Ire of Fire-A Fire Accident

Early this morning ,I woke up to the sound and smell of the fury of fire literally.The choke in the tube light burst and burnt up the lift in our apartment.There was so much smoke that I could hardly breathe.This accident could have turned dangerous if my dad and husband did not douse the flames with water at the right time.Hats off to their efforts.The others in the apartment did not want to go near the flame,because it was sparked off by electricity and they did not want to be electrocuted.I was shaking so much because I was worried sick for my mother who had not come out.The fire service personnel just came and left without doing anything much and they came so late.Later the lift inspectors still found some burning embers left from the accident.What callousness.I just witnessed the tip of the iceberg of a fire accident...it was a harrowing experience.

We did not have fire extinguishers set up to deal with fire.We did not have a separate fire exit.I don't think any of us had any expertise or knowledge to handle such a situation.We were all sitting ducks.What a pathetic situation to be in.Thank god it didn't turn out to be a catastrophe,thanks to my dad and husband for saving the day.It was their quick thinking and guts that doused the flames.Finally thanks to the Lord of destruction for saving us from one.Life is so fragile,anything can happen anytime.

Panachi amman Temple visit

Nanganallur has such an old world charm to it.The streets are full of vendors selling everything from terracotta lamps to fresh greens.And at every nook there is a temple waiting to be discovered.I love this place more because Pazhavanthangal used to be my summer home when I was a kid.I do not have vivid memories about temples back then.So,I visited another temple in Nanganallur close to the Ardhanareeshwarar temple called Panachi amman Kovil.She was found in a forest full of palm trees,hence the name.She is also a grama devathai,a protector of the village.Her icon here is facing the Northern direction.As you enter the temple,there are icons depicting Naga(serpent) deities.All temples have a space dedicated to the Nagas.I wonder what they represent,is it the Kundalini energy lying coiled up at the base of the spine.Is it nature conservation?.What ever it is,I simply love the visual appeal a temple holds for me.And I wish for a greater understanding of such subtleties and abstract concepts.Happy New Year to all my blog readers .

Vembuli Amman temple and the Seven Virgin Mothers

Yesterday was Valar Pirai(growing moon) Ekadesi,so mom wanted to light up lamps at the Saptha Kannimars(seven virgin mothers) Sannidhanam.Hence,we visited Vembuli Amman Temple for this purpose.This is a three hundred year old temple located at Pazhavanthangal near the subway.This goddess was found in a field while ploughing.She is a village deity.There are seven such grama devathais in and around the area.Sample some of the pictures from the Temple.The seven virgin mothers in the temple are Brahmini,Maheshwari,Kaumari,Vaishnavi,Vaaraahi,Indraani and Chamundi.They represent the seven chakras in the human body.The sthala vriksham is a neem tree.
What secrets do you hold seven virgin mothers.Kindly enlighten my intellect.

What a beauty SHE is.

Goddess Nagathamman at Nanganallur 4th Main Road.

Narthangai(Citron) Saadham(Rice)

I made Narthangai Saadham last night,Citron is rarely available these days so I did want to make good use of the fruit.The recipe is just like lemon rice.I tempered mustard seeds and urad dal, once this spluttered I added curry leaves and red chillies and let it cook.To this mixture I added turmeric powder and salt and switched off the flame.I added cooked rice to this mixture and finally squeezed the wonderful juice of the citron.The juice tasted amazing,to my surprise it was not all that tangy as I expected but sweet.The rice tasted great and I had also cooked kootu made of carrots and chow chow.This made a perfect side dish to the citron rice.Check out the pictures.