Your quick guide to the Amber Palace at Jaipur

A quick tour through the Amber Palace covers the following:
1. Jaleb Chowk
2. Sheesh Mahal
3. Sukh Mahal
4. Baaraa dari

Read on!

It's called the "Amber Palace". Locals call it "Aamer Palace". "Amber" comes from Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva has many names- amongst which "ambishkar maharaj" is one. Amber gets its name from "ambishkar" or "ambikeshwara" since the Jaipur kings were devotees of Lord Shiva. As Parvati's  (amba) consort, Shiva becomes "ambikeshwara". Apparently, there is an Amba temple close to the Amber Palace too.

Jaipur city is not particularly impressive at first glance. Like any other Indian city, the roads are narrow, the traffic is unruly and cleanliness is not its strong point at all. But once you leave these behind and the Amber Fort and Palace comes to full view, you are in for a visual treat! Nestled atop the Aravalli Hills, it steals your breath away by the sheer scale and proportion. The fort walls snake through the rugged mountainscape for 18 kilometers.
The sky is a deep blue, the fort walls and palace in a shade of yellow and sparse vegetation in green. The colors reflect in the limpid waters of the lake and make it a surreal experience.

As your eyes focus on the palace, you see several elephants carrying the early morning tourists up a steep slope to the palace. For the less adventurous, a jeep winds around the hill and drops you at the palace. On the way, you pass by the Jagat Shiromani Temple. Mirabai, the legendary devotee of Lord Krishna worshipped an idol which finds a place in this temple.

We enter the palace through the "surya pol". "Pol" means entrance says the guide. For the next hour, he weaves a story of his own and keeps us interested. "Surya" means the sun. "Chandra" means moon...he explains. Presently, we are at the "Jaleb Chowk". It's an open quadrangle. The elephants enter through the oppposite gate (Chandra pol) and drop the tourists. Even the row of elephants seem dwarfed by the sheer expanse of the square and the huge palace walls.

The palace was built by the kings of Jaipur (please refer to the previous blogs) over generations. Prominent amongst them were three kings: Raja Mansingh I (Emperor Akbar's contemporary), Mirza Raja Jaisingh (Emperor Aurangzeb's contemporary) and Sawai Jaisingh (founder of Jaipur city).

The "sheesh mahal" is not to be missed. It is studded entirely with tiny mirrors from Belgium..all in floral patterns. The guide points a pencil of light from the cell phone at the ceiling. It gets reflected in mirrors all over... "Imagine if it were completely dark and lamps was arranged this way," the guide continues, "it would be like sitting under a moon-lit sky. That's how the kings enjoyed in those days!" For us, it is a quick photo opportunity.

The "sukh mahal" is the apartment of pleasure. The garden is laid out in mughal style, in geometric patterns, with a star at the center. It is a replica of the "Garden of Eden" or the "heavenly gardens". All around the garden, pictures of  bottles in various shapes cover the walls. It is left to our imagination to connect the dots- between pleasure as experienced in heaven with this human representation. There are ivory studded doors which mirror the design of the garden's geometric patterns, there are "palkis" because the queen cannot walk with so much of jewellery on her person and has to be bodily lifted and provision for running, scented water to keep the marble floor cool....sukh mahal...evidently, takes pleasure to a different level altogether!

"Baaraa dari" is our next stop. It is an open courtyard in the zenana (womens' section). "Any male found here, his head cut, no questions asked!" the guide says in all seriousness. There are 12 (baara) apartments, one for each queen. "Each queen gets 4 rooms- 2 on the top floor, 2 on the bottom floor. The head-queen can bathe in this open tank which has its own geyser. See this! The English did not know anything about a geyser, we had it even then! This is the proof!" the guide trails away.



 

Your quick guide to the Jaipur City Palace

The Jaipur City Palace can be essentially divided into the following main attractions:

1. The gigantic silver urns:
2. The 7 storey building:
3. The armory display:
4. The royal clothes display:
5. The 4-seasons doors:
6. The sabha hall:
7. The puppet show!
8. The pashmina shawl purchase!

