Kumaon - Garjiya Temple - Apr 2023

April 8, 2023

Garjiya Devi Temple is an old devi temple close to Ramnagar in Uttarakhand. Another close destination is Jim Corbett National Park. The temple is by the side of Kosi River and is built on an isolated hill. It is around 60 km from our home now. This temple has a special place in my heart as it was a frequent destination for us while growing up. Our maternal uncle lived 15km from the temple so all the more reason to visit at that time. 

We went on a Saturday and it was quite crowded that day which also says how much popular t his place is. It took around 2 hours to get to the temple as the queue was quite long. The scenery around is beautiful so it can be enjoyed. Temple also has bhandara though the food was extremely spicy for my palate. 

On the way, one could see the G20 summit preparations with walls along side the road painted with murals featuring the local culture - Chholiya dance the pichoda clad kumaoni woman. 

Varanasi - Kashi - Mar 2023

April 1, 2023

Kashi, the oldest living city in the world has been on my mind since long. The beautiful verse by Adi Shankaracharya in his 5 verse composition of kāśī pancakam describes self, the self shining awareness as kashi in which shines everything - सा काशिकाहं निजबोधरूपा. Its a beautiful verse comparing the tranquility of the mind to the manikarnika ghat which is also the cremation ghat signifying tranquility, putting body identification to rest. The tranquility of manikarnika and the pure flow of river Ganga as the knowledge both are kashi in which the self is understood as kashi - the self shining one in which everything shines. 

I am writing about my journey so that it can be useful to anyone visiting Varanasi. Google map of kashi isn't up to date and thus can be confusing. 

For our visit, we took an intercity train from Lucknow to Varanasi which started Sunday morning 7am and arrived around 1pm at Varanasi junction railway station. From there we took an e-rick to the ghat area. Note that the rickshaw does not go exactly till the ghats and thus some walk is required to get there. On the way we had puri-sabji at Madhur Milan near the ghats. From there we directly checked into the lodge - Ganga darshanam near daśāśvamedh ghat.

Gaṅgā aarti

We went to the daśāśvamedh ghat around 5pm to be there on time for the gaṅgā Aarti. Aarti starts around 6pm and the boats start filling up by 5:30 so one can take a boat ride to see various ghats and then come back close to the daśāśvamedh ghat to watch the aarti while sitting in the boat. We saw major ghats from hariścandra to maṇikarṇikā both of which are known as ghats for performing last rites. We got back to the aarti ghat in time and then stayed in the boat till the aarti completed at around 7:45pm.

Ganga Aarti at Dashashvamedh Ghat

Food
After coming back from the ghat, we started looking for a place to eat. After exploring a bit we decided to eat at the Cafe D Benaras in the market area. Food was good. We had aloo parantha and roti with kadhai paneer. After dinner, some of us had lassi from a road side small shop near our lodge. 

Kāśī viśvanātha

Next morning we were supposed to visit the kāśī viśvanātha mandir early morning at 3am so we decided to retire early in the night by 9:30pm. kāśī viśvanātha is amongst the oldest shiva temples and one of the 12 main Jyotirlingas as per the śiva purāṇa (वाराणस्यां तु विश्वेशं त्र्यम्बकं गौतमीतटे). Next day woke up at 1:45am in the morning and got ready with a good shower. We departed for the mandir around 2:30am and reached there in 10 min by walking. It had rained in previous night so the streets were a little wet. There was already a long queue at the mandir. Even though we had bought the limited reserved mangala tickets, the experience of standing in the queue wasn't worth it on a Monday morning as there were likely lot more people than usual. We were allowed to enter the temple around 3am. Aarti lasted around 45min and then we were allowed to go near the Shivalingam. By that time the local crowd was also allowed to enter the temple thus making it very crowded as everyone was just eager to do abhishekam on a Monday. While it was amazing to see the people and their faith, we were just hoping that it doesn't lead to a stampede. Other days of the week may be better to do mandir darshanam. 

Morning chai
After walking around the temple verandah, we started back for our lodge at 4am. We got some more sleep after getting back. Around 7:30am we walked to the nearest chai stall - Harih Om chai stall and had good morning tea in kulhaḍa.

