Guwahati Diary

Shankardeva Netralaya : Famous Eye Hospital Guwahati

2012-01-22T11:07:00.001+05:30

Shri Sankaradeva Netralaya (SSN) located at Beltola, Guwahati is a high-tech Eye Hospital of the North East functioning from 14th October, 1994. It is a unit of Shri Kanchi Shankara Health and Educational Foundation, a Charitable Trust registered in Assam on 13.1.1994. It operates with technical collaboration with the Sankar Netralaya and Medical Research Foundation, Chennai

The Tree

2011-09-07T12:53:00.000+05:30

I love looking at this tree while waiting for my daughter's school bus.

Ganesh Temple..Ganeshguri

2010-09-07T10:58:00.000+05:30

Ganesh Mandir (Ganesg guri)one of the most famous and busy temples of Guwahati

THANK YOU SPEAK BINDAS

2009-12-12T18:46:00.004+05:30

I was interviewed by Devang Vibhakar for his popular site speakbindas.com.Please visit the interview(click here) and let me know what you think of it.Have a great weekend ......all of you !!!Thank you !

Beautiful Tree....have you seen this before

2009-12-08T07:42:00.005+05:30

This is a tree we spotted on our way to Hajo a very famous small town of Assam known for its great religious importance.Have you seen a tree like this before and do you know the name of the tree....if yes,please share.
Blog Update : the tree is called Cannon Ball Tree .
Related Link :Cannon Ball Tree ( Malhar).

Delhi Photo Diary In Race for the 2008 Indibloggies Award

2009-12-03T23:18:00.010+05:30

Hi All,

This is Priyanka Khot from Delhi. Kavita has been extremely kind and has allowed me to ask for votes on this blog. Hope to get your support.

PLEASE

Vote for Delhi Photo Diary in the 15th category by clicking this link http://multivote.sparklit.com/web_poll.spark/21900

Delhi Photo Diary has been nominated to win the Best Indi Photo blog at the 2008 Indibloggies. Go and see.

Delhi Photo Diary is my attempt to capture my city through my mobile phone camera. :-)

The final phase is public poll, which will last till December 10. Please visit the blog, return, pass it on to others and vote for it from all you email IDs.

DEAR FRIENDS PLEASE VISIT MY DEAR FRIEND PRIYANKA'S BLOG AND SEE FOR YOURSELF ...SHE IS A TRUE DESERVING CANDIDATE.....PLEASE VOTE FOR HER.THANK YOU ALL.
YOURS TRULY
KAVITA.

RISHIKESH.....GATEWAYS TO HIMALAYAS

2009-12-02T09:58:00.008+05:30

Rishikesh is one of the very famous pilgrimage destination of India ,situated in my home state Uttarakhand .The word Rishikesh means' lord of senses'It is also called Gateways To Himalayas as the CHAAR DHAAM YATRA(a pilgrimage covering four sites)to Badrinath,Kedarnath,Gangotri and Yamunotri begins from here.Recently my husband took one of our aunt(Jethaidev)to this place,these pictures are clicked by him.I n the above picture you can see few Hindu scholars getting ready to offer their prayers at the bank of sacred river Ganges(Ganga as we call it).At this point river Ganges leaves the Shivalik mountains in the Himalayas and flows toward the north India.

This is the famous bridge called Laxman Jhula...originally there was a Jute rope bridge here which was replaced by an iron suspension bridge in 1889,again in 1924 it was washed away by a flood and hence replaced by a much stronger bridge which stands here at present .This is one such place which is equally loved by me and Chandan,before kids when hectic traveling was not a problem we frequented this place.There are many beautiful temples and a wonderful market around this area.Walking around this area gives you a very unique and calming feel as the whole area is submerged by prayers and shloka chants .Rishikesh is also known as Capital of Yoga as numerous yoga and spiritual centres are located here.You can spot many celebrities visiting here for religious,spiritual and rejuvenating purposes.Goldie Hawn,Kate Winslet are frequent visitors here(no i have never seen them here).In 1962 Beatles recorded a song HAPPY RISHIKESH here.
Rishikesh is emerging as the Adventure Capital of India as adventure travelers from all over the world visit here to enjoy Rappelling,white water river rafting,Kayaking,Body surfing etc.I don't have any picture to show here relating to an adventure sport.
You can see Jethaidev enjoying shopping around this beautiful market which offers everything from precious and semiprecious stones,jewellery,costume jewellery,Rudraksha beads,other beads,clothes ,idols etc.The street food found here is very tasty an finger licking .Rishikesh is also a destination for buying very high quality musical instruments,i came across this very fresh information just this morning.

