Making Ras Malai

I made Ras Malai for Janmashtami. It is very easy to make.They are so delicious and they are a must for every festival.

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups of milk for making Ras
2. 3 cups of milk for making Malai
3. 3tbsp of sugar
4. lemon juice from one lemon
5. cardomom
6.saffron powder
7.almonds and pistas
8. 3 cups of sugar

Preparation method:

1. Boil 4 cups of milk slightly and add lemon juice to it. Take a cloth and place it on a bowl. Drain the milk into this to extract the paneer. Wash them with running water to remove all traces of lemon form them. Mash and knead them gently to form slightly flattened balls.

2.Take 3 cups of sugar and mix them with water. Boil this sugar water till one string is achieved. Place the paneer balls in them and boil them until they visible become large in size. Take them out and place them seperately.

3. Boil 3 cups of milk until it reduces to quarter of it's volume. Mix saffron powder with milk and let it soak for sometime then put it inside the reduced milk. Also crush some cardomoms and put them inside. Slice the almonds and pistas into thin stripes and roast them for sometime and then put them inside the reduced milk mixture too. The Malai is ready.

4. Place the panner balls (Ras) inside the Malai and refrigerate. Serve chilled.

you can make atleast 6 paneer balls with 4 cups of milk. These are really yummy and easy to make. Try them. :)

Amateur Photography - wildlife

                                                            I have recently begun dabbling with photography and I have managed to capture some of the wildlife roaming about in the neighbourhood. In my recent endeavours I have found out that photography is a way to make the world see how you see the world. It is a fascinating hobby, one I intend to continue for a long time. I have also found out that wildlife photography requires a lot of patience and a lot of luck. Here are some moments of the wild I have captured.

I am hoping to capture more of these wonderful creatures. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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Indian Jewellery - Anklets

 

Anklets are known by various names in India. It is called Golusu in Tamil, Paayal in Hindi, Jhangheer in Punjabi and as the Salangai or Ghunghru by traditional Indian Bharathanatiyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak and Odissi dancers.Any traditional Indian attire is not complete without this piece of jewellery.Ankets worn by Indian women come in various shapes and forms. They are usually made of either gold or silver.

Some anklets have small bells attached to them which make a pleasant sound when you walk. These type of anklets are mostly worn by little children. These help the mothers know where their child is at all times.

Some anklets are very thick in size and are adorned with gems of various sizes. Such anklets are worn by Indian women on their wedding.

Some are very small and made of silver or gold. These can be paired up with any attire either modern or traditional.

The Salangai or Ghunghru which are worn by dancers have bells attached to them to help the dancers to give emphasis to their dance movements.

Ghunghru

Salangai

Whatever forms they might have, the anklet is an elegant and classy piece of jewellery which will never go out of style.

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What is life???

                                                  

All of us, at some point or other in our lives might have really tried hard to find the answer to one of the most difficult questions in the world. What is life? I sincerely doubt that anyone would have found out the answer.But there might be some exceptions to this, who knows there is always an exception to everything.

Life as we know it, is very difficult to understand for us mere mortals. It is so complicated. It makes us experience a deadly cocktail of emotions every passing second. From mind numbing happiness to heart wrenching sadness and everything between, it is really a miracle that we survive each day.

Everything in life is both new and old. One might at some point think that he has seen everything in his life but suddenly something might pop out of nowhere and take him completely by surprise. That moment of utter surprise is life.

Life is not always a bed of roses. It has many a hidden thorn which catches you completely unawares the moment you get comfortable in that bed. There is no such thing as happy life. A life of both happiness and sadness is life.

When life seems so sad and dull and every endeavour seems to fail, we find the solution in life itself. We find a reason to live, a reason to get out of bed every morning and smile a happy smile. It can be as simple as the joy of seeing the rising sun or seeing the smile on a loved one’s face. Life always gives us a reason to live. That is life.

Life is what we make it out to be. It is either good or bad but never worse. Once we realize this, we might surely get an idea as to what life is. We might never truly understand our mysterious lives. All we can do is experience it, keeping in mind that life is not always a bitter pill given by a psychotic doctor called fate.

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 Tips for a great garden

Here are some great tips to spruce up your garden.

1.Snip plants regularly so that they do not become very bushy and unmanagable. This also
ensures the growth of new shoots which helps keep your garden perpetually green and
pleasant to look at.

