Shirdi / Sai Baba temple

"SABKA MALIK EK HAI" meaning there is only "ONE GOD FOR ALL" 

1. Shani Shingnapur 2. Grishineshwar (Jyotirling temple)  3. Ellora caves 4. Bibi ka maqbara 5. Triambakeshwar 6. Bhimashankar (Jyotirling temple) 

We had been to SAIBABA temple at Shirdi on August 14. as we did not get a direct train to Kopargaon (Karnataka Express), our journey was through Lokamanya Tilak (Kurla Express) from Bangalore to Daund and from there we took Daund Nanded fast passenger till Kopargaon (for more help please visit www.erail.in or https://www.irctc.co.in) We took a share auto to reach Shirdi, charges per person was 30/- (if there are more people). One can rent a complete auto (tata ace) for four people as a single family but then rates would be 300

If the plan is to go by train to Shirdi it is always adviceable to book tickets as and when the dates open in IRCTC i.e., minimum 2-3 months before (there are direct trains to Shirdi from Bangalore), also there are lot of buses to Shirdi and moreover bus routes are faster and they take less time, we can plan as per our own convinence 

There are number of hotels available we stayed in a hotel that is at the backside of the temple (Baija Maa Hotel), on our way back to bangalore we came to know through one of our co passengers that there is online booking for darshan and also there is ashram built by the temple trust wherein rooms are available for pretty moderate rates the rooms can be sought through prebooking, there are more than 500 rooms well maintained with hot water provision with cafeteria and provisional stores also and it is few minutes from temple (should be preferred)

For economical benefits it would be good if we can cover Shani Shingnapur and Grishineshwar on a single trip that costed us 2500/- and Bhimashankar (Jyotirling temple) Ellora caves, Bibi ka maqbara, Triambakeshwar on another trip costing us 3500/- rates mentioned are by Maruti Swift vehicle, we tried lot of variations to visit Bhimashankar temple but found that it would require more than 4 or 5 days excluding journey time, this would be different if one is planning to visit by air, our second trip was stretched it would be necessary to get a good cab and good driver. 

Our journey to Bhimashankar temple was awesome in the early morning hours, the temple located at Sahayadri hills enjoyed travelling through clouds and mist. It was drizzling adding beauty, we enjoyed the journey very much, there are regular abhishekams and pooja performed to the Lord, we got a slot booked for abhisekam charges 1500/- at 1130 am i would say this was the most unforgettable experience as we spent more than 30 minutes inside the moola sthanam, then we had been to Bibi ka maqbara, Ellora caves, but had to rush at the end to Triambakeshwar temple as it would close by 930 pm, we left shirdi in the morning at 600 am and returned night 100 am 

We returned bangalore through Karnataka Express on Monday 19.08.2013, overall it was a very good experience.

for any queries mail : karthee16@gmail.com

Marriage Stage Flower Decoration / Reception Stage Flower Decoration / Marriage Flower Decoration / Marriage Entrance Flower decoration

Marriage is one of the sweetest and biggest occasion in anyone's life...!

My sister's marriage was on 14.12.2011. We thought that there was lot of time for preparation and had left it go for quite few days, due to personal reasons it got delayed by some more time, thereby leaving with 15 days for the preparation and we had to stretch late at nights the next few days to see every thing was at place.

We decided that we would take one task at a time...

- For flower decoration we took help from one of our friends and he referred us to a flower decorator by name Harish 9980340494, he charged us 35000/- (also there are options according to the cost for low to high) then now might be more for all the flower decoration right from entrance, reception stage, muhurtham stage and general flower requirements for other purposes. Here's the link of photos that he had given us for reference.

Muhurtham stage decoration :

https://plus.google.com/photos/105991733061420428985/albums/5731624779619944273?authkey=CNTq9pfKiYOI7QE

Nameboard decoration :

https://plus.google.com/photos/105991733061420428985/albums/5754512647893851985

for any queries mail : karthee16@gmail.com

  

Shastipoorthi @ Thirukadaiyur

Key words : "Shasti poorthi / Shasti purthi / Shasti poorthy"

We had been to Thirukadaiyur to celebrate "Shasti poorthi" for my parents on 15.09.2011.  

Shastipoorthi can be performed on completion 59 years or on the 60th birthday or on 61st birthday according to the Indian panchanga calendar and by seeing the birth star date (different from English calendar dates). If this performed on 59th birthday then it has to be performed once again on 61st birthday also. If this is performed on the birthstar date then it is considered to be auspicious.

We booked tickets 2 months before the date as it was difficult to get tickets in the last moment and also to avoid confusion of booking tickets. We took a direct train from Bangalore to Mayiladuthurai and reached at around 7.00 am. We had booked a mini van through a person by name Mr. Senthil and would also recommend the same person, he is very prompt at his service and charges moderately. His personal contact no. is 09443850597 but when he is in office he uses different no. 08940844600. He Charged Rs.800/- for the van that can easily accommodate 15 people. It's about 45 minute journey from Mayiladuthurai to Thirukadaiyur roughly about 20 - 25 kms.
         
We took 2 nos of 25 ltr water cans from Bangalore thinking that we might get 1 ltr or 2 ltr water bottles in Thirukadaiyur as it is a small place. But this was not needed as one can easily afford get the same 25 ltr water can in Thirukadaiyur also.

There are many hotels to stay in Thirukadaiyur, again the rooms had to be booked in advance. We booked the rooms 20 days before in a hotel by name "Manivizhaa", and the contact person is Mr. Shivshankar / Mr. Shankar, very near to temple, the rooms are quite cheap and best. Rest rooms are clean and well maintained. The charge for a/c room is around Rs.715/- and for non a/c Rs. 375/-. Phone booking facility is there in this hotel 04364 287840 / 41 / 42. There are other hotels like Hotel Guru 04364 287340 / 42, Hotel Sadhabishegam 04364 279223 / 24

We had tiffin, lunch and dinner in Hotel Krishna a decent hotel the timings for tiffin is 6 am - 10 am lunch starts at 12 noon - 4 pm to have a good and hot tiffin it is advisable to go between 7 am - 8 am. The hotel is very near to temple.

For the pooja arrangements we spoke to Muthu Gurukkal - 9443406651. Office no : 04364 287724 - Mahesh (Gurukkal's attendee) 984248723 - Balaji (Muthu Gurukkal's brother) There are various packages for performing the function one can choose the package that suits their budget. We went for a Rs.10000/- package. The package amount starts from Rs. 5000/-. The pooja was to be performed in two modes 1. oru kala poojai 2. erandu kala poojai as told by Gurukkal. A place is provided for individual group and the pooja will be performed in the allocated place. We asked for the pooja items list from the Gurukkal over phone and had procured all of them from bangalore. One can also procure the pooja items at Thriukadayur also as per one's own convenience. Orukala poojai was performed on 14.09.11 evening between 4.45 pm to 7.30 pm and erandu kala poojai was performed on 15.09.11 between 9.30 am to 12.30 pm as per the birth star dates.

The function was over by afternoon 2 pm and we got a taxi through Senthil and came to Mayiladuthurai railway station. The charges were Rs. 500/-. We reached Bangalore next day by Mysore Express at 6.00 am.


for any queries mail : karthee16@gmail.com