The Missing E Contest.........a post promoting this contest in BAMBOO-LOUNGE

2009-11-16T07:32:00.003+05:30

The Missing E Contest

BAMBOO-LOUNGE(click here)

Hi Friends!

We are back with yet another Contest.As you know the letter E is the most common letter that we use in the English Language. The letter E is going for a vacation this winter. And since E is in vacation, so you have to write a blog post where you cannot use the letter E. The concept behind starting a contest like this is to encourage the use of different words. The winner of the contest will be given a surprise gift.

The rules of the contest are:

The Language of expression should be English.
There is no word limit.
The post can be anything that can be considered as a blog post. That does not mean that you put a picture with no words or with just a caption.
The contest is open till 31st December' 2009.
For Members of Bamboo Lounge - While Posting the post kindly tag the post with "The Missing E Contest".
For Non-Members of Bamboo Lounge. Send your Post to guest.bamboolounge@gmail.com
Judges decision will be considered final and no complaints regarding the contest will be entertained.

So what are you waiting for? Let your fingers roll and show your love towards the letter E by allowing it a vacation.

Dear friends, i am facing a connectivity problem due to which i may not be able to visit you friends for a day or two....please miss me,i will be back as soon as the problem is solved ....might get a new connection by this evening or tomorrow ..if you want to read about EDIBLE FLOWERS another new post by me in my other blog please click here..thanks
Kavita.

TAJ MAHAL

2009-11-11T11:21:00.005+05:30

This is TAJMAHAL.One of our aunt Jethaidev(a term used for father's elder sister in Assamese language) lives abroad(USA)for last 50 years .Every year she visits us at the time of Durga-Puja and stays for a month or two....one of her great wish was to visit Agra to see Tajmahal.Last week Chandan my husband gave her a surprise gift....a tour to Agra and some more beautiful places of North India like Haridwar,Rishikesh.It was a great trip ,i am sharing here few pictures of the same.
A very beautifully carved white marble stone panel from the walls of the TAJMAHAL.
A beautiful floral pattern on the wall...below is Jethaidev ,she is well above 80 and Chandan tells me that as lot of walking is required to see the Tajmahal,he was having difficulty to keep up with her...thanks to her daily routine of Yoga practice and walks.She is a big follower of Baba Ramdev the famous yoga guru.

TO KORDOI OR NOT TO KORDOI

2009-11-10T08:20:00.000+05:30

Kordoi is a very delicious Assamese sweet made with refined flour and sugar syrup.....and is sinfully high in calories.Whenever i go to Delhi ..my folks beforehand remind me not to forget to get them their share of the same.Yesterday while my mom in law was busy making kordois the thought of writing about it crossed my mind.I quickly clicked some pics as i was about to leave for my Gym.As i packed my water bottle ma offered me the largest one in the scene,BIG SYRUPY,HOT,CRISPY,YUMMY AND MAY BE 300 CAL. CONTAINING...but it was kordoi being offered by a mother-in-law.....how could a daughter-in-law refuse. I stuffed it to my mouth ma by my side waiting for my response....the moment it touched my mouth i forgot about everything...they are so tasty...HAVE THEY TURNED OUT WELL? she questioned me....'fabulous' ,i answered....'have one more 'prompt she said.As i left the house i was 600 calories higher.Fourty five minutes of Treadmill at a high speed plus another half hr.aerobic session and i was sorted.atleast thats what i thought until.....

I reached home,after my bath as i sat down to check my daughter's h.w....chandika arrived with a tray ...a cup of tea and again one kordoi....but i already had it....please ,see if it is still crispy after cooling down.yes it is still crispy .

