A day out....

Christmas vacation is on, and our long vacation has been cut short to just a few days... more about that later... but as of now, we are stuck at home, with only trips to the ration office to look forward to (Ration card verification is on, you see, and there are forms to be filled.... papers to be attested.... and finally documents are to be submitted... amidst many arguments in hindi/marathi of course.....).

We decided to take a break and head out to some temples within Bombay - Siddhivinayak, Phanaswadi (Venkateswara Temple at C.P.Tank), and Mahalakshmi..... While I did click some pics of the first, I was dissuaded from using them, thanks to a couple of the army officers asking me not to click pics, so I am not going to put them up. There were no such restrictions at the other temples, but I stuck to just the outer view, and did not even try for some more....

But here are a few glimpses from our day out....

I have always been fascinated by the old houses and buildings of Bombay, and how they have taken on an entirely new look in the face of modernization....here are just a few I managed to capture on this trip....

The Phanaswadi Venkateswara Temple....

..and Mahalakshmi Temple... probably the most famous temple in Bombay. 

According to one of the legends surrounding this temple, the goddess Lakshmi was roaming around, looking for a place to rest, since it was one of "those 3 dreaded days" of the month...... and all over, she was barred from entering the house. When she reached this place, she was welcomed into the house of one kind family, who cared for her, and thus she decided to bless them and stay on here for ever..... This is one of the reasons why Bombay is considered to remain wealthy at all times...

Incidentally, as the story goes, no one is ever barred from here for any reason.. what a great contrast to this day.. when we seek to separate people on the basis of religion, language, caste.....  I wonder how long the Goddess would continue to remain here in this situation!!!