A series of gates takes you to the interiors of the Jaipur "City Palace". Each gateway has intricate floral patterns painted on its facade. You jostle your way past these gates sharing space with fellow human beings, buffaloes, cows, pigeons and even the occasional donkey....and of course their respective droppings too! Cycles, auto-rickshaws, fat-fati (a bigger, noisier rickshaw), tourist buses, tempo-travelers, pedestrians....cover every inch of the landscape. This is not for the faint-hearted. If you can weather the storm, the experience at the palace compensates for all the hardship.

As you enter the palace, you can get a sneak peak to a puppet show. These are string puppets that Rajasthan is famous for. Traditional vocal music  accompanied by a 'dhol' (drum) form the background against which the puppet show comes alive. Anarkali...puppet in a rich blue, gyrates to the rhythm...followed by "Michael Jackson". At one point, Michael jackson even removes his head as he twists and turns. The final act is a tete-a-tete between a snake charmer and a king cobra. In 5 minutes, the pupper show comes to a close. You can buy your own puppet too.... nicely packaged and sold for 200 rupees!

As mentioned in the previous blog introducing the Jaipur kings, the "City Palace" was constructed about 200 years ago by Sawai Jaisingh (Raja Jaisingh II). Till then, all the kings of this dynasty occupied the Amber Palace (atop the hills in the distance). The city of Jaipur itself came into existence only at this time.

One of the first attractions at the "City Palace" are the two gigantic silver urns. King Sawai Madho Singh II traveled to Britain in 1902 for 6 months. A devout man, Sawai Madho Singh II only drank water from the River Ganga (just like Emperor Akbar!). He had these massive silver urns made at the karkhaanas (factories) in Jaipur, filled them with water from the Ganga and took them all the way to Britain!

The seven storeyed palace building...complete with the fluttering multi-colored flags of the Jaipur kings looms ahead. Presently, we enter the portals of the armory section. Photography is prohibited. All kinds of weapons are on display- knives, daggers, guns, rifles, swords, rifles which require mounting over a camel to fire, rifles which require three human beings to prop up and another one to fire, shields, armors...the list is endless. On display are swords gifted by Shah Jahan, the 5.5 kilogram sword which Raja Mansingh I wielded, two swords in one scabbard, a walking stick which doubles up as a knife and as a gun...the possibilities seem endless!

In the next section are the royal fashions on display. 200-300 year-old tunics, trousers, headgear, boots, sarees, lehengas...it's a riot of gold and embroidery. Sawai Madho Singh I was 7 feet tall and 4 feet wide at the chest. His kurta and trousers are enormous...with the possibility of several human beings finding space into those brobdingnagian outfits!

Not to be missed are the four doors leading to the open courtyard. Each door is exquisitely painted, one door for every season. The peacocks form the motif for the rainy-season door, the lotus for the summer door, the predominantly green door for spring and the uniform tones for winter door! Each door offers a unique photo opportunity.

The final stop inside the palace is the sabha-hall. The second largest chandelier in India (acquired from Czechoslovakia) occupies center-stage. The ceiling comes alive with floral designs painted by a German artist in the 1930s. Two impressive thrones and a huge carpet from Iran complete the picture. The hall has portraits of some of the prominent kings of Jaipur and makes interesting viewing.

With this, we've run out of steam. The guide winds up.... We make a brief stop at the shop with sells Pashmina  shawls. Pashmina is a type of goat found in the Himalayas. Hair on its throat is so fine...that the shawls made with this hair....have a completely different feel. Pashmina is expensive. There are imitations to Pashmina. How do you find out if it is Pashmina or not? The shop keeper mentions two tests.
He passes the pashmina shawl through a little ring...and it comes out clean. An imitation shawl gets stuck midway. The test is compelling all right. Another test is to take a strand from the Pashmina shawl and to set it on fire. It gives a characteristic odour which the duplicate does not.
We are convinced! We'll spend some more time at the shop... How about you!?







 

The kings of Jaipur - A quick overview!

When we talk about the kings of Jaipur, we are essentially talking about the "kachaawa" dynasty. The word kachaawa comes from "kushava" or "kusha". Lord Rama sons were Lava and Kusha. The Kings of Jaipur consider themselves to be descendents of "Kusha" and hence the name "kachaawa". Right from 966 AD, there were 40 kings... continuing to this day.

