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Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
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Some Memorable Sights during my trip - And No temples this time.....

I have been writing pages and pages about my trip to Thanjavur and surrounding places, mostly temples. Here is something different. To finish off my series of blogs about my Diwali trip, let me invite you to join me in a different kind of tour – a tour through the eyes, or rather the lens of my camera. These are photographs taken over a period of 15 days, at various places. Let me assure you that there is not a single temple among them. These are purely of the sights I saw during my trip, something I will remember all my life, and would like to share with all of you.

From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip
the sun set during our return trip from Rameswaram

From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip
A lotus in a pond near Thirukkarugavur

From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip
The road covered with husks near Nagapattinam

From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip
A hermit crab leaving its shell at Kodikkarai

From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip

From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip
scenes near Vedaranyam

From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip
A canal covered with flowers


From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip

Butterflies perch on flowers at the Hotel Sadabhishekam nea Vaitheeswaran Kovil

From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip


From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip
A sparrow


From Diwali 08 - Thanjvur Trip
A Kngfisher at Chaayavanam

With this, I come to an end to my blogs about the temples around Thanjavur. Hope to start another such series soon......
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Location: Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India

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