Kotha Pentaiah & Bodla Ramachandraiah Banaras & Gadwal Silk Palace.

This is the name of a Silk Saree shop I know since 1973. I heard of it the first time when purchases were being made there for my brother’s marriage in 1973. Thereafter it became a very familiar name in the family whenever Saree purchases came up for regular wear, festivals and marriages. All the Sarees for my sister’s marriage and my marriage were also purchased here. And this practice of buying Sarees there for all occasions continues till today. Interestingly all the Sarees required for the wedding of my brother’s two sons and sister’s two daughters and son were purchased here. The shop has thus catered to the requirement at our weddings in the past, and the recent weddings of our children. Satisfying two generations of customers, speaks very high of this shop’s quality, stocks, variety, salesmanship & competitiveness.

The shop was established in 1969 in General Bazaar, at Secunderabad. It is now 40 years old. In fact this shop is known to my wife and sister-in-law ever since its inception in 1969. The shop not only sells Sarees but all wedding dress requirements of the bride and bridegroom. As a matter of fact I took my Japanese guests to the shop twice and they bought many Cashmere Shawls for gifting to family and friends, back home. They were very happy with the shop and the purchases. The popularity of the shop is evident from the huge number of customers present in the shop at any time. Just like us, the shop has thousands of trusting, loyal customers. Several Saree shops and malls have come up in the city in recent times but the popularity of Kotha Pentaiah Silk Saree shop has never diminished and as a matter of fact it only increases as more and more satisfied customers visit them.

Magnificent shopping scenario! During Ramzan.

The shopping activity during Ramzan all over Hyderabad and especially around Charminar is stunning. The market places are active since morning but as the day progresses the sale of items pick up and the bigger shops close late and the road side vendors operate well past midnight. Top on the sales list would be fruits and other food items required for breaking the fast. Apples, dates and dry fruits can be seen on sale everywhere. The sale of clothing, readymade garments, footwear, jewellery, bangles, crockery, house furnishings, fancy goods and a variety of other merchandise reach the year’s peak during this month. Even midnight appears as just commenced evening with people everywhere amidst well illuminated shops and with all types of eateries open.

And as it gets closer to the day of ‘Eid’ this activity would further increase. Few years ago I used to make it a point to visit Charminar area during late evening sales. In those days it was possible to drive through a narrow lane left for a car’s movement by the road side vendors and the crowds. Today there are traffic restrictions in the night. So we go there during daytime once or twice during Ramzan as a tradition, enjoy the window shopping and return home with some fancy items.

Haleem Chacha!!!

 

The holy month of Ramzan commenced at Hyderabad on 23rd August this year. This is one of the most auspicious months of the Islamic calendar, a month of prayers and fasting.

Many cafés and restaurants in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad sell ‘Haleem’ – a very nutritious refreshment, in the evenings, after the dawn to dusk fasting ends. Over the years, more and more people have taken a liking to this delicacy. Today we can find a Haleem outlet in every nook and corner of the city, with huge crowds flocking to the most popular ones.

Haleem is a very soft porridge of chicken or mutton cooked with wheat, lentils, onions, oil, ghee, green chillies, ginger garlic paste, curd, mint leaves, pepper, cloves, lemons and coriander leaves. I first tasted it in 1974 at my brother’s Dental Clinic. Since then I have never missed having it many times every Ramzan, by ordering it from the best of the outlets in the city.

In 1995 I learnt to make excellent Haleem at home with mutton or chicken. Since then I prepare Haleem any time of the year to entertain family and friends. The above photographs are of Haleem, which I prepared yesterday morning with of course much assistance from my wife. I prepared this especially for my brother’s family who left the city yesterday evening on a week’s pilgrimage. We had Haleem for lunch and then we packed some for their journey. We also served it to some guests who visited us in the evening and we had it once again with our dinner. Everyone liked it and said that it is much better than what is available commercially.

We normally have Haleem on the first day of Ramzan but this year it was not possible as Vinayaka Chavithi festival was also observed on 23rd August. And on this festival day, we do not have non-veg. food. The next day, 24th August, my brother was leaving on pilgrimage and would not taste Haleem for a week so I decided to prepare Haleem for their lunch at home and dinner during their journey. When my brother’s sons were studying at AIIMS, New Delhi and I was flying there frequently on official work I used to carry ‘Paradise-Biryani’ and a few other eatables to them. Three times I prepared Haleem and took it to my nephews and their friends, and their friends gave me a nickname: ‘Haleem Chacha’, meaning Haleem-uncle!

Vinayaka Chavithi - 2009.

Vakra Thunda Maha Kaaya,
Koti Surya Samaprabha,
Nirvighnam Kuru mey Deva,
Sarva karyesshu sarvadha.

