Durga Pooja: Pandal Hopping

I had been planning to do this for the last 3 years for Maya, a blog follower from the US. She had mailed me long ago asking me to visit C R Park and get her photos from there to refresh her memory of the place she grew. Somehow the plan never materialized until yesterday.

Thanks to being surrounded by some wonderful Bangalis I went pandal hopping to pray to the Goddess in her majestic best. Lopamudra was the official guide and she was generous enough to take me around the pandals in South Delhi. Others joined in later and we had a fantastic time. Some photographs from yesterday.

From right to left: Sangeeta, Meghna, Supriya, Lopamudra, Shweta

Huge pandals like this one were set up across C R Park and GK-II.

The detailing of the decorations was nothing short of brilliance. This artificial tree had everything, green leaves, bee hives, nests and birds.

The lighting inside the pandals was done very artistically and added to the pious atmosphere.


Goddess in her various majestic moods!

These special drums are called dhaks and are decorated with beautiful cloth pieces and faux feathers.

Dried coconut fibre is burnt in these earthen pots along with incense. Men and women dance to the tune of the dhaks holding these earthen pots. This dance is called Dhunuchi Naach.

This young boy danced and played the gong like instrument close to 40 minutes to accompany the dhaks.

There was a beautiful dance performance about the various tales associated with the Goddess.

The streets were lit with lights and children and a few adults (like my friends and I) indulged in the merriment by blowing soap bubbles.

The streets were lined with numerous shops selling yummy snacks. I discovered Puchkas (a brother of the Delhi Gol Guppas) and fell in love

There were other things for sale as well like candy floss etc.

That was the day I had. It was fantastic. I'm already waiting for next year and doing this again :-)


Happy Bijoy Dashmi everyone!


Will post a couple of videos tomorrow :-)

Let the Celebrations Begin!

I donned the chef's hat to welcome the festive season in style and made a crème caramel. Friends and family said it tasted as good as it looked :-)

Diwali In Delhi

Happy Diwali to everyone across the globe. May the festival of lights brighten all our lives and bring prosperty to everyone.

There were no celebrations in our house this time, since my paternal grandfather passed away recently. No festivals will be celebrated in our house for the whole of this year.

The city however was as usual in its festive best.


Ansal Plaza decorated with festive lights for Diwali
Pooja (prayer) in office.

Rakhi

Today is Raksha Bandhan. Sisters tie an ornate thread on the wrist of their brothers on the occasion and brothers pledge to protect their honour. Sisters of all age groups, the younger ones are most excited, select the best of rakhees for their brother/s and look forward to getting gifts from them.

Rakha Bandhan

Since I had been missing from the blog scene for some time now, I decided to cover up by posting two pictures. India has been in a festive mood for two straight days. Yesterday was our Independence Day and today was the festival of Rakhsha bandhan, that celebrates the relation of brothers and sisters. The sisters tie a silk thread called Rakhi, on the wrist of their brothers, asking them to pledge protection of the sister and the sister prays for a long life of her brothers. The photo is of a sweet shop. Sweets is a big BIG part of festivities in our part of the world. The long threads dangling from the roof are 'Rakhis' that the shopkeepers used to decorate their shops. It sure did work as the crowd proves.