Peaceful, that is the only way to describe the feeling of being in this Japanese Tea Garden of absolute beauty and wonder. It is right across from the Museum Park where there are a lot of buses, cars and people, but in here you are transported into another place.
I will try not to talk too much in this article and let the pictures speak for themselves, because words are hard to come by to truly express the feeling of joy and serenity you feel when you are in the Tea Garden.
The Pagoda entrance is really nice, I want one.
Really I want one. All entrances to homes or gardens should be like this.
It may look easy but it a very steep climb to the top of these stairs.
I cannot Stress enough on how beautiful this place is, I could walk around here for the whole day and be at peace.
All the walkways are peaceful, there are little fish ponds all over, and the place is clean, like almost spotless clean.
I was just a bit curious, why do they throw coins into the pond? Yes I know it is for good luck, but I wonder what it does to the water and the fish!
Ok, I threw more than a few coins in, because this fish was following me the whole time.
This red pagoda in really an actuarial marvel. It was so tall, we had to get the right angle for it and me to fit in the same picture
Everything here is beautiful even the grass is healthy and beautiful. However this is not grass, it is special type of moss that grows and covers most of the landscape giving it that green healthy fauna look. It is really amazing to see it. You are not allowed to walk on it for obvious reasons but, I had to touch it. It felt wet but not in a bad way. I wish my lawn would look so beautiful.
I had a great time here but sadly we had to leave, so many things to see and so little time. I am definitely coming back to this place of joy and serenity. I would recommend that anyone going on vacation to San Francisco to check this Garden out, it is worth it.
There are many facilitating things to see and do in San Francisco, Alcatraz, China Town, the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gage Bridge, Fisherman;s Wharf, the Japanese Tea Garden, Yoda's Fountain and of course riding the cable cars.
Taking a vacation in San Francisco would not be complete unless without taking a ride on these iconic cable car landmarks.
Cable Cars Source: Golden Gate Hotel
I must admit it was fun the first couple of times to ride the cable cart, but it only goes up and down the hill between Market Street and Powell Street.
After a couple of days of having my fill of the cable cars, I decided to walk, it was much cheaper and I could get to see more.
The Cable cars were invented in San
Francisco by Andrew Smith Hallidie in 1873. Hallidie's cable car system was based on early "wire rope" mining
conveyance systems that was invented by his father during the gold rush.
This cable system dominated the city’s transit scene for more than 50 years. Hallidie's cable car system survived the great San
Francisco earthquake and fires of 1906, through two World
Wars and outlasted many attempts to remove the cable cars from city streets
in the late 1940s and 1950s to become the worldwide symbol of San
Francisco that it is today.
85ft Hanuman Statue at the Sri
Dattatreya Yoga Centre
It was an over cast day, there
was a fair amount of rain in the morning and the sky was completely covered
with clouds.We were returning from
visiting the Temple in the Sea, when we remembered that there was very famous
statue nearby that we should have a look at. With the help of Google maps, we were able to navigate
our way to the Sri Dattatreya Yoga Center, in Carapichima, Trinidad.Upon the approach you can see a statue of the
God Hanuman and there is a sign with an arrow that points to the 85ft (26m) Hanuman
Statue.
The main Entrance was
magnificent but the place was completely locked and we began to have a sense of
disappointment the we could not enter to see the compound.We decided to drive around to the back and
then we saw a huge car park and the Visitors Gate.It was just us and two other cars that were
present in the Car park.The gentleman
at the gate was very friendly and gave us guidelines about the temple ground
and we got to know that for the ladies, they would have to cover their
shoulders if want to gain entry onto the compound.
We got to know that the statue is the tallest
Hanuman statue outside of India, the 2nd tallest in the western
hemisphere, and I must say, I was very impressed by this knowledge.I can say for me the place is very pink and
beautiful.We took a good walk around
and I was very delighted to see the architectural design on the buildings.
