The Grand Chola Experience!

A part of the Chennai Super Bloggers Team - Winners of the First Indian Bloggers League!

A blogger meet organised by Indiblogger is something every blogger looks out to- as a perfect opportunity to meet, greet and rub shoulders with the wonderful people who are known through their writing, with awesome venues, great food and lots of fun thrown in as a bonus.

This time round, the Indiblogger meet provided a sneak preview into Asia's largest hotel, the ITC Grand Chola at Guindy and it was little wonder that 95% of the registrants reached despite the really short notice.

When I reached the venue, the car was guided along to circumambulate the hotel to reach the Chola entrance, and believe me, it was like circumambulating the Big Temple at Thanjavur! All along the walls, were motifs of elephants (machine cut, and not handmade as I had visualised)welcoming the visitors.

One good thing about the Grand Chola is the pre-reception lobby containing escalators on either side, which enable users of the banquet halls and restaurants to move upstairs without having to enter the main reception!
How efficient!

The indiblogger meet was organised at the Rajendra Banquet Hall, a pillarless wonder that can house upto 3000 people if the panels were all opened up or could be divided into eight smaller conference halls.

Rajendra outside the Banquet Hall

The hospitality of ITC was amazing. With unlimited welcome drinks doing the rounds, the participants settled down comfortably in the round tables, which had i-pads configured for bloggers to participate in the #TweetsForTreats competition organised as part of the launch, whereby winners get awesome treats for innovative tweets about the hotel.

The Marketing head of ITC Grand Chola made a brief presentation about the hotel and its special features and it was indeed amazing to note that the entire hotel was operated on wind energy and this was achieved by the numerous windmills installed in Salem.

After a warm up round of HUR...HUR....HURRAY, and some fun questions by Anoop about the capabilities of the I-pads in the ITC Grand Chola hotel rooms, that earned participants experience vouchers of Rs.500 each (self included :)) and a musical chair to the tune of Gangnam Style, we were all set to enjoy the awesome hi-tea which was almost a meal, and the royal guided tour of the hotel with our charming hostess Meghna.

The Suites have been named after Karikala and Rajaraja, the Board rooms after Kaveri and Thanjavur and the Banquet Hall after Rajendra. The Sangam Lobby has a lotus motifed ceiling with acoustics planned in such a way that the voice of a person who spoke below it was magnified. This, we were told was an inspiration from the durbar halls of the Chola Kings (!) where such an arrangement existed, so that everyone heard when the King spoke.

Our tour started at the Sangam Lobby, resplendent with marble, the curving staircases fit enough for a king. We were told that different types of marble from many parts of the world were used liberally in the construction of the hotel as the Cholas had used marble to build palaces and temples. (Is that true? I thought the Mughals had specialised in using marble for construction).

The Sangam Lobby with the splendid chadeliers and the lovely staircase

We went through the different entrances - the Kili entrance for the Serviced apartments and the Sembian entrance for the Conference facilites.

We peeped into the restaurants and coffee shops - Madras Pavilion, Cafe Mercara, and Ottimo,
had a lovely mocktail at the Tranque"bar"- a bar named after Tharangambadi of the Chola Kingdom,
breezed through Cheroot - the Malt and Cigar Bar and Nutmeg, the wonderful chocolate and cake place,
and the Kayakalp Spa, before checking out the Tower Room, where every move was "I-Pad" controlled, the spacious Gym and the lovely swimming pool.

Sipping a Mocktail at the Tranque"bar"

Our final stop was at the Kavery and Thanjavur Board Rooms - the State of Art Board rooms with elegance and efficiency where everything happened at a touch of a button.

The die-hard Chola fan in me was a little disappointed that other than the antique artifacts from different parts of India, there was no other symbol or reference from the Cholas in the restaurants or rooms - but then, I guess they have done the best they could, considering business priorities. It would also help immensely if the staff were given a lesson in Chola history so that they are able to relate and narrate facts better.

Meghna told us that the Sembian entrance was named after Sembianmadevi, a queen who was well known for her hospitality! I could not resist telling her that the Cholas took the name of Sembian, to show that they were descendants of King Sibi and Sembianmadevi was well known for her philanthropy and devotion to Lord Shiva and that she had spent many an year in her life and a huge part of her wealth in renovating Shiva temples and in popularising the thevaram! (Phew!)

Bottomline: I decided not to apply too much of history and to enjoy the ambience that had been so meticulously put together by several thousands of people!

