Coorg - The Scotland of India

Railway station clock was ticking 10 past 11, I was sitting in station with a band of doubts combined with a twine of happiness.

My bestie from college had got into the train by 09:00 pm in Chennai. I was supposed to get into train by 11:25. Female voice in station had announced that the train will be delayed by 10 minutes. I waited impatiently in the station.

The waiting time had just casted the events which had happened 2 days back. I should have been in train to Kerala by this time.

A sudden craving for a snack resulted in a series of catastrophic events. A small accident had made my roommate bed-ridden. I was at least relieved to know that there was nothing serious and just that she needed more rest.

So what next? I had to plan something real fast. Only two days left. And most importantly I need to find friends who can join me for this trip.

I bounced back to reality when the female voice announced again about the arrival of Kaveri express in platform No 1.

My bestie from college was waving her hand at me from train. I got into the train with all smiles. 

After all, a trip with your bestie is all the more special than anything else in the world.

I had asked my college best friend to join me for this trip. But she was very reluctant to go on a girls alone trip(So much concerned about safety you see), because of which we ended up in pulling her fiancé from Hyderabad.

So finally we are three.

We reached Mysore station by 6 am in the morning. Her fiancé was already waiting for us in the station. We headed out together to enquire some travel agency for a car.

There we are. Headed towards Coorg.

Though we had booked at the nick of time, we got a good deal for hotel(INR 1700). We got refreshed and left to Abhey falls.

Day 1 Abhey Falls 
We had to do a small trek to reach the falls. Lush green trail en route falls was good. Falls with old rickety bridge offered a good view.

Brahmagiri Hills  
We started to Brahmagiri hills after Abbhey falls. Half the way, my friend had got sick, so we decided to drop the plan and returned to the hotel.

Raja's Seat 
As Raja's seat is in close proximity to our hotel, we decided to see sunset there. The hues of sunrays made the sunset really splendid. The name Raja's seat was given to the place because the Raja used to see sunset from here. 

There is a small light and sound show everyday from 6:45 to 7 pm. There is also a toy train ride available in Raja’s seat. While returning to hotel from Raja's seat, we chanced upon a temple and went on to explore it.

We had decided to set out early next day morning  before sleeping.

Day 2
We were out of our room by 6:45 am. We proceeded first to Dubare elephant camp. The route was full of coffee plantations. After all it is Coorg, Coffee country you see.

Dubare Elephant camp 
Dubare Elephant camp looked alluring with the early morning sun rays piercing through the thickets of trees. We were extremely happy that we made it to the place early in the morning, as only few were there and that made the place all the more charming.

We need to cross river Cauvery to go to Dubare Elephant camp. There were two options; Either you can take a boat or cross the river by foot. Being January, water level wasn’t higher. So we decided to cross by foot. That was all the fun.

After crossing, we lazed around in the elephant camp admiring the elephant stable built there. As the elephant ride was very crowded, we didn’t try it.

Kaveri Nishargadham
The entrance to Nisargadhama is a hanging bridge which leads you to the park. There are few tree house like watch towers. We climbed the tottering stairs to enjoy the view. A deer park, Small Zip lining, Boating options were all available there.   

Watch towers

Tibetan Monastery (Golden Temple) 
Enroute Mysore, we stopped at Bylakuppe to see the South India’s Tibetan Monastery. The monastery was well-maintained with beautiful garden around it. On entering the monastery, there was absolute peace inside.

We headed towards Mysore for boarding our train to Bangalore(From Bangalore we had booked another train to our place). Least I knew that time that there was going to be a series of adventures followed.

Adventures that followed
We got into the train at the eleventh hour. As soon as we got in, we got to know that the booking was for the next day. As our booking was tatkal, done by my friend’s cousin, we didn’t check the dates. 

As we had nearly 6 hours in hand, we got down to board bus to Bangalore. And the bus was struck in traffic for hours. That had made us reach Yeshwantpur station at the last minute. We ran from platform no 1 to 6 to get into the train just a minute before starting.

Overall Trip cost  : INR 4000
Month of trip        : Jan'15
No of days of trip : 2 Days

A Quick Escapade to Kerala

What do you do when you get tuesday as an official holiday?

Take leave on monday and head somewhere new! That’s what I usually do.

Being Onam time, I thought of making it to Kerala to lose myself in the beauty of spectacular snake boat race and Onam celebrations.

Tatkal train ticket attempt miserably failed. And I was heartbroken to have home-ridden on a combined holiday. I badly wanted to go somewhere.

Finally I pulled one friend to join me for this trip. Since bus option too failed, we decided to board the train without reservation along with my roommate(Whose ticket is already confirmed) and pay the fine amount. LOL.

We enquired TTR for availability of seats. There were no extra seats available in train. So we three somehow adjusted ourselves in side lower.

These little discomforts, I would bear cheerfully, when it comes to travel.

Cochin - Willingdon Island
We heard that lot of couple photo shoots used to happen in this island. It was indeed a picture perfect island

Picture perfect willingdon island

After lazing around in the island for sometime, we took a ferryboat to Ernakulam for our lunch and kerala saree shopping.

