Amazing Ayodhya by Neena Rai

22 January 2024  the Pran Pratistha ceremony  in Ayodhya will be watched all over the world. It’s a grand historic event for us Indians.  Everyone growing up in India  has heard the story of Sri Ram and Devi Sita, their 14 years of exile, the Dusserra  celebration, which is a victory of good over evil  and  Diwali  festival when Ayodhya was lit up with lamps.  Beside this how much do we know about Ayodhya?  Do you know that Valmiki's  Ramayana has  a whole lot of information about Ayodhya since the beginning of humans (Manu).With so much of enticing information I  couldn’t resist myself  reading this , and to my wonder  this book has some amazing information which I think people who love reading scriptures  kathas will surely enjoy.

 

Neena Rai the author of the book did study vedic Sanskrit for years before putting all the information  about Ayodhya  for readers. Also let me tell you that the writing is very engaging and easy to understand ( even children can read it)

 About the Book : 

The book has been written in 6 parts and each part has chapters which will answer your curiosity. Also there are references on everyother line, maps, charts, old pictures , slokas  layouts  for readers to understand better with authentic  information which is passed on to us making the book more engaging.

The first part is about who and when was Ayodhya established. Its starts all the way back to Manu, the first human on earth.

The second part is about Location of Ayodhya 

The third part is about Layout of Ayodhya, its size, shape , how it protected it self from enemies and henceforth. Both second and third chapter was beyond my imagination and frankly I still cannot imagine how huge it was

Part four  is about describing the palace, roadways shape of the houses people living around the palace , their lifestyle.

Part  five is about Weapons used.  The kind of weapon used,  the watch tower or the attashala ,structure and composition of  Akshauhinii sena and Chaturanga sena and many more interesting weapons used during wars.

 All the information in this book are taken from the original ( vedic Sanskrit) Valmiki’s Ramayana, bhagavat gita, Vishnu puran and more. The author  mentions that how important it is to learn vedic Sanskrit to understand the originality of our various kathas and scriptures.  There are books out  for reader  where the translation of Ramayana or other scriptures  from the original has been wrongly translated creating a whole new meaning and misunderstanding.

The sixth part is about the animals and birds in Ayodhya. How the chariot were decorated, how the animals were trained and handled. What are the types of animals found in that time and how it helped. Do you know an interesting facts,  beside horses and elephants there were hippopotamus also  which benefited the people of Bharat.  

I will not tell you about the fascinating birds which royals kept as pets and the birds which roamed around   or even the  7 islands on earth which has  also been mentioned in the Vishnu Puran (hint :one of them is antartica). The palace of Kayekei  and how its adorned with gemstones,  I will let you imagine it all so that you read it

An unputdownable book and a must read for those who wants to know about the richness of Indian culture.

💓💓💓💓💓

International Kolkata Book Fair 2020 Blog

Let me tell you the history of Kolkata book fair in short. 

It was in 1975 when the first fair was organized with 56 stalls of 34 publishers at Maidan beside Victoria Memorial.

It was to promote reading habit among public and also to help booksellers and publishers to grow their business. Slowly with time the fair started getting fame and visitors from literature field all over the world started visiting the Kolkata book fair. Over the period of time, with its gaining popularity, Kolkata Book Fair got its international accreditation. Today, Kolkata book fair is the world’s largest non-trade book fair and Asia’s largest book fair.

Maidan was the best place for the fair because of large area and availability of conveyance.

I am sure most of the Bengali watching this video, share the same feeling. Maidan was a different emotion, a bag full of beautiful childhood memories.In 2008 the high-court ordered that the Book Fair could not be organized at Maidan because of the amount pollution it created. So sadly it was shifted to a different location.

This year the 44th International Kolkata Book Fair 2020 was held at Central Park Mela ground in Saltlake, Karunamayee. The theme was Russia.The book fair took place this year from 29th January to 9th February. The fair remained open from 12 pm to 08 pm. There was no entry fee to the fair. Yes ! You heard it right The entry  to the fair was absolutely free

After almost 10 year or more, I visited book fair. But again that feeling of Maidan book fair, the aura of open book stall was not there. The worst part was too much traffic, bad transport connectivity and lack of car parking space. After roaming around here and there looking for parking space, we finally parked our car 4 km away from the fair. The funniest part was we had to take an auto from the parking lot to the entrance due to the distance.Weekend made the fair overcrowded and it was so difficult for us to look at books or even go inside any stall.

Various cultural programs were organized inside the fair premises to entertain guests. Such activities have become an integral part of the fair over the years. The biggest difficulty one faces while visiting the fair  is the maddening crowd. With a total footfall of over 2 million people every year , it is the world's largest book fair by attendance.

book fair is probably the least cheapest place to buy books. The books were sold here at a discount of 10-20 % on MRP. One could get more discounts in the publishing houses located at College street, Kolkata.

For English Novels I generally prefer buying from online e-commerce platforms. I love the discount they provide on their sale day.

Along with the adults, there were shops for toddlers as well in the fair . Getting inside the popular book stalls was a difficult task. One has to stand in a long cue before getting their hands on the books.

A separate place has been dedicated for the food stalls to fulfill the demands of hungry bellies.

Police booths were well spread across the entire area to cater various emergencies.

There is no doubt that in the era of kindle and other e-book reader, the interest of buying printed books have declined drastically. Still the charm of Kolkata Book Fair remains unaltered. A  winter day-out amongst the sea of books of all genres, music, debates on various topics and delicious foods definitely makes the Kolkata Book Fair a must visit place.

Check out Youtube Video On THE INTERNATIONAL KOLKATA BOOKFAIR

Book Review Ghoomophiro By Himadri Garg

Ghoomophiro is a travel fiction  written by author Himadri Garg , who herself enjoy travelling and sharing tales about the places. This book is for those enthusiastic travel lovers who are always ready with their backpackandpassport .

The two sister Nitika and Kritika travels  together.  Their passion for travelling made them learn about the truth of our mother nature or the eco-system and they feel it should be passed on for our next generation. As the technology have made the human being their slave ,where no one enjoy their moments together, they decide to plan a vacation to Andaman Island without the interference of technology and have some real fun.
The book is highly detailed , and talks about the importance of our ecosystem and as a traveller how we can contribute to the mother nature .
The description of the place  and the food will definitely make you travel prepare .
The tips provide for the travellers are informative and one can relate to real life .

 It is very sad that now a days people enjoy going for a solo trip , but a trip with family  surely have lot of laughter, intimate recollection, strong bond and candid discussion stay in our heart forever which no digital album can hold.

Buy Books  Online at amazon.in
Paperback Books
Checkout their website  -Ghoomophiro

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