However, it would be inappropriate to call these 40 kings as "kings of Jaipur" because Jaipur itself came much later (only about 200 years ago). Till then, there was no Jaipur city. These kings ruled from the Amber Palace area (which is situated atop a hill and overlooks today's Jaipur City).

Though this dynasty has 40 kings, only the following kings are prominent when it comes to understanding the history behind Jaipur and the Amber Palace.

The data has been picked up from the multiple guides who accompanied us on our tours. No attempt has been made to verify these details from any other source!

The accomplishments of the main kings can be summarized as follows:

• Raja Mansingh I: 
• Unlike the other kings of this dynasty who fought against the mughals, Raja Mansingh I befriended the mughals. He was Emperor Akbar's commander-in-chief. As per one version, Jodhabai was his sister. Akbar married Jodhabai and Salim (emperor Jahangir) was their son. During his reign, many parts of the Amber fort were added.
Raja Mansingh I wielded a 5.5 kg sword! The sword is on display in the armory section of the Jaipur City Palace and is a center of attraction. It is left to us to imagine how someone could hold a sword as heavy as this and wield it effectively! He must have been one powerful man!

• Mirza Raja Jaisingh:
• (aka Raja Jaisingh I): He was a contemporary of Emperor Aurangzeb. He helped Shivaji to fight against Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb considered this an act of treason and promptly had Raja Jaisingh I put to death by poisoning him. He was also instrumental in further additions to the Amber Palace.


• Sawai Raja Jaisingh: 
• (aka Raja Jaisingh II): He ascended the throne at the tender age of 14. Aurangzeb accosted the boy in a bid to hussle him. With both his arms, Aurangzeb held the boy by the shoulders roughly. The boy wasn't intimidated. He said that when someone held another by the shoulder, it was considered an act of an enduring relationship lasting 7 lives as per the Rajput tradition! And now that Aurangzeb had held him by both arms, it was as if, they were bound to each other forever! Aurangzeb was so pleased with the boy's presence of mind that he conferred upon him the title of "sawai" (meaning "one and a quarter"). It meant that if everyone was given a grade of "one" for their intelligence quotient, the boy was head and shoulders above the rest and hence would earn a grade of "one and a quarter". The title stuck. The boy was known there after as "sawai Raja Jaisingh". In fact, all the kings in the dynasty took the sobriquet of "sawai" from this point onwards.

           Sawai Raja Jaisingh II has several accomplishments:

• He built the city of Jaipur and moved from the Amber Palace to the "City Palace" in Jaipur. In a way, he can be considered as the father of Jaipur. The city gets its name from him. 
• He mastered 17 languages and had a great interest in astronomy.
• The Jantar Mantar at Jaipur was his creation. 
• He set up 36 factories (kaarkhaanas) in Jaipur and encouraged local craftsmanship in a big way. Some of these factories continue to this day. 
• He learnt the secret of building a cannon from the mughals and built the biggest cannon. As per one story, the mughals kept the construction of the cannon as a top secret. Right from the time of Babur, the cannon was their stregth. Rana Sangha and all the Rajput kings with him suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Babur. When Babur's cannons fired, the elephants on the side of the Rajputs went berserk and trampled their own army. The cannon was an unknown commodity. It was Sawai Raja Jaisingh who learnt the science by pretending to be a commoner under the mughal army and set the equation right.
 

Sawai Madho Singh I:

He was over 7 feet tall and had a chest span of 4 feet! His clothes are on display at the City Palace. A few normal human beings can fit into that tunic and the cummerbund on display! They are so oversized that it boggles the imagination to construct Sawai Madho Singh's frame! The "Sawai Madhopur" township (which falls on the Mumbai-Delhi railway line) is in memory of this king.

Sawai Partap Singh: 

He built the "Jal Mahal" and the "Hawa Mahal". Both are stunning monuments and often the face of Jaipur City today.

Sawai Ram Singh II: 

When Prince Albert visited Jaipur in 1863, Sawai Ram Singh II had all the walls of the city and the major monuments painted in a shade of pink. Pink was a sign of welcome as per Rajput tradition. From this point onwards, Jaipur was known as the "Pink City". When we view the monuments today, they don't exactly look pink in color. It is a shade of "vermilion red, a little burnt sienna and white" mized together to give a pink like hue.