2.Place a little pond in your garden and plant water lillies or lotuses. These plants give rise
to lots of algal growth in your ponds so buy some little fish and put them in it.They will keep
your pond clean by eating the algae so, there is no need for you to manually clean the pond. Keep the pond a bit elevated to avoid little children from falling into it.

3.Encourage all sorts of creatures in your garden such as garden lizards.
 These creatures help balance your garden's ecosystem.If you do this you don't have to worry   about a bug infestation.

4.A garden is good to look at only when it is full of colourful flowers.Grow plants such as santan, white angels,yellow bells and Euphorbia so that your garden is in full bloom all
year around.

5.Place plants around your garden in a orderly manner. It gives your garden a neat look.

6.Have border plants in your lawn.Border plants add contrast to your otherwise all green lawn.

7.Just a lawn and a flower bed is not enough for a garden.Plant trees strategically around your garden.Trees provide a lot of shade and little garden plants thrive in the shade.They also ensure that your garden does not look dull and parched in the harsh summers.Trees such as the bottle brush tree also add ornamental value to your garden.

8. Your garden should be such that it attracts birds and squirrel.Multi coloured birds and cute squirrels give life to your garden.A sure way of attracting these creatures is to have lots of trees in your garden as trees act as nesting grounds for them.Birds also build nests in hanging pots so place them around your garden. Have a bird bath in your garden.The bird bath should be such that it has flowing water because birds are attracted by flowing water rather than still water.Place shallow bowls with nuts and cereal in your garden to feed them. Once these creatures like your garden they surely will settle down there for many generations so be friendly to them.

Having a great garden has many vital advantages. It helps keep your homes cool during summer.It increases oxygen levels around your house.It is also relaxing to look at and walk around a flower filled garden so have a great garden and a good life.
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Anusham Star Temple

ஸ்ரீ லக்ஷ்மிபுரீஸ்வரர் கோவில் 

Sri Lakshmipureeshwarar Temple - Thirininriyur

Each of the 27 birth Nakshatras are associated with a temple and the temple which I visited is the Anusham star temple known as Sri Lakshmipureeshwarar temple.People born under this star will benefit greatly if they worship here atleast once a year, particularly on the day of Anusham, which falls every 27 days(Check Panjangam for current year).This temple is located at Thirininriyur, which is about 6.5 kms from Vaitheeshwaran koil on the way to Mayiladudurai or Mayavaram.

Origin:

Thirininriyur(Thiri-wick;ninriyur-place it was put off). According to history, a Chola king used to pass through Thirininriyur after worshipping at the Sirkali temple. Whenever he passed through this place, the lamps he carried were put off. Intrigued by this, the king went to see the reason behind this strange phenomenon. On the way he saw Kamadhenu coming down from the sky.Eager to see it, the king slashed his way through the bushes using his sword.He was stopped on his way when his sword was obstructed by something and on lifting it, the king was dismayed to find it covered in blood. In his frantic attempt to reach Kamadhenu he had slashed at a Shiva Lingam.The dent he made on the Shiva Lingam can be seen even to this day. This Shiva Lingam is one of the 64 Swayambhu Lingams(something which originated on it's own).The king built a temple at this spot which is now the Sri Lakshmipureeshwarar temple at Thirininriyur.

It is said that Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Vishnu worshipped Lord Shiva here and that Lord Shiva granted Lakshmi the boon to eternally be in Lord Vishnu's heart, hence the name Lakshmipureeshwarar.

There are also separate shrines for Vinayaka,Murugan,Mahalakshmi,Navagrahas,Bhairavar,Chandran and a Shiva Lingam which is said to have been worshipped by Parasurama.

This temple is maintained by the Dharmapuram Adhinam. It is sad to know that this beautiful temple  is not known to many and has very few visitors. Temples like these are our heritage and it would be great if many people knew about them and visited them. We must not allow such temples to be forgotten.

There are no shops in this village so buy offerings to the Lord from Vaitheeshwaran koil or take them from your house.

This is the cute little dog that lives in the temple. Bring something to eat for this adorable creature whenever you visit this temple.









Other temples nearby:

Vaitheeshwaran koil
Thirupungur

Boarding and lodging:

Since this is a very small village, stay at Vaitheeshwaran koil.

Temple timings:

6AM to 12PM and 4PM to 8PM.

Temple contact:

Subramaniya Gurukkal
Thirininriyur
Mayiladudurai-609118.
Phone number: 04364320520.

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