holiday


Headless Goddesses of Tamilnadu

About a year back, I visited Padavedu in Tamilnadu and absolutely loved it. The fact that it was technically a forest really enticed me. It was full of paddy crops and coconut & banana trees among other things. Life seemed to be relatively stress free and people, content. My 4g Internet connection worked fine. What else does one need? I could actually see myself living in such a place with no pollution and organic food by default!

Paddy fields in Padavedu

Padavedu is nestled near mountains

The name Padavedu came into being Since Princess Renuka (who later became goddess Renuka) camped there with her army and the sacred place was named “Padai Veedu” (army encampment). This beautiful pastoral village was once the capital of Sambuvarayar Dynasty. Tamilnadu is full of myriad colourful temples. It was very interesting to see how there was one at literally every 10 metres! At one such prominent temple, I noticed that the statue of a goddess was outside the temple and that it was headless!

Headless goddess statue outside the temple

I asked people around me why that was so, and I was told that according to legend, Princess Renuka married Sage Jamadagni and had 5 sons (one of whom was Parshuram – Ram who wields the axe). She was a devoted wife who held such devotion that she used to carry a pot made purely out of unbaked clay every day to a river, to fill with water. The pot held its shape solely due to her devotion. One fine day, she saw beautiful Gandharvas at the river, frolicking around and having fun. Her attention diverted for a split second, and the pot held together by devotion, broke. When Sage Jamadagni learnt of this, he ordered his sons to decapitate their mother’s head. 4 of them refused under some pretext or the other and were consequently turned to stone by the sage. But when Parshuram (reincarnation of Lord Vishnu) arrived at the scene, he complied with his father’s wishes and indulged in matricide.

Since he had followed the instructions, he was awarded 2 boons by the sage. Needless to say after this matricide, all he asked his father was to reattach the head of his mother & to restore his brothers. The sage complied and now there are several temples all over south India that depict this legend with a headless goddess. There is a head kept separately that is annually prayed to, attached to the goddess and then again packed back. What a fascinating legend!

There are in fact several different oral versions of this legend. One has it that when Renuka’s head was restored, she multiplied into zillions of goddesses who went to separate regions in South India and all of these are now temples which are 1000’s of years old. Another version says that Renuka had fled to a low caste village, where Parshuram decapitated her and a low caste woman who was trying to help his mother. But when Sage Jamadagni reattached the heads, he mixed the bodies. So the woman with Renuka’s body and a different head became Goddess Renuka and the low caste woman with Renuka’s head became Mother goddess Yelamma. In fact Renuka Lake in the Renuka Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh, is named after the same goddess!

Apart from these temples there are just so many fascinating temples in Tamilnadu which are over 1000’s of years old. All I could do on my Chennai to Delhi flight was wonder about the secrets & fascinating legends that these ancient temples held! 

 



Pet friendly trips

“Happiness is a warm puppy” ~ Charles M Schulz

Every animal lover knows what this means. The unconditional love from our furry friends gives us humans a lot of happiness and for most pet owners their pets are like their children. Is it any surprise then that when families travel, they would want to do so in the company of their beloved pets? Pet boarding is not always an option pet parents can go in for. It’s not very easy finding one that suits their dog and the pet parent would constantly worry about their pet. And even leaving them with a friend or someone else in the family is also heartbreaking. Our pet (like most others) used to stop eating whenever that would happen.

European countries have always been way ahead of us in terms of pet friendly services. When I lived in Finland, It was very strange for me to see that pets were allowed everywhere, on all modes of transport. So one could see them in trams, trains, boats & buses. Watching a pet climb down an escalator is not a rare sight there at all! And pets are also allowed into hotels, cafes, restaurants etc and are an equal part of public space. So why then do we not have more pet friendly options in India? Hopefully things will change soon.

Currently the ease of taking pets on trains/planes in India is almost negligible. It is a tough process and there is not much help around the actual implementation of it, even if one wants to follow all rules and take one’s pet aboard. Right now Indian railways allows pets on board but ONLY in first class or first class AC compartments, so you can’t travel with your pet in any of the other AC classes or even second class. And you need to buy all 4 tickets or 2 tickets for all 4 berths in that area or you need to have people in those berths (basically family) ok with your pet. Because one complaint from anyone in the entire coach and your pet can be shifted to the luggage compartment!