God who has an immense body,
God who has a broken tusk,
God who shines like millions of Suns,
Remove all my problems,
From all that I do and at all times.

Today is Vinayaka Chavithi, the birthday of Lord Vinayaka. Chavithi is the fourth day of any Telugu month and Vinayaka Chavithi is celebrated in the current Telugu month, Bhadrapadha. As in the past, my brother, Dr. Lakshminarsu, my son, Srikanth and I went to Monda market, Secunderabad, at 8:00 A.M., to get clay idols of Vinayaka, flowers, fruits and a variety of leaves for the Pooja. On this day, we always go to the market early as it gets too crowded later. The purchases did not take much time but our walk up and down to the market took longer as we parked our car a little away at the Passport office. We returned home by 9:00 A.M.

In the meantime my wife, Lalitha was busy with her Thadhia Nomu Pooja. She had an option of performing Pooja yesterday, the third day of Bhadrapadha masam or today as Thadhia lasted upto 10:00 A.M. We commenced Vinayaka Pooja at 11:20 A.M and it was completed by 12:30 Noon. In the past I used to perform Vinayaka Pooja also called Ganapathi Pooja by reading from a ‘Pooja procedure/slokas/prayers booklet’ but since few years we are performing Pooja according to a ‘Vinayaka Pooja - Audio CD’. My son, Srinath who is in Birmingham, participated in the Pooja through Skype. As per custom, after the Pooja I picked up the ‘Akshinthalu’ (Pooja-rice grain) that were placed at God’s idol and then placed them on the heads of family members and myself to ward off a curse of Goddess Parvathi. The curse is that anyone who sees the Moon; who laughed at Vinayaka’s personality and movements on Bhadrapadha Chavithi would face problems by wrongful accusations and blame. And at 1:15 P.M., brother’s family and we had a festive lunch together. For the festive lunch on Vinayaka Chavithi, apart from other regular dishes it is compulsory to have four unique festive specific dishes, Paasham, Thummikura pappu, Chinthakaya pachadi and Kudumulu. Paasham is a sweet made with sugar or jaggery and thick wheat-noodles, Thummikura pappu is a green leaf curry, Chintakaya pachadi is a chutney made from fresh tamarind and Kudumulu are made of rice flour and look like flattened button mushrooms and this is Lord Ganesha’s favorite.

My sister, Hemalatha visited us in the evening with their new family member, her daughter-in-law, Swathi, to give Nomulu. Later in the night we went on a long ride in the city and visited three Ganesha pandals. Vinayaka Chavithi is celebrated at home by everyone but from the last 30 years the festival is also being celebrated on a very grand scale by groups of people belonging to a lane, a locality, an apartment, a shopping area, a community and so on. Huge idols of Ganesha in different forms are being placed in well decorated pandals in over thousand places at Hyderabad and Pooja performed for nine days. And on the ninth day the idols are brought out in attractive processions from all-over Twin cities to Hussain Sagar Lake. Here, God is bid farewell amidst loud prayers and requests that he should visit them next year and then the idols are immersed in the lake.

Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda – ancient Buddhist places of interest.

I got opportunities to visit a few Buddhist temples and ancient sites of Buddhist-era in India and Japan. I learnt about Gautama Buddha and Buddhism at school. But it was in later years when I began to visit more and more places associated with Buddhism that I learnt a great deal more. In this blog I wish to write about two Buddhist places close to Hyderabad, which I have visited. These places are Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda. Amaravati is on the right bank of river Krishna, in Guntur district, 35 Kms. from Guntur and 307 Kms. from Hyderabad. And Nagarjunakonda is an island in the Nagarjunasagar reservoir of river Krishna in Nalagonda district, 150 Kms. from Hyderabad.

Amaravati was once a Buddhist settlement of great repute. Amaravati means ‘Deathless Realm’ in the Buddhist scriptural language, Pali. It is also the site of a grand Buddhist Stupa dating back to the time of Emperor Ashoka, which of course is in ruins now. According to Buddhist scriptures this is the place where Buddha gave the Kalachakra empowerment. Kalachakra stands for Time-wheel and Time-cycle. These cycles are akin to the movement of planets and the cycles of our breath and Kalachakra is the practice of controlling the subtlest energies within one’s body, on the path to enlightenment. The Kalachakra deity represents Buddha and thus omniscience. Since Kalachakra is time and everything is under the influence of time, Kalachakra knows all. The Amaravati Stupa which is 2000 years old and in ruins now was originally decorated with carvings of life and teachings of Buddha and Jataka tales. The 32 metres tall and 32 metres diameter Stupa was made of brick and now only its base can be seen to some height. Amaravati Buddhist sculpture are most beautiful and world famous. There is a museum housing the artifacts found here. A massive statue of Dhyana Buddha is a big attraction here.

