Xandari’s Holiday Tree is Up and Running

 

A homemade “loomi” lamp

 

Like any other tree acquired this time of year, Xandari’s holiday tree had to be put on the roof of a car — in this case, the resort’s golfcart — to transport it up to the lobby area from its site of construction. We snaked an LED “hose” through most of the paper lanterns in the bamboo structure, and now we have balsa-wood bird ornaments made by Costa Rican artists (these birds normally hang in our gift shop). Finally, I made a modular paper lamp recycled from old manila folders (template and how-to pending, but the lamp is basically a DIY Loomi light).

Tomorrow, when I finish the second loomi tree “star,” I’ll put up photos of the smaller tree that Edwin and I made for the Xandari Spa.

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Onam Redux

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The most spectacular event of all Kerala festivals, Onam epitomises a new found vigour and enthusiasm about everything. The festival celebrates the return of King Mahabali, who is said to visit his subjects each year. To convince their beloved King that Kerala continues to be prosperous land of milk and honey people decorate their homes and celebrate to the fullest sometimes even faking prosperity to present a happy and flourishing facade to their King. Continue reading

Temple Festival – Ezhara Ponnana

Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Ezhara Ponnana is a unique temple festival at Ettumanoor, a temple to Lord Shiva near Kottayam. “Ezhara” means seven-and-a-half and “Ponnana” means golden elephant. Statues of these elephants are made of nearly 13 kg of gold each. Seven of the elephants are two feet high, but the eighth one is only one foot tall, which gives the procession and festival of Ezhara Ponnana its name. Continue reading

Melodious Rhythms of India: the Nadaswaram

Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Kerala lays claim to a wide range of native musical instruments, which all together play host to a great range of unique sounds and melodies. The nadaswaram is a wooden-body pipe about two and a half feet long. This double-reed wind instrument is typically played during temple rituals and processions, weddings, and other celebrations. The nadaswaram is thought to achieve the peak of its acoustic quality in open environments where the sounds can resonate outwards, which is why it has evolved into a procession instrument. Continue reading

The Ritual of Karkidakam Vavu bali

 

Photo credits : Remash Kidangoor

Photo credit: Remash Kidangoor

Karkidakam is the last month of Malayalam calendar, a calendar of significance for Hindus living in Kerala. On the eve of the new moon in Karkidakam–two days ago, July 26th–Keralite Hindus gather on the beaches and river banks to pay obeisance to their ancestors by performing the bali tharpanam ritual. This day is known as Karkidakam Vavu. Keralite Hindus believe that the souls of their ancestors attain liberation by the ritual pujas (prayers) and bathing on this day. Continue reading

Arattupuzha Pooram – Thrissur

Photo credits : Jithin Vijay

Photo credits: Jithin Vijay

As per the inscriptions found in the temple at Arattupuzha, in the Thrissur district, this village’s pooram, or festival, started around 1,400 years back and is the oldest festival in Kerala. It is believed that on the pooram day, gods and goddesses from twenty-three temples participate in this festival–thus, the festival is also called Deva Samagamam, or “the assembly of gods.” Continue reading

Happy Anniversary, Yosemite!

One hundred and fifty years ago, on June 30th, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant Act, which passed through Congress and created the first protected wild land in the United States. The Yosemite Grant Act was the first step toward creating what is now the famous and highly popular national park, which eventually happened in 1906 under President Theodore Roosevelt. In the video below, you can see some nature and landscape photography and a couple videos I took during a recent visit to YNP.

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Kakkoor Kalavayal

Photo credits : Shymon

Photo credits: Shymon

Kakkoor Kalavayal is one of Kerala’s famous festivals. The village, Kakkoor, is situated in Eranakulam district. Mud racing is a post-harvest festival celebrated by the farmers of Kakkoor and surrounding villages. A farmer controls his pair of bulls as they race through paddy fields. Continue reading

Koorkencherry Pooyam – Thrissur

Photo credits : Jithin Vijay

Photo credits : Jithin Vijay

The Koorkencherry Pooyam festival is celebrated in the Sri Maheswara Temple, situated in the Thrissur district of Kerala. One of the main attractions of the Pooyam is Kavadiyattom. Kavadiyattoms are divided into two types, Pookavadi and Ambalakavadi. The performing groups start these ritual dances in the morning of the festival. Continue reading

Kattakampal Temple Festival

Photo credits : Jithin Vijay

Photo credits: Jithin Vijay

Kattakampal is a village in the Thrissur district of Kerala where Pooram is an important annual festival in the Kattakampal Goddess temple. The name Kattakampal is a combination of three individual words namely Kadu (forest), Kamadhenu (cow) and Pal (milk). Kathakali is the main attraction of this festival.

