My Musings

KOTILINGESHWARA TEMPLE, Kolar, Karnataka This Sunday (3 Feb 2013), we woke up early (early for a Sunday) and took bath and left house at 07:10 in Ashok's car. We (Neeraja, Ashok, Vijaya and I) left for the KOTI LINGESHWARAR Koil near KGF, 110 km from Ashok's house. We drove thru Silk Board, Marathahalli, Whitefield. This is not the shortest route but we went to see Ashok's office SAP and Arun's hotel at Whitefield ! We drove thru Old Madras road, a 6-lane highway to Chennai. We crossed Hoskete and then halted at Narsapur at 08:45 to have breakfast at KAMAT UPACHAR, a crowded but a good hotel. We resumed our travel, went on to KOLAR town, and then Bangarapet. Driving further, we reached KGF, the erstwhile Gold Fields, now no gold, nothing ! At a place called Kammasandra, a few km from KGF, the famous Koti Lingeshwara Temple is located in a 15-acre land. Founded in 1972, this koil has ONE CRORE Shiva-Lingas all over, row after row ! What a breath-taking sight ! ...

CHITRA SANTHE. Every year, on the last Sunday of January, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (Kumara Krupa Road, Bangalore 560001) arranges an exhibition of paintings and other artworks by Karnataka artists, old and young. It is called CHITRA SANTHE. A breath-taking exhibition for the entire day from 9 AM to 7PM. The exhibition is held on the pavement on both sides of the Kumara  Krupa Road, for over 2 km long. Traffic is banned for the entire day. The 10th edition of this festival was held yesterday, Sunday, 27th Jan 2013. Over 2000 stalls were there by artists exhibiting their lovely art. We two, Ashok, Neeraja, and Arun left house by 9:30 and reached the venue by 10:30. Since the CM's residence is also located here, there was a huge police presence. We strolled along the stalls; even 12-13 year students had their exhibits. Even with a quick browsing it took around 2 1/2 hours to cover the 2 km route. We were back home by 2:30 PM after a satisfying day. Wonderful experie...

Earlier i wrote about the SitaRama Anjaneya Koil at Pathakota, 17 km from Hosur, on the banks of Pennaiyaru. We two and Savithri went there on 17th Jan 2013 (read here). After I came to Bangalore,  I told about this koil to Ashok and Neeraja and they too were keen to have the darshan of Rama and Anjaneya. On 26 Jan 2013, Ashok asked me suddenly at 4-40 PM if we can go there that time. I consulted Savithri over phone and she said yes. We four left house at 5-15 in car, went to Hosur. Savithri was waiting near GRT and joined us. We reached the temple by 6.40 PM. First we went to the full-flowing Pennaiyaru and lost ourselves in the serenity and beauty of the river. The scenic beauty oof the river is breath-taking. 15 minutes later we entered the temple. Built in 1932 for Sri Anjaneya only, this temple now has Sri Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana idols installed. We had a wonderful darshan of Sri Rama and Anjaneya. Then we left Pathakota, for Sri Chandra Sudeswarar koil on a hillo...

Hope you read the Part 1. If not, read here . Now, Part 2. PART 2. 13 Jan 2013 - Sunday - BHOGI We invited Savithri from Hosur to join us for the festivals. She came here today by 12:30 noon. We performed the Poojai after she came. Then I offered her our Pongal seer. Evening we five left for Reliance Digital in search of a CD player for Savithri. We did not get one to our liking, so we came back to Meenakshi Mall CROMA shop and purchased a Philips CD player (MP3, MP4, FM radio) USB input also. Ashok purchased a Panasonic Phone. What a huge shop! 14 Jan 2013 - Monday - PONGAL Neeraja kept the Pongal Paanai at the auspicious time. Then we went to the terrace and performed the Poojai there. Karumbu and Manjal were available at Jayanagar. Ashok performed the Poojai. Neeraja prepared Sakkarai Pongal, Ven Pongal, Vadai etc. We had along discussion with Rama at Hyd re Sashti apthapoorthy for Sathyamurthy. At Chennai also Pongal was nicely celebrated at Padur and Kalakshetra Avenue...