Before retiring to bed i thanked god as always and in addition i thanked him for three things....
1.thankyou god for giving me the very first kordoi made today
2.thankyou god for giving me a chance to burn those added calories

3.thankyou god for giving me another chance to reload those lost calories.

THANK YOU GAURI

2009-11-09T11:52:00.000+05:30

Today is Assam Bandh...so no school for Gauri.I saw her struggling with something at her study table,she won't let me go near her.I too was busy at that time,few minutes later she gave me a folded paper....it was a crayon drawing showing a beautiful Sun,Mountains and a river and just above that was written..
HAPPY BIRTH DAY MOTHER,
   I LOVE YOU MOTHER,
   I THINK YOU ARE NO SO VERY FAT,
   MOTHER THANKS FOR READING
I AM WRITING THIS LOVELY DRAWING FOR YOU.....ENJOY.

SONAPUR BHRAMAPUTRA RESORT......GUWAHATI

2009-11-06T21:03:00.002+05:30

One of my favourite weekend destinations is Bhramaputra Jungle Resort.Located on a hillock in Tapesia village Sonapur,it is approx. 18-19 km.away from Guwahati.Kids love this place as not only this place is beautiful it also offers a number of activities for their visitors.The resort is surrounded by tea gardens and has its own small lake plus a waterfall.Its main attraction is Elephant Ride,Angling,Boating,pony ride.Recently we took our guests from Delhi to this resort,here are some pics .Elephant Ride above.......
kids trying their angling skills......
they have only one boat hence long waiting line,below is pony ride pic.

BEAUTIFUL CANE HANDICRAFT OF ASSAM

2009-10-29T07:24:00.001+05:30

Apart from one horn rhino,mighty Bhramaputra river,Assam-silk,Bihu dance etc Assam is famous for its beautiful cane and bamboo handicrafts too.A large number of artisans are involved in making of cane and bamboo handicrafts .Assam's forest (mainlyNawgaon,Lakhimpur and North Cachar Hills) are richly stocked with various species of cane and bamboo.We have maximum resources for this evergrowing industry comparable with Canada,Sweden,Norway and Finland.

Last evening we visited one of our close friend Kapil (another dentist...we were batch-mates)......his younger brother Naveen owns this shop selling Cane Crafts.I just got greedy and asked him if i could take some pictures for my blogger friends..to which he readily agreed.Last time when we met he was into exporting a lot of these stuffs to other countries ,it came as a surprise to us that now he is not .
They make many things like baskets of varying sizes, floor mats,table mats,table lamp,beer mugs,ladles,spoons,handbags,decorative piece,lamp shades,umbrella handles,walking sticks,keyrings ,blinds etcccccccc.Murrahs(stools) are very popular here ,you find them being used extensively in any Assamese household.

Handbags and Trays.A lot of fishing implements are also made but that is a big subject...i will try to write about it in future.
Naveen provided me this pic of a sofa set of export quality.

MAGNIFICIENT MILES...PART 2

2009-10-28T07:08:00.000+05:30

What's cooking for lunch ?............pukhurir maach(fish from pond) .This is a common sight in an assamese village .

Lonely,old,bald,busy Mr. STORK(BORTUKULA and in our village it is called HARGILLA-means the one who swallows bone)
HANUMAN'S IDOL....KHOTORA MANDIR
KHOTORA MANDIR.....a very famous temple ,people from nearby villages too visit here....the rush is heavier during Magh Bihu and Bohag Bihu.
Being a Sunday less bus-services..so that comes to this.

MAGNIFICIENT MILES......GUWAHATI TO NAMKHOLA ON A SULTRY SUNDAY

2009-10-25T20:14:00.002+05:30

We never leave a chance to visit our little village whenever one is in the scene.The journey is very interesting always ...here are some pics which i will keep on posting for few days

These yellow and red flowered trees were so beautiful.....no leaf was visible ,they were heavily bloomed.......yellow one is called SONARU and the red one KRISHNASURA.
This BUDDHA is visible from the road....i wish i clicked it in its original size..its huge..we were in a hurry so just settled for this view from the moving car.
This is such a pretty sight...the off white flowers looked beautiful and the pond and rock complete the picture.
Another interesting shade.Below is this knotted tree i always notice,actually there are two of them in a half km. distance....other one is even better but as i said we were little late.