Lunch in a real naatu kadai(A local shop). Parotta and Chicken curry was out of the world.

Munnar
Straggling Tea plantations carpeting the placid hills make it an ideal destination for honeymooners and backpackers.

We checked into Cuckmere resort, Chitrapuram at night.

The resort we stayed was too good having a balcony with superb views overlooking a dam. We could hear hushing of water below.

View from the room

Blossom Hydel Park
The park was well maintained. A good get-away near Bus stand itself.

Strolling in Blossom hydel park

Photo point of Mattupetty 
The perfectly lined up trees in the tea garden surrounded by bed of tea garden. Isn't this green soul soothing?

Flower show in Munnar 
Having varieties of exotic flowers, it’s absolutely a treat to our eyes.

Kumarakom - The Rice bowl of Kerala

Hotel we stayed wasn’t that good except for the balcony facing an emerald green fields.

While ferrying through the Vembanand lake, the lake was so large that it seemed never ending at some point.

Pathiramanal island 
We did enquire for a visit to pathiramanal island. But since it seemed costlier, we dropped that plan and headed to Mararikulam beach.

Mararikulam beach 
We were totally mesmerized by the white sands, turquoise blue colored sea with the backdrop of blue sky and lush green coconut trees.

Nannari lemon juice is a must try in the beach.

What is Onam celebration without Sadya?(Sadya is a feast consisting of variety of vegetarian dishes usually served on a banana leaf in Kerala)

We had our palatable Sadya in Travancore Palace, Chertala.

Travancore Palace

Did I say how we had to skip the much awaited snake boat race in Neerettupuram?

As we started our trip spontaneous, we didn’t have time to frame our plan. We missed to check the time of Snake boat race before booking our tatkal return ticket. Snake boat race starts around 2:30 pm at Neerettupuram. We had booked our train by 4 pm from Allepey. That implied we had to miss the boat race this time.

Nevertheless our impulsive escapade ended with delightful memories.

You can check the official website for date of Snake Boat race. And do check their facebook page for the time.

https://www.keralatourism.org/festivalcalendar.php

Month of Trip :  Sep'16
No of days       :  3 Days
Overall Cost   :  INR 6500

Experiencing Durga Pooja for the first time

Everyone must have dreamt of visiting Kolkata during Durga Pooja for all the charm it brings. Being an annual hindu festival, it is mostly celebrated in eastern states of India. Especially this is the largest festival of Bengali Hindus. 

As told by our friend, the celebration actually goes on for 5 days and those five days were declared as official holidays in West Bengal.

First day of Durga Pooja -Shashthi (also the sixth day of Navrathri) marks the procession of bringing in the deity(Aagaman). The beautifully decorated idols were brought to the home or to the magnificent pandals.

Second day - Saptami takes place on the seventh day of Navrathri. Early in the morning, a small banana plant called Kola Bou is taken to the river to be bathed and dressed in a red bordered sari and carried back in a procession to be placed near the idol of the Goddess, which literally means bringing in the pran of Ma Durga to the idol. This is then followed by ritualistic prayers and pooja, which will take place for all the remaining days of the festival(Ashtami, Navami, Dashami).

 “A youth spent without stories to tell is no youth at all”

Third day- Ashtami
Being one of the auspicious day, a day long fasting is undertaken by people. On this day, a holy pot filled with water and spices, is decorated with mango leaves with a cocunut kept on top of it where the face of Ma Durga is drawn and worshipped. Weapons of Goddess Durga are also worshipped on this day. 

Come on! Enough of theories.  Let me bring out the celebrations of Durga Pooja from my very own experience from Navami(9^th day).

Forth day - Navami

For the much awaited Durga Pooja celebrations in our friend’s home, I and my roommate boarded train to Jamshedpur. As per schedule, our train was supposed to reach Jamshedpur by 9 am. Our plan was to reach his home on Navami to witness the Aarathi pooja.

Goddamn train! We had to miss the Aarathi pooja celebrations because of 8 hours train delay.

Nevertheless we were lucky enough to treat ourselves with Bhog(Offerings made to the Goddess Durga which is later distributed among the devotees). Bhog – Chachada, Kichadi(And I love pronouncing these dishes' name).

Dandiya Dancing

While eating, our friend’s mother asked us whether we were interested in dancing. Being someone who is always open to opportunities, I instantly said with a glee that we were interested, thus pulling my roommate’s leg. After having food, we went to the dance practice room. 

Since they had also just started practising, it was easy for us to join them. We practiced for an hour and went on stage to perform.

Ready for Dandiya Dancing

Glimpses of Dandiya Dancing in front of Ma Durga.

Go Pandal Hopping

After the gala night and scrumptious dinner, we started on the so called “Pandal Hopping” by 11:30 pm. For all those who wonder what does pandal hopping literally mean? 

Pandal Hopping is just “Hopping from one pandal to the other pandal to witness the varied forms of Ma Durga residing in.” Pandals are where highly decorated, life sized idols are kept.