As for airlines, not all airlines operating in India take pets. Only some do, and only on certain sectors on certain days and they have only a certain number of pets that can fly on that particular day. So one has to do a lot of advance planning. Sometimes even airline staff is clueless about the process and documentation involved. Moreover most pets (beyond a certain size which is very small) travel as cargo and it’s pretty traumatic for them. So the safest and most convenient bet would be a roadtrip where the pets are constantly under your own supervision and things like other passengers and air pressure or temperature of cabin are not things you need to worry about. 

 

Now coming to where pets can stay with you during your vacation, we are just *beginning* to get into the realm of pet friendly hotels. When I search for hotels near me that are also pet friendly, most of them are accommodation sharing rentals, like airbnb and oyo rooms, which are ok with lending rooms to pet parents with extra charges. Some big hotel establishments are also getting there, but we definitely need more of them. We also need facilities like walking/playing areas etc for pets at the hotel. Keeping all this in mind, Pet friendly trips anyone? Book best hotels near your location



10 reasons to stay at Treehouse Anuraga Palace when visiting Ranthambore

Some time back I had the opportunity to visit Treehouse Anuraga Palace at Ranthambore and my stay there was quite fulfilling. Here are the reasons why you should plan a stay there on your visit to Ranthambore. 

Close to Ranthambore tiger reserve & fort

The main attraction – the Ranthambore tiger reserve hosts not only magnificent Tigers but many other exotic animals including Leopards, Jackals, Foxes, Black Bucks, Deer, Nilgai, Sloth Bears, Desert Cats, Mongoose, and a large number of birds including peacocks, darter, treepie, quails, and many many others. The Treehouse Anuraga Palace hotel is very conveniently located from the reserve. The Ranthambore fort is another must visit attraction which is in the same reserve. It hosts a well known temple – The Trinetra Ganesha Temple which is famous for having Lord Ganesha and all of his family together at one place. 

 

Right next to the artistic sawai madhopur railway station

The Treenhouse Anuraga Palace is very very close to the very artistic Sawai Madhopur railway station. The distance is barely 5 minutes by car. Hence reaching their by train or by road is most convenient.

Beautiful architecture & elegant decor

The architecture of the Treehouse Anuraga Palace is very nice & majestic. Not only does it have the typical Jharokhas, chhatris, jaalis & the haveli look of Rajasthani architecture, the rooms are also decorated in a palatial way. It has a central courtyard with a fountain and garden seating is available for tea/coffee. It has been built according to vastu and one corner of the campus has a high tower for auspiciousness. One look at the hotel, and you know it’s not your typical modern building and you are in for a different experience. Moreover the decor is fabulous and has been catered to personally by the family that owns it. The entire hotel has light curtains which flow with the breeze and give the place a very nice relaxed ambience.

Architecture complying to vastu

Architecture complying to Vastu

Beautiful Architecture of Treehouse Anuraga Palace

Beautiful Architecture of Treehouse Anuraga Palace

Flowy curtains in all corridors

Flowy curtains in all corridors

Elegant Decor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organic veggies & organic milk from shabri farm

The Treehouse Anuraga has a restaurant named Basant. Open from Morning till late night, it serves a variety of dishes from across the globe. The breakfast buffet is lavish and so are the other meals. The best part however is that all veggies and milk products used in their daily meals are organic! Not only that, all these come from their own farms! I had the opportunity to visit their farm a little distance away from the hotel. It is a haven that one can only dream of owning. Veggies and fruits growing without pesticide, compost being made at the farm and cows/buffalos having a variety of healthy stuff that makes their milk more flavourful – are some of the sights one sees. No pesticides or antibiotics used anywhere – which is how our daily intake should be but isn’t. Even the chutneys and pickles present at the buffet are organic and have been prepared at the farm. When was the last time you ate so healthy?