Amaravati is also a place of Hindu pilgrimage. It has the ancient temple of Sri Amareswara that is Lord Shiva. The temple has a 15 feet high white marble Lingam. The Satavahana and Vijayanagar Kings have made great contributions to this temple. This temple is one of the five Pancharama Kshetrams in Andhra Pradesh.

Nagarjunakonda is an island hill in River Krishna named after the Buddhist monk, Acharya Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna who lived in the 2^nd century AD is believed to have been responsible for the Buddhist activity in this area. During these ancient times this location has been the site of many Buddhist Universities and monasteries, attracting students from as far as China, Sri Lanka, Tibet and northern parts of India. The construction of the Nagarjunasagar Dam in 1960 submerged several Buddhist archaeological sites in this area. All the findings of this area have been dug and moved up to the hilltop where they are housed in a museum. With the completion of the Dam, Nagarjunakonda got surrounded by water on all sides and became an island.

Nagarjunakonda was also the capital of the Ikshvaku dynasty from 225 AD to 325 AD and of the Shatavahana rulers later. The excavations on Nagarjunakonda and the surroundings have yielded art works and inscriptions of great significance for the scholarly study of history. The museum houses a collection of relics of Buddhist culture and art. These include a small tooth and an ear-ring believed to be that of Buddha. The main Stupa of Nagarjunakonda named Mahachaitya is believed to contain the sacred relics of Buddha. This Stupa was 32.3 metres in diameter and 18 metres high. Among innumerable findings housed on Nagarjunakonda, the ruined monolithic statue of Buddha is the main attraction.

A ferry service takes tourists from the mainland to Nagarjunakonda. Both Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda are big tourist attractions mostly because of their proximity to the cities of Guntur and Hyderabad. The above photographs give a glimpse of these two places.

Unique rocky landscape of Hyderabad and environs.

As you enter the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad by road or rail you would not miss the breathtaking rock formations and rocky hillocks along the way. You can see rocks of different shapes and sizes spread all over the landscape and mostly doing balancing acts. Unfortunately, you would also see large-scale quarrying that has already destroyed and continues to annihilate this landscape forever.

These rocks that can be found in and around Hyderabad and also in some neighbouring districts are said to be 2.5 billion years old. These rocks are amongst the oldest rocks in the world. And all the interesting and intricate shapes one sees are a result of centuries of ageing. As the earth started forming about 4.6 billion years ago its upper crust began to have a variety of rocks by the action of volcanism, metamorphism, weathering and sedimentation. The rocks around Hyderabad are grey granite and the hardest rock formations in the world. Barbara Cartland was so fascinated with these rock formations that she mentioned them in her novel ‘Love on the Wind’ in 1982. She says that looking at these formations she has a feeling that in ancient times Giants were playing games here with rocks and have arranged them in these intricate heaps and shapes.

The above collection of photographs is just a minuscule sampling of the rock formations in and around Hyderabad. These rocky hills and rocks are being mercilessly broken down to use them in the construction of buildings and sometimes to level ground. These rocks are lifeless but have lived for millions of years supporting the life… of fauna and flora that take shelter under them and their crevices, and by generating waterfalls, springs, streams, lakes and recharging groundwater. We cannot foresee the consequences of this destruction, the destruction of animals, trees, hills, rocks, water bodies and even air that we breathe. This is not wisdom. May the authorities give due attention to the remnant beautiful environment around us and protect it. Only strict laws can protect the environment.

Papikondalu Cruise on Independence Day - 2009!

We returned home this morning from another memorable trip to Papikondalu, a 130 Km., 9&1/2 hour boat cruise on River Godavari with the Eastern Ghats on either side of the river. My wife Lalitha, my son Srikanth and I have gone on this trip. Lalitha and I have gone there before but for my son, it is his first trip. He was so thrilled with the beauty of the area that he clicked as many as 215 photos of the hills and water en route River Godavari and also captured much of the journey on Handycam.

