Ameda Serpent Temple

Ameda temple is one of the famous Serpent temples in Kerala. Ameda Temple is an ancient temple dedicated to Sapthamatrukal. Sapthamatrukal are Veerabhadran, Ganapathy, Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kowmari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani and Chamundi. Other than these, there are shrines dedicated to Nagaraja and Nagayakshi. The temple is located in the banks of Vembanad lake.  The temple is situated in Thripunithura-Vaikom route. After Puthiyakavu junction you have to take next right turn. After crossing Mullapanthal toddy shop you have to travel some more distance till you reach a dead end. From here take a left and after going few metres take the right. From here you have to travel some time before taking the final right turn which will take you to the temple premises.

Ameda temple is an abode of snake idols brought from abandoned snake groves across Kerala. So you could see a wide range of snake idols in display inside the temple and it's premises. In old days most of the houses in Kerala had snake groves or Sarpakavu but later when the family couldn't take care of these due to place constraints these idols are brought to the temple and are worshipped here. This temple has the snake idols brought from my husband's family too.

Now coming to the history of Ameda temple. Once the ‘Sapthamathrukkal’ were traveling through the lake mounted on a tortoise. Legend says that Lord Parasurama, one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, stepped into the lake and the tortoise could not move forward. The place where the tortoise came to a standstill came to be known as Aama ninnayidam, which later on became Ameda. In local language, aama means tortoise hence the name of the temple.

There is also a cattle farm in the premises which provides the necessary milk for the temple needs. There is a pond in the premises which has many tortoise in it.

The famous offerings in this temple are Sarppabali, Karthika Pooja, Karthika payasam. During the days of Sarppabali dinner will also be served in the temple.

This is one of my favorite temples in Ernakulam. The temple gives you a spiritual connection with the divine.

Address :
Ameda Temple, Udayamperoor P.O., Tripunithura Via, Emakulam 682 307

Phone number: 04842794546

The Pattaya City!!!

I hope whoever visits Thailand has Pattaya in their list. We too had the city included in our list. You have many bus/cab services available from Bangkok to Pattaya. We choose the bus service.

So to get bus to Pattaya you should first reach Ekkamai. You can go to Ekkamai in BTS sky train. Once you get down at Ekkamai station head to Eastern Bus terminal which is at exit 2 of the BTS station. And once you reach at bus terminal head straight to the terminal building. Towards the most left side of the building you can buy your tickets for the bus. There are so many other private bus services too available even before you reach the main counter. They look just like the main services but we opted for the affiliated one only. The tickets costs us 108 Baht per person. We started our journey at around 9 AM and reached Pattaya by 11:20 AM. The whole journey took around 2.20 hours.

On the way itself we saw a Budha temple which belongs to a school. So once we got down at the terminal we walked back and visited this temple which had a big Budha statue and we saw many prayers being offered here. There was a Mac D nearby this temple from where we grabbed some snacks. Travelling within the Pattaya city is a bit difficult of your own so it’s better to take bike taxies which are available in terminals and many main locations. There are also share taxies available in the city.

Walking street, Pattaya:

Walking street is one of the main tourist attraction in Pattaya, which is considered as entertainment district in the city. The street has a high concentration of pubs, restaurants, night clubs which plays live music at night, beer bars, sports bars(some even displayed a verison of Muay Thai ). We walked the whole way to Pattaya Beach.

Pattaya Beach:

Pattaya has a range of attractions, successfully appealing to the diverse interests of its visitors. While the city is well-known as a party place it has so many famous beaches. There is a pier at the beach and you could get a good view of the beach from here.  You could take photos with “Pattaya City” label as the background. You could also opt for boat trips to Koh Larn island which will cost you 30 Baht per person. There are also many water sports activities available here. To go to the main beach and get down in water you should go to the other side of the walking street and from there you can get down at the shores.

Panoramic view of Pattaya Beach

Big Budha ( Wat Khao Phra Bat):

We got a bike taxi to travel to Big Budha and back from there. If you are planning to visit the temple make sure that you are properly dressed. If you are wearing shorts then you will be asked to wear a cloth on top of that which is provided for free at the entrance itself. Big Budha is located on top of a hill and after reaching there you should walk up the stairs to reach the top. The whole stairs from bottom to top had a dragon located on both sides. The view was really awesome. There were many small Budha statues along with Big Budha.

Shopping:

There are many stalls on the opposite side of the beach from where you could do your shopping. There is also a mall called Mike shopping mall. When we entered the mall we could see a man who was painted in black and was sitting like a statue. And when someone put some money in the plate in front of him he started acting like a robot. Taking his fork and knife he started eating for a while until he felt that he has provided sufficient entertainment for the money provided. Inside the mall there were entertainments like Ripley’s Believe it or not, Louis Tussaud’s wax works, game zone, etc. We did some shopping from the mall and got out. On the streets we saw a lady selling hibiscus juice for which we gave a try.