Shabri farms

Amla trees at Shabri farms

Amla trees at Shabri farms

Onions and garlic drying

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pigeons at the farm

Dairy area at Shabri farm

Dairy area at Shabri farm

All veggies including organic ones are grown at Shabri farms

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hospitality & family feeling

Rajasthani hospitality is famous. Considering that hotels are a part of the hospitality industry, one would assume that the service would be great. But more often than not one finds that to be lacking. Not at Treehouse Anuraga though! Every single member (and I do mean every single member) of the staff, no matter how senior or how junior, smiles and greets all the guests. It doesn’t stop just there. They will ask you how comfortable you are and try to increase that comfort even more. At the restaurant also, The chef and cooks are friendly and will offer to make your favourite dishes if you feel that you don’t want anything from the buffet. The homely tradition of insisting that your guests take some more servings of the food even when they are full, is actually followed here! Waiters and the staff at the restaurant insist on pouring something more into your plate or getting that one extra chapati or customizing your meal. It feels like one is eating with family and not with strangers at a hotel.

Spa services

 

Spa area

Spa services are also available at Treehouse Anuraga. It is not the full range of services like Spa, steam and Sauna but the spa massages are good. There’s a variety of massages available. They have 2 lady masseurs and 2 gents. I tried the “Lomi Lomi” massage which is derived from the ancient polynesians and is performed using the forearm, knuckles and palms. This helps in toxin release and improving muscle strength. Most massages are available for 60 or 90 minutes. One has to make an appointment in advance. I found the massage very relaxing. This was followed by a hot bath that seals all the moisture in.

 

 

 

Special dining at rooftop

The hospitality I mentioned earlier, goes one step further. If one wishes, one can dine at the rooftop under a specially painted canopy for a sit down meal. You can tell your meal preference in advance and then you will be served various courses at the rooftop privately, instead of having a buffet meal at the restaurant. Since the stuff is not cooked at the rooftop, they have an arrangement of a microwave to reheat anything in case it gets cold. I am sure later the facilities available at the rooftop will expand much more. And of course the view from the rooftop is to die for.

Magnificent view from the rooftop

Painted ceiling at the rooftop

The rooftop area all set for dinner

The table all set for sit down dinner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entertainment & Experiences

Treehouse Anuraga can arrange for the jungle safari if you haven’t booked a ticket for yourself already. The general public way is to book ticket online (no control over timing allotted) or to buy ticket from the ticket counter at the Ranthambore tiger reserve (one can still choose between morning/evening timings & type of vehicle). One can choose between a gypsy (6 seater) and a canter (12 seater). But all hotels in the vicinity also provide booking through their own agents and charge a fees over the ticket cost for the same. “Gypsy vs canter” is a thing for another post. Apart from the Jungle safari that the Treehouse Anuraga can arrange for you, they have a daily magic show in the evening and camel rides (paid separately) are available as well. They also have outdoor and indoor play areas for kids. An inviting swimming pool is also at the premises and can be used any time. In terms of experiences, they offer a whole plethora. The rooftop special dining also comes under that. A visit to the Shabri farm where all the organic veggies come from is another one. A sun downer at the Ranthambore fort is another – where one dines at the fort and a meal is served there while watching the sunset. Apart from this there are a host of other activities like evening tea, naturalist talks, wildlife films, available for the evening.

Tranquility

The Treehouse Anuraga is a quiet & serene place. There’s a temple at the premises and there are yoga sessions and Arti in the morning. Apart from this whatever suits you – a swim, meditation, prayers or spa treatment – everything to relax and achieve tranquility is available. 

Pool

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stunning rooms

This is the cherry on top of a luscious cake that is Treehouse Anuraga. The rooms, Especially the suites are absolutely mindblowing. The suites have been given the name based on the Indian Flowers of Jasmine, Rose, Marigold and Lotus and every element adds up to create a story around the theme. My family and I stayed in 2 thematic suites – Rose suite and Jasmine suite. These large spacious suites have a separate living area and bedroom area. Everything in the suites is decorated according to the theme. I must mention that all the decor is personally handled by the daughter of the owners of Treehouse Anuraga. Not only this , some of the paintings and artwork inside the rooms is also handcrafted by them. They are a family of multi-talented people!