I do not want to go into repeating every single detail that Meghna told us, to spoil the fun for those who want to check out the regal splendor and responsible luxury of this hotel that spans over 6,00,000 sq. ft, but here are some glimpses of images that stayed in my mind long after I went home!

That Wonderful Grand Chola Experience! - Through my eyes! Do read the description of each picture, to understand more about the unique features of this magnificient hotel.

A sincere thanks to Indiblogger and ITC Grand Chola for a wonderful fun-filled evening, great food, and  lovely treats to take away as parting gifts! We will be back soon to enjoy the regal ambience yet again! May the glory of the Cholas live on!

Kalapani!

I first met Dipa in the lobby of my hotel in Port Blair. She was in the Andamans volunteering with an NGO, teaching young children English. She was bubbly, cheerful and full of life. In fact, it took me a while to realise she was visually challenged. She was very confident and moved around, using her other senses to guide her. I was so impressed by her positive attitude that we soon became good friends.

Photo Courtesy: Royal Blind Society

Mornings were busy at work and in the evenings we strolled along the beach, talking about every topic under the sun. I told her that I planned to visit the Cellular Jail over the weekend before moving back to Chennai. She told me that she too had wanted to visit many a time, but had not had the opportunity to do so.


I was excited. My visit to Port Blair was never complete without a visit to the Cellular Jail. For hours I strolled around the grounds, often with tears in my eyes, going over the various symbols that reminded us of the great struggle for Independence. To me, Kalapani as the Cellular Jail was often called, is a great temple of sacrifice of innumerable freedom fighters who got us the precious gift of Independence.


I asked Dipa if she would go along with me - she gladly agreed. Most of the evenings during my stay in Port Blair, had been spent narrating stories about my travel to different temples. Dipa was always a keen  listener, asking a lot of questions to understand better. I felt my skills in story-telling improving, as I made the description very detailed and user-friendly for Dipa to understand.


Our plan to visit Kalapani was made. We decided to leave after lunch so that we could look around the jail and then stay back for the Sound and Light Show at 5.30 pm.

The day arrived for our trip, and we were very excited as we got into the car. Once we alighted, I tried to explain the entrance to Dipa. I drew a semi-circle in her palm to describe the arched entrance and told her there were towers on either side."A tower?" she enquired. I held up my hand and ran her fingers over it. I told her a tower was similar in shape but as high as ten people standing on top of one another. Dipa's response made me realise how easy it is for us to talk about various things and how difficult it was for someone like Dipa to visualise. Dipa held on to my elbow, as she bent touched the ground with her right hand.   " We stand today where our brave freedom fighters had put up with all forms of inhuman treatment, just for us" I said.

We walked into the sunny courtyard. From where we stood, the jail looked like a regal British building. There was a central watch tower with seven arms. Each arm of three storeys, was of varying length with a number of cells. I described the construction to Dipa. She now understood the watch tower and its arms and I was glad she did. Dipa stopped, listening to the excited blabber of children and tourists as they passed us by.

The construction of the jail had begun in 1896 and was completed in 1906. The complex had a total of 696 cells each one of them measuring 13 feet 6 inches in length and 7 feet 6 inches in width with grilled doors. Each one of these small cells contained a prisoner in solitary confinement. No communication was possible at all between prisoners. When I told her these details, Dipa wanted to go into the cells and take a look. We moved up the narrow stone staircase, and went into the first storey. The cells occupied by famous personalities had their names mentioned against them. I stopped at the cell of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, popularly known as Veer Savarkar. Sentenced to fifty years of imprisonment, he had not even known his brother Baburao Savarkar was also in the same jail for almost a period of two years. 

Inside the Cell occupied by Veer Savarkar

I took a picture of Dipa inside the cell, measuring its length and breadth with her outstretched arms, asking me to describe the corridor outside, the bare walls with a couple of alcoves and the eerie air around the place. She wanted to take a picture of me and so I helped her do so. When I told her she had shot a perfect picture, her face broke into a broad grin. 

We went out into the exhibition wing, containing statues of the prisoners(primarily freedom fighters) and the treatment meted out to them.

The chains that had once adorned the bodies of the prisoners were now placed on the statues. An iron ring around the neck connected to chains around the back, and across the torso ended in cuffs around the ankles. These chains weighing 3-5 kgs had to be worn by the prisoners while performing tasks like extracting oil (replacing cattle)and cutting trees. Dipa's face grew red with anger. I sought permission from the official nearby to let Dipa touch and feel the chains. " This is so inhuman" she said. " After all, all that the prisoners were doing was fighting for freedom, that is rightfully ours", she said.

