Durga Puja in Girinagar

Durga puja time is near now,Delhi the beautiful bride is waiting its beautiful seasons of celebration and Durga puja is one of them.Durga Puja celebrates the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura. This is a festival that celebrates the female force or Shakti and is one of the most popular festivals in east India.Typically Durga Puja is celebrated during the final five days of Navratri.Large pandals are raised on street corners and beautiful statues of Durga are installed in it.If you are ready to visit Durga pandals you must reach to Govindpuri Junctions and CR Park of New Delhi where easily you can enjoy Durga Puja with family.The Goddess comes with Her children Devi Lakshmi, Devi Saraswati, Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartik.

Bodhan refers to awakening and as per the Puranas, Ram had first performed this ritual to cause to defeat Ravana. This event is referred to as Akalbodhanand the Durga is referred to as Sharadiya. With our prayers and puja we are entitled to awaken the supder powers of the almighty Gods and Goddesses and thus to save to save the human masses from getting affected with thje existence of evil powers.

Ghatsthapan  ritual is considered to be very important! In this ritual, a copper or Brass vessel is made filled with water and is set in front of the idol of the Goddess Dura or an earthen base. Right over the vessel, 5, 7 or 9 leaves of mango tree along with a clean piece of cloth and a coconut is placed over the vessel. This is a way of purifying the ambience of the place where it is the vessel is put in.he Samrpan of fruits and other materials is the part of purifying the human soul. Mythalogies teaches us that it is Yagna that makes our souls pure enough to bring in that needed dedication for God.During older times, it was a ritual to sacrifice animals in order to complete the Puja but these days it is considered unethical to take the life of living being for the making completion of any type of Puja.

Yagna.

The bhog is the blessed food of the Durga Puja, a ritual meal lasting five days of the annual religious ceremony. It is eaten at lunch, traditionally by rows of persons seated on the puja bari floor, ladled out by volunteers rushing around importantly, holding large pails of steaming khichuri, straw baskets of fried vegetables and the eagerly-anticipated kheer in delicate pots. We family members enjoy Durga puja a lot and everything prepared on time .The regular visits to nearby pandals add a charm in life.Girinagar is decorated as bride as everyone in the community tries to decorate home as possible and perform the rituals of Navaratree having mata ki chowki bhajans with feeding nine girls after worshipping them.I also love the ritual.

Celebrations of Ashtami and MahaNavami vary from region to region in India. On this day, Havan (sacrificial offerings to fire) ceremony is performed in the morning and Kanya Puja is conducted afterwards.  During this Kanya or Kumari Pujan, 9 girls or 9 kumaris representing 9 forms of Goddess Shakti, are invited at their homes by the devotees. Then they wash their feet, offer ‘bhog’ to them and present them with new clothes and other items. Washing of feet is a way of showing the respect towards the Goddess. They are feasted with the food that includes halwa, puri, chana ya chole ki sabzi and kheer.

Why Delhi is Delhi

Delhi is Delhi as Delhi is dilwalo ki.Delhi loves to be Delhi as it has the love in it.From Pandava’s Indraprastha to the modern day Delhi we have everything ready on the platter to serve.According to Mahabharatha, the Hindu epic text, King Dhritarashtra gave a barren island to Pandavas. The Pandavas made a very beautiful castle and the city. They called this place Indraprastha. The Purana Quila in Delhi is believed to be the palace of Pandavas.A widely accepted and popular theory for the name to be given is that it has been named after a Mauryan dynasty ruler, named Dilu or Dhillu, who had established in 50 BC a city here that was named after him.  Another legend states that the name has a Prakrit/Hindi base from ‘Dehli’ due to Pillar of Delhi having weak foundation and hence, requiring to be moved. This word was also used by the Tomaras for referring the city, who circulated coins named Dehliwal in this region. Bhavishya Purana states that where the current Purana Qila stands, was a fort for offering greater convenience to the four  castes that existed during Prithviraj Chauhan’s reign. 

Delhi is Delhi .Even in Delhi's most residential neighborhoods, hawkers selling roasted corn on the cob, tender coconut juice, and local favorites like the deep-fried mashed-potato patty known as “aloo tikki” troll the streets, calling out their wares in sing-song voices. Listen for the aloo tikki wallah clanging his ladle against his wok and chase him down. Delhi's medieval ruins are all over the city — not only in recognized “sites.” It's strewn with big, forested parks — some of them, like Jamali Kamali, featuring stunning medieval ruins. The tomb of India's second Mughal emperor — who ruled what is today Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India in the 16th Century — is a stunning, red sandstone mausoleum reminiscent of the white marble Taj Mahal. Named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993, it's one of the few architectural marvels in India that has been lovingly restored.

DMRC has introduced snazzy, silvery buses to connect your locality to the nearest metro station.
Oh and don't forget the Rapid Metro line in NCR. You can even use your regular metro card to travel by it.

Foodie Kathmandu in September

The time of September end has brought coldness in its lap,you love to travel around Syambhu and Kirtipur to view the greenery and enjoy Nepalese food.Nepalese food is famous for its nutrition level and tempting taste. Therefore socially living people of Nepal are traditionally adopted as a rice culture food habit and commonly known as Dal-Bhat-Tarkari main meal of daily life and is being eaten all over Nepal habitual way of twice a day. Besides morning and late afternoon time tea, coffee other drinks and light food snacks are also can be eaten normally. In the hilly area, where rice is growing very less, millet, barley, bark wheat and maize are growing commonly in suitable climate so people of their mostly eat Dhindo with Gundruk or different vegetable curry, meat curry, homemade pickle, yoghurt and milk as a their main course but they also like to have Dall Bhat time to time. Dall is well cooked lentil soup from different beans, Bhat is boiled rice, Tarkari is curried vegetables, pickle of seasonal vegetable or fruits, salad and curried or fried meat as a non-vegetarian food.