Ghat walk and Vishwanath Corridor 
Later that morning, we started to walk towards the Vishwanath mandir corridor between daśāśvamedh and maṇikarṇikā ghats. We went inside the corridor but then decided to take the maṇikarṇikā ghat road as belongings were not allowed inside the corridor. We needed to get to gate no. 4 from where to buy the tickets for sugam darshanam as some of us didn't do the early morning visit. Since this is the road that leads to the ghat from the maṇikarṇikā dvāra from the market area, one must see multiple funeral processions on the way. 

Lassi and Breakfast

I wasn't planning on visiting temple again this time so we enjoyed the lassi at the blue lassi shop on the manikarnika ghat road. At least 4-5 death processions passed through while we waited at the shop for lassi. They can make one question the activities of life including eating. It also turned out that the sugam darshanam time were not available that day so everyone decided to eat breakfast at a kachori (a deep fried snack) shop near Manikarnika gate in Gowdolia road. One of the gali there is also famous as kachori Vali gali. 

Sarnath

From there we walked back to the nandi circle and decided to hire auto rickshaw to visit Sarnath. After some price haggling we were able to get a to and fro auto rickshaw which took us to Wat Thai Temple at Sarnath. This was established by Thai dignitaries. There is a Buddhist temple inside and a 80.9 ft Buddha statue along with gardens and a pond with blue lotus from Thailand.

After that we visited the silk shop near by and had lunch at a restaurant called Lazania. After the lunch, we went to the Sarnath stupa and museum. The remains at the museum gave a good view of the temples at the time of Buddha. The temple and architecture remains had Hindu gods.

Sarnath

Assi Ghat and Street walk
From there we got back to Varanasi and stopped at Assi Ghat, the southernmost ghat. We were able to be at the Ganga aarti and then walked back through the narrow streets to our lodge. During this walk one can get a good glimpse of the narrow streets of Varanasi and the optimal use of space for shops etc. There are many guest houses and small eateries on the way. That night we ate dinner at our lodge restaurant. 

Morning Ghat visit
Next morning I went to take an early morning walk at the ghat. The morning scene was quite busy with people taking Ganga bath. You can also find some people using dātuna. Overall everyone was disciplined and respectful of Ganga ji. 

Journey back
That afternoon we took a train back to Lucknow (varanasi-indore mahakaal express). The train was quite good and got us back in 4-4.5 hrs.

Summary
Lodge - Ganga Darshanam near Dashashwamedh ghat. It is a decent facility and 1 minute walk to the ghat. 
Trains - Intercity from LKO to BSB, Varanasi-Indore Mahakaal express from BSB-LKO
Food - street food was the best. 
Places - definitely visit the major ghats - dashashwamedh, manikarnika, assi and others nearby. Visit Vishwanath temple, old kashi streets, temples all around. Take a boat ride to see the ghats. 

Scissor cuts but a Kartari Kartayati

December 23, 2020

Writing after a long time or let's just say I was going through the writer’s block. An alert that this post contains many Hindi/Sanskrit words and some may be unfamiliar but that's fine, probably if you read till the end they won't be strange anymore.

The inspiration for this post comes from a chat with my nephew, niece. The word ‘कर्तनम्’ came as we were listening to a Sanskrit story. They know what कर्तरी is so I casually said ‘a scissor cuts but a कर्तरी (Kartari) कर्तयति (Kartayati)’.

By now you probably know what ‘कर्तरी’ and ‘कर्तनम्’ mean. ‘कर्तरि’ (Kartari) is an instrument for cutting. So a Scissor is ‘कर्तरी’. कर्तरी is also the name of a हस्तमुद्रा (hand-gesture) in Indian classical dance - कर्तरीमुख. This mudra is used to denote separation, death, opposition etc. in dance. Interestingly a similar gesture is used to denote victory which people often use while getting photographed or spoiling them to say the truth. What made me ponder more and more is that, by knowing one word, it is easy to know another one - knowing कर्तरी can give me some idea about कर्तयति without knowing too much about the context, knowing कर्तरी and मुख can help me know कर्तरीमुख. ‘Knowing’ here means that it is possible to form an image of the meaning in the mind without having to explain the 2 words in a particular context. If I know only ‘scissor’ then saying the word ‘cut’ won’t help me much without knowing additional context like a sentence where the two words are used.