Bus Timing:

Buses are available from Pattaya to Bangkok till 11PM.

Serene beauty of Mulavukad

Mulavukad is one of the islands in Cochin.
Backwater located at Container terminal road has always been a favorite spot of us during Sunday evenings. The serene beauty of Mulavukad which is being enlightened by the sun set is a must see if you are in Cochin. The view of sun set from this place will make you forget all the worries. We never get bored watching the crimson rays of light being kissed by the backwaters during sun set. Spending thirty minutes here will surely rejuvenate yourself.

The capital city of Thailand, Bangkok!!!

After visiting Malaysia, off we go to Bangkok,

The capital of Thailand. Without doubt one of the most happening places in South East Asia. With the right mix of modernity and traditional life style, Thailand is a must visit place.

Grand palace is probably the most iconic building in Bangkok. The rich cultural , historical and architectural marvel of Thailand is seen in abundance here. The reference to Indian mythology speaks for itself as to why Thailand draws a lot of Indian crowd. The boat ride along the chaopraya river is an experience in itself. All most all great cities have a river associated with it. Chao phraya river makes Bangkok special.

View from Chao phraya river

The reference and admiration for the late king Rama the tenth ( Bhumibol Athuliyathej) is in abundant display in Bangkok. Most of the government buildings and bridges bear the name of the king.  

Our Travel plan for Bangkok was from 18^th August 2018 to 22^nd August 2018. We boarded our flight to Bangkok from Malaysia at 08:05AM and reached Bangkok by 09:10 AM. 

Our itinerary were as follows:

Day 1 (18^th Aug):

We covered Chatuchak Market

Day 2 (19^th Aug):

Grand Palace, Wat Arun, Wat Pho,

Day 3 (20^th Aug):

Victory Monument, Central World, Ganapathy & Trimurthi Shrine, Pratunam Market, Platinum Fashion Mall, Gaysorn Village, Erawan shrine, Lumphini Park, Asiatique Night market

Day 4 (21^st Aug):

The Pattaya City (this we will be covering in a separate blog)

Day 5 (22^nd Aug):

Terminal 21

Bangkok is one of the most popular city in Thailand. This was my first visit to Thailand and my hubby’s second visit. So he had an idea of how to travel where to go and all. In this blog we will try to give you an overview of Bangkok which might help you to plan your travel.

Grand Palace 

Visa On Arrival:

While you are visiting any county among the first items comes the Visa. As a citizen of India we do have On arrival Visa facility available for Thailand. And yes, we too opted for the same.

To know the list of countries eligible for On arrival visa please check the below site:

http://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/visa-on-arrival.php

Documents required to get Visa:

• Passport or travel document with a validity not less than 6 months
• Visa application form (filled out) – you will get this form from On arrival visa counters present in each airport
• One(1) recent 4x6cm. photograph of the applicant
• Round-trip air ticket or e-ticket (paid in full)
• Proof of financial means (20,000 baht per person/40,000 baht per family)
• Copy of Hotel booking in Thailand

When we visited Visa fee was 2000 Baht per person. This might get changed over the course of time. Just get everything ready. Once you fill the form and you have all the documents ready you can stand in the queue and get your visa stamped by the authorities. There are many counters and you will be called upon and asked to submit all the documents. Once they verify the documents you will be asked to wait inside from where you can collect your passports with Visa stamped in it.

There is also a fast track counter. To get the visa faster you have to pay 200 Baht extra which will save your time. Whereas if you are standing in normal queue you might have to wait for more than an hour.

Green Papaya salad or Som tum is one of the famous Thai food which we ended up having from airport itself. 😉 So once we were done with visa stamping and immigration clearance we had our food from Airport itself.

Green Papaya salad

Hotel:

We stayed at Hotel Narai which was located at Silom area. Nearest BTS station to our hotel was Chong Nonsi.

SIM card:

You can purchase your SIM card from Airport itself. You have to produce you passport to get the SIM.

Transport in Bangkok:

One of the most common transport facility available in Bangkok is BTS(sky train). There are two train routes in BTS. One is Silom line and the other one is Sukumvit line. To interchange between different routes you should get down at Siam station. You can get your tickets directly from BTS stations itself. There are also self-service ticket machines. We found 2 types of ticket machines here one which accepts both currency notes and coins and the other one accepts only coins. We mainly depended on BTS for our whole trip. You can see the train map available in each and every station. For ease of travel purpose we took a photo of the BTS map and kept in our mobile. Taxies are also available which is bit costly in Bangkok. There are also buses, but we didn’t try it. You can get daily pass which costs us 140 Baht per person.

