These thick & heavy special wedding garlands are called Kalyana Malai ( कल्याण माला ) in Tamil and are made of mainly rose petals and chopped leaves. To keep them together in this conical shape and to prevent the petals from falling off, they are ‘wrapped’ in threads.

After wrapping up with thread some decorative pieces are being inserted.
There are two such pieces of each garland. Mostly, only one piece

The year 2009 is gone. It was satisfying as far as travel is concerned. Except for one or two, all places were new to me. Not many to count but observed and learnt a lot during the course.
And all these trips were personal trips, not work related.
It was Ratnagiri and Ganapatipule to begin with. Temples, forts and beaches greeted us with stories of their own.

Then it was Bangaluru. solo trip. Somehow I felt more uncomfortable in going