TALLEST BHELA GHAR.....IN AN ASSAMESE VILLAGE

2009-10-23T17:12:00.000+05:30

This year too like always , we celebrated Magh Bihu(Makar-Sankaranti) in our village Namkhola which is 50km. away from Guwahati. Magh Bihu is celebrated in the month of Jan.to mark the end of harvesting season.As the granaries are full,this harvesting festival is observed all over Assam.The word BHOGALI comes from the word BHOG which means eating and enjoying. On the day of Uruka i.e. the eve of sankranti ,Bhellaghar and Mejis are made particularly by the menfolk,with bamboo sticks,hay and wood pieces.A community feast is held on the uruka nite inside the Bhellaghar(a makeshift cottage).Next day both the Bhellaghar and Mejis are burnt.

This year people of village Missahaatkhola just one km away from our village,constucted this beautiful five floor Bhellaghar.People from nearby villages and town came down to view this amazing workmanship.

Unlike other Bhellaghars which are burnt on the bihu day,this one was retained for a week(before it was burnt down) due to public demand.Red tea and pithas were being offered to the visitors through out the week by the village folks.We had few corporates guests from Delhi accompanying us ...as corporates love climbing ladders..no one was stopping them........they loved it specially at these time of recession.

JAYANTA BHATTACHARYA...MY ARTIST NEIGHBOUR

2009-10-22T12:44:00.001+05:30

Our neighbour hood is very lucky,we start our day with watching beautiful art work created by Jayanta......him working on different art-forms is a common sight.This particular painting is going to adorn the wall of St. Mary's Convent School once completed....till then we have the privilege to enjoy this beautiful work.Jayanta grew up in a small tribal village of Tripura .He grew up at a time when Tripura was passing through turbulent times due to the community clashes between the tribal and Bengali of Tripura.The continuous riots,curfews and violence had a profound affect on him who was then only a child .He has several exhibitions to his credit.I don't have the ability to write about him and his work.......need you want to know more ,this is the link to his web....geocities.com/mithubhatta UNTITLED

THE ROAD /BLACK PITCH AND METAL

METAL WORK

FEW SIDE-WALK PAINTINGS....GUWAHATI ROADS

2009-10-20T23:30:00.000+05:30

While passing through this road on my way to Sukreswar Temple i noticed these colorful sidewalk paintings,i couldnot resist myself from capturing them.These paintings depict different regional wears,dances,festivals......on asking a local hawker i was told that these are painted by students of an art school.....how right the information is i have no idea....just enjoyed them.

DIWALI ........KALI-PUJA IN GUWAHATI 2009

2009-10-18T23:36:00.001+05:30

In Assam Kali puja is observed on the day of Diwali.

SPOTTING THE ANIMALS.....KAZIRANGA PART 3

2009-10-16T11:50:00.001+05:30

We walked through swamps and tall thickets of elephant grass.In our one hr. ride we spotted many rhinos,deers,wild boar...cameras never stopped capturing the shots.One thing bothering me was about elephants....they walk for more than three hrs nonstop.....must be tiring for them...mahout told me that for the rest of the days they have nothing else to do and they are well taken care of.Finally the ride came to an end.Kaziranga offers safari rides and bird watching tours too...but we left it for our next visit.

WAITING FOR THE ELEPHANT RIDE....KAZIRANGA PART 2

2009-10-15T10:45:00.004+05:30

Dear friends i am recycling these Kaziranga posts...these posts were my 3rd,4th and 5th from my first blog MYROOM(,now a group blog)....only two people read it one was me another my friend NITU.I am glad this time i have few more interested friends...

Next morning we left in the early hrs.of the dawn for the elephant back ride.As we finished drinking LAL CHAI(red tea) in a small tea stall...we saw elephants returning back with the first batch of visitors.It was a beautiful sight elephants emerging amidst the rolling mist.Our group was divided in two ,and we finally seated on elephant back.These elephants have authorised and well trained Mahouts.It is one kind of an experience.........off to spotting the animals...