Tuk Tuk:

Tuk Tuk is another mode of transport available in Bangkok. Tuk Tuk is similar to auto Rickshaw available in India.

Chatuchak Weekend Market:

Chatuchak market is known as Thailand’s biggest weekend market. The market has many stalls which is widely spread across many streets. To get to chatuchak market you can get down at Mo chit BTS station or Kamphaeng Metro station. It has a collection of items ranging from vintage items, food market, dresses, flowers, fruits, shoes, etc.

We tried Coconut ice cream which is a famous dish in Thailand. It was really yum. They cut a Tender coconut skull into 2 pieces and peel out the flesh and add ice cream on top of that. And they add some toppings to it and serve it in coconut shell itself which is the uniqueness of the dish. After tasting the yummy coconut ice cream we roamed around the market visiting many different stalls. They had a good collection of vintage items like bags, boots, belts, etc. It started raining heavily so we were forced to wait for the rain to stop. We found there are many food items like fried octopus, beef, chicken, different varieties of breads with garlic , sweetened milk, sugar butter, chocolate, strawberry fruit jam, pizza sauce, etc. We also saw fried squid eggs, quail eggs being sold here. The whole market was decorated. Some streets decorated with papers, and  some other with colored umbrellas. We tried garlic toast and sugar butter bread both of which was really tasty.

Note there are self-service storage lockers available which is located near Kamphaeng Metro station. If you end up buying too much and you still want to shop for more you can deposit your belongings in the locker and go for another round of shopping. 🙂

7 – Eleven:

We don’t want to spare talking about 7- eleven while we are in Bangkok. This shop was our life saver with a variety of food items to grab easily. They will also heat the food in microwave if you need it hot.

Boat service in Chao Phraya River:

The Chao Phraya is the major river in Thailand. All the major tourist attractions like Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, Asiatique night market are located on the riverside. There are frequent boat services available inChao Phraya river. Si Phraya Pier was the nearest Pier to our hotel so we walked to the pier to get boat to Grand Palace. Si Phraya pier was near Sheraton hotel. The boat service is available to all the piers available in the Chao Phraya river. We used the boat service to travel for Grand Palace to Wat Arun. And from ‘Tha Chang’ we got boat back to Si Phraya. This is the old city.

Grand Palace:

Grand Palace is the royal palace in Bangkok. The palace was built by King Rama I. It has a combined area of 218,400 square metres, surrounded by four walls. This whole complex consists of temples, government buildings, halls, etc. There are so many building and complexes within this whole area. Once you get down at Tha chang you could walk along with the flow of crowd as there is no specific direction marks like where is the entrance or from where to get tickets like that. Viseschaisri gate is the gate where you enter the complex. This gate is the only area which is free to visit and you don’t have to pay anything but from here to enter into the main entrance you have to take the tickets. Entry fee to grand palace was 1000 Baht per person.  Once you take the tickets you could enter the main area which was very much crowded.

There are many buildings named Chapel of emerald Budha, the golden Phra Siratana Chedi, Phra Mondop, Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn, Jade Budha Temple, Chakri Maha Prasat Hall, Rajkaranyasapha hall, Dusit Maha Prasat Hall. There are free maps available near the entrance in many languages so you could pick up one if you would like to.

All the buildings had a circular structure at the bottom and a stupa structure at the top. The golden Chedi will give you a feel of a building constructed out of real gold. The temple of Emerald Budha is the most sacred Budhist Temple in Thailand. This temple is housed with an Emerald Budha statue which is believed to be brought from India. Chakri Mahad Prasat Hall has a beautiful palace like structure and from here you could get some good snaps as this area was less crowded compared to other areas during our visit. The only disadvantage is you can’t go inside this hall.

Wat Arun:

Wat Arun which is known as the Temple of Dawn is a famous Temple located on the river side of Chao Phraya river. The Temple derived it's name from the Hindu God Aruna who is none other than God of Sun. Wat Arun is one of the most beautiful and photogenic Temple.

Entry Fee: 50 Baht per person

Wat Pho:

Wat Pho is the temple of reclining Budha. The statue is 46m long painted in golden colour. There were so many bowls kept at one side of the temple in which you could donate money. Before entering the temple you have to take out your foot wares and keep it in a bag kept outside the temple and once you get out of the temple you have to replace the bags back. Wat Pho is known to have the largest collection of Budha images/statues scattered around the temple area.

