| Bidri Work |
[May. 12th, 2008|05:15 pm] |
Etching the design : one of the steps in Bidri Work; Bidar, Karnataka.
Bidri : Silver inlay work brought down by the Persians and localized here has become one of the unique arts of Bidar.
( read on with more photos... ) |
|
|
| The long way to Bidar |
[May. 12th, 2008|11:04 am] |
Bidar is farther than Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa and Kanyakumari from Bangalore: 735 kms, a long distance even though it is in Karnataka.
( read on... ) |
|
|
| Tea and Coonoor |
[Apr. 24th, 2008|06:04 pm] |
Tree, Tea : as the sun started to disappear behind the mountains, this lone tree stood out in the tea gardens, as if trying to catch the last of the rays; Coonoor, Tamil Nadu.
( read on with more photos... ) |
|
|
| On the edge of wilderness |
[Apr. 18th, 2008|08:53 pm] |
A walk in the wilderness : Wayanad, Kerala.
A place next to the forests, a calm house and a chef who treats you to a king's buffet; that is Fringe Ford, where I spent a long weekend taking walks in the forest, reading a book and generally relaxing.
( read on with 23 more photos... ) |
|
|
| My name is Mariamma |
[Apr. 2nd, 2008|03:47 pm] |
the enterprising lady who accompanied us as our guide; Talakaad, Karnataka.
A rough road from Somnathpur led us to Talakaad, with a few canals visible on the way, where women were busy washing clothes. As we parked in front of the Vaidyanatheswara temple, a guide approached us wanting to offer his services and followed us around the temple and finally decided to go in search of other people to guide. We started walking up the sand when Mariamma started walking along side us, we told her we did not need a guide, but she was not one to be deterred so easily as she started telling us about one of the temples; it turned out to be a good experience as she talked non-stop about herself and a little about the temples. A few things we learnt from our guide:
( the curse of Talakaad and more ) |
|
|
| Somnathpur |
[Mar. 29th, 2008|01:06 am] |
the exterior of the Keshava temple along with one of the three gopuras; Somnathpur, Karnataka.
The rain in Tadiyendamol had us back in Mysore for the night and on our way to Somnathpur the next morning. We took the deviation just outside Mysore towards Bannur, the road being well layed, but it only lasted for a while as the road got worse and we were reduced to going at low speeds all the way to Somnathpur. What greeted us was a large lawn with the temple hidden inside another walled compound.
( read on with more photos ) |
|
|
| Experiments in the rain |
[Mar. 24th, 2008|03:37 pm] |
Enchanted Path : the path to Tadiyendamol; wet, fresh and green in the rain.
( read on... ) |
|
|
| Losar at Bylakuppe : Part 2/2 |
[Feb. 16th, 2008|11:20 am] |
a synchronized dance as part of the Losar celebrations, Namdroling monastery, Bylakuppe.
( the celebrations-16 )
Losar at Bylakuppe |
|
|
| Kotilingeshwara |
[Jan. 14th, 2008|03:58 pm] |
Kotilingeshwara temple, near Kolar, Karnataka.
Kotilingeshwara means 1,00,00,000 lingas; there are not that many, but still more here than in any other place. We being there on a Sunday, it was quite busy as scores of people -pilgrims on a tour, families making it a picnic too- queue up to enter the complex and get blessings, hoping probably to get more from the number of lingas.
( 10 more pictures ) |
|
|
| Water + Kids = Fun & Joy |
[Jan. 11th, 2008|10:39 am] |
Having Fun: Antargange, Kolar, Karnataka.
( 0 words, 9 pictures ) |
|
|
| Antargange |
[Jan. 10th, 2008|07:38 pm] |
Antargange: people taking the holy water home, at Antargange, Kolar, Karnataka.
AntarGange : Ganges from the gap/deep; where the holy ganga rises up from the rocks and flows, and this is where we were heading to last Sunday morning. The sun rose, invisible, trying to clear the morning mist, as we drove towards Kolar, and it was successful in less than an hour as clear blue skies appeared as we neared Kolar. A bus-load of pilgrims got down and started walking up the steps to the temple, in a hurry, probably their first stop on a busy travel day. The local kids were already busy collecting the fresh water in 5/10 lt cans and taking it to their homes, it is sweeter than the tap water they say, while a few monkeys linger around hoping for some food. At the temple, the pujari is still in the process of preparing the shiv-ling, while outside the water flowing out a basava is being continuously collected by kids and pilgrims alike, and in case you do not have anything to collect the holy water, there are empty bottles for sale too.
( 14 more pictures ) |
|
|
| Relaxing on a river island |
[Jan. 8th, 2008|04:33 pm] |
Relax: an inviting chair to relax and enjoy the colors of the twilight by the river, on an island; Amgol, near Kundapur, Karnataka.
( On the island-13 )
( A walk to a nearby temple-11 ) |
|
|
| A ride to Hogenakkal |
[Dec. 14th, 2007|02:31 pm] |
Boatman, Boat: the boatman carrying his round-boat/coracle, taking it along with him to the next point where he was going to take us along; Hogenakkal, Tamil Nadu
The boatmen with their coracles, with mutual understanding among themselves to not fight for customers, carrying around their coracles from one place to another, waiting for the passengers to roam around and come back before continuing and later ending the ride with a customary swirl in their round baots. Then there is the market, always busy, with fish being caught in the river, and cooked in black pans by the pathway, sliced and fried right there, pulling people in with the sight and the smell. And this is in July, when the water level is high, the falls gushing down from every rock and there are no kids jumping off the cliffs into the water to earn a few bucks.
The were two routes to Hogenekkal, "Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Hoganekkal" being mostly along the main road which was the route we took while going there and then there is the backroad route "Bangalore-Hosur-Rayakottai-Palacode-Pannagram-Hogenakkal" which we took while coming back and was much better in terms of the scenery, both of them being 150-170kms.
( 12 more photos ) |
|
|
| Breakfast, conversations and some odd things |
[Dec. 14th, 2007|10:47 am] |
Threads and Bands: holy threads, religious threads and other things to put around your neck, with bands and rings too; early morning, KR Market, Bangalore.
Early one day in July, a bunch of us were there walking the streets around KR Market. While the market inside is a hive of activity early in the morning, the streets surrounding it were in different stages of wakefullness: a few had their shops ready for business and a lot more were having their breakfast and their morning dose of coffee, while one shop keeper who had his shop up and ready was sitting outside indulging in some chit-chat with what seemed like regulars to his shop.
( 10 more photos ) |
|
|
| 10,000 kms later |
[Nov. 1st, 2007|06:50 pm] |
10,000 kms later, and still on the road.
Where was I? |
|
|
| A Nunnery in Tawang |
[Jul. 13th, 2007|03:05 pm] |
Untitled: at the Dhukhang Jangshup Choling Nunnery, Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
We visited an AnneGompa(a nunnery) after Ptso. The search itself was good with us trying to find a road that goes close to the nunnery; we took a road, came back and took another road before reaching the path down the side of a hill to the nunnery. A 20min walk down this path took us to the nunnery. The nunnery was pretty empty but for 3-4 students. We interacted with them for some time, not speaking the same language, but through signs and photos.
( 8 more photos )
North-East, Mar 17-Apr 1, 2007 |
|
|