Then we took a walk around the
statue, it is much taller than it looks, like from a distance away.The Hanuman Statue is very impressive and the
attention to detail in remarkable.Also
there is a waterway surrounding the statue.The entire Sri Dattatreya Yoga Centre compound is wide and spacious and there
was a very calming effect that I felt as we made our way around the buildings
and shrines.The beautiful scenery provides
you with a variety of precious photo opportunities and moments that will last
you a lifetime.The whole compound in overlooked
and dominated by the Hanuman Statue as it seems to protect the entire area.
Lastly we looked around it the gift shop and
we were lucky, because it started to rain heavily again.As we looked around and exchanged head nods
with other onlookers (I guess trapped by the rain) there were a lot of
interesting statues, posters, utensils, incents and other things that you would
need if you had to conduct a Hindu religious ceremony.
The scent within this shop was very soothing and
calming, I wish I would get to carry this scent with me.As the rain subsided we purchased some items
and said farewell the strong and beautiful Hanuman Statue.I would say we all had a wonderful day at the
site, we still talk about it so it must have been great and I for one will definitely
be returning on a nice sunny day when I can get better pictures.It is as they say, the site is, spiritual,
peaceful and beautiful.
Rating: 9/10
A Brief History of the 85ft
Hanuman Statue in Carapichima
According to Jaya Guru Datta,
on the Official Facebook page, the Sri Dattatreya Yoga Centre, Trinidad, was established
by His Holiness and Sadguru Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji.He was born at Mekedatu in southern India on
May 26, 1942. Sri Swamiji first visited
Trinidad and Tobago in 1976. Pujya Sri
Swamiji has said "I have told many times that Trinidad is one of my
birthplaces. Though I have many countries, Trinidad has a special place in my
heart."The first temple at
Carapichima was erected on July 18th 1988(Sri Dattatreya, 2020). In 2001 His Holiness Sri Ganapathy
Sachchidananda Swamiji gave instructions to construct this eighty-five foot
(85’) form of Hanuman in Trinidad(Sri Dattatreya, 2020).
In 2002 the building on this
monument began and the construction of the foundation started with offerings to
Mother Earth. When the steel framework
was tied and completed, the concrete was poured into the earth continuously for
six hours. The steel frame forming the
spine, arms and legs were then welded (Sri Dattatreya, 2020). The Sacred mantras (seed sounds) were chanted
as the first blocks was laid to form the foot of Hanuman. The body of the Hanuman was formed by fire
clay blocks. The sculptors then ingeniously
shaped and molded the proportions and magnificent of Lord Hanuman.
Construction of a new temple on
the compound was completed in 2003 and on June 9th 2003, the 85ft mufti
of Sri Karya Siddhi Anjaneya (Lord Hanuman) was inaugurated. Pujya Sri Swamiji consecrated two additional
temples and murtis of Sri Satyanarayana Swami and Sri Rama Parivaar
respectively, on July 2016.
Source: Ornate elephants (a sign of auspiciousness) by The Sri Dattatreya Yoga Centre website
The 85ft tall Karya Siddhi Hanuman
Murtis, which is housed within the Temple ground has been acknowledge as a “architectural
Masterpiece”.The Statue has a pinkish /
saffron (Kesari) colour was built according to the Dravidian style of architecture
from Southern India (Sankar, 2011)
Source Temple entrance by The Sri Dattatreya Yoga Centre website
Hindu devotesand tourists all
around the world are attracted by the size and beauty of this monument as well
as the compound for its rich traditional Indian architecture, peaceful ambience
and spirituality.Additionally, other Hindu
ceremonies and festivals are celebrated here, such as Poojas, worship to Hindu Ashram
Deities and weddings.
Lord
Hanuman
Lord Hanuman on Destination T&T
Lord Hanuman, the Monkey God, was
the son of Vayu, the god of the wind, and Anjana, a celestial nymph (Krithika, 2016). Hanuman is known to be immortal and
invincible, the best warrior and most revered disciple of Lord Rama for his
efforts and bravery in defeating Ravan and assisting Lord Ram, Seeta and Ram's
brother Lakshman (DestinationTnT, 2020). Hindu devotees pray
to him for courage, strength, and protection from evil.
Contact Information:
Office Number (to book for
weddings): 1-868-673-5328
