Birthday@Janapadaloka

October 13(mum-in-laws Bday)- 14th(mum's Bday)

My mum-in-law celebrated her 60th Birthday on October 13th. Since we didn’t really know what should be done for “Shashtipoorti”, we decided to get Pooja’s done for our home God. Early that morning, we were at the Ganesha temple in Koramangala (known as the Software Ganesha). Got Rudrabhisheka for Lord Shiva, and Poojas done to Lord Ganesha, Lord Subramanya & Goddess Parvathi. After all the Pooja’s were over, we took my mum-in-law’s blessings and headed straight for lunch with closest of our family members.

This Birthday was meant to be remembered, so we continued with the celebration on the next day as well. The plan was to spend time and let her enjoy the moments with her family (brothers, sisters & their family). This day was special for us coz it happened to be my mum’s Birthday. A special gift to both the mothers.

amma & mummy(mum-in-law)- the active participants :-)

We had booked a small mini bus which could accommodate 21 of us. The trip was towards Mysore road…Kamat Yatrinivas & Janapada Loka, about 50+ kms from Bangalore. The lunch was to happen at Kamat. All our relatives were picked up on the way and by the time we reached the place, it was 12.00P.M. so we headed straight for lunch. Starters: Fresh Sugarcane juice. Followed by rotti yele oota. Those who want to taste North Karnataka food should go here…Jola roti was just amazing…hot, served with butter, badnekai yengai (Brinjal curry), kaalu playa(gram curry)…then the remaining items were the same as any South Indian meal…Rice, Rasam, Curd, papad…I belted on 5 rotis..cant believe it myself. How did I manage to finish it!
The making of those rotis was a good sight to see. Two tall & long benches placed opposite each other. In the middle was the gas with tava. One side there were ladies who were constantly beating the dough in the shape of chapatti/ roti and putting it on the tava and the other side of the bench were men who were roasting the roti and keeping it aside to be served to us. The pace at which the rotis were getting made, this team could have been sent for Guinness book of world records :-)

After our meal, we went to Janapada Loka-JL which was next doors. We were welcomed by the geese there. It was quite a long walk inside JL. First we visited the museum which had all the pics of the Tribes of Karnataka, display of their clothing. Next was an ancient Ganesha temple. Then came the display of folk lore & cultures of Karnataka and some of the remains of dynasties in Karnataka. After all the walking, most of the elders were too tired to walk further. So they took their place under the shade of a huge tree. And we youngsters moved towards a lake which had boating facility. There was only one option there, the paddle boat. So five of us climbed in for a 15min ride. After which all of us proceeded to the Amphitheatre usually used for some folk shows which take place there. The kids gave us good entertainment by singing some songs & jumping around. It was 4.00P.M. by the time we decided to exit. All of us had a cup of coffee/ tea and jumped into our bus.

the maharatha used during festivals.

the boating

at the exit

the ganesha temple

We thought that the crowd would be tired, but then one of our cousins recommended that we visit the Mukti Naga temple near Ramohalli on our way back. The approach road to this place was bad and after reaching we noticed that there was some construction work happening at the temple. The steps to walk up to the temple were pieces of wood put together. Before we went to see Lord Naga, we stepped in to pray at Shri Kaaryasiddhi Vinayaka Temple which was at the entrance. Luckily we were on time for the Aarati for Lord Naga- 16ft tall! This is the biggest Naga idol I have ever seen! Very near to the main temple there was another old temple which had carvings of naga all over, went in there and saw a beautiful small Stone idol of Naga again. Outside this temple we saw lots of small stones piled up, like building blocks. That’s when our close aunt & uncle mentioned that those who have wished for a house for themselves build a stone block in front the temple and ask the lord to bless them with a house. Nice and easy way to build a house I thought :-) After everyone of us had finished visiting the temple, we decided to call it a day.
To make this day a success was a great thing to happen.
Special mention: My husband & I earned a lot of brownie points for organizing this…shy shy

Sorry we didnt take pics at Mukti Naga!! Forgot the camera in the bus!