The next set of statues was even more painful to witness. A semi-naked man was strapped by the hands and waist to an iron stand and a guard was seen whipping him. Tears ran down my cheeks as I described this to Dipa. She wanted to know what a whip was and when I told her it was a thin piece of leather, that was used to punish people, she shuddered. Both of us stood still , thinking of the inhuman tortures our freedom fighters had undergone. After describing several other similar scenes to Dipa, we walked out to the area used to hang prisoners. 

It is here that several prisoners who had either protested against their arrest or tried to escape, had been hanged to death. Dipa ran her fingers on the ropes, and even asked me to put the noose around her neck, to show her how people were hanged.

There were wooden trenches outside these compartments through which the bodies of the hanged prisoners were dragged out and disposed. When I described this to Dipa, she was absolutely horrified. "Oh no! I don't want to hear any more...did not the prisoners deserve to be treated with dignity?" she exclaimed.

We sat down for a few minutes, sipping cold water. The afternoon sun was beating down on us, and we were exhausted not just by the heat, but also by the emotions. After some time, we walked up to the watch tower. I walked behind Dipa, guiding her up the narrow stairs. "Raise your leg, one more step to go!" Dipa followed my instructions and we were soon in the watch tower, a strong breeze embracing us. 

The seven sprawling arms lay spread out from the central tower. The arms were designed in such a way that the guards could easily shoot any prisoner trying to escape. Dipa and I walked down the arm, the breeze on our faces, as I described the view - the swaying coconut palms, and the ocean beyond.

Our last stop was at the flame of freedom - Swathantrya Jyothi - a tribute to all those selfless souls who lost their lives in the struggle for freedom. We stood for a couple of minutes, paying homage to the great men.

We then moved to the lawns were people were slowly trickling in, for the sound and light show. Chairs were arranged in a semi-circle in the center of the corridor, giving the audience a complete view of the prison complex. We moved to the first row, and took seats in the centre.Dipa listened to the sound of children squealing, and chiding parents asking them to sit down.

Soon, the show began. 

Video Courtesy: You Tube

As the sounds (and lights) moved around the jail complex, we were transported to another world. This show was ideal for Dipa to visualize how things had been at the Cellular Jail during the freedom struggle. The audience who were laughing and talking had grown silent, as they heard the sounding of guns and the slogans raised by the freedom fighters when they were beaten ruthlessly. We remained seated in our chairs even as the crowd trickled out...the song sung by our freedom fighters "Naa Sahenge Atyachaar" still echoing in our ears!

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Avva!

Avva!

It was the summer of 2008 when I first saw Avva. We were on a trip to Anegundi and Navabrindavan. On the way back, our boatman told us about Chintamani and the cave where Rama met Sugreeva for the first time. We were excited and wanted to visit immediately. 

When we reached , we found a temple had been raised ahead of the cave in later times, housing a beautiful Shivalingam, and Annapoorani. Both these shrines, were clean and decorated with fresh flowers. There were no other visitors at that time. I looked around to see Avva, sitting under a tree. 

It was close to noon and extremely hot. Avva chided us for coming in the hot sun and showed us around. She told us about the Swamiji who had built the temple and about how he had gone into one of the caves below the temple and never returned.

My son, wanted to go into the cave and see what was inside. Avva told him gently that it would not be appropriate for him to do so. For a lady of her age (she told us she was over 80 years), Avva was extremely agile and cheerful. She climbed the steep steps quickly, while we panted our way behind her.

Avva then took us, into the cave where Rama and Sugreeva had met  for the first time, when Rama and Lakshmana came to Kishkinda looking for Sita. It was here that Sugreeva showed Rama, Sita's head jewel (Chintamani) that she had dropped while being carried away, and so the place came to be known as Chintamani. The cave is also significant because it was here that Sugreeva introduced Hanuman to Lord Rama and Rama agreed to help Sugreeva by killing his brother Vali.

Avva, made us sit in a semi - circle around the stone where Rama sat and we listened to her in rapt attention as she narrated the various incidents in Ramayana that were related to Chintamani. She showed us Rama's foot impression at the spot where he stood and shot an arrow to kill Vali. 

We never asked Avva her name. She was happy to be called Avva, and delighted when my husband wanted to take a picture with her. She had been living alone  in the temple for over sixty years. 

My husband with Avva

Avva said, as a young girl, she had seen people come to drink and sleep through the day at the Chintamani cave and having heard of its significance, she used to clean the cave, place lamps and flowers on the Rama stone, and drive those people away.

