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Houseboat Cruise through Kerala in a houseboat! Have you ever gone cruising in a houseboat on the backwaters of Kerala? If you haven't, make sure you do. This one is really a wonderful and unforgettable experience! Present day houseboats are huge, slow moving exotic barges used for leisure trips, and are in fact reworked version of kettuvallams of olden times. The original kettuvallams were used to carry tons of rice and spices. A standard kettuvallam can hold up to 30 tons from Kuttanad to the Kochi port. The kettuvallam is held together with coir knots. Not even a single nail is used during the construction of the boat.. The boat is made of planks of jack-wood joined together with coir. This is then coated with a caustic black resin made from boiled cashew kernels. With careful maintenance, a kettuvallam can last for

Short Stories from The Mahabharata Submitted by envikay on Fri, 08/27/2010 - 17:09   SHORT STORIES FROM THE MAHABHARATA     Some of the stories told here are by various elders like Bhishma. They are parables, designed to illustrate a point. Some others are events that take place in The Mahabharata.     THE FARMER AND THE TIGER   In a forest near his village a farmer was grazing his cow. A tiger suddenly appeared in the scene. The farmer sat down and started to cry. The tiger was puzzled at the farmer’s behavior. Out of curiosity he asked the farmer what was the reason for his grief. The farmer told the tiger, “O lord of the jungle. I have a beautiful and highly accomplished daughter. It is time to get her married. I have been searching everywhere but could not find a match for her.” The tiger asked the farmer, “What kind of a boy are you looking for?” The farmer replied, “He should be handsome, strong and intelligent. In fact he should be

Mahabharata This article is about the Sanskrit epic. For other uses, see Mahabharata (disambiguation) . Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra Krishna and Arjuna at Kurukshetra , 18th-19th-century painting. An article related to Hinduism Hindu History Philosophy [show] Deities [show] Scriptures [show] Practices [show] Philosophers and saints [show] Other topics [show] Hinduism portal Hindu Mythology portal v t e The Mahabharata or Mahābhārata ( Sanskrit : महाभारतम् , Mahābhāratam , pronounced  [məɦaːˈbʱaːrət̪əm] ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India , the other being the Ramayana . [ 1 ] Besides its epic narrative of the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pandava princes, the Mahabharata contains much philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or purushart