 

Sawai Madho Singh II: 

In 1902, Sawai Madho Singh II set sail for Britain. He stayed there for 6 months. A deeply religious man, Madho Singh II used only Ganga water. He had two gigantic jugs made of silver, filled them with water from the Ganga and took them with him! These are the biggest silver jugs ever made and find a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records! Presently, both these jugs are on display at the Jaipur "City Palace" and make interesting viewing.

Sawai Mansingh II: 

He was a handsome man and a great polo player. He won the polo championship in France in 1957. He was married to Gayatri Devi who was one of the most beauitiful women of her time. He died while playing polo. His trophies are on display at the Jaipur "City Palace".

Melkote Narasimha Temple...Painting in watercolor

Very quick water-color work of the Melkote Narasimha Temple. Tried to capture the ominous sky....and the temple façade.

The compass box

We called it a "compass box". No- it did not carry a compass to show the cardinal directions. It was essentially a "geometry box" with a set of set-squares, a protractor, a divider, a ruler, an eraser and of course a compass. The only notable item was the compass, which made it a compass box.

The compass box was every school boy's prized possession. It was a sign of growing up, when you moved from the traditional "pencil box" to a box with a set of sophisticated tools. It was a sort of coming of age symbol, when you left the confines of Arithmetic to enter the new and hallowed portals of Geometry. Of course, everything was just as undecipherable, but that realization was much later!

The compass box came in two flavors- "Camlin" for the cattle class and "Omega" which students from the business class usually carried. For all its worth, no one knew why so many items crowded the compass box. Many seemed purely ornamental.

The set-squares could rarely be fitted back in place once you removed them. Regardless of how you positioned them, some part always protruded out of the box. A fifth grader's patience is limited. After a few tries, he gave up and simply slammed the lid.... Yes, the tips of the set-squares chipped off and stayed that way! No one seemed to mind the deformity. Like the appendix, the set-square seemed the most redundant body-part destined for appendectomy!  We occasionally heard from David Pezarkar (who's body was all brain, we thought) that parallel lines could be drawn with them, but we wondered why a ruler wouldn't be adequate.
Such doubts were relegated to the background and rarely surfaced thereafter.

If at all the set-square was used, it was to enact scenes from the latest Bollywood blockbuster. Two fingers into the cavity of the set-square...and you had your private pistol. And with one pistol on either hand...the sense of empowerment was supreme! Set-squares were your favorite tool, even if the tips were blunt! You jumped from desk to desk...as if jumping over bogies of a running train...and covered the entire length and breadth of the class...with your set-squares all drawn out...shooting smugglers and dacoits and other dregs of human society. Just before Pandey Sir came for the next class, you took care to wipe off the trail of footprints on the desks...yes, with your bare hands...and a dash of saliva...so that the desks looked bright and clean once again!
For variety, the set-squares doubled up as a saw. If you didn't get along with the buddy who shared the same desk as you, at the opportune moment, you tried your best to saw his fingers off with the set-square!!

The divider was the most lethal equipment in the box. The school could very well have banned the divider. It served no academic purpose whatsoever. It was much later in life that Google told us that it is used for "transferring measurements". Till then, the divider served exactly two purposes- etching your name on the desk for posterity and as a weapon which you brandished when the gang wars in class got ugly!
And yes, during the short recess, the less squeamish took turns to hurl the divider from the teacher's platform to a particular desk which served as the target. If the divider hit the target and stayed sunk into the desk without ricocheting, you won a round of applause!

The compass box doubled up as your compact dust-bin. You sharpened your pencils and let the shavings and the fine lead particles litter the insides of the box. It was convenient. It's only when you pulled out the protractor and placed it on the white answer paper, that you realized your semester-long folly. The paper lay smeared with an ugly lead stain transferred from the face of the protractor. The frantic working of the eraser made matters worse, for the eraser was equally smudged with the same lead filings!
The solution was of course simple- a vigorous rub on the navy blue trousers should clean up the protractor. It did- the protractor was now squeaking clean- the lead powder was cleaned up and so were all the markings on the protractor!! The next 45 degree angle was marked with a generous dose of imagination!

