Hanuman Temple - 5 February 2012

Our friend Sara is getting married and leaving Coonoor next week.  One of the things she really wanted to do before she left was visit this Hanuman temple on the road to Ooty.

"Hanuman, the mighty ape that aided Lord Rama in his expedition against evil forces, is one of the most popular idols in the Hindu pantheon. Believed to be an avatar of Lord Shiva, Hanuman is worshiped as a symbol of physical strength, perseverance and devotion. Hanuman's tale in the epic Ramayana - where he is assigned the responsibility to locate Rama's wife Sita abducted by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka — is known for its astounding ability to inspire and equip a reader with all the ingredients needed to face ordeals and conquer obstructions in the way of the world."  (from about.com/hinduism)



The temple is at the top of this mountain, but all you can see from the street is this yellow building.



After you pass through the yellow building, you come to this statue of Hanuman.

Behind these statues and under the rocks is this natural pool of water that you bless yourself with before proceeding.  Sara sprinkled us with the holy water.

Needless to say, there were many Hanuman statues en route to the temple, probably a kilometer.

The further up we climbed, the more vast the vistas.

At last, the cave that is the temple.

The little squares are places to place your foot as you walk.  With each stap you chant "Shri Ram."

After the walking "Shri Ram" mantra, at this station you pour oil on the black Hanuman statue and milk on the brass Hanuman.

We paid 20 rupees each for a special puja.  (Did I say that Sara is Muslim?)

After puja, we went down these stairs to the bowels of the temple.  At least Sara did.  The stairs were made of large gravel, roughly plastered with cement, and my feet couldn't continue.

This is what Sara saw below.  Stepping, chanting stones and .....

It was such a truly beautiful hike up, and then the temple itself was moving in its natural massiveness.  (I love the rocks and mountains.)  I am deeply grateful to the Shri Jay Hanuman Kugai Koil Trust for creating such a sacred space in this gorgeous natural place.  It was a great experience.

January 2012

Clouds over Mettapalayam, on our morning walk 4 January.

Our friends, Atul and Shriya, with Gopal on our 8 January visit.

Sun going down behind the clouds, evening walk

We named this street dog Ganzhu

On our walks through Singara, this is the sign on the first tea stand we pass.  It makes us laugh.

The building on the right is The Clinic for the Poor where I volunteer.  On 11 January, as we were closing up for the day, the little old woman in the picture came for pain medication.  She was so frail, she couldn't sit down to rest.  So much pain.  She lives down the hill straight ahead in this picture.  The road is steep, with terrible holes and rough pavement.  Not knowing she couldn't sit down, I pulled my car up and tried to put her in my car so I could drive her home.  But, no.  After she left, I cried for her and her life.  She was also malnourished.  It makes me cry while I type this.

29 January was my friend Sheila's youngest son's wedding.  The picture doesn't do justice to the beauty of my new saree for the occasion.  The wedding was beautiful and so were the bride and groom.  The food was good, and I think I saw every person I know.  Fun.

Beautiful Sara came to help me into my saree.  She's wearing a saree her new husband gave her which is really gorgeous.

Snake Dance

On 2 March 2011 I posted the following video "Snake Dance."  I assumed it was two snakes in some kind of mating behavior.  Today, I was watching a story on Discovery's "Wildest India" about male cobras fighting each other during mating season.  Since they are immune to each other's venom, it becomes a battle of strength, trying to knock each other to the ground.  And, it looked exactly like my next-door snakes in March!  So, instead of the mating dance I assumed it was, it was probably a battle for territory and women.  The ones in my video went at it for four hours even knocking each other down an embankment into the road.

President Obama defeats the Keystone pipeline!

Congratulations, Mr. Obama!  And in an election year too!  Very, very good.  :-) 

December socializing

On the 10th of December was the second luna eclipse of 2011,which we could see very well from our house.  Sorry to say, I did not get a good shot of it at all, but it was spectacular.

On 11 December we saw one of the Gaur (wild bison) babies, partially grown up

This may be momma.  They were exceptionally close by, and they make me nervous.  They are very large.   (Wikipedia:    'The Gaur is the largest species of wild cattle, bigger than the African buffalo, the extinct aurochs, and wild water buffalo.')

On 12 December, Raju came from Delhi, just as I came down with a cold.  He left on 20 December, and the poor guy hardly got out of our house since I was sick the whole time he was here.  Then, Gopal got sick just before he left.  I really felt bad for Raju.

On 14 December, the fifth anniversary of my son's death, we decided to go to the little temple very close to the house.  Here's Raju in front of the little tree temple in the woods.

Gopal is our personally swami.  Here he is setting up the puja at the tree temple.

We made sacrapongal for prassad, which you see in front of the picture of Mike.  I hate to admit that around the time of his death each year, it comes so close and the grief is acute again.  I think that may be why I got sick.

We did take Raju to a local viewpoint, Dolphin's Nose.  Here he is with Gopal.

Not sure when my Facebook friend, Bhavani, told me she would be in Ooty soon, but we have never met and I am a great admirer of hers.  She's an environmental activist par excellance.  I am so flattered that she came to visit me and thrilled she brought her family.  They arrived at my house on Christmas Eve.

We're laughing that here we are looking at a bird book right off the bat.  (Carolyn, Bhavani)

Her terrific daughters, Ananya and Lavanya, both interested in everything.

Ananya, Lavanya, and Prakash (their father)

Bhavani, Ananya, Prakash, Govindharajan
Our friend Govindharajan was good enough to take time out of a busy day to give us a tour of the Tan Tea factory here at Tiger Hill.

Having a cup of tea in Govindharajan's office as we left

On the 27th, our new landlord Sambasivam came to visit us.  We had never met him.  He came from Chennai with his lovely wife, Jayalakshmi, his second son, Shiva, Shiva's wife Chitra, and their three children (7, 11, and 14).  Shiva, Chitra and their children live in Houston, Texas!

Sambasivam, Jayalakshmi

Shiva, his three gorgeous children, and his father Sambasivam

Govindharajan, Chitra, Jayalakshmi
Later, Govindharajan invited us all to dinner at the Tan Tea guest house at Tiger Hill

Sambasivam, his friend, Shiva, Govindharajan
Sambasivam is a retired Tan Tea executive and old friend of Govindharajan's.  We really enjoyed spending time with them and look forward to seeing them again.  Oh, because the guest house had only one room available for the night, Sambasivam and Jayalakshmi stayed in our apartment downstairs that night.  Nice.