The Jasmine suite

Matching bathrooms

Jasmine Suite

Jasmine Suite

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flouncy curtains in all rooms

Matching bathrooms

Rose suite with its painted ceiling

Rose suite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After going through all these reasons, what are you still waiting for? Visit TreeHouse Anuraga Palace to experience it for yourself 🙂 The best time to visit Ranthambore is October to June. The sanctuary is closed the rest of the months of the year.



Where to travel on long weekends of 2017 2

There are 14 long weekends in 2017, so it’s more than one long weekend every month! Even though one long weekend is already gone , there are still many others in 2017 to plan your travel for.

1. Republic Day – 26 jan weekend

Even though this long weekend has already gone, one can still visit relevant destinations that are enjoyable this time of the year. For eg. Dubai. Shop to your heart’s delight, try the grub, admire the man made islands, take a desert safari or just check out the souks.

 

2. Mahashivratri : Fri, 24 Feb

MahaShivratri is a holiday in most of India. Add to it the weekend of Sat, 25 Feb and Sun, 26 Feb and you have a long weekend. One can visit Agra (Taj Mahotsav) , Andaman Islands, Goa (Goa carnival) , Landsowne , Ooty. Wildlife sanctuaries in Rajasthan – check out  Jodhpur or Udaipur or Jaisalmer or Pushkar or Alwar for the lovely weather.

Udaipur : By: ivosandoval/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

 

3. Holi weekend: 11-13 Mar

11th and 12th are the weekend and Monday, 13th March is Holi. Celebrate Holi in Mathura, Visit Coorg to catch the white coffee flowers in bloom or again cities in Rajasthan (Jaipur , Jodhpur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Pushkar, Alwar) before summer kicks in.

Jaisalmer : By: zedzap/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

 

4. Gudi Padwa : 28th Mar

25th, 26th is the weekend, Take leave on Monday, 27 March and add Gudi Padwa holiday on 28th – you get 4 days! You can visit Rishikesh for white water rafting or Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangkok.

Bangkok : By: stuckincustoms/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

 

5. Ram Navami : 4th Apr

The weekend is on 1st and 2nd April. Take leave on Monday, 3 Apr. Ram Navami is on 4th April. With 4 days, you can visit Cappadocia, Turkey for hot-air ballooning, Tokyo for cherry blossoms, Srinagar for tulips, or Hong Kong for family fun time in Disneyland.

Hongkong : By: sprengben/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

 

6. Baisakhi/Good Friday/Easter weekend

Thu, 13 Apr: Baisakhi
Fri, 14 Apr: Dr Ambedkar Jayanti, Good Friday
Sat, 15 Apr : weekend
Sun, 16 Apr: Easter weekend

IF you can take leave on Mon, Tues, Wed (10,11,12 apr) then it becomes a REALLY long weekend for international travel.
You can visit Amritsar for Baisakhi, for the food, Wagah border change of guard ceremony ; Phuket for the Phuket Bike Week (11–16 Apr) and Bangkok for Songkran Festival (13–17 Apr)

Bangkok : By: michaelsarver/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

 

7. Labour day : 1 May

29 Apr & 30 Apr is the weekend. Monday, 1 May is May Day or Labour day. Travel to the north east to get relief from the heat. You can visit Shillong, Mashobra or Landour to beat the heat; Tadoba or Ranthambore to spot wildlife; or take a quick break Colombo in Sri Lanka.

Colombo : By: nazly/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

 

8. Eid Weekend : 26 Jun

24th and 25th June is the weekend and Eid is on 26th Jun

Travel to Hyderabad/Lucknow/Delhi for Ramzan Eid; Munnar for the monsoon; Dharamshala for camping/trekking. Try a different kind of Goa in monsoon. It is very cheap and also very lovely. Or Visit Srinagar for the cool climate.

