Narayanpur : Shree Datta Darshan

This was originally posted in a saree group on November 17th.

When you leave your apartment closed for a year and come back to stay there you realize small small things need fixing. Had to call plumber, electrician, appliance technician, civil engineer and such people who we don’t normally give too much thought until problems surface. Between their visits managed to juggle breakfast, lunch, high tea with friends and family. And wrestled out quiet time at dinner last evening for just my husband and me.

In the afternoon I had a much awaited meeting with Dr Kelkar at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital. Impressed would be inadequate to describe how I felt meeting him. His simple, unassuming and straightforward persona complements his clinical skills and experience seamlessly. A short time with him in the board room near his operating theater (OT) and we had a productive discussion and plan of action when we left. Such efficiency is rare and precious. While taking leave I casually mentioned to him that two of my classmates work at that hospital. He smiled and said” they are both here in the OT, do you want to meet them ?” Sure enough, within less than 2 minutes one of them walked up to us. We chatted for a few minutes before taking leave.

From there my sister in law took for a drive to a small village called Narayanpur about 40km on the outskirts of Pune. Here is a temple of Shree Dattatraya. Normally Dattatraya who is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in one is seen with 3 heads, 6 hands. Here the idol of Dattatraya is ek mukhi or single headed. It is a very serene temple. The marble idol is beautiful. We had darshan and spent some time sitting before the shrine before taking the drive back through the surrounding hills, paddy fields and small villages. Saw the locals selling the locally grown Indrayani rice as well as various pots, pans and woks made out of iron. Even spotted someone selling ghongdis like those I recently bought at the jatra. The sun had set by the time we were out of the temple. Pune city was seen glittering as we came down the Katraj ghat. 

A quiet indulgence in bhel, Pani Puri and fresh coconut water concluded another beautiful day in the city.

Saree is a Assamese cotton handloom weave. The Bodo tribal people in Assam have these traditional shawls or stoles called Aronai or Aranai which has a specific design with spikes along both edges of a band . The women learn to weave their traditional wear at a very young age and are very skilled by the time they get married. These stoles are used on ceremonial occasions as well as to welcome special guests. I found a lovely sample of this aranai stole at the museum within the RamKrishna Mission in Cherapunjee during my recent visit. 

The traditional aranai design has been more recently adapted into sarees. They all look beautiful whether made in cotton, eri silk or mulberry silk. 

Got another shot on the street yesterday with no people in the frame. I am really pushing my luck 😃