Namaskaram !
Welcome, Padharo ! I'm Mathini, a French woman who has been living in Rajasthan for 10 years. Despite being imbued with Indian culture from a young age it wasn't until 2014 that my Indian adventure really began. I left everything behind in France and set off on a 6-year journey through the land of Gandhi. These adventures are gathered in this blog which aspires, in an intentionally positive spirit, to bear witness to India's remarkably diverse and multifaceted cultural heritage. If this website sparks a desire to pack your bags and set off for an Indian adventure, it will have achieved its purpose. Subh Yatra on Magik India and beautiful explorations in the sacred land of Bharat...
Although few foreign tourists come here, this peaceful village on the banks of the River Pampa is an important place of pilgrimage for Hindus and is famous for its Krishna temple and the “snake-boat” race held every year during the Onam festival. Aranmula also has another unique claim to fame: sacred mirrors called kannadi are made there using a centuries-old technique whose secret is closely guarded.
Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple
The Parthasarathy temple, built in typical Keralan pagoda style, is one of the 108 revered Vishnuite divya desam temples and also one of Kerala’s Pancha Pandava temples. According to Hindu legend, these temples were each built by one of the five Pandava brothers.
Parthasarathy temple by night
The legend goes that after King Parikshit was crowned the Pandava brothers set off on a pilgrimage. They visited Kerala and each built a temple there. Yudishthira built one at Thrichittatt, Bhima at Puliyur, Arjuna at Aranmula, Nakula at Thiruvanvandoor and Sahadeva at Thrikodithanam.
It is said that Arjuna built the Parthasarathy temple at Nilakkal near Sabarimala, to atone for a sin. But Nilakkal was in dense forest, making it difficult to perform daily rituals there. The idol was therefore brought to Aranmula on a raft made of six bamboo poles – whence the name Aranmula, which means “six bamboo stems”.
Parthasarathy idol
Several “snake boats” or chundan vallams accompanied the procession across the River Pampa. The idol was installed in the temple on the day of Uthrattathi in the month of Chingam (August-September) according to the Malayalam calendar, Uthrattathi being Arjuna’s birthday. The village of Aranmula celebrates this event each year with a snake-boat regatta during the Onam festival.
The main idol in the temple is a statue of Lord Krishna as Parthasarathy, i.e. in his role as the charioteer who drove Arjuna into battle in the Kurukshetra war, as described in the Mahabharata epic.
Vallamkali, Snake-boat race
The Aranmula Uthrattathi Vallamkali or snake-boat race is one of the year’s biggest festivities in the village of Aranmula and one of the oldest traditional races in Kerala.
The snake boat of Aranmula
It is linked to the Parthasarathy temple and takes place every year on Uthrattathy day in the month of Chingam in the Malayalam calendar (August-September), four days after Thiruvonam (the Onam festival).
The snake boat race of Aranmula
People of all social classes and religions living in and around Aranmula get involved in the Vallamkali. It is organised by the Seva Sangam Palliyoda, an organisation made up of two members from each of the 48 villages or karas that possess a snake-boat.
=> READ MORE ABOUT THE SNAKE-BOAT RACE !
[ Watch my video of Aranmula race 2015 ]
Aranmula’s sacred kannadi mirrors
The precious and mysterious kannadis of Aranmula are metal mirrors of a unique kind. They are made only in this village and are exported throughout the world.
The story goes that a few generations ago, eight families from Tirunelveli who specialised in temple art came to Aranmula at King Pandalam’s command to work on the building of the Parthasarathy Temple.
While working on the temple idol’s bronze crown the craftsmen discovered the exceptional reflective qualities of a particular alloy of tin and copper. But they were unable to reproduce the alloy until Parvathi Amma, a widow in their community, received the exact composition of the alloy in a dream. That composition is kept secret to this day by the few artisan families still transmitting the craft from generation to generation.
Most mirrors consist of a sheet of glass with a silver or aluminium backing which reflects objects through the glass.
If you place a finger on an ordinary mirror, you will see a gap between the finger and its reflection. But if you place your finger on a kannadi mirror, there is no gap: the finger and its reflection meet, because there is no glass in between.
The kannadi of Aranmula have a distinct old-world charm. They are generally round or oval hand mirrors set in brass frames. These are stamped, as the mirrors are protected by an official Geographical Indication. They count among the eight auspicious objects or ashtamangalyam in a Kerala bride’s trousseau.
[ Meet Mr Murukan R. Aranmula, Kannadi’s master craftsmam ]
Halebid, or Halebidu, was the capital of the Hoysala empire in the 12th and 13th centuries. This dynasty has left a monument of unparalleled splendor, the temple of Hoysaleswara. The richness and finesse sculptural details are undoubtedly the most exquisite example of Hoysala architecture.
The first image that comes to mind when I think of Mysore is its incredible palace, sparkling with thousands of lights. But this city of Maharajas has far more to offer: its famous flower market, its Indo-Saracenic architecture (legacy of the British Raj) and its open-air Nandi sanctuary on Chamundi Hill. Together these have made it one of the most visited towns in Karnataka.
Grishneshwar is located near the Ellora caves, in a small village called Verul in the state of Maharashtra. There stands one of the 12 Jyotir Lingams or “Lingams of light”. It is believed to be the last Jyotir Lingam, where the pilgrimage round the Jyotir Lingams ends.
Puri, a major Hindu pilgrimage town, is the abode of residence of Jagannath, “lord of the universe”, one of the aspects of the god Vishnu or his avatar, Lord Krishna. The town is entirely dedicated to him. Puri is also one of the Char Dham, India’s four main pilgrimage centres. Devotion here reaches its peak at the Ratha Yatra (chariot festival).
Bhubaneshwar, “lord of the three worlds”, is the capital of Odisha (formerly Orissa). It fully deserves its nickname of “city of temples”. Built over 2000 years ago and at one time contained thousands of temples. It still boasts several hundred and together with Puri and Konark forms a Swama Tribhuja or “golden triangle”.
Even if the royal Bengal tiger never shows his furry face, this trip among the mangroves will leave you with some totally enchanted memories. The Sundarbans (“beautiful forest” in Bengali) is the largest salt-tolerant mangrove forest in the world and has been a Unesco World heritage site since 1987.
