Monday, April 4, 2011

Ugadi & Supermoon

Happy Ugadi to All.  Ugadi is the new year day for people in Karnataka and Andhra and many other regions as well but known with different name.

The most memorable thing of Ugadi for me from back home is eating of neem leaves along with jaggery. Day starts with a oil masaage with castor oil, then a nice head bath, followed by prayers. Mom used to then give me the mixture of neem leaves and jaggery before which we recite "Neem leaves are sweet, jaggery is bitter" (in kannada/telugu)  3 times.. It is to signify a year mixed  with happiness and sorrows and that both should be accepted and acknowledged equally. (Why tell it 3 times??  I Don't know! )

Traditionally, Obattu/Holige/puran poli , sweet dish is prepared on this day. A special Pachadi with neem leaves is prepared. Breaking the norm and to keep things easier I made Gulab Jamoon. Unfortunately we do not get either neem leaves or neem flowers in USA.

This is what we had today.
Carrot and corn kosumbri, carrot,beans and green moong palya, white rice, avarekalu chitranna, bele saaru, gulab jamoon, yogurt and mango slices.


What a way to start the new year with the big win we had. This win for Indians is such a good news to rejoice after all the negative that is been happening around with Egypt, Libya and Japan. All we can do is pray and hope the year following will be better for them.

These are the 2 views I got of the moon on Supermoon day. I used Nikon 250mm Lens.


 Thanks to the instructions written on taking a moon picture by my friend Harsha.  And you should check his Phootography in Flicker. They are Awesome.

Hope this new year brings good luck to all.




6 comments:

** Sri Harsha Maiya ** said...

Those mangoes look yummy !

** Sri Harsha Maiya ** said...

Those mangoes look yummy !

Ashwini Vanmali said...

Yes Ha rsha, We weronly lucky to find very nice mangoes during this time.

Rohini said...

The stick figure ignores your tasty dishes and comments only on the mango which wnt help him put on any weight.... Duh...
Ash,each dish looks divine! I would have eaten every morsel, no wonder I look the exact opposite of our stick figure here...

priyanka said...

such sweet little words about Ugadi...i had no idea about this fest..now i know a bit....that neem and jaggery concept, is wonderful...!!.keep up the good work...:)

SoumyaManjunath said...

It looks so colourfull and yummy huh...!!!