Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out! Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, thoug...
Diwali Tour Part 11 – Thirumanancheri and surrounding temples related to the marriage of Shiva and Parvati.
The stories of Shiva and Parvati’s marriage have all the ingredients of a first class romance – from the story of the beautiful Sati’s marriage to the lord of the world living in a cemetery, to their subsequent dramatic parting; her re-birth as Parvati, and her strong resolve to marry the man who wouldn’t even look at her; her standing up to him and proving her worth, and finally getting her wish; their subsequent tiffs leading to her advent on earth (her mother’s home) every now and then, and Shiva finally making up to her by arriving to get married again – every story is interesting and has been told and retold in various ways ever since. Many places linked to Shiva and Parvati’s marriage have temples dedicated to the divine wedding, Madurai and Thirumanancheri being the most popular among them. While it was Meenakshi, the daughter of the Pandya king that Shiva as Sundareswarar (the handsome one) married at Madurai, in Thirumanancheri, Parvati was born as a daughter of a rishi. Acc...