A trip to 'The Flower Fields' of Carlsbad, California

For a family of back packers and travel lovers, every destination of beauty and nature is a trip to rejoice.   It is during the summer of 2011, that we decided to go on to visit the flower fields...yes the real flower fields of Carlsbad.....It was an awesome experience getting on to the tractor in the flower fields with smells of scents and fragrant air,  wagon rides, orchid greenhouse,  artistic gardens,  the confusing but fun filled sweet pea maze,,,where I  and Ajay got lost and had to call for help to get out...the beautiful display of poinsettias and wise farming and the wind mills giving the feel of a dutch colony.   It is one of most colorful trips we had and loved being there..  to know more about the place, visit their website

http://theflowerfields.com/

Post Trek Write up to Parvathamalai, Tamil Nadu

Parvathamalai is located near Thenmadimangalam Village, 20 kms from Polur. It is part of Javadhi Hills and accessible through Kadaladi village 25 kms north of Tiruvannamalai or through Thenmadimangalam. Parvatham means mountain and Parvatha Malai as it is called, connotes “Hill of Hills” or “Queen of Hills”. Parvathamalai presents eight different shapes from eight directions around the hill. 

At the summit of the Hill is the Mouna Guruswamy Ashram and more importantly a very powerful Temple at which resides the Siva aspect in the form of Lord Mallikarjuna (i.e. White Jasmine) and the Sakthi aspect in the form of Parvatha Rani or Parvathammal. Parvathammal is also called Lordess Brahmarambika (and Maragathambika). Inside the sanctum sanctorum there are also idols dedicated to Sri Ganesha and Lord Murugan. 

Pictures to speak of the beauty of the place ...prepare for an amazing trekking and divine experience and to cherish every moment of the effort....for it is worth doing it as part of the self-realization

Parvathamalai- One of the trek which blended with nature n religious beliefs...Parvatham means hill and 'Parvatha Malai' as it is called is the Hill of Hills or Queen of Hills at the top of which resides the presiding deity Parvatha Rani or Parvathammal. She is the Sakthi aspect and the 'Siva' aspect is Lord Malligarjun. 'Parvathammal is also called Lordess Brahmarambika' (also called Maragathambika). It is not known when exactly the temple was constructed at the top of the hill ( about 4,000 ft. high and a difficult terrain with 'almost' vertical rocky cliff called 'Kadapparai Malai'. But pre-historic record (Malai Padu Kadaam) shows that a king called 'Maa Mannan' who was ruling that area, during the year 300 A.D used to visit this temple frequently and worship the lord and lordess. It is said that even 2000 years ago the great yogis (Siddhas) constructed this temple at the top of the hill for doing  meditation. 

 There are three places from where the 'peak' of Parvatha Malai can be accessed. One is from a place called 'Then madhi mangalam' the second from Mambakkam and the third from Kadaladi. Normally the first and the last routes are chosen as the second one is very steep and difficult to climb. Out of the first and the last, the first route is comparatively easy to climb as half of the trekking distance (12 km) is mostly plains and the rest is also not very steep. Most of the visitors / devotees take the first route to climb and while trekking down, prefer the Kadaladi route more so since the setting up of the 'Ashram' at Kadaladi region. i choosed Then madhi mangalam route while climb the peak and while coming down i choosed kadaladi route. Thiruvannamalai GIRIVALAM path is 14 kms and i took 2.5 hours to cover this distance.

On top of the Parvathamalai....with the view of Arunachala at the backend....temples of Lord Shiva and Goddess Brahmarambika

Climbing up the Kadaparai Mountain -with support of crowbars

View of the Arunachala hill

Trek of the Parvathamalai

A Tribute visit to Birla House, New Delhi- Gandhi Smriti

The 'Martyr's Column' at the Gandhi Smriti, the spot where Gandhi was assassinated.

Gandhi Smriti formerly known as Birla House or Birla Bhavan, is a museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, situated on Tees January Road, formerly Albuquerque Road, in New Delhi, India. It is the location where Mahatma Gandhi spent the last 144 days of his life and was assassinated on January 30, 1948. It was originally the house of the Indian business tycoons, the Birla family. It is now also home to the Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum,which was established in 2005

For more details:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_Smriti

Chain of Unity...lights up when you hold hands

Gandhi with Kasturba

Peace be with you

Gandhi Smriti, the spot where Gandhi was assassinated

Peace Gong with flags of all world nations

Worldly remains of Mahatma Gandhi

 

A visit to Mount Baldy...Falling in love with mountains, brooks and nature

As we wanted to go ahead with unplanned drive across the mountains of California, we took the drive to Mount Baldy....a silent mountain with its own beauty and untouched by human chaos.   We loved being there with no plan and defintly would love to go again....unexplored avenues of California

Mt Baldy is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, United States on the border of Los Angeles County. Mt Baldy is 12 miles (19 km) north of Ontario