Wander Woman

Attukal Pongala is the biggest congregation of women in India,perhaps in the world too. It is the celebration of the goddess Bhagavathy. Once a year, women from all over Kerala come to this temple, near Trivandrum, and worship the goddess. The gathering is so large that helicopters are used to shower flowers and holy water on the devotees. I was lucky to be in Trivandrum at a time when this fest was going on, though not for the entire duration. I heard that on the last day, the entire area around the temple is taken over by women and this place is used to cook payasam to offer to the goddess. Its like a mass communal cooking of payasam, which is then distributed among followers. I just had one nagging question in my mind. Its a temple of the goddess, worshipped by women and yet the priest or the person who heralds the rituals and festivals is a male. Considering that this is known as the 'sabarimala for women', wouldnt it have been appropriate to have a priestess? Here are a fe

Due to a job transfer, I've shifted to a new place - Port Blair. Port Blair is the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar group of islands. I've explored Kerala as much as I could. Its time for Port Blair now. I'm very excited to be here, because officially I'm an islander now. Henceforth, my posts will be mixed. I would concentrate more on Andamans and things to do here, though occasionally I might write about Kerala because that'll always remain my first love. Some 500 islands constitute the Andaman and Nicobar island group.Port Blair is the capital and the largest island. My husband says that these islands are actually the top of mountains which are an extension of the Himalayan range. Also there are indigenous tribes that have resided here since ages. Someday I hope to meet them, though it is forbidden by law. Well,now that I'm here,I hope to explore more. Here's my first view of the Islands. First view of the islands blue waters