral icon of Lord Maha Vishnu installed in front of the main temple complex at Tirumala as part of the annual Brahmotsavam. TIRUMALA: Striking colours, coupled with a rich fragrance, pervaded the holy abode of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala where the annual Brahmotsavam is in progress. Over 250 reputed floral decorators from Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Coimbatore and Hyderabad, apart from the 400-strong workforce of the Garden department of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), are slogging round-the-clock to tastefully decorate the entire temple complex for the nine-day mega event. A staggering 170 quintals of different varieties of flowers, including chrysanthemum, scented lilies, ixora, anthuriums, orchids, coronations, lillums, cut flowers, tube rose, poinsettia, dahlia and salvia, not to speak of varied foliage plants, have already gone into the job of transforming the hill town into a floral paradise. Staggering count According to garden superintendent J. Gopinath, the daily requirement for carrying out the temple rituals alone during the current festival period is a whopping two and a half metric tonnes of flowers. The floral decorators focussed more on pepping up the inner precincts of the temple with the choicest of flowers. Though the TTD management, this time, has not made any appeal for donation of flowers, the temple is being flooded with several tonnes of flowers everyday, apart from receiving lakhs of rupees as donation for its 'Pushpanjali' scheme. Adding to the grandeur are the exquisitely-designed floral icons of the various incarnations of Lord Maha Vishnu set up in and around the temple. Courtesy: www.thehindu.com

Shub Rathri Nav Rathri

Nav Rathri Suba Rathri

Nav Rathri Festival In South India 

FESTIVAL TIME IN INDIA. FROM 4TH OF OCTOBER TO 12TH OF OCTOBER, THERE IS FESTIVITY ALL AROUND. IT IS A FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, DANCE AND MUSIC. IN ALL THE HOMES OF TAMIL NADU, A SPECIAL GOLU IS DISPLAYED. GOLUS ARE PART OF OUR TAMIL CULTURE. YOU FIND ALL IDOLS. COLOURFUL. RECOLLECTING MYTHS, PURANAS, HISTORY AND WHAT NOT. SOME IDOLS ARE PORTRAYALS OF POLITICIANS. SOME MOCK THE PRESENT WAY OF OUR LIVES IN A LIGHTER VEIN. EVERY HOME HOSTS THEIR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES. EVERY GUEST PARTICULARLY LADIES AND CHILDREN ARE ENCOURAGED TO SING TO THE DELIGHT OF THE PEOPLE IN AND AROUND. ALL LADIES WEAR TRADITIONAL SAREES MOSTLY SILK. CHENNAI T.NAGAR WEARS A FESTIVAL LOOK. ALMOST ALL WOMEN BUY NEW SAREES EITHER IN SILK OR COTTON. KANJIVARAM, DHARMAVARAM, BENGAL SILK,MYSORE SILK APARNA, THIRUPUVANAM ARE THE BRAND IN SILK CHETTINADU COTTON, BENGAL COTTON, POLY COTTON, VENKATAGIRI SAREE, KANCHI COTTON, URAYUR COTTON, ARE SOME OF THE COTTON VARIETIES. THIS APART THE USUAL SYNTHETIC SAREES, CHINA SILK ETC., POLYSTER SAREES. At Chennai Silks, Pothys, SM Silks, Nallys, in T.Nagar,chennai, you may not believe that there is hardly enough space to stand. AT THE DOMESTIC FRONT, STEPS IN STEEL OR WOOD OR EVEN CARD BOARD BOXES ARE SO ARRANGED AS TO PLACE IDOLS .IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HOW TO PLACE KOLU YOU MAY VISIT WWW.PANCHANGAM.COM NAV RATHRI IN TAMIL NADU IS SOMETHING TO BE EXPERIENCED. Traditionally, children are dressed in wonderful costumes, to appear as Krishna, Aandal, murugan, dancing girl, etc., and go to the neighbouring houses to invite them to visit their homes during evening. When they invite their friends, they also hiss in their ears, what is the sundal in their homes, to make sure their visit. HOWEVER, WITH ALL DRESS AND DANCE, AND SONGS, what attracts more, invites more is the TASTY SUNDAL (FRIED GRAINS MIXED WITH SALT, CHILLI POWER OR PEPPER, COCONUT AND MASALA) DISTRIBUTED AT THE END OF THE DAY, EACH DAY. EVERY DAY ONE VARIETY NOT TO BE REPEATED. KADALAI PARUPPU SUNDAL, PASI PARUPPU SUNDAL. KOTHUKADALAI SUNDAL. KAARAMANI SUNDAL. PATTANI SUNDAL. NILA KADALAI SUNDAL. MOCHAKOTTAI SUNDAL. EVEN TO THINK OF THEM MOUTH WATERS AND FLOWS LIKE GANGES. IT IS NOT SUNDAL ALONE. ON A FRIDAY, A SPECIAL SWEET PUTTU (SOME SORT OF MIX OF JAGGERY PLUS RICE STEAM BOILED) VERY VERY VERY TASTY. THE SPECIALTY IS THAT THE MOMENT THE DISH IS PREPARED THEY ARE CONSUMED ALSO. SOMETIMES LITTLE IS LEFT FOR DISTINGUISHED GUESTS. ON SATURDAY, GINGELLY URUNDAI (ELLU URUNDAI) IS PREPARED TO WARD OFF EVIL. SARASWATHI POOJA --SPECIAL KADALAI PARUPPU SUNDAL IN ALL HOMES. VIJAYADASMI SUNDAL - KOTHU KADALAI SUNDAL IN ALL HOMES. In Case you are desirous of preparing any sundal you may visit: www.ghayu.kaninilam.com ON SARASWATHI POOJA DAYS, books are arranged before Goddess Saraswathi. Few amongst us, also decorate along with Saraswathi, Vinayaka and Lakshmi to form a trio. We do Lakshmi Pooja. We hire the services of a purhoit sometimes, and if they are not available, we do the pooja ourselves. We make sure that all the dishes, like Vadai, Payasam, sakkarai pongal etc., are made. In the evening every home is a delight to watch. LADIES ARE welcomed with utmost respect and GIVEN SPECIAL KUNKUMA CHIMIZH, MANCHAL AND BLOUSE PIECE OF VARIOUS COLOURS. SOME GIVE ALSO SPECIAL DISKS. A few give special gifts like lucky vinayaka etc. ON VIJAYADASMI DAY, CRAFTSMEN PLACE THEIR TOOLS BEFORE GODDESS AND PRAY FOR CONTINUED GOOD GOING IN BUSINESS. IT IS ALL FUN, GAY AND MERRIMENT. VISIT INDIA DURING NAV RATHRI FESTIVAL