Entrance fee was 100 Baht per person which includes a free cold water bottle which you could collect from one of the corners of the temple area.

Victory Monument:

Victory Monument is an Obelisk monument in Bangkok. The monument was erected to commemorate the Thai victory in the Franco-Thai War.

Central World:

Central World is one of the biggest mall in Bangkok. In and around Central World there are lots of other malls, markets, and shrines.

Pratunam Market:

This market again is near to Central World. This is a cheap market again if you wish to do some shopping.  It is a ring of shops that faces the main road with narrow alleys that leads inside. Here also you have many local food stalls. We could see lots of Indian restaurants in and around the market area. The baiyoke sky hotel which is the tallest tower in this area is near this market.

Platinum Fashion Mall:

This is mall which will provide you rates similar to markets. I would suggest you to visit the mall if you are a shopping freak. You would get almost everything at a cheaper rate that too inside an air conditioned mall. Isn’t it an added advantage.

Gaysorn Village:

This is another mall which is also accessible from sky walk. This mall had a beautiful interiors and decorations.

Erawan shrine, Ganapathy & Trimurthi Shrine::

On other side of the Central World is Erawan Shrine. The idol in the shrine is a Budhist version of Lord Brahma. It is also known as four face Budha shrine. From sky walk of BTS you will get a good view of both Erawan shrine, Ganapathy & Trimurthi Shrines. Erawan shrine is just opposite to Gaysorn village. When we went there we saw a traditional form of dance being performed here. This is nothing but a prayer being offered to Budha. It was a different way of offering prayer.

Next to Ganapathy shrine there was a food market which had almost all varieties of non-vegetarian food available.

Lumphini Park:

Lumphini park is one of the beautiful park with an artificial lake where visitors can rent boats. At the entrance of the park itself there is King Rama VI statue which is located on a podium. You will get a complete view of the city from here. You could get a panoramic view of the traffic of the city , BTS track and the skyscrapers looming around.

Panoramic view from Lumphini park

Asiatique Night market:

Asiatique is one of the famous night markets in Bangkok. Asiatique is located at the river side of Chao Phraya river. The market is beautifully decorated. The giant wheel is visible from a long distance and during night time the lights around the market make it more attractive. The market has good dining restaurants, fish spas, and Calypso theatre.

There are free boat services from Saphan Taskin BTS station to Asiatique and back to Saphan Taskin. You can exit from station towards the river and walk towards left at counter 3. There you could see a queue for the free boat service just stand in the queue and hop in once the boat arrives.

Terminal 21:

This is another famous mall in Bangkok. The mall has an airport theme with each level being different destinations like London, Istanbul and San Francisco. The food court at top had a large variety of dishes with affordable rates. You have to get a prepaid card from the counter before going to any food counters to get the food. If you have any money left in the card you will get it back while returning the card.

The mall is near to Asok BTS station and Sukumvit metro station. There is self-service locker facility near Sukumvit station entrance similar to the one from Chatuchak market. We used this facility as we had so much of luggage with us. Locker charges are hourly based at 40 Baht per hour.

Through the temples of Kerala

Mannarsala, Ambalapuzha and Ochira Temples

This is the second time we were planning the same places Mannarsala, Ambalapuzha and Ochira... Last time we went there along with my Dad Mom and Rakeu 's mom. This time we are going with Dhanya and Rakeu 's mom.  

We started from Edappally at around 5:40AM. It was in the month of September. Our first destination was Ambalapuzha temple. Ambalapuzha is a place in the district of Alleppy. Ambalapuzha temple is a famous Srikrishna temple. This temple is directly associated with Guruvayur Temple. 

During the raids of  Tipu Sultan the idol of Sri Krishna from the  Guruvayur Temple was brought to the Ambalappuzha Temple for safe keeping. It was kept here for 12 years.

The payasam served in the Ambalappuzha Temple is famous among Hindu devotees. It is believed that Guruvayoorappan reaches here daily at the time of Palpayasa Nedyam to have it.

Ambalapuzha temple 

We reached Ambalapuzha temple at around 6:40AM. At the entrance itself Mizhavu (a big copper drum) used by Kunjan Nambiar was placed for exhibit. Left to the temple entrance itself there was a big statue of an elephant and a shell. There was also a place where Guruvayur Appan's photo was placed. This might be the place where the idol of Guruvayoor Appan might have placed during Tipu’s reigns.  After getting Darsan we ordered 1litre Palpayasam which they said will be serving between 12pm to 1pm. Then we enquired about Annadanam( meal served to dieties as prasadam). Temple authorities informed us that Annadanam will be served at 12:30pm and we can collect the coupons from 11:30am onwards. So we thought of coming back to collect Palpayasam after visiting few more temples. 