The compass was the most complicated of the lot. A brand new box brought its own challenges. The compass leg just wouldn't budge. If at all it did, it was with a sudden convulsive spurt so that you overshot your reading. Otherwise, it fell well short of it...and the very next twitch took it beyond.. once again! It was exasperating. If you got the legs spread apart to the correct measurement, the legs didn't match up in length. The pencil was either too short or long or broken. The long and short of it is that...it  just wouldn't swivel around. It was like trying to pirouette on the ballet stage on a broken foot!
"A hand-me down compass box" from an older sibling put you on a different sticky wicket. The compass legs seem to have an animated life of their own...and suddenly walked way when you were three-quarters into your circle! It didn't look like a circle anymore! "Gadha! If you draw circles like that, you will get a big anda ("egg") on your paper!" Ms Clare hollered.

Many a mighty had egg on their faces getting the compass to work.  It was frustrating...and seemed an endless exercise in futility. Reduced to tears in the examination hall, Mehernosh grabbed the unyielding compass maniacally and with the ferocity of an assassin armed with a dagger, he punched holes one after the other...in successive thrusts... into the answer sheet. Clearly, he had lost the plot. We didn't know what he would do next.

Harpreet Singh sat on the adjoining desk...his hair tied in a braid, with a little bob at the top.  He quietly removed the shining "kadaa" (bangle) from his wrist...and with a little nudge, slipped it into Mehernosh's palm. Mehernosh drew the best circles from then on....with effortless ease. He "estimated" the position of the center and used the compass to punch a little hole so that Ms Clare wouldn't get suspicious.
If circles of different dimensions were needed, he only had to whistle softly to Amarpal who wore a bigger kadaa!

On those dull and dreary days, when time hung still and the monotony of the History class...brought students to the brink of extinction... due to sheer boredom, the compass box was your best friend.
You simply tipped it off from the edge of the desk. It crashed to the floor with the most deafening noise... the metal case flying to one side...and the contents...scattering across the terrain of the class!
It was such a relief! The students now breathed more easily.... suddenly freed from the fetters of the suffocating environs.
And yes, you took your own sweet time..to get below the desks...and pick up one item at a time...a set-square here....and a compass there!






 

Significance of Kalyana Utsavams

(My yoga instructor wanted a write-up on this topic! Wrote out something quick this morning!)

Devotees love to perform Kalyana Utsavams for the Lord- the most popular one being Srinivasa Kalyanam. Here, a wedding ritual is performed for Srinivasa and his consort at Tirupati. Similarly, Kalyana utsavams are performed for other deities in various temples and sometimes even at home.

In this abstract, we look at some of the reasons for performing a Kalyana Utsavam. What is the rationale behind this ritual? What does the devotee hope to gain through this elaborate puja?

Before we get into the details of Kalyana　Utsavam, it would be fitting to look at bhakti in general and see where this kalyana utsavam ritual fits in the entire bhakti landscape.　

Bhakti can be looked at in 9 different ways as per our scriptures- "nava vidha bhakti".

In this arrangement, bhakti can be classified in terms of:
3 ways of invoking the Lord (in terms of action)
3 forms of invoking the Lord (in terms of altar)
3 fold reasons for invoking the Lord


Three-fold way of invoking the Lord:
The Lord can be invoked in a three-fold manner: Using "kaayika karma" (through physical action), "vaachika karma" (through oral action) and "maanasa karma" (through mental action).

All types of puja and ritual come under "kaayika karma". This format gives the widest scope- prostration, circumambulation, lighting the lamp etc. is done by the body. This is "kaayika karma".　 Satyanarayana puja is a type of kaayika karma. Recitation of mantras is also part of the ritual, but it is predominantly a kaayika karma.

All types of recitation (paaraayana) of mantras and stotras and japa come under "vaachika karma". Here, the emphasis is mainly on recitation. The involvement of the body is minimal.

Any type of meditation and "mental recitation" of prayers comes under "maanasa karma".

In terms of complexity, "kaayika karma" is the simplest, vaachika karma is more difficult and maanasa karma is the toughest because the mind alone is involved in this activity.


Three-fold forms of the Lord:

While prayer can be in a three-fold way as kaayika, vaachika and maanasa, the Lord can be visualized in a three-fold way too.
The simplest form is to look at the Lord as a person, as an ishta devata with a specific form and with attributes. It could be as Rama or Krishna or Shiva or Devi. This is called "eka rupa ishvara" i.e. the Lord with a particular form.