IORA THE RETREAT.......KAZIRANGA (PART-1)

2009-10-14T11:10:00.002+05:30

One of the major attraction of Assam is Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary.It covers an approx .430 sq.km.area. and is located on the banks of Bhramaputra,partly in Nagaon distt. and partly in Golaghat distt.It is open for the visitors from Nov. to April.It is inhabitated by the world's largest population of ONE HORN RHINO,many other mammals including tigers,elephants,,bisons,wildboar,swamp deer .Visitors come here for Bird watching too.People from all over the world visit here and this sanctuary is gaining its popularity ever.
Last Christmas holidays we made a trip to Kaziranga.It is 217 km away from Guwahati.We travelled by car and opted for this beautiful resort to stay overnite.We retired early to bed after enjoying a magnificient evening with good food,great Jhumoor Dance (performed by tea garden folks)and camp fire.We had to get up early in the morning to catch up the Elephant back ride.

BHUT JOLOKIA (COBRA-CHILI) ...THE HOTTEST CHILI IN WORLD

2009-10-13T10:07:00.000+05:30

BHUT JOLOKIA,A CHILI PEPPER WHICH GROWS IN ASSAM REGION OF NE INDIA IS CONFIRMED BY GUINESS WORLD RECORDS TO BE THE HOTTEST CHILI IN WORLD IN 2007,REPLACING RED-SAVINA.SHU scale i.e.Scoville Hotness Scale is used for testing its hotness which comes to near a million as double compared to 577,oooSHU of Red Savina.
It has many names...ghost chili,california death pepper,naga chili etc.We had a plant of bhut jolokia at our house...but since my kids started playing too much near the plant we uprooted it.All the pics i had clicked were accidentally deleted and i was sulking in front of my neighbours..to my help came dear Utpal who gave me these pics as his siter-in-law.Meghali is working on this topic under Assam Agr.College.It is used as a spice or can be eaten alone too(???).Once our one of the house staff Mahendra insisted on preparing a vegetable curry by adding just one of these.......no one could even eat a single bite of it...we had to throw the curry....it was so hot that as soon as it touched the mouth a very fierce burning sensation was felt which was very agonizing....trust me.But this amazing 26 year old lady named ANANDITA DUTTA TAMULY....ate 51 of these to claim a place in guinness world record book in April 2009....CHEF RAMSEY(hell's kitchen fame)who was in India at the time for filming a channel four programme

too witnessed this and was completely in awe as he could manage to eat only one and screamingly asked for water before yelling"ITS TOO MUCH".Apart from its hotness this chili is believed to have some medicinal benefits like curing some stomach ailments,helpful in relieving flu symptoms etc.In many parts of ne India fences are smeared with this chili is used in smoked bombs to keep wild elephants away.

TIRUPATI BALAJI TEMPLE...GUWAHATI

2009-10-12T14:20:00.000+05:30

Guwahati's own Tirupati Balaji Temple(a beautiful replica).....beautiful surroundings and very peaceful .

RONGMON.....THE AMAZING RHINO

2009-10-10T11:49:00.000+05:30

This is Rongmon the official mascot of 33rd National Games held in the year 2007....Assam's huge success as a host is another story.One horn Rhino are unique to Assam,here Rongmon is dressed up in Assamese attire.This picture i clicked this morning on our way to my daughter's school for PTM(parent- teacher meeting).

GUWAHATI AFTER RAINS

2009-10-09T13:50:00.000+05:30

This is the sky last evening when i went up to the terrace to have a look around,it had rained the whole day,for fifteen minutes my city was covered by a beautiful red glow.

FIND MY NEW POST AT" MY ROOM"

2009-10-06T22:21:00.000+05:30

fRIENDS THIS WEEK I AM WRITING IN MY GROUP BLOG MYROOM IF TIME PERMITS PLEASE CHECK IT OUT.THANKYOU(i have changedd my baby blog MYROOM into a group blog) .

