Rangoli Design At Puducherry

On my first day to Puducherry, I passed by the Beach Road and was surprised to see the whole road filled with Rangoli designs. There were more than 200 rangoli designs on the road. I was informed that the Rangoli competition was held during early hours of the morning whereby 200 people had participated in this event. I thought I would walk, later during the day and look closely at each design but by evening they had all disappeared. People had walked all over them.

Rangoli (also known as kolam) is the folk art, normally the geometrical designs made on the floor with colored sand, turmeric, sindoor (vermillion), rice powder and sometimes flowers too. It is normally done at the entrance of the house. It is considered very auspicious and believed to bring good luck and repel the evil from entering the house. It also has a soothing effect on the nerves and when made at the entrance of the house, it creates positive vibrations.

Some of the designs that I was able to capture from my moving car….

Some Captured moments In Puducherry

The road never looked so long when I was in good spirit. I could walk miles on end, alone, deep in my thoughts, not realizing how much path I had traversed. I had always loved walking, specially on a smooth path or on a muddy track. It gave me the opportunity to be with self, to think clearly. But today, every step was difficult. The pain in my foot protested. "Stop" it said "I cannot go for long" After every small step, I winced in pain. Should I ignore and move on? Was it worth it? I could take my medicines at night but I must go on…how can one stop living?….Pain was no excuse…..time does not wait……This moment would never arrive again….pain always returned but it had never hijacked my life...….."Stop" said the pain..pulling my nerve till I could acknowledge its presence. "Ouch!"…I turned around to look for a bench…..

What I liked best abt our guest house in #Puducherrywas the rock garden with the waterfall n small pond where colorful fishes swam fearlessly.. The food was good so was the comfort. I went with a big yoga group from Mumbai so we were clubbed into dormitory with ten women, it was like Bigg Boss experience with 50 shades of grey.....all other rooms were occupied so we had no choice but sit back n enjoy the live show of entertainment during early morning hours.

While we fussed around looking for a clean table to have our meals, the group of women sat comfortably on the floor enjoying their meals . There was no fuss over non-availabilty of fork n spoon or over a leaf of tissue paper. A simple Satvic food of ragi juice, lentil soup, pilaf and sprout salad was all they cared. Easily, they sat crossed legs, contentment writ on their face. I admired their attitude of enjoying each morsel of food n thanking Lord for this day.....

The Amazing Sea Shell Museum At Mahabalipuram

The trip from Puducherry to Chennai is not very long unless you stop by some interesting places of interest on route. I loved the road trip, because it was very scenic, specially during sunset when the red globe reflected on the calm waters that ran parallel to road. There were many interesting places we saw on route but ‘India seashell Museum’ was the highlight of this trip. 

Seashells museum is located at southern side of Mahabalipuram. A short walking distance from 5 Rathas (just follow the sign) although we did take a longer route by our vehicle.

There was entrance of course, Rs50 for the seashell museum and Rs30 more for the aquarium and an extra Rs100 if we wished to click pictures. But we spend more money in the seashell boutique that had amazing handcrafted thing made of shells like vases, boxes, key chains, fridge magnets, flowers, frames and also wall hanging.

It was sunny afternoon, the beautiful bright white entrance with rock garden and pond on one side and large shell installations displayed in the compound and on roof top of each building was very inviting, the compound itself had tiles in the shape of waves with embossed sea-animals and fishes. All around were the murals and graphics of shells in different shapes and form.

Far end, at the back side was a sea food restaurant, which we didn’t visit cause most of my friends were vegetarians.

The AC salon has amazing shells of different shapes and sizes, all in their natural form.

They were just cleaned and exhibited in large showcases against the wall and the tiny ones in the center showcases. There were display of wide range of sea shells, about 40,000 of them, collected by the founder (K Raja Mohamed) of the museum and their history. 

How beautiful must be that bed of sea where they grow in cluster. The divers are so lucky to be able to go underwater and find them in their natural habitat.

This shell really amazed me. Inside the shell were compartments shaped like a leaf….nature to be admired!!

There were four sections of display and in every section was a large handcrafted piece.

The aquarium was a smaller room with just few fish tanks with rare kind of fishes.

But the most interesting part was the shopping area and fish pedicure corner.

Came back home with few souvenirs from the shell boutiques, that included a shell box too.

Puducherry Is All About Spirituality

Puducherry had been on my agenda since last three years, every time I planned a visit, something went wrong and I had to cancel it. This year too, I fell and sprained my foot, one month before the visit but I decided to go even though I was in pain.

Most of our time was spend attending 21^st Yoga festival. Lectures, workshops and cultural programs drained out three days of our visit but it was enlightening and a good learning experience. Learnt a lot about meditation and the exercises.

During the last two days of our visit, we did spend time touring around the city visiting temples, beaches and also went for a boat ride.

We were staying in the White Town, that has the French influence everywhere. There are bistros and quaint restaurants all along the promenade. It is soothing and comfortable to spend the evenings sipping cups of coffee, dining or walking down, closer to the sea, for an evening walk.

We stayed in the Ashram’s New Guest House and really loved the solitude and the cleanliness of this place. There was a waterfall and rock garden in the center of this house, just outside the canteen.

We spend a day walking around Sri Aurobindo ashram. This Ashram has played a significant role in socio-economic-spiritual fabric of Puducherry. We went to embroidery section, dining hall and also to handicraft boutique.

We were not allowed to click pictures inside the ashram, but it was very beautiful. There was a Samadhi in the center of the compound and great variety of colorful flowerpots everywhere. There was a sweet, heady fragrance of fresh flowers. People sat all around in meditative posture, silent and calm. We entered a small bookstall; the librarian briefed us about the methods of spiritual practice of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and introduced us to some of the books on display. 

About 12 kms away from Pondicherry is the Auroville – the town of peace and humanity, we visited the next day. The peace there was, everywhere. Since I had hurt my foot, I could hardly walk but few steps.

The bus dropped us at quite a distance, and I walked slowly with support of my friend into the interiors along the muddy path, passing through nursery of potted plants, into the vast area that housed library, exhibition hall, restaurant, we reached another bus stop, to take the transport towards the golden globe called Matrimandal.

This is the place, one can spend the whole day, walking or cycling. There is so much peace and tranquility. I saw many people cycling around, which is a perfect mode of moving around in this town that can actually accommodate 50,000 people.

I took a jeep to go towards the Matrimandal but it dropped us at the gate and there was yet another long distance to walk.

I walked halfway, but returned to sit down under shade.

Soon my friends came back disappointed, they didn’t know that one could enter inside the dome only after 2pm and a special permission had to be sought for entrance inside the Matrimandal.

The main purpose for visiting this dome is the 70cms spherical crystal, about the size of a beach ball. This sphere sits on a gold plate base in the womb of the Buckyball. The effect is theatrically mystical, with light and mirrors adding to the effect. 

Seems like I will have to go back to experience the city of puducherry all over again when I am in better health and have more freedom to explore the city...