A trip to Thanjavur and Trichy

Historical trip or religious trip, however you name it, it was simply a wonderful experience. "Temples, temples and temples again..ooh !" , my eight year old son grumbled. But what else do you expect in the cities of temples? We had been for a 3 days trip to Tanjore, Kumbakonam and Trichy. This trip was special to us as it was our first long trip in India in our new car with our new family member, our 1 year old daughter.

We set out on friday early morning around 5:30 am and thanks to GST road NH45 and my husband's great driving skills, we reached Thanjavur by 11:30 am despite a 1 hr breakfast break in Ulundurpet. If not by car, the travel would have been really longer and hectic. We checked in PL.A residency hotel, refreshed and took a quick nap, while our kids enjoyed playing in the park.

After lunch, we went to Brihadeeswarar temple, the most famous attraction in Tanjore. Built by Raja Raja Cholan in 1010 AD (approx. 1000 yrs old), the magnificient temple Gopurams speak its architectural skills. The kumbam on top of the Gopuram weighs 60 tons. One cannot miss the huge sized Nandi carved out of a single rock. No wonder, it is called the 'big temple'. The temple is unique in many aspects apart from the well known fact that the temple Gopuram does not cast a shadow. The Garpagriha gopuram which houses 'Brihadeeswar' is tall compared to the entrance one, unlike in other temples where the entrance gopuram is the tallest. The shape of the gopuram looks different with the 'meru' mountain shaped structure(dome shaped in between). There are also sculptures of western people in the gopuram, which still remains a mystery.
Murals could be seen in the walls and some places of the gopuram. As the temple is maintained by ASI, the temple gopurams and walls are not painted with colours and left as such to preserve the ancient structure and murals.

My daughter had a great time running inside the massive temple corridors. Modern temples built with marbles and tiles can never replace the granite built walls and floors of ancient temples.To engage my son, we gave him photographer's job, which he did perfectly.

One km from the big temple, there is a palace of Saroboji. Stone Sculptures and brass idols found during the 8th and 10th century AD lined the palace hall. As the palace tower is under renovation, entry was prohibited beyond the first floor. There is also an art gallery and museum which got  closed by the time we came out of the palace.

Next day's trip was to Swami malai in Kumbakonam. If you are religious and like to visit more temples, Kumbakonam is the right place for you. There is a temple in every street. Being One of the six 'sthalams' of Lord Muruga, Swami Malai is a must see in Kumbakonam. As there are only few steps, our parents could easily climb to get a darshan of Lord Muruga.


 As we had less time and my husband is particular fascinated to ancient architecture, we chose to visit Airavadeeswarar temple in Darasuram leaving behind the other temples in Kumbakonam. As the temple was built by Rajendra Chola's son-in-law, who was basically from Andhra, it  is built in North Indian style. The temple is called 'Airavadeeswar' by the name of 'Airavata' meaning elephant who worshipped lord Shiva. The same is beautifully depicted in the detailed exquisite sculptors of the mandapam . Above the lingam, water keeps dripping from a small vessel inorder to cool the lingam. This cannot be seen in any of the South Indian Shiva temples. Spectacular engraved scupltures ornamented all the pillars of the temple. The temple is one of the example of the architectural beauty during the Chola period.

In order to take a break from temples, we planned to go to the most renowned 'Kallanai' , a dam built by the early Chola 'Karikalan'. As it was a sunny day, it was very hot when we reached there. So, we took a quick gaze of the dam and took rest in the car. It was a disppointment that there were no restaurants or parks in a tourist spot . TamilNadu, a state with vast scope for tourism should focus more on its development.
Getting back to Kallanai..It was built in the first century AD long before the concept of dams was known in western countries. It is said that the British got the idea of dams after seeing 'kallanai'. It is really amazing that our ancestors thought about preserving water during their period. But we construct buildings in lakes and canals leaving behind water scarcity to our future generation !!!