Next, the devotee moves onto visualizing the entire cosmos as the body of the Lord, where the Lord is not one particular form, but appears as the entire universe. This is "aneka rupa ishvara" or the Lord as the vishvarupa.

Finally, the devotee sees the Lord as his own inner Self, as the very consciousness which illumines his own thoughts. This is "arupa ishwara" where the Lord is seen with no attributes.

Even here, we have a gradation. Eka rupa ishvara is the simplest in terms of visualization and arupa ishvara is the most abstract.


Three-fold reasons for invoking the Lord:

The Lord is invoked in three situations –

When we are in distress and we need a particular problem solved, the devotee becomes an "aarta bhakta". When we need a particular accomplishment, the Lord is invoked for success in the venture, the devotee becomes an "arthaarthi bhakta". Finally, when we realize the limitations of all accomplishment and we invoke the Lord to gain Him as an end in itself, the devotee becomes a "jignyaasu bhakta".


Nava-vidha bhakti and religious practices:



Our daily religious practice involves choosing one of the options from the above nava-vidha bhakti set. The simplest options are typically chosen from each set for daily worship.

The "kaayika method" is used as the sadhana. The Lord is invoked in a particular form (eka rupa ishvara) (as Rama or Krishna).

The reason for the puja is typically nitya-karma (as a routine) or in special cases, to ward off a particular problem (aarta) or accomplish a specific goal (artha).

The "shodasha upachaara puja" (puja with 16 steps) that is followed in most traditional homes is a typical example. We relate to the Lord as if He is a person (ishta devata) and offer water (aachamanam and arghyam), wash his feet (paadyam), offer food (neivedyam) etc.

In doing so, we develop a unique and personal relationship with the Lord and derive solace and comfort from it. Tyagaraja’s relationship with Lord Rama and Surdas’s relationship with Lord Krishna are examples where the Ishta Devata bhakti has reached culmination.


Kalyana Utsavam:

Kalyana Utsavam is a special ritual where we derive pleasure in conducting the wedding for the Lord Himself.

It is an extension of the "ishta devata" bhakti where in addition to the "shodasha upachara" that we perform on a daily basis, we extend the same concept to an elaborate "kalyana utsavam". Either we watch someone performing the ritual or we perform the puja on our own.

In this context, we need to extend one of the reasons for which the Lord is invoked. In technical terms, it is called "sambodhana dhvani". Here, we use those attributes of the Lord that we see lacking in ourselves and through the prayer for that specific attribute, we gain that outcome.

When archana is done to the Lord with the name "ashokah", it is an example of sambodhana dhvani.

We face problems in life and grieve for different reasons. There is "shoka".

Hence, the Lord is invoked as "ashokah" (the one who has no sorrow) so that… that particular trait which is lacking in me and which He has in full measure, may come to me.

Kalyana Utsavam also falls in this category. We seek marital happiness in our lives. Either there is difficulty in finding a suitable partner or we find the happiness lacking in our married lives. Kalyana utsavams act as a "sambodhana" as it were. In conducting His wedding and see Him happily married, we ask for the same happiness in our own lives!


Hidden significance of Kalyana utsavam:

The Lord's consort is taken as a metaphor for the "jivatma", the individual Self. The Lord is the paramatma, the total Self. The jivatma gets deluded by moha (as Sita did when aspiring for the golden deer) and gets separated from the paramatma. Further, the jivatma suffers from the tyranny of the ten sense organs which go haywire (as symbolized by Ravana) and gets imprisoned in the ocean of samsara.

To restore the jivatma back to its rightful owner- the paramatma, we need an acharya, a guru. Hanuman in the Ramayana symbolizes the guru who helps the jivatma to again unite with the paramatma.

The union of the divine couple can be taken as a symbolic union of the jiva and the paramatma. The Kalyana Utsavam can be interpreted on these philosophical lines as well. Adi Shankara in the Atma Bodha and Sadashiva Brahmendra in the popular song "khelati mama hridaye" have interpreted the union on these lines.


Benefits of performing Kalyana utsavam:

It is often humorously mentioned that there is one relationship that the Lord misses. Since the Lord is the "causeless-cause", he has no cause and hence no parents, as it were! When we perform a Kalyana utsava for the Lord, in effect, He gets to enjoy the role of being our son!