If we see more, a comic book has pictures and illustrations but a चित्रकथा (comic) has चित्र. A photo and movie may not have much in common but a moving चित्र is indeed चलचित्र (movie). The books are found in the library but a पुस्तक in पुस्तकालय. The Giraffe is the animal with a long neck but दीर्घग्रीवः is the one with a दीर्घ (long) ग्रीवा (neck). A donkey is a donkey and a zebra is a zebra but a गर्दभः (donkey) can become चित्रगर्दभः (zebra) by drawing a little चित्र on it. Applying butter to a fly doesn’t turn it into a butterfly but adding चित्र to a पतङ्ग (fly) can make it look like चित्रपतङ्ग (butterfly). A mountain and a stone are not related and comparable in size but a शिलाखण्ड: (stone) is a खण्डः (part) of a शिला (mountain). A pen can write but the लेखनी for sure लिखति. A chair can be used to sit but आसन्दः (chair/seat) ददाति (gives) आसः (seat). A window may not bring air, but from the वातायनम्, वात: आयाति. Don’t know how many tires a cycle has but द्विचक्रिका has द्वे (2). The slippers might make one slip but पादत्राणम् protects (त्राणं) the feet (पाद). Glasses can sit anywhere but उपनेत्रम् sits close to नेत्रम् (eye). A handkerchief may be the chief of someplace but करवस्त्रम् is just a simple वस्त्रम्. One may have to do more to worship but only needs to take the उप (near) आसनम् (seat) to the lord for उपासना.

I feel like going on and on but hope you were able to relate to some of it. To me personally, anything written in Hindi and sometimes Sanskrit feels like somebody just added visual illustrations to an English story that was previously written in just plain text. Who doesn’t love pictures?

all errors are completely mine!

शुभ दीपावली

नवम्बर १२, २०२० 

कुछ वर्ष पूर्व दीपावली की स्मृतियों पर लिखा था, हर वर्ष का यही क्रम है, दीपावली आते ही बचपन की अनमोल यादें सतह पर आ जाती हैं -  

आज वो बचपन के दीपावली के दिन याद आ रहे हैं....... 

अम्मा और उनका ऐपण देने के लिए बुलाते रहना,

वो दीयों को पानी में भिगोना,

और पटाखों को दिन भर धूप में सुखाना,

लक्ष्मी जी की मूर्ति बनाने को मम्मी का साथ देना, 

नए कपड़ों को पहनने के लिए मचलना,

लक्ष्मी पूजा के लिए पूरे घर को साथ बुलाना,

दिन भर काले साँप वाली गोलियां जलाना ,

फिर रात को अनार की रोशनी में उछलना, 

सैर करते हुए नानी के घर दिवाली मनाने जाना,

मन भर जाने पर भी एक और मिठाई खाना,

और अगली सुबह पूरे मोहल्ले में दिवाली के खील मिठाई बांटने जाना

आज वो बचपन के दीपावली के दिन याद आ रहे हैं .... 

बुरा जो देखन मैं चला, बुरा न मिलिया कोय

जुलाई १४,  २०२० 

PC: freepik.com

बुरा जो देखन मैं चला, बुरा न मिलिया कोय।

जो मन खोजा अपना, तो मुझसे बुरा न कोय।।

वैसे तो यहीं लिखना रोक सकती हूँ क्योंकि जो लिखने जा रही हूँ वो संत कबीर दास जी ने इस दोहे में दो पंक्तियों में लिख दिया।

आज संस्कृत में लिखी एक रचना के बारे में लिख रही हूँ। श्री श्रीधर अय्यावल (तमिल नाडु के एक भक्त कवि) द्वारा विरचित ‘दोषपरिहाराष्टकम्’ नामक अष्टकम्। जैसा नाम से ही जाना जा सकता है - इस अष्टकम् में ८ श्लोक हैं। इस अष्टकम् का विषय ‘दोष’ और उसका निवारण है। यहाँ बात किसी साधारण दोष की नहीं हो रही है, रचयिता दूसरों में दोष ढूंढ़ने की मानव प्रकृत्ति का विवेचन कर रहे हैं।

ये श्लोक बहुत ही सुंदरता से वसंत तिलका छन्द में लिखे गए हैं। ये वही छन्द है जिसका प्रयोग ‘सुप्रभातम’ में हुआ है जिसे सुबह देवताओं को जगाने के लिए सुनाया जाता है। यहाँ वर्णित श्लोक भी कवि ने ईश्वर अनुग्रह पाने के लिए ही लिखे हैं अतः कहा जा सकता है कि इनका गान भी सुबह सुबह होना चाहिए।