LAKHI PUJA...IN ASSAM

2009-10-03T10:57:00.001+05:30

(This post is inspired by SANDHYA of MARADHI MANNI )Lakhi-Puja or Laxmi-Puja is observed on the purnima or the full moon day after Dusherra festival or Durga puja every year all over Assam.....like Durga Puja we see many pandals all over the town....its very hot today can't think of going out...at home we offer this large fruit as shown in the picture named ROBAB TENGA(its a very delicious citrus fruit) and Dhaan Aag(means the uppermost part of paddy )....the actual puja is performed in the evening,we make coconut laddus,payas,a mixture of soaked cheera ,coconut and sugar......the feet of laxmi are drawn on the floor with powdered rice or Pitha- Guri.My mother-in-law reads a book named LAKHI-CHARITRA(its written in Assamese and i can't read Assamese)while all of us listen to it...later she sings Naam(bhajans) specific to Goddess Laxmi.

GANDHI MANDAP-GUWAHATI.....happy gandhi jayanti

2009-10-02T10:52:00.000+05:30

NON VIOLENCE IS THE GREATEST FORCE AT THE DISPOSAL OF MANKIND.IT IS MIGHTIER THAN THE MIGHTIEST WEAPON OF DESTRUCTION DEVISED BY THE INGENUITY OF MAN.........MAHATMA GANDHIGandhi-mandap is a memorial dedicated to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.It is located in the very heart of the city,right at the top of the Sarania Hillock.It was built in year 1969 and was opened to the public in 1970.As newly weds it was ours favourite morning walk track.....it still is but since we shifted to our new house,we come here only on Sundays because it is little far from our home.

This morning too we came here....it was a very cloudy day,we parked our car as always at the base of the hillock and on our way i clicked some pictures as the track provides an ideal view of our city Guwahati.

It is approxm. 2km distance from base to the top of the hillock...it was 5.30 in the morning and visibility was very poor.Few years back this hillock's existence was in danger due to continuous soil-erosion.Our district administration(Kamrup) and soil consevation department launched an advanced anti-erosion scheme.......and the good results are evident.When we were regularrs here my husband Chandan planted many plant saplings ......he loves this place and encourages my 5years old daughter's involvement in his secret mission(lol).
This is Nehru Stadium ,it was built in 1962 and it can hold 25000 people.(At this point it started to rain but we continued to walk......we had company.....a many regular morning walkers.)

Guwahati is an ever growing city being the main commercial hub of north east region of India.Every other day we see another highrise building in making.....mushrooming malls,office complexes,hotels,educational institutions etc.A view of Peacock Island from top.I have a post dedicated to this beautiful island in the month of May.

ALL WOMEN STAFF PETROL PUMP....JORABAAT

2009-09-29T00:58:00.001+05:30

A very efficiently run petrol pump and the fuel is two bucks cheaper.

DURGA-PUJA PANDAL 1......AJANTA PATH ,BELTOLA,GUWAHATI

2009-09-24T13:32:00.000+05:30

Puja pandal being decorated on the day of SASTHI....24.9.09

GUWAHATI SCIENCE CENTRE....MIG 21

2009-09-23T12:09:00.000+05:30

This MIG-21 Iis displayed at the science centre,on our last visit one month back it was being assembled for the display. The MIG21(NATO reporting name" Fishbed") is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft,designed and built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in Soviet Union.It is one of the most remarkable jet of the cold war and perhaps the most widely built since World War 2.
It is a single engined jet fighter aircraft.This combat jet was once widely used in Indian Air Force.Now ,for quite sometime it has been under cloud because its safety records has raised concern in Indian Parliament and media,following a series of crashes over the last many years.The recent one took place on 27.05.09.

