Interesting facts about Janmashtami - Lord Krishna's Birthday

Lord Krishna was born approximately 5,200 years ago in Mathura. The main objective of Lord Krishna's birth was to free the Earth from the evilness of demons. His own uncle was a demon and he was going to kill him and end the evil world that prevailed😈 He played an important role in Mahabharata and propagated the important theory of bhakti and good karma.

There is a popular ritual of dahi handi, which is the imitation of the butter-stealing episodes of Lord Krishna.

 Boys gather together in a compound and form a human pyramid in order to break the earthen pot fixed at a height way above the ground. The boy who climbs at the top is called Govinda and the groups are either called handis or mandals. Many attempts like throwing water on the mandals is done in order to spoil their attempts to break the dahi handi.

As a young child Lord Krishna was an extremely mischievous boy. He opened fences to let the cows roam free. He stole food to feed to the ducks and monkeys. He sneaked into peoples homes and piled up their pillows, hid the jewelry of girls while they bathed in the river and lots more. He was kind at heart and never caused any harm. Just wanted to spread cheer and happiness.

Janmashtami or Gokulashtami, is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna.

It symbolizes the joyful innocence of children, that love and life's play is the manifestation of God. 

Lord Krisha was very find of butter and curd and would steal it from hidden pots which were hidden high up. Hence even today a pot 🍯 of Dahi is kept in a handi with a cash reward and a human pyramid is made to break the, dahi handi, just like Lord Krishna, what he would do to get to his dahi. 

A lot of countries outside India see a large number of devotees of Lord Krishna and this festival is also celebrated in New Zealand, Singapore, Malasia, Canada and a few more countries.

What we did to celebrate this festival. 

Made a Janmashtami card

Made a peacock feather 🦚

Prepared dahi handi 

Janmashtami related Treasure hunt. 

You can try simple activities at home with your toddler and let them enjoy and learn the importance of festivals.

Tell me what you like and enjoy about this festival in the comments below.

WORLD ELEPHANT DAY

WORLD ELEPHANT DAY 

On August 12, 2012, the inaugural World Elephant Day was launched to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants. ... We admire elephants in part because they demonstrate what we consider the finest human traits: empathy, self-awareness, and social intelligence.

 Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are  recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. 

 Some interesting facts about elephants

🐘 are the world's largest land animal. 

You can tell them apart by the size of their ears. 

Their trunks have multi useful skills. 

🐘 tusks are their teeth and they have an extremely thick skin 

🐘 communicate through vibrations and are always eating

🐘 live in herds and, they recognize every member of their family. 

🐘🐘 are, extremely intelligent animals, and have proved their skills time and again. 

 Was glad to visit Phuket Elephant sanctuary which has rescued elephants 🐘🐘 

Phuket's First Ethical Sanctuary in which Elephants Roam & Bathe Freely

Bordering the Khao Phra Thaeo National Park, the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary offers a new home for overtired elephants who have suffered from working long hours in the logging and tourism industry. As the first ethical elephant tourism experience in Phuket, they rescue sick, injured and old elephants, take good care of them and welcome them back in their habitat. 

https://www.phuketelephantsanctuary.org/en/

Safety measures at Phuket Elephant Sanctuary

 Although “physical distancing” comes natural at our 30-acre sanctuary, they have implemented several initiatives to ensure a safe and inspiring experience whilst visiting the Sanctuary. They have been SHA+ certified by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, with 100% of their staff being fully vaccinated. To learn more about the health & safety initiatives and flexible cancellation policy, feel free to visit the website.

As a visitor you can feed them fruits,  pineapples and bananas what they love and observe them bathe freely in the fresh water lagoon. However interaction is allowed only while feeding them fruit. It feels good to watch them enjoy their freedom and happy to be free. I enjoyed my experience here and was thrilled to interact with the extremely playful and active baby elephant. 

Some commonly asked Q and A about elephants 🐘🐘

How much does it cost to ride an elephant in Thailand?

Throughout Thailand, elephant rides may cost  approximately 600 THB for a 20-minute “trek” to 6,000 THB for an entire day. Tips and feeding the elephant are excluded.

Do elephants like to be touched. 

Fear, domination, and pain cause the elephants to follow the trainers' commands to let people ride, feed, touch, or bathe them. It isn't safe for humans to make direct contact with elephants. Always remember getting too close can be dangerous.

How can you tell that an elephant us happy? 

A socially excited elephant rapidly flaps its ears and widens its eyes.just like a dog, when an elephant's tail is swishing from side to side it is happy. As soon as the tail goes stiff, normally held out to one side, it means that the elephant is anxious and worked up. 

Have you interacted with elephants? How was your experience? Let me know in the comments. 

#elephantday  #savetheelephants #worldelephantday #wildlifephotography #wildlife

Onam significance and celebration

Onam significance and celebration 

Onam is the most celebrated festival of Kerala. It is symbolic of King Mahabali’s annual home coming and it also celebrates the Vaman avatar of Lord Vishnu. It is a ten day long festival that brings in the best of festive spirit among all the people of Kerala and is celebrated with lots of pomp and splendor.

Onam is known as the rice harvest festival of Kerala. Rice is the staple food of all living in Kerala. All the ten days of celebration of Onam has its own significance.

The colorful floral designs known as ‘pookkalam’ are symbolic of this festival. Usually women members of the house make different types of rangoli patterns on the ground , outside their houses with flowers ( like a rangoli) and lit oil lamps in order to invite King Mahabali to their house forva scrumptious meal. People gift each other new clothes and wear new clothes as well, this traditional is known as 'Onakkodi'.

Grand feasts are prepared on this occasion. This is known as 'onam sadya’. There are approximately 13 dishes that are prepared for this. The food is served on banana leaves and consists of rice along with different daal, sambhar, rasam, pickles and papads. A sweet dish called ‘payasam’ is a must during Onam. It is made of rice, milk, sugar and coconut. Sometimes jaggery is also used along with dry fruits. 

Serving Traditional dishes on a banana leaf called Sadhya and offering it to God first, later enjoying this scrumptious meal. 

 The enormous meal calls for preparations  much in advance, which brings the community together. The meal consists of traditional dishes from across the state, including fried snacks, variety of curries, pickles, sweets served with boiled rice.

 include Avial, Ulli Theeyal, Erissery, Sambar, rasam and Parippu curry, accompanied with Steamed Rice, Curd, Banana Chips and Upperi. End your meal on a sweet note with Payasam, like kheer 

Enjoy the flavour while you eat with your hands and lick your fingers.

This is special since it's Bunny's first onam where he tried to eat from a banana leaf, hence few favourites are added on his banana leaf. 

Let the festivities and good food take over as the country celebrates Onam #happyonam

We may be away this Onam but wishing a #HappyOnam and the best of health to all. 

#onamcelebration  #festivevibes #onam