For us, it is the Lord's saulabhya that we get the immense pleasure to be His parents when we perform the Kalyana utsava! It is like the bhaagya that Yashoda enjoyed in being the Lord's own mother in Krishna avatara. In the Srinivasa Kalyana Mahatmyam, it is said that Yashoda wanted to witness the Lord's wedding, an opportunity she never had in Krishna Avatara. In effect, she engineered Lord Srinivasa's wedding to Padmavati and had the opportunity to witness this blissful event. Such is the pleasure of performing or witnessing the Kalyana Utsavam.

As with any ritual, the variety of acts provide a wide canvas for the mind to rest. Our attention is rivetted on the Lord and His consort for the entire duration of the Kalyana utsavam. It enables the mind to develop single-pointedness (ekaagrata). A prepared mind becomes the right vehicle to absorb the teaching (gnyaana) and attain realization (moksha).

Every ritual provides an opportunity to fine-tune the mind for later gnyaana. The kalyana utsavam provides this benefit- a prepared mind, a key prequisite for gnyaana and the resultant fruit of moksha.

Drawing the Alimentary Canal

I watched my daughter drawing out the Alimentary Canal in her science notebook. She drew a bit of what should have been the head... (hopefully!), got the eraser out and rubbed it off, drew some more, erased more, made one more attempt to get the curve of the head right....only to be erased again!
There was growing frustration and I could sense it. The paper had lost its sheen. Several unsuccessful heads...lay etched to the paper surface...in concentric patterns. Any attempt to erase them off  would have left a hole in the paper. Already, the bright picture of the previous page, could be seen peeping through. The page was just about holding up, tenuously, threatening to give off any moment!

Nothing seemed to have changed over the years! We may not have those dull looking, grey "sandow" erasers anymore. They have been replaced with other erasers, more elegant and fragrant. But the eraser's job was still the same- it never erased the pencil marks. It simply removed that layer of paper!
And yes, drawing the Alimentary Canal was just as complicated. I was hoping that with the passage of time, it would perhaps have fewer parts, but no such luck!
I left my daughter make one last attempt to get the Alimentary Canal right. The precarious condition of the paper allowed just that. It was exactly like tight rope walking- you can't afford to make one mistake, not one use of the eraser. You had to get the whole thing right....in a single, unbroken swish of the pencil! Surprisingly, she got it right this time....almost!

Drawing the Alimentary Canal isn't elementary, by any stretch of imagination! There are two broad schools of thought when it comes to drawing the Alimentary Canal- first, sketch the basic outline of the human body and then fit the organs in it. The second is to draw all the organs out...and round it off with the outline of the human body. We have no idea in what order God fabricates this blessed thing- both seem equally challenging and impossible.

If you manage to get the outline right, there is an overwhelming sense of accomplishment all right, but it lasts only till you start drawing the organs out. There is just a bewildering number of items to be fitted. By the time, you come to the end of the body, where the inverted V of the legs touch the trunk, you figure out that you've drawn only the stomach and the liver! You have the entire folds of the intestine, both the small and the large... to now be fitted. It's like reaching Lands-end...there isn't space any more; you simply have to jump over the cliff! You curse yourself for drawing the gullet so long....so that it has sagged right upto the lower abdomen leading to this space crunch!
Fixing this problem is no easy task. The next attempt is worse in execution. Now, everything is bunched up to the top. The gullet ends at the throat, the stomach at the chest and by the time you finish small and large intestine, you're still at the torso! You're left with the rectum or anus or whatever that organ is...and still have miles to go...before you can go! You murmur an audible what the hell to yourself and with contempt, extend the rectum all the way to lands-end till it starts resembling the gullet both in its shape and length! It doesn't look right anymore and everything has to be erased. In the process, you've erased the outline of the Mona Lisa...the only part that you got right...and can't redraw even that!