कवि ने श्लोकों की रचना बड़ी ही चतुर शैली में की है जिसकी तुलना विष्णु शर्मा द्वारा रचित पंचतंत्र से की जा सकती है। पंचतंत्र की कहानियां तो आज सम्पूर्ण विश्व में विख्यात हैं। कहानियों को पशु जगत से पात्र लेकर लिखा गया है ताकि पढ़ते समय कहानियों के माध्यम से मानव आचरण की जिन प्रवृत्तियों को दर्शाया है उनसे पाठक को हीनता का अनुभव न हो। पशुओं के माध्यम से नैतिक मूल्यों को पाठक तक पहुँचाना भी सरल हो गया होगा अन्यथा तो पढ़ने वाले आधे में ही भाग खड़े होते।

इस अष्टकम् में भी कवि ने दोष ढूंढ़ने की प्रवृत्ति को केवल अपने माध्यम से ही, अन्य किसी पर आक्षेप न करते हुए प्रस्तुत किया है। यदि उन्होंने अन्य लोगों को अपनी रचना का पात्र बनाया होता तो शायद रचना अपने शीर्षक पर खरी न उतरती और दोष ढूंढ़ने की ही रचना बन जाती। सत्य तो यह है कि दोष ढूंढ़ने की मानव प्रकृत्ति उसके अज्ञान का एक परिणाम है। अधिकतर दूसरों में ढूंढे गए दोष खुद के अज्ञान कारणवश जनित विपर्यय का दूसरे पर अध्यारोपण होते हैं।

कवि ईश्वर अनुग्रह की प्रार्थना कर रहे हैं ताकि अपनी अन्य लोगों के दोषों की गणना करने की अपनी इस प्रवृत्ति से निवृत्ति पा सकें। यहाँ मैं उनके द्वारा लिखे श्लोकों का शब्दशः विवरण न करते हुए उन्ही की शैली में कुछ मुख्य तथ्यों को लिख रही हूँ।

प्रथम श्लोक की तुलना तो सीधे तर्जनी से की जा सकती है। जैसे तर्जनी ये भूल जाती है कि दूसरे की ओर मुख करते समय उसकी बाकी सखियाँ उसके अपने स्वामी की ओर देख रही होती हैं। कवि के अनुसार दोष ढूंढ़ने का उनका ये कौतुक उनके अपने ही दोषपूर्ण होने का आविष्कार करता है। वे बड़ी ही चतुराई से इसे तर्क पूर्वक सिद्ध भी करते हैं। यदि ‘सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म’ से सब कुछ ही वह (‘ईश्वर’) है, और मैं उसी में दोष ढूंढ रहा हूँ तो निश्चयेन दोष मेरे ही अंदर होगा - भला उस ईश्वर में दोष कैसे हो सकता है?

मेरी दोष ढूंढ़ने की कला से मेरे अपने दोष ही सतह पर आते हैं, दोष ढूँढ़ते समय मैं आखिर दिखता कैसा हूँ? इस पर उन्होंने गंदगी में लोटते एक सूअर की कल्पना की है जिसे कीचड़ में रहना पसंद होता है। कीचड़ का उपयोग करके भी कैसी सुन्दर कल्पना की जा सकती है ये आप सोचें।

दोषगणना किन स्थितियों में की जा सकती है इस पर वो ३ स्थल गिनाते हैं जहाँ दोष गिना जा सकता है परन्तु वो फिर भी दोष ना ही ढूंढ़ने का सुझाव देते हैं। ये ३ परिस्थितियां हैं -

१. जब कोई आप पर अपने विकास के लिए निर्भर हो जैसे शिष्य या संतान
२. जब कोई अपनी उन्नति के लिए आपसे अपने दोष पूछे
३. जब कोई इतनी निम्न दशा में हो (व्यसनातुर) कि उसके दोष उसे गिनाने से वो उस व्यसन से बाहर आ जाये

मेरी मानें तो ना ही गिनें दोष या फिर कवच धारण कर के ही ऐसा करें।

यदि इतना समझने के बाद भी दोष ढूंढ़ने की इच्छा हो तो क्या करें? यहाँ पतञ्जलि योग सूत्र के एक प्रमुख सूत्र को भी लिखा जा सकता है - वितर्कबाधने प्रतिपक्षभावनम् (जब अनुपयुक्त विचार बाधा डालें तो उन्हें विपरीत विचारों से निरस्त करना चाहिए)। कवि इसके लिए एक और सुन्दर उपमा देते हैं। अपनी दोष गणना करने की प्रवृत्ति से छुटकारा पाने के लिए मुझे दूसरों में अच्छाई ढूंढनी चाहिए जिससे वैसा ही आनंद मिलेगा जैसा एक भौरें को कमल के फूल की सुगंध लेने से मिलता है।

