Doll display

It coming close to the end of Navaratri; almost all over India, the 9-day worship of the mother Goddess in her various manifestations follows a similar pattern. But it is only in the southern states that the 9-step (or 7-step) display of dolls becomes a prominent feature of this festival. 


Here's a golu from the Kapaleeshwarar temple at Mylapore. Don't fret if you did not see it there yesterday; this picture is from last year's celebrations!

141, now

Today is one of the few 'National Holidays' in the country. This year, Gandhiji's birth anniversary falling on a Sunday ruled out one of the 'definite' holidays from the calendar. And I didn't get to see Richard Attenborough's Gandhi this year.... maybe Munnabhai's Gandhi made an appearance? 

But then, thanks to Anna Hazare and many others, the Mahatma has been more in the news this year than in most recent years. Maybe it is time to, as an old advertisement said, "...discover the Gandhi in yourself"! 

Mystery object

Ah, the greater mystery is about why I got out of the blogging habit for quite a while now. Doesn't matter. Another 1st-of-the-month, another 'Theme Day', another resolution.


This month, the theme for the City Daily Photo community is "Mystery Object". I had a couple of excellent candidates for that, but unfortunately, I had used them before, here and here; so now I've had to rummage through a jumble of images to come up with this one.


All I can tell you is that it is on top of the Thirusoolam hill. What was it used for? I'm not sure, but I guess it was   just a shaded rest / lookout point.... like the chattris on some forts in north-western India. I do hope some of the readers will be able to throw more light on this!


To see other mystery objects, from many other cities around the world, get over to the City Daily Photo portal. You may click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Under (re)construction

This is not a new building, for sure. The Bharat Insurance Building has been around for as long as I can remember. In fact, it has been around for so long that it is not being used anymore. But do you see those towers in the background, with scaffolding around them? 

That's because they belong to a much, much older era. They were part of the Kardyl Building, which was inaugurated in 1897. In the course of their long life, they have weathered much, but the sheer neglect of the past fifteen years or so pushed them to the brink of ruin. In August 2006, the Madras High Court restrained the Life Insurance Corporation of India, the current owners of the building from "demolition or change in character" of the building, thanks to the efforts of Chennai's minuscule but valiant heritage lobby. Since then, an agreement appears to have been arrived at. There is some restoration activity going on at this building. One hopes that it will go back to the bubbling spirit it had in the days when it housed a soda-water bottling plant and a beer parlour on the premises!

It is 'Theme Day', over at www.citydailyphoto.com! Go over there to find photos from around the world on the theme 'construction'!!

Faith!

Across the street from the gate of St. Peter's Church at Royapuram, is the Jamia Masjid mosque. The juxtaposition of the two symbols - the mosque's minaret and St. Peter's cross - make for an interesting picture!

Dramatic building

Back to those white-on-blue enamel boards. This building has two of them, both indicating institutions that have had a glorious run on the Madras stage. One of those, I shall save for another post, but this one, sadly, seems to have been relegated to a 'bit-part' these days.

The Sukrutha Lakshmi Vilasa Sabha (SLVS) is one-hundred-and-eleven years old this year. It has been operating from this building for sixty-seven of those years. In the early days of its existence, the raison d'etre of this Sabha was to compete with the Suguna Vilasa Sabha (SVS) in staging dramatic performances. Over the years, both organizations have had to struggle for existence. The SVS has fared a little better on that count, having morphed into a social club, while the SLVS seems to have last opened its doors a few years ago.

Maybe it wants to continue its association with the performing arts - that could be the reason why it hasn't moved out of this building, which once housed Madras' first ever cinema!

Temple in the crowd

As NSC Bose Road winds down through Sowcarpet, it gets ever more narrow until you wonder how two vehicles can ever pass each other by. Suddenly, you sense space. The road opens out just a bit and there you see this wall, the red-and-white stripes identifying it as part of a temple. From the peacock placed on the wall, you would guess the temple has to do with Subramanya - and you would be correct.

It is not a large temple, but considering the bustle of the area around it, the space is more than ample. The main deity is seen with his consorts, Valli and Devasena, the former's idol showing four arms - a rather unique representation of this Goddess. 

This temple is probably between 200 and 300 years old, going by the local stories. However, there are also stories that tell of Agastyar - whose image is also somewhere on the temple walls - having prayed to Subramanya in this temple. Well, you can choose what to believe!