You abandon Plan A and move to Plan B. Plan B definitely looks like a better idea. You take your own time and space to draw all the organs out and  simply have to draw the body contours in keeping with the organs. It seems such an intuitive method and you kick yourself for not using this approach earlier. After an hour of feverish work, you've got it all right- the esophagus, the stomach, the liver, the pancreas, the small intestine, the large...every thing drawn to a nicety.
Reality strikes when the outline has to be drawn. With the organs all far flung out, by the time you've penciled the body, it ain't a human being anymore, it starts rivaling a map of India! Even giving allowance for obese individuals, this isn't like anyone on this planet. The shoulders have to be extended so that arms can come down wide, the arms have to come down wide to fit the overly bloated stomach. The waist has to be wider because the intestines are sticking out...and by the time you come to the rectum and decide to the draw the legs, the page has come to a close! There's no room for the legs...and the drawing bears an uncanny resemblance to the digestive system in a tortoise! You have half a mind to write P.T.O. at the bottom of the page...and draw the legs possibly on the following page!!

I've often wondered why an Alimentary Canal needs an individual's face to be side-faced, I mean, it's always a profile. There's not a single Alimentary Canal out there, where an individual can have a straight face and still have an Alimentary Canal! It's like one of those pictures of Kapil Dev. I don't even know if he can stand straight. All the pictures show him completely twisted, with a bent knee and a bent elbow...half a feet above the ground...and eyeballs exploding from their sockets...as he looks over his shoulder....on the verge of delivering the ball!

Many years ago, we were at an Inter School Science Project. Our teacher was insistent that it should be a "working model" of the Alimentary Canal. We worked diligently over many weeks...struggling with thermocol and a heated knife, cardboard and fluorescent paint, staying up for many hours after school. Our handiwork was finally ready and we landed up at Amoolak Amichand School. (I can't get the spelling right, but it is close.) Our Science teacher hadn't had time to see the final creation. She would see the exhibit just like the chief guest....right at the venue!

It was the most gigantic Alimentary Canals ever made by mankind! By the time, we stitched all the thermocol pieces together, the gullet had to begin right at the ceiling. The rectum of course, was close to the floor. It was a brilliant effort. Adhir, Kumar and myself glowed with genuine pride as we surveyed the final product. A group of Auxilium Convent girls (who also had an exhibit in the same room) looked on in awe....and we hit the ceiling, just like our handicraft. The fluorescent paint made the whole thing simply leap out of the wall. It was a "working model". We snaked a transparent pipe all the way....tediously....from the mouth...through miles and miles of the digestive system...right till the rectum.  The bucket was also ready. It had tasty juice, made with multiple packs of concentrated "Rasna" syrup...in a bright tinge of orange! Kumar managed a ladder somehow. He stood precariously perched...with his head hitting the ceiling...with a mug of Rasna juice in hand. Adhir squatted with the bucket.... at the rectum... all attentive.  Miss Almeida looked on. The Rasna was poured into the mouth. We could see it moving through the multitude of body parts...till Adhir collected it at the bottom! And yes, you simply needed more mugfills to repeat the process.
If at all we had a difference of opinion, it was only about who would sit with the bucket. No one wanted to do the dirty job!! Occasionally, Kumar didn't pour it right...and drenched Adhir with a mugful of fresh Rasna, completely ruining the uniform.

I didn't have much to do. I looked at the Auxilium girls. They were laughing their guts out. I looked at Miss Almeida. I saw a grimace on her face....a pained expression.. you might say. She clearly wasn't impressed. I wonder why.







 

Making of Ganpati - 2

Baala Ganesha is finally ready...just in time for the festival!

Ganpati in the making - 1

Check out the Ganesha in the making. Made it last week. Took about 4 hours...spread over 2 days.
I am hoping to put the finished product once the painting is complete... a week from now... so that the progression can be seen.
This is the same "self hardening clay" from Michaels Art Store. The plan is to have a "Baala Ganesha" this time... with a curly head of hair... and a dhoti just above the knee roll and a mooshik looking up to Ganesha !
 

Rama at Tiruvallur- In watercolor

Mula-murti and Utsava murti at Tiruvallur

 

"Silpi's" pen-and-ink work was the reference for this water-color painting. It is in keeping the "Rama series" that has formed the theme for my last few water-color works.
 

Rama and Hanuman: In Watercolor

Just completed this water-color work. It is adapted from a pen-and-ink drawing by the artist Silpi. Though the original picture is found on the net, I could not find out which temple has this pillar.