PART 1 The last time we visited Bangalore was in Feb 2012. (Read here). Now we planned a visit but many other pressing engagements in Chennai precluded such a visit. Most importantly, our grandson ARJUN was born on 2 June 2012 and he kept us very busy. Finally, we started on the early hours of 5th Jan 2013 by Brindavan Express for Bangalore. We packed our breakfast and lunch for the journey. Arvind dropped us at the Central in his car. The train reached Bangalore by 2:15 PM; Ashok, Neeraja came to the Station in their car and we drove him. My mama's son Mr JAGANNATHAN lives in Bangalore, Jalahalli and he had invited me to come and meet him. We phoned his wife CHITRA and fixed up an appointment for tomorrow. 6th Jan 2013, Sunday. We started for Jalahalli at 11:30 after a lunch of Pulao. CJ's house is far away, nearly 40 kms from ours. We reached there by 1:45. CJ (75) and his wife Chitra live alone in a 3th floor flat, but his two sons live in nearby flats. He is some...

NEW MOBILE PHONE - 9840827434 I had purchased the mobile phone last on 6th June 2009, Samsung Model SGH-M200. I felt a need for upgrading my mobile even though I don’t have much use for a mobile. I thought of going to a shop but Arvind told me that we can get it from Flipkart.com, the online shop. So I browsed the site and chose three models for comparison. Then I chose SAMSUNG Model Galaxy Chat B5330 Black. Cost Rs 8450.00 and after 500.00 deduction this phone was offered at Rs 7950.00. We ordered on 29 October 2012 and it was delivered on 2 Nov 2012. We put our old SIM in this and started using. Both Arvind and Krithika added many apps. Even though I don’t know its 100% operation, I am slowly learning. The phone looks great. Operating System is ANDROID 4.0 ICE. Rajappa 6-11-2012 7 PM

INDUCTION COOKTOP. ரொம்ப நாட்களாகவே எனக்கு இந்த Induction Cooktop வாங்கவேண்டும், பயன்படுத்த வேண்டும் என்ற எண்ணம், ஆவல் இருந்தது. ஆனால் வாங்க முடியவில்லை இதைப் பற்றி நிறைய படித்தேன்; இதன் வசதிகளை நன்கு அறிந்து கொண்டேன். அக்டோபர் 2012-ல் GASக்கு மிகவும் தட்டுப்பாடு உண்டானதால், இதை வாங்கிவிடலாம் என முடிவெடுத்தேன். 2012 அக்டோபர் 25ஆம் தேதி மயிலாப்பூர் சென்று கடை நிலவரங்களை அறிந்து வந்தோம். மறுநாள் 26-10-2012 வெள்ளிக்கிழமை அன்று நானும் விஜயாவும் கொட்டிவாக்கம் (ECR) சென்று PRESTIGE SMART KITCHEN ஷோரூம் சென்று ப்ரெஸ்டீஜ் PIC 3.0 V2 வாங்கினோம். இதனுடன் கிடைத்த குக்கர் வேண்டாமென்று சொல்லிவிட்டோம். எனவே இதன் விலையான் 4495.00 லிருந்து ரூ 1500 கழித்துக் கொண்டு ரூ 2995 க்கு கொடுத்தனர். With all (Induction based) Vessels, we paid Rs 5053.00 totally. இந்த 1500 ரூபாயிற்கு   நாங்கள் 3 பாத்திரங்கள் வாங்கிக் கொண்டோம். வீட்டிற்குத் திரும்பினோம். 15 Amp பாயிண்ட் இருக்கும் இடமாக பார்த்து இதை வைத்து முதலில் தண்ணீர் காய்ச்சி பரிசோதித்தோம்; பின்னர் பால் காய்ச்சினோம். அன்றிரவு கி...