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Mulaipari Festival – Tamil Nadu

Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Mulaipari Festival is unique South Indian festival popular in Tamil Nadu, which is celebrated on the 18th day of the Tamil Month of Adi (July). This festival is a famous ritual that takes place at almost every celebration for a village goddess. The women devotees in the procession carry earthen pots filled with the growing plants of nine different types of grains on their heads. Continue reading

Festival Fireworks – Kerala

Photo credits : Jithin Vijay

Photo credits: Jithin Vijay

Fireworks are an important part of all festivals in Kerala, traditionally happening on the last day to mark the end of the festival. In the case of the famous festival of Thrissur Pooram, the fire works start at 3am and end at 6pm. Continue reading

First Holy Communion

Photo credits: Ramesh KIdangoor

Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

First Holy Communion is traditionally  the most important and holiest festive occasion in a Latin and Roman Catholic family. It is the first time that a person receives the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which involves the consumption of consecrated drinking wine and consecrated bread. Most children receive their First Holy Communion when they are 8 to 10 years old. Special white dresses are worn the celebrate the event. Continue reading

Thrissur Pooram – Temple Festival

Photo credits : Jithin

Photo credits: Jithin

Thrissur Pooram is the largest and the most famously colourful festival of Kerala, a stunning mixture of magnificence and spectacle celebrated every year during the Malayalam month of Medam, this year falling on May 9th. Called “the Poorams of all Poorams,” the festival is a grand assembly of Gods and Goddesses who make their visit to the Vadakkumnathan Temple premises on caparisoned elephants, together with majestic ensembles of chenda melam and panchavadyam. Continue reading

Akshaya Tritiya

 

Photo credit : Jithin Vijay

Photo credit: Jithin Vijay

Akshaya Tritiya is a very popular festival that Hindus and Jains celebrate every year. Based on the Lunar Calendar, this year it landed on May 2nd. The Hindu community considers it an auspicious day and believes that any venture will be more likely to succeed. Akshaya Tritiya is associated with gold and many people wait for that day to make investments in or purchases of gold.

Dwajasthambam – Temple Flag Pole

Photo credit : Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo credit: Ramesh Kidangoor

Dwajasthambam is the traditional Hindu temple flag pole placed between the temple gopuram (entrance) and the sanctum sanctorum. They are traditionally made of wood, copper sheets, and gold coating. A cloth flag with Hindus symbols, holy words and figures of Gods or Goddess is usually hoisted on the pole during temple festivals. Continue reading

Arattupuzha Pooram – Kerala

Photo credits : Jithin Vijay

Photo credits: Jithin Vijay

Arattupuzha Temple is located in the Thrissur district of Kerala. The annual festival, Arattu Pooram, is a grand ceremony. Arattu refers to one of the concluding rituals of the temple festival, which is a ritualistic bath in the Karuvannur river on the next morning of Pooram day (when the moon rises with the Pooram star). Continue reading

Sapthaha Yagnam – Temple Festival

Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoo

Sapthaha Yagnam is among eighteen ancient puranas (stories) that are still told today, and one of the most important in the Srimat Bhagavatha Purana (Holy Book of Hindu), which deals with Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna temples host a ritualistic event of intense tradition in which this text is read. Continue reading

Elephant Pageantry – Gajamela

Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

A Gajamela is a procession of caparisoned elephants–a feast for the eyes of Indian elephant lovers. In Kerala this means a spectacular show of the beautifully adorned creatures. They are so well-loved that the Gajamelas have became the most popular and most eye-catching events of Kerala. The elephant Pambadi Rajan won the 2014 elephant awards (Ittithanam Gajarajapattam)Pambadi Rajan is the one of the tallest elephant in Kerala.

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Pottan Theyyam

Photo credits : Jayaraj

Photo credits: Jayaraj

Pottan Theyyam is a colorful ritualistic dance that forms an integral part of the cultural scene in North Kerala. Dressed in ribbons of tender coconut leaves, with his face hidden behind a mask, the Theyyam dances in a frenzied spell, throwing himself on burning red hot embers and walking on fire without getting burnt. Continue reading