Srinagar : By: gulfu/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

9. Janmashtami/Independence Day weekend : 14 Aug/15 Aug

12 Aug, 13 Aug are the weekend, 14 Aug is Janmashtami, 15 Aug is Independence day, Take leave on 16 Aug & 18 Aug, 17 Aug is Parsi New year, and 19, 20 Aug is again the weekend. Now this is the LONGEST weekend ever for travel!

Travel to Ladakh for picturesque views, Uttarakhand for Valley of Flowers; Salzurg, Austria for the Salzburg Festival (21 Jul–30 Aug); Tanzania for the great migration.

Salzburg : By: beuel_sued/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

10. Ganesh Chaturthi : 25 Aug

Take the Ganesh Chaturthi holiday on a friday and add the weekend to it. Visit Pune or Bombay for Ganesh Chaturthi or Bali for a beach break or Cherrapunji to watch water falls!

Guwahati : By: rao_anirudh/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

11. Gandhi Jayanti : 2 OCt

Weekend + Gandhi Jayanti . One can have a quick visit to Munich for Oktoberfest (16 Sep–3 Oct); Bhutan for the Thimphu Tshechu festival (30 Sep–2 Oct); Bandhavgarh for wildlife season; Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh for the pleasant weather, Gangtok for clear views of the Kanchenjunga

Bhutan : By: jmhullot/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

12. Diwali holidays

14, 15 Oct are the weekend. 16 Oct is Dhanteras, 17 and 18 Oct are Chhoti and Badee Diwali, Take leave on 19 Oct, 20 Oct is Bhaiduj and 21, 22 Oct is again the weekend! 9 days are long enough to visit exotic locations far away!

Visit Sydney/Melbourne for summer on the beach; Vancouver/New York for fall, Bhutan for the perfect season.

Sydney : By: pedrosz/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

13. Eid Weekend  : 1 Dec

Along with Eid-e-Milad, you get the weekend of 2/3 Dec. Travel to Nagaland for Hornbill Festival or Bharatpur for spotting migratory birds.

Dimapur : By: abrinsky/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

14. Christmas Weekend : 25 Dec

This is the Holiday season! 23, 24 Dec are the weekend and 25 Dec is Xmas. If you can use all your remaining leaves of the year then you get Holidays till 1st Jan! One can travel to Maldives/Australia/Singapore/Goa for New year festivities or  Manali for the snow or Pondicherry for a winter break.

Sydney : By: clintsharp/flickr.com used under Creative Commons License BY-SA

So what are you waiting for? Get out your travel boots on and travel away!


 


 


A drive till neemrana 1

The first 4.5 months of this year went in coping with the kneecap dislocation and the subsequent MPFL reconstruction surgery I had to get done to fix the ligament that got ruptured. This included intensive physiotherapy for 2 months and even though I am not 100% ok yet, I am at least “kaam chalau” ok. Good enough to go out and be social again. I’ll write more about the MPFL reconstruction journey later. For now I shall talk about another journey – one from Gurgaon to Neemrana, while driving myself (yes, a big deal after surgery) and that too in a brand new car – the new Tata bolt! I got invited by Blogadda to join in on this drive that was happening on 10th May. Even though I was a bit apprehensive about my driving a long distance after surgery as well as climbing stairs – after talking to Harish from Blogadda, I was assured that there were many other drivers and it wasn’t mandatory to drive. It was as per comfort level. In fact there was a participant who didn’t know how to drive, but I digress :).  As for the stairs, well some were to be climbed to get to our destination for the day, but I could skip anything else that seemed physically taxing for my knee for now. So off I set on Sunday morning, reached Galaxy hotel at the pre-decided time and was assigned to team no 1.  We were to drive the petrol version (revotron) of the car first, followed by an exchange with the diesel version at a pit stop.