SILK MARK EXPO 2009.......GUWAHATI

2009-09-23T12:06:00.000+05:30

ONE OF MY VERY DEAR FRIEND ASKED ME TO JOIN HER IN SHOPPING ,SHE IS A DIE HARD SILK FAN...SO THIS EXPO WAS THE ULTIMATE CHOICE.The expo had all kind of pure silks,Assam silks,Mysore silks,Banglore silks,Pochampali silks,Kanjeevaram silks,Ikkat silks,Patolas,Bandhejas,Benaras brocades etc.It was organised by CSB(central silk board)govt. of India.The place was overcrowded and the response was much more than expected as all the products sold here were affixed with SILK MARK...to ensure the purity and quality of silk.
Everything was so beautiful ....i am glad that over the years i have mastered(almost) the art of appreciating such beautiful creations without getting tempted to buy them.While she was into this buying frenzy i stood near this stall wher they displayed varoius kinds of silk yarns.There were more than 30 35 stalls offering all from sarees,dress material,mekhela chadors,kids wear etc.If you click on pics to enlarge ,you can read all the labellings.
I clicked few pics from the place where i was standing...displayed here are some beautiful sarees.

AMBUBACH MELA 2009....GUWAHATI

2009-09-23T12:05:00.000+05:30

Ambubachi mela is the most important festival of the Kamakhya-Temple(situated atop Nilachal-hill).This year the mela starts from 22June and ends on 25June.It is believed that the goddess of the temple DEVI-KAMAKHYA(SHAKTI) goes through her annual cycle of menstruation during this time.The doors of temple are closed for three days...no farming,no daily worship or any other religious activities are observed during these days.O n the fourth day after the whole temple is purified ..the temple is reopened.It is mainly a TANTRIC-FESTIVAL.This mela attracts lots of media,forgeiners,curious-visitors because of a very,very huge presence of tantrics,sadhus,sanyasis,sadhavis,aghor-babasfrom India,neighbouring countries and abroad too.Some of the sadhus and tantrics appear before general mass only during these four days.This year more than eight to nine lakhs visitors are expected.
I had never seen this mela before because my husband and many other local people have always discouraged me to do so.......i always wondered why......until today.
(We visit Kamakhya always as it is one of the very important shakti-peeths.......all the dignitaries,v.i.ps,movie-stars,politicians even many royalties visit this temple quite often.....and it is a very wonderful experience.) This evening we visited the temple and .......the crowd was phenomenal,it was hard to find a parking spot.Once we managed to park our car ...we had no idea where to go as the whole place looked very different because of many new stalls etc.
There were people and people everywhere ....it was hard to stand on one place for more than five sec....trust me....clicking pic was like impossible .....most of my pics are shaky because of the constant push from the crowd.....after good fifteen min. we decided to give up the idea of going to the main temple premises as it was tooooo crowded and suffocating.I saw many media folks,forgieners struggling too.
The crowd was mostly of bengali people...this mela is very popular amongst bengalis.We saw many interesting looking sadhus,tantrics (from tommorow our newspapers are going to give them good coverage).Finding our car back was another good experience......

CANE CRAFT ......GUWAHATI

2009-09-23T12:02:00.000+05:30

SILKALAYA.....A HOUSE OF ASSAM SILK ,GUWAHATI

2009-09-23T11:59:00.000+05:30

It was our third attempt in last one week to buy few Mekhela -Chadars for my ma-in-law as her schedule is full of attending marriage ceremonies and she was running short of clothes(as we women always are).On our previous two visits we dropped the idea as the shop was overly overcrowded,even though they have three floors to solve the purpose. When buying assam silk comes Silkalaya is the first name comes up only after SUALKUTCHI a small village in Assam.This place is dealing in assam -silk since 1963..they had their only shop in Jorhat,in 1993 they came up with a new branch in paan bazar guwahati,in 2006 another one in G.S. Road and finally in 2007 one in Dibrugarh.

They offer a very vast collection of Assam -Silk like..paat-silk,muga-silk,ketcha(raw)-silk in varied designs,price ranges. You get to see lots of stuff in new avtaar too..which are fastly becoming very popular.I had to resist the temptation to buy one but decided to wait for now.After one good hour we finally settled for two beautiful paat silk pairs with guna work (jari work)on them...jari on assam silk is muted unlike other jari work in rest of india.

Since last evening i saw ma checking on them several times with a soft smile on her face....touchwood.

GANDHI MANDAP-GUWAHATI

2009-09-23T11:55:00.000+05:30

UGRATARA TEMPLE.GUWAHATI

2009-09-23T11:43:00.000+05:30