Earlier we went to Papikondalu up to Perantalapalli from Bhadrachalam side, a 90 Km cruise from Sri Ramagiri town. This Trip was from Purushothamapatnam town on Rajahmundry side up to Perantalapalli and back, a 130 km cruise. While the first tour was on our own, this one was a tour conducted by IRCTC-Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation. We started from Secunderabad on 14^th August night by Gouthami-Express Train to Rajahmundry. We were received at Rajahmundry Station by IRCTC representative at 6:30 A.M. on 15^th August. He dropped us at a hotel to freshen up. We were then picked up at 08:00 A.M. and transferred to a bus which took us to Purushothamapatnam which is 45 Km. from Rajahmundry. This journey was also pleasant not because of the bus or road but due to the greenery of fields and trees all along the way up to the horizon in any direction. At Purushothamapatnam; at 9:45 A.M we boarded an Air-conditioned, 120-Seater boat called Sree Bhageeradhi. Breakfast consisting of Idli and Vada was served followed by tea. The boat started at 10:00 A.M. on a 65 Km. journey to Perantalapalli. The boat personnel made detailed announcements all along the way about the places along the banks, about the hills and the river in ancient times and now. Several Telugu movies are shot along this beautiful stretch of Godavari, so the narration included details of these movies, scenes and actors.

As our boat cruised ahead we were shown some places and stopped at some. The first major site we saw was that of the proposed Polavaram Dam. We passed through some tribal villages in the hills, which are visible on the shores like Devipatnam, Singanapalle, Tekuluru and Koruturu of the East Godavari and West Godavari Districts, the Districts are separated by the river. We also stopped at Rampachodavaram where the tiled British police station attacked by Sri Alluri Sita Rama Raju was shown to us. We also stopped at Gandi Pochamma temple and Perantalapalli in Khammam District. At Perantalapalli there is a Shiva temple on top of a hill. This temple was established by Sri Balananda Swamiji in 1927, he also strived for the development of the locals called Konda Koyas and Konda Reddies. The temple and the ashram there are called ‘Sri Krishna Munivaatam’. And the waterfalls adjacent to the temple as Munivaatam waterfalls. Our boat turned back here and now traveling downstream we stopped for a while at Kolluru village where there is a provision for a night stay in the bamboo huts along the river bank.

There was onboard entertainment in the form of dance, jokes and Tambola. After the artists on board danced to the tunes of three Telugu songs, I and Lalitha were called onto the stage as a specially selected couple. Then on stage to everyone’s entertainment our marriage was performed by making us enact all the important marriage rituals. This was followed by more dance programs by small children, youngsters and couples on board who were asked to dance on their own but mostly by imitating a dance master dancing in front of them to some very popular Telugu movie songs. After the morning entertainment show, a fairly good lunch was served on the top-deck of the boat. Srikanth ordered for Chicken fry at the time of boarding the boat so that was served to us separately. This lunch for the tourists was picked up from a place along the shore. The boat also has a canteen from where some readymade and cooked snacks, tea and soft drinks were circulated on the boat and sold.

We kept moving freely the whole day, along all sides of the boat enjoying the beautiful scenery all around. We sat in the Air-conditioned lower deck at times but mostly enjoyed our time on the top deck and around the outer railing of the boat. With plenty of river water all around us and small to mighty hills on either side of the river with thick green forests on them is a very beautiful experience beyond my description. As you enter Khammam district the river narrows down between two hills to about 400 metres and the depth of the river here is about 100 metres. And the height of the two hills about 525 metres. Passing between these two hills is said to clear all the sins committed by us. Sins in Telugu means Papaalu and hence the name Papikondalu. But the most popular version for the name Papikondalu is because the river is like Papida – that is the parting of hair on our head and the hills are like the hair on either side of the parting (Papida) and hence the name Papikondalu.

The weather was very good; just warm, mostly cloudy with a strong breeze and it also rained for some time in the evening making it a wonderful day. We got down from Sree Bhageeradhi at Purushothamapatnam at 7:20 P.M. Tourists took their own time to board the bus to Rajahmundry which started at 7:45 P.M. causing some tension as we had to catch the night train to Secunderabad. We reached the IRCTC/tourist office at Rajahmundry by 9:15 P.M. and soon we were transferred to the station and provided with dinner packets.

We started from Rajahmundry at 9:40 P.M. by Gouthami-Express Train and arrived at Secunderabad at 6:35 A.M. on 16^th August. In 34 hours we covered 1000 Km. by train, 100Km. by road and 130 Km. by boat but did not feel any strain because of the refreshing scenic beauty of Godavari and Papikondalu. To meet the demands of a growing population, to provide water to the people of Vishakapatnam and to divert the water from River Godavari to River Krishna for irrigational benefits Polavaram Dam is being constructed. And this would soon submerge the beauty of the place forever and as for the tribals who would be displaced in lakhs I hope they will be kept happy and as for the animals and all other living creatures of these forests, I pray God to protect them.

P.S. You may click on the following link to reach several of my photo articles/blog posts on Kothagudem, Singareni Collieries, Bhadrachalam, Godavari River, Parnashala, Kinnerasani and Papikondalu:

http://srisrilara.blogspot.in/2013/08/list-and-links-to-my-blog-posts-on.html