Our final spot for that day was to Srirangam temple in Trichy. One has to cross many temple Gopurams that spans across many streets before reaching the actual temple entrance. Crowd thronged this temple all through the year especially on Saturdays. We had to wait for hours for a 1 second darshan of 'Pallikonda Perumal'. Golden tower and silver chariots adorned the temple. It is said that Srirangam is the second richest next to Thirupathi.





The final day of our trip started with a visit to 'Vuchhi Pillayar' temple also known as "Malai kottai". As the name suggests, Lord Vinayaga sits on the top of the mountain here. It is a miracle how they built this temple in those days without any modern equipments and machinery. Considering the number of steps to climb and its steepness, we left behind our parents and children in our relatives house in Trichy. It was indeed a great experience and a fantastic view of Trichy from the top. One can see the Srirangam and Thiruvanaikaval gopurams from the top.

Finallly, We dropped by at Thiruvanaikaval 'Jambukeswaram Aalayam' before returning to Chennai. The temple walls is around a mile in length from which you can assume the temple size. In this temple , shiva lingam sits on water around it, which is called Appu lingam. This temple is also an evidence of ancient architecture.

India is the only country with so many ancient temples with exquisite architecture and each of these temples have a beautiful story behind them . We should be proud of our heritage and take our children to such places and tell them these stories so that they understand our Country's value, culture and heritage.

Maintain your house , the easy way

"Veettai katti paaru ; kalyanathai panni paaru" is an old saying in Tamil, meaning 'constructing a house or performing  a marriage is not easy'. But in modern days with more sophisticated flooring and appliances,  maintaining a house is more tougher than constructing it .
Cleaning dust, Kitchen greases, termites, salt sediments, tap blocking, bathroom dirt and scums, appliance repairs, maintaining documents, arranging clothes rack, book shelves, vehicle maintenance, garden maintenance; the  list goes endless...It would seem as if we (esp women) dedicate most of our precious time in cleaning and household maintenance.
How to avoid and manage this herculean mundane maintenance task with proper planning and simple cleaning aids?


Planning - how?
Your planning and scheduling of tasks at work is applicable at your home as well.

• First and foremost , prepare a list of things that has to be cleaned and maintained in and around the house. The list should be exhaustive and to the micro level. 
• Classify them as self or third party maintenance, like for example 'chimney', you might call the professionals for cleaning it in a regular interval. 
• Next, decide on the frequency of  maintenance. For instance, bathroom cleaning - twice a week whereas store room cleaning could be once in 2 months. 
• Based on this list, prepare a spread sheet in the beginning of every month with the list of tasks and due date (For some tasks like fridge cleaning, you can plan to complete in a week instead of scheduling it for a particular day) and assign it to either individuals in the house or to the third party. For third party, make a note of their phone numbers. (If you have phone apps, you can use them and set reminders).
• Try to follow the schedule as far as possible. Obviously there would be schedule slips due to external factors but you can always cover it up the following day.

Besides the schedule, spend one weekend in a month for cleaning. This is mandatory for working women who can hardly spend time on cleaning during week days. You can complete the pending tasks and also complete some tough cleaning tasks on that day like vacuuming , dusting fan , garden maintenance etc that would require additional help. You can also choose this as a 'eat out' day. Cleaning would be fun if you do it as a family and the end of the day it is your house!


Cleaning aids - what to use?
There are hundreds of cleaning products in the market that come with attractive ads. But they do not give us the desired results. Some of the simple cleaning aids that must be in the house are Vinegar and Washing soda for kitchen and bathroom cleaning.

• Salt water is a major problem for Kettles, vessels , ceramics and other appliances. Water softening is very expensive and involves more maintenance. Vinegar is an excellent aid for removing salt deposits. Boil water in the kettle with a cup of vinegar and you can see the salt dissolving in it easily. Similarly you can use it for sink corners and ceramics to remove salt deposits. This is far better than the cleaning products available in shops.
• Removing grease from kitchen towels and napkins is not easy. Rinse them in washing soda and wash it. No washing powder can replace it.
• Yellow layer in Wash basins and Closets. Scrub with water emery (available in hardware shops) paper. The stain vanishes easily. 
• Termites is a never ending problem in the kitchen. Keep a crushed garlic or mint leaf in every shelf. This only helps to some extent as it will protect only until the smell remain. 