कवि की कल्पना से प्रेरित होकर मेरी कल्पना शक्ति भी जाग गयी। दोषगणना से साधुत्व देखने का ये दृष्टि परिवर्तन मुझे ऐसा लगा जैसे तर्जनी ज्ञानमुद्रा में परिवर्तित हो गयी हो। जहाँ तर्जनी दूसरों की ओर संकेत करती थी अब वही तर्जनी झुक कर दूसरों की प्रशंसा करती लग रही है। आजकल की व्हाट्सऍप-फेसबुक की दुनिया में इन हस्तकलाओं का प्रयोग करना भी बहुत ही सरल हो गया है।

Breath - Science and Scriptures (Part 1)

April 10, 2020

Flower lungs

Many of you know that a significant portion of my year 2019 was spent towards my yoga teachers training. I still haven't got the certification but that doesn't stop me from practicing or writing about Yoga. I now see a pattern of obstacles in every formal degree/certificate that I got so far :)

Human intelligence has done all sorts of discoveries in Science to try to understand the esoteric ways of nature. Science is an invention of human intellect and thus called as पौरुषेय (made by humans) whereas Scriptures are अपौरुषेय (not made by humans). I am usually able to relate with philosophy more than I can focus on science. Here I am going to try to combine both. This post is divided into 2 parts. In this part I am writing about some of the subtleties of our breathing mechanism - a significant part of Ashtanga Yoga, and its effect on our physical and mental well being.

Disclaimer: I don't have any institutional education in human anatomy and physiology. My writeup here is based on my understanding, primarily from the book: The Anatomy of Hatha Yoga: A Manual for Students, Teachers, and Practitioners by H. David Coulter. My sister who is also an Anatomy professor helped me review this. Any errors are completely mine. 

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What is the first thing humans do after landing on this earth? They take their first breath! From then on the process of breathing is generally taken for granted until we start to realize the impact of bad breathing habits. Breath is so natural that why would we even want to pay attention to it? On a physical level effective breathing is essential to maintain appropriate levels of oxygen in the body. On a more subtle level, breath directly affects how one thinks and feels, influencing the mental state.

I love how Ramana Maharshi describes it in this shloka from Upadesha Saram:

चित्तवायवश्चित्क्रियायुताः ।

शाखयोर्द्वयी शक्तिमूलका ॥ १२ ॥

Both mind and prana expressed as consciousness and activity respectively are two branches rooted in the same shakti.

In fact, breath is a connection between the body and the mind and thus is so important. It suffers when the body has stress or when the mind is agitated. More on the philosophy in another post.

What and How of Breath?

In the gross form, breath is the air we inhale and exhale. A level below it is the exchange of oxygen and carbon-di-oxide in the cells within the body. At a more subtle level, breath is the manifestation of prana that is responsible for all physiological activity in one's life. Maybe we can stop here and take a breath? :)

The main organ involved in breathing is Lungs in the body. We all studied that in Science as kids right? Lungs are passive spongy air-filled organs in the chest. One important part of the Lungs is the Alveoli - tiny balloon-like air sac endpoints in the respiratory system where the exchange of oxygen and carbon-di-oxide takes place. These get affected in a number of respiratory diseases like Pneumonia, Tuberculosis, ARDS (Acute respiratory distress syndrome - which most COVID-19 patients are at risk for right now), etc. Smoking also causes damage to them. Naturally one can understand why one is unable to breath well in any of these diseases as the body doesn’t receive appropriate amounts of oxygen.

Different Muscles that operate during Breathing

Since the Lungs are passive, breathing takes place due to complex muscular activity. The three main muscles used in the respiration are:

• Diaphragm muscle - umbrella like muscle at the base of the rib cage.
• Intercostal muscles - two types of muscles between the ribs: external and internal intercostals.
• Abdominal muscles - used in many breathing exercises.

Where does all that air go? 

