Attukal

Attukal devi temple is one of my favourite temples in Trivandrum. My parents used to take us all to the temple on Fridays during our school days. The divine feeling you get when you enter the temple is difficult to describe in words. The prasadam especially the chandanam is very special. This year visited the temple after dropping Mash and teacher at the Railway station.

Pongala

"Attukal Pongala" is the main festival of this temple. Millions of women gather every year in February (Malayalam month Kumbham) around this temple and prepare "Pongala" (Rice cooked with the ingredients: Jaggery, coconut, ghee etc) in the open in small pots to please the Goddess Kannaki. At the time of festival nearly five kilometers around the temple becomes covered with smoke from the temporary 'aduppu's (temporary hearths made of 3 to 9 bricks). A holiday is declared in the city on that day. Tourists from other countries also join in "Attukal Pongala". The temple is also called "Women's Sabarimala" . It was reported in the media that in 2008, more than 2 million women offered pongala.

Legend:

Goddess kannaki is the Main Diety. Events related to Goddess Kannaki have high influence in the culture,traditions and belief in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is belived that after setting fire to Madurai city in retaliation of punishing her innocent Husband, Kannaki left for Kodungaloor in Kerala. On the way to Kodungaloor, Devi took rest for a while at Attukal and gave 'Darsan' (appeared) to the natives there. Finally Bhagavathy settled at Kodungaloor sree Bhagavathi temple. Attukal Temple is more popularly known as the Sabarimala of the Women. The reason is that most of the devotees are women in this temple. The Pongala Mahotsavam is the most important festival of temple. Pongala festival has found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest attendance of women.

Guinness record:

The temple over the years has acquired international importance as it was listed by the Guinness Book of world Records as "the largest gathering of women in the world". The record was based on the number of pilgrims on 23 February 1997, when 1.5 million assembled to offer 'pongala'

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MSD

It was a good win for India against Srilanka (SL) in the 4th ODI cricket, therby winning the 5 match series. This is their first series win against SL in SL (Earlier this year England also won their first series ODI in SL) There wasn't much to choose between the 2 teams ie SL and India. The major difference and the reason for their win is attributed solely to Mahendra Singh Dhoni(MSD). He led from the front, was the 'centre' of India's batting and when India fielded. It was the minor moves and adjustments that he made in the field that jolted SL and struck major blows at the right time. Iam sure Dhoni will achieve much more than any other Indian captain in years to come. Dhoni keeps things simple, makes strategic moves at the right time, supports young players and has the overall support of all players. He has already won the inaugural T20 world cup when nobody expected India to progress to the semis with a very young team. He has a good chance of winning the next world cup and if he stays and maintain a similar attitude (and of course if the BCCI and selectors support him whole heartedly) , I predict that India, can and will unseat Australia as the top test playing nation in the next decade.....

Olympics 2008

The Beijing Olympics coincided with my trip to India this year( 8-26th August 2008). It is said to be greatest and most successful Olympics ever held. I followed it very keenly over the 2 weeks when I was in India. There were a lot of expected and unexpected results. The expected being China emerging at the top of the medal table with 100 medals( 51-21-28), overtaking USA as the major super power in world sports. US came second with 36-38-36 and the only consolation for them being that they got more medals than China in total(110). The 51 gold medals by China is said to be the second largest haul by a national team in a modern, non-boycotted Summer Games.

Now about the unexpected results. The main being India getting an Individual Gold; the first time it has managed to win an Individual Gold medal in the history of Modern Olympics. India received 3 times the medals I thought it would get ie 2 more bronze medals. It finished a 'credible' 50th place in the medal tally of the 87 countries that managed to get into the table.( I believe 204 countries competed for 302 medals in 28 sports).

I still remember the text I received from Anju saying that India won the gold in Shooting when I was at the passport office in Trivandrum. Both Achan and I were elated and it was a moment to cherish and to be proud of.

The Olympic medal holders will be showered with praises and prizes for the next few months. But after sometime everything will settle down. It will be interesting to ask these individual medal holders how much help and support did they get from their respective associations and states before they went to Beijing. It will also be interesing to see how many associations/coaches will be having a 'vision' or atleast thinking about the 2012 Olympics. A lot of interesting issues..ahh...

The next unexpected result was the performance of Great Britain (not totally unexpected). It finished with a total of 47 medals (19-13-15) in fourth position behind the old super power Russia( 23-21-28). Very impressive indeed. As the host for the next Olympics, Britain had been planning and preparing well and they competed in less spectacular events like Cycling, Rowing, Sailing etc.

I was always of the opinion that, as its very competitive in Aquatics(46) and Athletics (47) that have the most number of medals, it is better to concentrate and try the less popular events like Rowing(14 ), Sailing(11), Canoeing(16), Cycling(18), Taekwondo(8), Fencing(10), Judo(14) etc

After all an Olympic medal is an Olympic medal, doesn't matter which event you got it.

I hope the authorities in India will start planning for the London Olympics (2012) from now and hope that they can at least double what they got in China.....

Bouncing Back

India did extremely well in winning the second test and bounced back in to the test series, in grand style yesterday after surrendering first test by a huge margin. Their win was convincing and clinical. The credit should go to the whole team and camp.....but specifically Sehwag, Ishant and Bhajji stand out. The difference between both teams on Day 4 was the self confidence exhibited by India, riding on the devastating double century of Sehwag and the decisive spells from Ishant and Bhajji. Also the other Indian Batsmen played their part; specifically Gambhir, who proved that he is potentially going to cement that one opening slot in Indian team for many years to come. The old quartet of RSVG (Rahul, Sachin, VVS and Ganguly) too played a part.

The problem with Srilanka was that they were a bit too overconfident after the thrashing victory in the first test. They felt the spin duo M&M (Murali and Mendis) would be 'Double Trouble' to India like in the first test. But Sehwag had other plans or may be that SL did not have a plan B for him. Its unfortunate that a Bowler of Mendis's calibre ended up on the loosing side, in spite of a 10 wicket haul. Its also unusual that a bowler like Bhajji who got a 10 wicket haul from the winning side was not even considered for Man of the match award. Such was the Brilliance and authority of Sehwag......

I think the momentum is with India and I will not be surprised if they go on and win the third test and series.

On this part of the world, it was sad news for English cricket. They lost the series against South Africa( first time sine 1965). More over they lost the best captain seen in English Cricket for a long long time, when Michael Vaughan stepped down. He said it was the hardest (as he loved doing the job) and the most easiest decision. He thought it was the right thing to do.... I feel Vaughan was an excellent captain and a person who did his job with integrity. He won 26 out of 51 test as a captain for England. The high point was when he won the Ashes in 2005. The beginning of his end started when he lost the series to India last year (the first time India has won a series since 1986). It will be difficult for ECB to find a suitable successor for Vaughan. After all a captain is only as good as his team and this team was no where near the team that won the Ashes. Good luck to Vaughan as this decision may prolong his career as a batsman in the team and he bows out with his integrity and dignity intact.

I must congratulate Graeme Smith on winning the series for South Africa almost single handed. He led from the front with his will power and is a great example for youngsters to follow around the world.