Documents - never ending search
"This month's Electricity bill is missing" "Ration card - I ransacked the entire house and it is not found anywhere" These are common statements in every household. 

Try to avoid paper copy as far as possible. Wherever e-statement and bills are possible, switch over. (Maintaining e-documents is a separate topic and it is out of scope :-)). In spite of online statements and bills, we end up piling up huge documents and bills every month. A filing system with compartments and label is essential for arranging and easy search. Have separate compartments for each of the items like warranty bills, school fee receipts, Insurance copies etc..Review documents on a monthly basis and throw away old copies, if no longer required. 

Wardrobes - categorize
Most of the ready made wardrobes in shops have only 1 hanging compartment , a draw and 2 shelves. We just buy them without customizing it for our needs. Due to this, we end up arranging and searching for clothes very often. A good wardrobe should have sufficient compartments for categorizing clothes and other accessories. For example inner garments should necessarily be in a separate draw or shelf to avoid it getting mixed up with other clothes. Similarly fashion accessories, belts, wallets should be kept separately. If the shelf size is big, use pouches or cardboard boxes as separators. This would save lot of our time. 

Want to save time? - seek professional help
Certain tasks are done perfectly only by professionals. If you have less time and you can afford it, go for it. Certain agencies like service square does it for you in one call. You can have complete cleaning of your house every quarter and then your maintenance becomes easy. Cleaning chimney plates consumes almost half a day. Spending 250 or 300 bucks every quarter will save that time which you can use for a day out with your family.

Live a happy and healthy life !

A baby girls' arrival in our family

A baby girl..Ha!  What change she has brought in to me and our family..Our joy had no bounds when we   found that it is a girl in my scan as my first one was a boy..Her arrival has spiced up our life and make every moment a memorable one.. She keeps me busy through out the day and gives me sleepless nights.. Yet all my fatigue vanishes with a simple smile of hers when she wakes up.

I have a 7 year old son and recently I gave birth to a girl baby that completed my 'family', a 'gentleman's family' (a girl and a boy)., as my friend used to call "-). A mother daughter relationship is something that is cherished forever..

With her arrival , I hardly have time to breathe.. Along with household chores, I have to manage my child, my half grown child (my son) and a fully grown child (my hubby :-))..

My daughter is now 7 months. When she was born she was very tiny. Her face was only of the size of an orange. I still remember my son's excitement when he first saw her.. It was a mixed feeling of  love and fear, fear of missing me. As he was matured enough, he did not have sibling rivalry. Yet he had lot of questions and confusions about the baby ,..Now he thoroughly enjoys playing with her, nevertheless he uses it as an excuse for not studying:-). She also gets excited when he is around and pulls his hair with a loud scream..My son controls his emotions and says 'I'm waiting for you to grow so that I can hit you back'..!

It used to be funny to see how she lifts her head and leg like boat shape when she was just 3 months. She rolled over in the beginning of  the 4th month but was too lazy to swim  but straight away started crawling in her 5th month.. At this stage she identified me as her mom and started jumping towards me whenever I cross her.. No words can express my feeling and love for her.

As she showed more interest  in going out, I ordered a cute stroller for her in online shop. I was excited when it arrived and my excitement doubled to see her enjoying the ride in it. Everyday we enjoy our evening walk and nowadays we go to the park. She is thrilled to see other children playing there and it can be seen in her face blushing..Is there any machine that reads a child's mind?
She stands with support now and has started walking in walker. She enjoys going around the house screaming whatever words that comes to her and also thrusting whatever things reachable to her in her mouth.. This is the toughest stage as we have to keep watching..She utters few words like 'appa', 'amma' , 'anna' now that gives immense happiness to us.

I remember reading somewhere 'Without children my wallet would be full but my heart would be empty'..how true? our life revolves around them.
Children are God's gifts.. Aren't they?