So where does all the air you inhale go? How much do we inhale? Are we using our lungs to full capacity? The main four lung volumes are:

• Tidal volume - the amount of air that moves in and out in one breath. Usually around ½ litre when relaxed.
• Inspiratory Reserve volume - additional air one can inhale after the usual tidal inhalation. ~3 litre.
• Expiratory reserve volume - additional air one can exhale after the normal exhale. Usually around 1 litre.
• Residual volume - amount that remains in the lungs even after exhaling as much as one can exhale. This is usually around 1200 ml.

Lung Volumes Illustrated

How does this correlate to the amount of oxygen we get? Remember, it is only the air that gets to the alveoli that is useful. The amount of air that actually gets to the alveoli is measured by the alveolar ventilation. This is tidal volume minus any air that is left in the nasal passages and other airways in between nostrils and the alveoli, measured per minute.

Our Autonomic nervous system responses

Most of us remain in mainly 2 modes of operations:

• Fight or flight also known as Sympathetic (Stress) nervous system
• Rest and digest also known as Parasympathetic (Peace) nervous system

These are two sides of our autonomic nervous system (ANS) that governs the internal functions of the body - blood pressure, digestion, elimination, glands. Both are important for our proper functioning. ANS is basically maintaining everything that is happening unconsciously within the body.

There is another nervous system - somatic nervous system (SNS) in the body that deals with all things that we do consciously - touch, vision etc. as well as control of skeletal muscles. We might think that breathing is an unconscious act and thus controlled by the ANS but that is not the case. As we discussed before, the act of breathing involves different muscles which are controlled by the SNS. When we sneeze, cough or just take a sigh of relief, our body uses the SNS.

Both SNS and ANS work together for harmony. ANS has a huge effect on our breathing (controlled by SNS function). ANS signals SNS to work differently when needed, for example when the blood isn't getting enough oxygen.

By now we know that our autonomic nervous system (ANS) influences our breathing. Can our breathing influence our ANS? Again ANS is very important in the smooth functioning of our internals and thus our well being. I can't tell my heart to slow down in case of stress but I can use my breath to influence my ANS which can then influence my heart.

"It's like a referral system. The ability to control our breathing consciously gives access to the autonomic functions (e.g. heartbeat, blood pressure, etc.)."

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In the next post, I will talk about how the ancient breathing practices provide benefits and have led many researchers to write their thesis while discovering the workings of these practices. 

Gujiya

Gujiya

It was Holi last week so I decided to devote this weekend to the famous sweet of Holi celebration : Gujiya. People in North India make gujiya in different ways. I wanted to make Khoa gujiya and had been thinking since yesterday that I will go to Indian store and get some khoa and then the start of day light saving screwed up the whole schedule. So finally at 4pm today I started to make gujiya with some homemade khoa. Here is my recipe (modify the quantity according to the number of gujiyas you want to make). I made around 6 of them. 

Ingredients:
1. 1 bowl of flour (Maida)
2. 1/2 small bowl of Almonds
3. 1/4 small bowl of Cashews
4. 1/4 small bowl Raisins (kishmish)
5. 1/4 small bowl Sooji
6. 2-3 tablespoons Sugar
7. Shredded dry coconut (I did not use it but its also used in the filling)
8. Milk
9. Ghee
10. Khoa

Preparation:
Making Khoa:
I used milk to make khoa. Boil 2-3 cups of milk in a pan and keep stirring in between. Add 1 spoon of lemon juice to make it faster. Let the milk become dry to a granular mix (khoa)

1. Cut almonds and cashews into fine pieces
2. Cut the raisins into half and add to the above mix
3. Roast the sooji and keep aside
4. Add 1 tea spoon ghee to a pan and add the above prepared mix of dry fruits to it
5. Add the khoa and sooji also to it
6. Roast it for a few minutes and then add sugar and keep aside

Filling mix

7. Now prepare the dough for the gujiya shells
8. Add ghee to the maida and mix it well. Add water to the dough and knead it to make it soft
9.  Now make small balls of this dough and make round circles of about 4 inch diameter
10. Since I did not have a gujiya mould available, I just made them myself. I used a paperclip to stick the corners together.  Use maida mixed in few drops of water to stick the corners so as to make a half circular gujiya
11. Make all the gujiya and keep them aside.

Before frying

12. Heat oil/ghee to fry (I did not use ghee to fry) in a deep fry pan
13. Deep fry previously made gujiya on low to medium flame

Serve them hot or on normal temperature. You can even store them for few days.