Some Flat Lays Dedicated to Lord Jagannath

Greetings to all on the occasion of Rath Yatra. May Shri Jagannath continue to shower his blessings on us. 

I hail from Odisha and today the whole state is celebrating the annual chariot festival of Lord Jagannath. Today on the second day of the Shukla Paksha (the bright lunar fortnight or waxing moon) of third lunar month of Asadha in the Hindu calender, Lord Jagannath visits his aunt's house (Gundicha temple) with his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra on their chariots. Whenever a festival associated with the state that you originally from, often we have the tendency to feel state sick. During this auspicious time we (me and my mother in law) have frequent discussions about the customs, traditions and rituals associated with Lord Jagannath. This whole process motivated me to decorate my home specially dedicated to lord Jagannath.

Here are some flat lays that I have set up in living room, dinning and puja room of my home. In each set up I have used some of my DIYs. 

Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra painted on pebbles finding a place in the living room....

A sea shell framed Lord Jagannath is another craft work of mine. This one is inspired by the sea shell framed mirror that we find in many coastal tourist places of India. I have not painted the Jagannath face in this DIY, it is cut from an old table calendar. This setup finds a place in the dinning area...    

Here is the setup I have made in the Puja room. A hand fan made out of waste card board and newspaper. The Jagannath face used in this is from a wedding invitation card.  

Earlier I have also made Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra using coconut shells. You can have a look here and find the tutorial here. 

Milk and Coconut Popsicle

Ola friends...

We are still engulfed under summer waves and I wish I can migrate to a place where the mercury never rises beyond 10 to 20 degree celsius. But that's neither always possible nor a permanent solution. So what to do?? We will eat Ice Cream and Popsicle. When we were kids and in each summer vacation used to go to village, this coconut and milk popsicle were our favorite. I still remember this milk and coconut ice creams were dearer than the regular orange ones. Daily all kids used to wait for the ice cream wala's bhopu style horn. Thus today's recipe is the demand of my own sweet memories.

Ingredients required (For around 6 to 8 Popsicle)

1- Full Cream milk - 500 ml

2- Sugar - 1/2 cup

3- Cardamom Powder - 1/4th tsp

4- Freshly Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup

5- Condensed milk- 3/4th cup 

Using condensed milk is optional. I prefer using it when I don't have time to half reduce milk. Adjust sugar according to your choice. 

Step-1

Heat milk in a thick bottom pan. Add all the ingredients together. Adjust sugar quantity according to the quantity of condensed milk you are using, otherwise it may become too sweet. 

Step-2

Boil the milk mixture and keep on steering continuously. I cooked it for 10 minutes on medium flame. 

Step-3

Cool down the mixture and then transfer the mixture into Popsicle moulds. Refrigerate for minimum 8 to 10 hours. Then it's ready to eat. 

Hope you will like this simple recipe with some simple ingredients....enjoyyyyy..