Gopuram at Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli

I am just back from tour of the temple town of Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. I visited the Sri Ranganathswamy Temple here. A magnificent temple, I will be posting on it soon.

Here is a skywatch shot for you from there. This shot of gopuram (gate) was taken from the view point on the roof top of a small structure in the temple complex. The dome of the gopuram looked magnificent against the pink

Terracotta Temples of Ilambazar, West Bengal

This post has pictures of two other terracotta temples from Ilambazar. During the 17th and 18th century when these temples were constructed, the tradition was landlords or rich businessmen who were doing well in life constructed such temples for the locals. After all they had to show their authority in the society then. As time passed the maintenance and care of these temples passed on to the

Chakra: Chronicles of the Witch Way - A Book review

The book 
Title: Chakra- Chronicles of witch way
Author: Ritu Lalit
Pages: 319
Paperback
Publisher: Author's Empire Publications, Delhi
MRP: Rs 245.

About the author
Ritu Lalit is multi talented; she is a keen observer of life, a voracious reader, a parent, a blogger, an author and also an office worker. Chakra is her third book. Her other two books are: A Bowlful of Butterflies published

Faces of India - 133

Can you guess how he makes his living? He is a turmeric crusher. He had machines for other grains too, but since turmeric stains other ingredients this one was specifically meant for turmeric. I met him in Ilambazar, West Bengal.

Faces of India, a series through which I intend to portray the various
characters of my country whom I met during my travels. See more here.

Keyhole View of Rhine Valley, Switzerland

Okay, not exactly a keyhole view, but an upturned keyhole view.

These pictures are of Rhine valley, Switzerland. The weather was perfect that day. The bridge you see in the distance is the rail line connecting to this valley. You can see more pics at Rhine Falls.





Below is the flat scenic view of the valley. The scene is beautiful, but the top one is better , no?




Thursday Challenge:

Hat Tala temple, Ilambazar, West Bengal

From Surul we left for Ilambazar which too had some old terracotta temples. Having read about these crumbling temples the main motive was to capture them in bytes before time can complete its ruining effect on them. The distance is 15kms approx. Reaching Ilambazar was easy but the real task was finding out the hidden temples.

Ilambazar was once a very prosperous town dealing various

Faces of India - 132

Here I have the picture of taxi driver who drove us around in West Bengal, 700 kms approx in 12 days. The patience he had to take us through the congested lanes and by lanes of the various towns we visited, getting directions from locals, finding eateries; we are thankful to him for everything and for the safe journey we had there. The picture is straight from camera.

Faces of India, a

Sunset near Siuri, West Bengal

These shots were taken on our way back from Tarapith temple to Siuri, where we halted for night. Vast stretches of vacant land on either side of road and Sun was nearing its touchdown point, we paused to take a few pictures. Even when I was framing the scene I was not happy with the ‘not so exciting’ elements in it. This was taken in ‘landscape’ mode.





After taking few pics I decided to

Durga Pujo Pandal Hopping

Bangalore today has 53(approx) Durga Pujas held by various associations across the city. The usual practice of Bengalis is having bhog (community lunch) in one of the pandals (association) and go pandal hopping (often done in the company of friends or family).

Around a decade back I remember visiting 18 pandals in this city Bangalore. Today with the amount of traffic on roads it is difficult

Faces of India - 131

She is a school girl, in her 10th grade in a school in Sunderbans. Notice that her school uniform is “sari”. I asked her if she didn’t feel uncomfortable in attending school wrapped in that 5 yards of cloth called sari. She smiled and admitted that they did feel uncomfortable. I further asked her why doesn’t she tell the school authorities and ask for a change in uniform, to which she

Frames From Hampi

Hampi is a photographer’s delight! The rocky terrain, the river flowing by for sunsets and sun rises, the ruins of the temples; all are so photogenic that you are always impressed by your own photography. Barring a few functioning temples, the whole of Hampi is welcome to cameras!

Rains, cloudy dramatic clouds or skies devoid of clouds; don’t really matter, you just click! Golden hours like sun

The Guardian Angels - A Book Review

The book
Title: 'The Guardian Angels'
Author: Rohit Gore
ISBN: 9789381841280
Genre: Romance/Fiction
Publisher: Grapevine India
Price: INR 125