Mannarsala temple 

We started off to Mannarsala Sree Nagaraja Temple by 7:40am. We reached the temple by 8:15AM. Mannarsala Temple is a famous serpent god Temple. Like most snake temples this temple is also situated in a forest area. Main idols here are of Naga Yakshi and Naga Raja. There were many images/idols of snakes along the paths and among the trees, and is the largest such temple in Kerala. These idols were brought from many different houses/areas after some ceremonies. That is if there is a snake temple somewhere and they are not in a condition to look after it and those families will keep a ceremony and bring their idols to the main temples like Mannarsala, Ameda, Pambumekavu etc.  And these are the idols placed along the paths and trees here. Women seeking fertility come to worship here, and upon the birth of their child come to hold thanksgiving ceremonies here, often bringing new snake images as offerings. Mannarsala Ayilyam is the famous festival here and is held in the month of September and October.It enjoys the rare honour of having a woman as the chief priestess and she is called as Amma(mother) by all devotees. Last time when we visited here we couldn't meet Amma so this time we decided to wait and meet her. from 10:30am you will be able to meet Amma.  So we just came out and had our breakfast and then we sat below a banyan tree enjoying the weather and breeze. By 10:40 or some we were able to meet Amma and take her blessing.

 Last time we went to Ochira paraBrahma temple in December and fortunately this was the festival time for the temple. We could see many exhibits and food items which usually we see during festive seasons which kind of made me nostalgic. When we entered the temple premises itself we could see many guys holding a bull and an idol is placed on top of it. In fact people were making money out of  worship /beliefs. You can say that there is no structure or as such temple but below a banyan tree there were few idols placed and people were worshipping God.  

Ochira 

As it was getting late for us to collect Ambalapuzha Palpayasam we skipped the visit to Ochira this time 

 We reached Ambalapuzha temple by 12pm. Palpayasam distribution which was supposed to be at 12 started only by 12:30pm. When we reached itself we stood in the queue to collect Palpayasam and after collecting the famous Palpayasam we left the place as we couldn't get the food coupons this time. Last time we were fortunate enough to get it and had food from the temple itself. This time we ended our temple visits for the day after collecting the yummy Ambalapuzha Palpaysam. J

Guruvayur Temple

Guruvayur Temple has always been my favorite temple. Lord Krishna is the main idol of the temple and every day the Krishna changes his attire. If you visit this temple you will come to know that it has 4 entrances named with the directions as East Nada, West Nada, South Nada and North Nada. At the main entrance itself you could see the golden flag post and towards right there is a stage where almost all the time some performances will be going on. Daily there will be a long queue of deities. Most of the days people will come early in the morning around 3 and 4 AM and stand in the queue. And on auspicious days like Vishu, Ekadashi and all the people start queuing at night itself to get a glance of Krishna. There are many offerings like Thulabharam (It is a symbolism of offering oneself to the Lord. Since one has to live in this mundane worldly affairs, till life lasts, one offers a representative thing equal to his weight, usually banana, fruits, grains or even gold if one can afford), Kadalipazha nivedyam, Palpayasam, Thrimadhuram, Krishnanattam etc. Krishnaattam is a temple art in Kerala. It is a dance drama and presents the story of Krishna in a series of eight plays. The eight plays are: Avataram, Kaliyamardanam, Rasakrida, Kamsavadham, Swayamvaram, Banayuddham, Vividavadham and Swargarohanam. This is one of the offering being done by deities. People offers Krishnanattam depending on their wish. The list of stories along with what it will give you is listed in devaswom site along with how to book it.

http://guruvayurdevaswom.nic.in/soffer.html

Another custom here is picking Kunnikkuru(Crab's eye) and Manjadikkuru(Red Lucky Seed). Devotees take it in their hands and drop back three times to rid themselves of skin ailments . It will change the attitude of the children and they will become naughty like Unni Kannan, that’s the belief.

Anjumana Devi Temple

Anjumana Devi Temple is a famous temple at Edappally,Ernakulam. The temple is very near to bypass NH47. The main idol is Shri Bhuvaneswari who is none other than Parvathy. There are other idols of Ayyappan ,Ganapathy, Kaali, Annapurneshwari, Subrahmanian inside the temple. And outside the temple there are idols of Nagayakshi, Nagaraja, Muthappan, Marutheshwaran, and Brahmarakshas. The main Festival in December. During festival there will be many stalls being installed around the temple. There will be dramas, songs or many other cultural events organized by the temple authorities. It’s always fun visiting any temple during festive season.

There are many more temples which we will be covering in our upcoming blogs... 😉