I was amused when she said she had got help to move a statue of a hunter and huntress to the entrance of the cave to stay guard during nights.

The hunter and huntress who were Avva's Security guards!

Avva's life revolved around the cave and the temple. She had moved in permanently when the Swamiji came there - helping him with food, flowers and cleaning of the temple. She did not know where he came from, by merely said that he was a great man - her Guru.

I was so impressed by Avva's simplicity, grace and a sense of responsibility - when all other people in the village had treated the cave merely as a place to drink, sleep and make merry, she had possessed the interest, self-will and determination to protect the sanctity of a holy place and maintain it with minimal support.

Avva said her family members stayed in the village and she did not want to leave the temple alone (!) and so stayed and took care of it.  She did not know a word of English or Tamil and spoke a mixture of Telugu and Kannada. But we were able to perfectly understand what she was saying - her eyes and hands spoke volumes and the medium of speech was barely necessary!

 After that visit, I made it a point to tell my friends who visited Navabrindavan to go to Chintamani and meet Avva - a saint in her own way. My friends came back with exciting tales to share - how wonderful she was and how delighted they were to meet her!

Last summer, I got an opportunity to travel to Hampi. An author friend of mine, had suggested taking a person from Anegundi as a guide. When we reached Anegundi  I was eager to meet Avva again. So as soon as the man got into the van, I told him we first wanted to see Chintamani. 

When we reached the temple, I ran inside.  The spot where Avva usually sat was empty. There were dried leaves, and old flowers lying around and it looked like the place had not been cleaned for a few days. I was puzzled. Something was wrong.

I turned around, and asked the guide " Where is Avva...the old lady who used to take care of the temple? " 

" Oh, she died", he said.

I froze in silence. The noble and selfless soul, had mingled with the divine consciousness at such a holy place. All her life, she had wanted to clean and maintain Chintamani and it was only deserving that she got moksha at the shrine she loved the most! I stood for a couple of minutes under the tree, to pay homage to Avva.

As we got into the car, I saw two men walking into the cave, with bottles in hand. ..........

Avva, a simple woman, a selfless soul!

To read all about  Chintamani , Visit Aalayam Kanden: Chintamani Temple, Anegundi

This is an entry for Around the World with Expedia Contest conducted by Indiblogger and Expedia!

Versatile Blogger Award and Liebster Blog Award

Thank you Zaira for giving me the Versatile Blogger Award. Really thrilled!

The rules of the Versatile Blogger Award are as Follows:
1. Nominate 15 Fellow Bloggers
2. Inform the Bloggers of their nomination
3. Share 7 random things about yourself
4. Thank the Blogger who nominated you
5. Add the Versatile Blog Award picture to your blog post

I am happy to nominate the following 15 bloggers whose work I follow regularly and deeply appreciate:
1. Rajesh Prabhu
2. Shrinidhi Hande
3. Anshul Dutt
4. Arti
5. G Christy Rathnalatha
6. Umesh Derebail
7. Meera
8. Arun
9. Hari Narayana
10. Sushma Harish
11. Deepak Doddamani
12. Soumya Swaminathan
13. Dhiraj Shenoy
14. Katie
15. Sudha Ganapathi

I will be informing each one of them personally about the award.

Regarding 7 random things about me:
1. I do things best when I do multiple things at the same time :)
2. Till the age of ten, I was ambidextrous- in other words I could write with both hands :)
3. The food I love most - is Thayir Saadham! Nothing to beat Homemade Thacchi Mammuu!
4. I love bursting bubblewrap - could spend hours doing it!
5. I cannot read anything sitting down - prefer to walk while reading!
6. I have weighed the same for the last ten years- cannot seem to reduce even half a kilo!
7. I love reading blogs of other bloggers. It makes me feel there is so much variety and perfection out there that I must strive hard to reach!

Liebster Blog Award

Thanks to Christy Ratnalatha for sharing the Liebster Blog Award!

Liebster means "favourite" or "dearest" in German and by sharing this award with you, it means your blogs are my favourites. Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to her blog.
2. Copy and paste the award to your blog.
3. Choose 5 bloggers to receive this award and let them know by commenting on their blog.
4. Hope they pass on the award to their favourite blogs.
5. Thank all those who follow your blog.

Wish to share this award with the following fellow bloggers:
1.Magic Eye
2.Saru Singhal
3.Zaira Hakeemshah
4.Sunita Kurup
5.Debajyoti Ghosh
Congratulations to all the winners!