Sel Roti is a famous sweet, ring- shaped dish mostly prepared during foodie time. It is a deep fried rice dough. To add taste, sugar, and cardamom is mixed in the dough before frying it.Dhido is a traditional Nepali food widely consumed in hilly and mountain region of Nepal, where rice and wheat is not abundant. Dhido is similar to Polenta and is made by continuously mixing hot water and flours of maize and buckwheat.It is often eaten along with local vegetable curry, pickle, or Gundruk (fermented leafy green vegetable) soup.Momo are bite size dumplings filled with seasoned stuffing. Inside the dumpling you can add veggies, meat, sweets, or anything you prefer.The dish is usually steamed but other varieties of the dish do exist. The dish comes other varieties called Kothey Momo (fried) and C-Momo (served with a spicy hot soup.)Aloo Tama is a type of unique curry very famous in Nepalese dish which is a must-try. Aloo means “Potato” and Tama means the “Bamboo Shoots”. It possesses the unique type of sour taste and is added with different ingredients. Adding of beans and meat gives the extra taste to it. 

Nepalese food possesses the most delicious and unique style of taste. The varieties of ingredients it has are not common and used in all types of food. Nepalese food is not only rich in its taste but reflects the wide variety of culture and traditions.Foodie Kathmandu has lots of stuffs to explore .

A Foodie note in Girinagar Delhi

Girinagar is the society near Govindpuri Metro Station and has lot of stories in it.You just love the area as it is near to Okhla and Govindpuri Market.Your note becomes a memo when it is jotted down with words like the spider .It is all about flavour and nostalgia, and there are so many foods that signify both of these: the food from home, cooked by grandmothers and mothers. The best way to know a city intimately, is to romance its food.Delhi is all about the amalgamation of cultures, about taking the best from other cities and making them its own.

Delhi is popular for its version of matra kulcha, served on the roadside. Maida kulchas are heated on a tawa and served alongside matra, mildly seasoned with chilli and a squeeze of lime. You can recognise the vendor from afar, as the matar/ matra is usually stored in a traditional brass spherical container.  A denser and creamier form of ice-cream, kulfi is said to have been invented during the Mughal Era somewhere in North India. Summer meals are often incomplete in Delhi without a kulfi stick to round it up, and so you will always find a kulfi corner at Delhi weddings too Delhi is a melting pot of cultures and thus flavours and cuisines. There is a lot more to explore in Delhi besides the above, many dishes that have found their way to the city from shores far away. Momos from Tibet, Kathi Rolls from Kolkata, Malleshwaram Dosa from Karnataka, Dal Makhani from Punjab and Sushi from Japan. However, they still have time to make their mark, and be labelled as Famous Dishes from Delhi.

Delhi has distinct seasons, and once upon a time lifestyles revolved around the weather. Special dishes were made in the monsoon like Harimirch Qeema, Besani Roti and fresh Mango Chutney. Special chutneys were made with raw mango to save us from the severe heat. People in Delhi are exceedingly particular about taseer — inherent food properties and their effects on the body.The Mughal cuisine, that is Indo Persian, is probably the cuisine that best defines Delhi’s traditional non-vegetarian cuisine.Delhi’s cuisine once comprised Jain, Bania and Muslim food. Then the British influenced the eating habits of the elite. More changes came after Partition, with the arrival of the Punjabis. Tandoori chicken, butter chicken, choley bhaturey and dal makhani, came to typify Delhi food. But even that has changed, Delhi is no longer about any one kind of food. 

The location of Girinagar is easily accessible by any vehicle like metro bus and tempo and you can travel the areas of Delhi easily ,you just note the points of departure and arrival in your diaries and love to create the mosaic of moments in each page.

Celebration of Jnmastami

Lord Krishna, the eighth avatar of God Vishnu is worshiped .According to Hindu Luni-Solar calendar, Lord Krishna was born at midnight on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) in the month of Shravana. Each year, the festival is celebrated with much fervour and enthusiasm to welcome their beloved ‘Nanhe Gopal’ to this world. On the holy occasion, many people observe ritualistic fasts and bathe Krishna's idol with honey, milk and water and dress him up in new poshaks(clothes). Prasad or Naivedyam plays a significant role in the prayers during Janmashtami puja.

Procedure to perform a puja-

• Start by placing a red cloth on the chowki.
• Spill some water on the idols of Lord Krishna, puja place, and puja items accompanied by reciting Pavitrikarana mantra.
• Get new beautiful clothes for Krishna and decorate your home temple as beautiful as you can.
• Place the idol or photo of Lord Krishna on the chowki
• Light the diya and the dhoop stick.
• Pray to Krishan by reciting any of his prayers with Deepak in hand.
• Offer ornaments, clothes and panchamrit to Krishna.
• Apply tilak of roli or Ashwagandha chandan on the forehead of Krishan and also apply rice over tilak.
• Offer his favorite sweet, Mishri to Krishna and other sweets, accompanied with  Ganga jal to drink.
• Offer flowers, scent to him after that.

Janmastami Bhog

Kheer – One of the prominent sweets that is prepared as a prasad for the Maha Janmastami Puja is the kheer. Made out of pure milk this is one delicacy that has been a part of most puja prasads since times immemorial. Kheer is primarily prepared with condensed milk along with rice, which makes it both a tasty as well as easy to make recipe for the bhog.