After an intro round and some appetisers, Mr Sethi  from Tata Motors shared some of the features of the Tata bolt. They also announced a contest – the best picture of the day would win flipkart vouchers. After lunch, we got ready to leave. All the cars had an ice box that was filled with cold water, juices, lassi, lemonade and some assorted snacks. Much needed on the hot searing sunny day that was the 10th of May! They were also equipped with Samsung tabs using the “connectnext” technology, through which we were constantly in touch with “Captain Bolt” – for all practical purposes a mysterious voice that kept tabs on us, our whereabouts and our requirements 🙂 .. In reality a person of the Tata Bolt team who wasn’t a part of the cavalcade & also provided us some media to play during our long drive. All cars were RED in colour except the pilot car. Boy I love that colour! My team mates were Prasad – an angel investor amongst other things and Alok – An SEO specialist. Alok didn’t know how to drive … and then there were two :). Accompanying us was Anuja from the blogadda team. Since we were team no 1, we were the first ones to be flagged off. I decided to drive first for as long as I could drive and then hand over the car to Prasad. We first went to leisure valley grounds, where a track had been set up to test the suspension of the car. Once we were through that, we set out for Neemrana Fort Palace. The “Revotron” version has 3 modes of driving in the city – Sport (power), Eco (Mileage), City (Mix of both). We mostly drove in the city mode. Even on the highway on sports mode, the difference could not be discerned because of constant traffic jams. It felt great going for a long drive after a gap of more than 4 months. I didn’t feel the level of discomfort I had expected due to my knee and drove till the pit stop. Once there, we exchanged our car for the Diesel version and Prasad got behind the wheel. The hi-tech music system and the voice of Captain bolt kept us entertained throughout the drive. Soon we reached Neemrana. The heat was unbearable and I slowly troddled up to Jalgiri Mahal which overlooked the superlicious swimming pool! We had some refreshments and then it was time for a tour. The group went ahead while I decided to skip this part. However, I did venture out on my own and caught a glimpse of the Hawa mahal.

The place was seeped in history, and sounds of birdcalls & their echoes. Parrots and peacocks roamed around unafraid of human contact. It was strange seeing huge trees growing over by the stairs and what not. Small little peepholes in the parapets of the fort had been converted to toilets with a view! Bougainvillea creepers adorned the palace and in some parts they covered whole walls like ivy. There were tiny little manmade ponds all over the property at various heights. And a swimming pool of course. Wonder what it would have been like in ancient times.

The inviting pool on a sweltering day!

The superlicious inviting pool in the sweltering heat! #neemrana #boltdrives @tatabolt @blogadda #cinemagram

A video posted by Twilight Fairy (@twilightfairy) on

 

Soon the tour ended and the entire gang came back. We all had high tea and watched a folk performance. I was still uploading my instagram images from the day and making Cinemagraphs (Animated GIFs made with short video clips) when the prizes were announced. I shouldn’t have worried cos the only image I had managed to upload by then, won me the best image of the day award! 🙂 The prize was flipkart vouchers worth 4K. But the bigger surprise of the day was yet to come when Tata Motors announced the results of a blogging contest that had already happened a month or so back. And one of the bloggers  – Ragini – won a brand new Tata Bolt! I am sure everyone wanted to be in her place at that moment :).

My winning image!

 

  Eye of the tiger! @tatabolt @blogadda #boltdrives   A photo posted by Twilight Fairy (@twilightfairy) on

Cinemagraph of the folk performance

Soon it was time to leave and although this was a touch and go trip, it was still worthwhile. I clicked some more images of the fort palace that were appreciated by Neemrana properties as well.

Twilight at the Neemrana fort, clicked by twilight at the Neemrana fort 😉

 

The magnificent sun set as viewed from #neemrana fort. #boltdrives @tatabolt @blogadda #ipadography #panorama

 

A photo posted by Twilight Fairy (@twilightfairy) on

On the way back we had the diesel car with us throughout and since I had not driven that variant I decided to drive for as long as was comfortable. The journey back was again full of laughter, jokes, friendly jibes and of course Captain bolt’s announcements. He also conducted a quiz about the features of the car and we all won Bookmyshow vouchers. If only, we had won cars instead ;). Around halfway, I again did an exchange with Prasad and sat in the backseat. The car is comfortable and has enough leg room. We reached Galaxy hotels at 9:30 pm and after the entire gang bade farewell (which almost drowned the sound of a shaadi band) we all headed home with new experiences and friends. It was a Sunday well spent at #Boltdrives with BOLT from Tata Motors and Blogadda especially since there were prizes involved 🙂