When my friend mentioned about pandals, we imagined a normal pandal where Ma Durga idol will be kept. But the actual pandals were a matter of extravaganza. We were spellbound at the colossal construction of gorgeously decorated pandals emphasized with varied themes.  

Numerous pandals were set up showcasing the creativity of people.  

Awfully alive night

True to the adage that pooja days are the days where the city doesn’t sleep, we were stunned to see the jam-packed crowd all through out the night. We saw people of different ages dressed in their best attires waiting in the queue to get a glimpse of Ma Durga in the pandals and to celebrate the victory of good over evil. The whole city was lit in various colours making the night awfully alive. There were also plenty of street foods options available near every pandals.

Kashidih Pandal

We first ventured out to Kashidih pandal. We were awestruck at the brightly lit mammoth construction. The theme was to depict the varied dance forms of India from kathakali to nongkrem dance. 

The different dance forms were portrayed inside small clay pots arranged in stack which looked even more adorable. 

Ma Durga of Kashidih Pandal was mind-blowing matching with the overall set.

Tuiladumri Pandal

From there, we hopped to Tuiladumri Pandal, which was having a theme of Monastery beautifully lit in gold. Both the interior as well as the exterior decoration of the pandal detailed the theme of monastery.

Sidhgora pandal  

We further hopped to Sidhgora pandal. The speciality of this pandal was that it was centered on the theme of a current event. It was depicting the scene of Nepal earthquake with high rise buildings falling and helicopters flying on rescue mission. I marveled at the hard labour being put to create such a mighty construction.

                                          

Adhityapur Pandal
Though we were totally exhausted from all the walking, we hopped onto our car, with the zeal to see the best pandal of Jamshedpur and progressed towards Adhityapur. That was a huge globe shaped pandal depicting World peace. 

There was a queue for about two kilometers. The sight of which made us even more exhausted. Nevertheless the fervor to see the best pandal kept us moving.

The idols depicting Ma Durga with a ferocious lion and mahishashur in her chamunda avatar.

I heard from my friend’s cousin that the rich people spend crores of rupees on pandals and it’s a matter of pride for them to host the best pandal in their locality. Some of the other pandals which we saw that night.

We retired back home after pandal hopping by 5:30 am.

Fifth day- Dashami
Sindhoor Daan Ceremony

Next day morning we woke up late to the tang of homemade noodles. We were asked to come down for the Sindhoor Daan ceremony around 11 am. 

The married women dressed in their traditional Bengali saree(White saree with red border), first applied red sindhoor to Ma Durga idol. And then they applied sindhoor to other married women, exchanging sweets and hugs among one another.  The view of all married women with red sindhoor applied on their faces, was charming.

Exchanging Sweets and Hugs

The purest of joy

Visarjan

The tenth day, also known as Dashami marks the visarjan(immersion in water) of the idol with grand celebrations and processions. It is believed that on this day, Goddess Durga gained victory over evil. After having our platter of piquant Bengali dishes made by our friend’s mother, we set out for the immersion ceremony.

Kids with Ma Durga in the procession van

The procession was there to carry the Goddess to the river to be immersed in water(symbolizing Durga’s reunion with Shiva).

In Jamshedpur, they took the Goddess to subarnarekha river for the immersion ceremony. All the way, people were dancing to the beats irrespective of age, gender.

On reaching the subarnarekha river, there were announcements on removing the plastic from the idol before immersion. I was happy to hear such announcements as to some environmental measures were being taken before immersion of the idol.

Visarjan

After Visarjan, we reached back home and got refreshed to treat ourselves with an appeasing food.

As we had planned to start to Kolkata next day early morning, we bid bye to other people in the apartments after dinner. 

Kolkata – City of Joy

By 6 am, we started in steel express to Kolkata. We checked into our Hotel Lindsay by 11 am.

Pandal Hopping in Kolkata

After refreshments, we headed to Bhojahori Manna for treating our taste buds with an authentic Bengali food. After which we hopped onto a metro station to board metro train to Jatin Das park for pandal hopping. Our friend’s cousin who is a local of Kolkata, had informed us to see few not to miss pandals of South Kolkata -Tridhara, Maddox square, Deshapriyo park. We could see creativity at its best in all these pandals.

Tridhara

Other pandals which we saw en route.

Though we had plans to visit other pandals(Ekdalia, Singhi park and Hindustan club), we returned back to room to find some rest.

Next day, we explored the iconic places of Kolkata before boarding our flight at night.

This grand social event of Durga Pooja showcases the beautiful culture of Bengalis in India and is a must experience for those who love the varied cultures of India.

We were lucky enough to have a Bengali friend to experience the best of Durga pooja.

For those who doesn’t have a Bengali friend, here's a way you can make your dream come true. There are many Durga Pooja tours being organised by Government as well as private agencies while the most prominent one being the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation. Here's the link below!

https://www.wbtdc.gov.in/

Month of Trip       - Oct'16
No of days of trip  - 5 Days
Overall Trip Cost - INR 9000