Pataleshwara Cave, Pune

Pataleshwara Cave Temple is located on Jungli Maharaj Road in Pune. This 8th century, Rashtrakuta period temple carved out of hard basalt rock with a circular Nandimandapa in front of it. Both these structures are at a lower ground lever when compered to the surrounding area. 

The cave temple devoid of sculptures very different from other famous caves in India. Never the less carved out from the hard rock temple which is well supported by several sturdy square pillars. A big brass bell in front of the main sanctum adds a contrast to the rocky temple. The dark cave has its own charm.

There are several sanctums in the temple for Rama, Laksman, Sita, Ganesh. But main diety of the temple is Shiva known as Pataleshwar. The Nandi under the umbrella shaped canopy is beautifully carved.

In the above mosaic we can see both main sanctum and beautifully carved Nandi.

Ashy Prinia at Hebbal Lake, Bangalore

Hebbal Lake in north Bangalore is favorite spot for various colorful birds. People have identified nearly 100 spices of birds here.

One among them is Ashy Prinia a small warbler. It is in small size about 13 cms long with distinctive colors. They have upright graduated cream tail tipped with black sub-terminal spots. 

This is a common bird in urban garden and farmland in many parts of India. 

Central Telegraph Office, Mumbai

The Central Telegraph Office in Mumbai is one of the oldest monuments in Mumbai. Located on the Veer Nariman Road, Marine Lines in the olden days it was General Post Office.

Built in 1869, this heritage structure was designed in medieval Italian style by James Trubshawe. 

The interesting features are wide bracketed eaves, the two towers with steeply pitched roofs, between which there is a portico like structure.

This place is close to other monuments Flora Fountain, High Court.

Buddhism in Orissa

Orissa located on the east coast of India is a mystical land where ancient heritage and modern today exist as one. A place known for awe inspiring monuments has thousands of temples, caves stupas. Even though Buddha not known to have visited this place, Buddhisn has been followed here right from the time of its inception. Scholars believe that today's Jajpur and its neighboring places are the sacred land of Mahayana sect of Buddhism. From 7th century to 15th century Buddhism flourished in this region. This is supported by the discovery of innumerable stupas, monasteries and antiquities of the period all over this place. 

It is well known that after the Kalinga war, Emperor Ashoka by seeing the tremendous loss of life embraced Buddhism. This ancient place Kalinga is part of Orissa. After Kalinga War, he constituted the fifth province of the Mauryan Empire with it’s capital at Toshali (now known as Dhauli).

There are many Buddhist sites in Orrisa of which most famous are Udaygiri, Lalitgiri and Ratangiri. Udayagiri is a Buddhist complex with major stupas and monasteries. Even today here new Stupas are discovered. Lalitgiri is known to have Buddhist University in those days. There are various interesting structures here. Even Lalitgiri has ancient Stupas and monasteries. 

Apart from these one can see Shanti Stupa and  Rock Edicts of Ashoka at Dahuli. The recent findings from excavations at Padmapur, Banpur, Kuruma, Jaugada  show spread of Orissa in the region. I have visited main sites here and will post more of them soon.

Mysore Zoo - Heyna

Mysore Zoo is the most popular zoo at Mysore in India. There are various wild animals and birds at the zoo. One among them is heyna.

Flagstaffs of Ellora

The 8th century,  Kailasha Temple at Ellora  has various interesting structures in the temple complex. The prominent structures in interior courtyard of the temple are Main shrine, Nandi Mantappa, pillars of flagstaff.

The pillars with flagstaff in the courtyard of the temple complex are two in number. They are on either side of the Nandi Mantappa.

The pillars look identical and they are beautifully carved with figures of people and flower motifs.

Navaneeta Krishna Temple, Dodda Malur.

The Navaneeta Krishna Temple which is part of Lord Aprameya Swamy Temple at Dodda Mallur is a very ancient temple and is known to be existing from 980 A.D.

This is on the North Western part of the main temple, where Lord Krishna is shown as a small kid. It is believed that Sage Vyasa did the Prathishta of this image. This is very unique temple where Lord Krishna is in crawling pose, holding his favorite butter in his right hand.

The tower of the temple is beautifully carved with various deities on it. The is a beautiful  sculpture of Krishna on a leaf. 

The temple is about 60 kms from Bangalore on the Bangalore - Mysore Highway. On the left side of the highway while driving from from Bangalore after Channapatna, there is a big arch leading to the temple.

Big Birds of Mysore Zoo - 3

Mysore Zoo is the most popular zoo at Mysore in India. There are various wild animals and birds at the zoo. One of the birds Painted stork is below:

Sunset by the Light House, Kapu

I had been to Kapu beach few months back when I was in Udupi. It is a small village on the Arabian sea shore.

I had taken few snaps of sunset there. This one here shows  the light house on the beach along with people enjoying the sunset.

Mumbai, Land of Dreams

Mumbai, the capital of  state of Maharashtra is one of the most prominent city in India. This is the city that attract thousands men and women arrive every day in search of their dreams. This is the city that never sleeps, where both poor and rich co-exist in harmony. This is truly 'Land of Dreams' that dazzles all the time and there is some place for all kinds of people. The city that is always on the run pulsates day and night that is fast-paced, trendy and rocks.
 

Mumbai is constituted by seven islands and these islands in the 3rd century BCE formed part of the Maurya Empire. Between the 2nd and 9th century the islands came under the control of various dynasties such as Satavahanas, Kalachuris, Konkan Mauryas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Silhara etc,. 

It became a strong base for the Indian independence movement during the early 20th century and it was known by name Bombay. The city was renamed Mumbai in 1996, the name being derived from the name of Goddess Mumbadevi. It has grown to become commercial and entertainment capital of India. It is home to the largest film industry in the world: Bollywood.

Some of the places of interest in the city are:

• Gateway of India
• Statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji
• Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (1, 2, 3)
• Maharashtra Police Headquarters
• Statue of Chatrapati Shivaji
• Taj Mahal Hotel
• Bombay High Court
• Chowpatty Beach
• Vatcha Agiary
• Juhu Beach (1)
• Sanjay Gandhi National Park
• Kamala Nehru Park
• Kanheri Caves
• David Sassoon Library
• Queen’s Necklace
• Sheth G.M Jain Hostel
• Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (Prince of Wales Museum)
• Muncipal Corporation Building
• Temples of Mumbai
• Jehangir Art Gallery
• Flora Fountain
• Kamala Nehru Park
• Oriental Building
• Nehru Centre
• Rajabai Tower
• Hanging Gardens (1, 2)
• Central Telegraph Office
• Elphinstone College Building

Other place of interest around the city are:

• Elephanta Caves
• Lonovala
• Pune
• Mahabaleshwar

Beetle Bug in Hebbal Park

Hebbal Lake in north Bangalore is favorite spot for photography enthusiasts and birds and various insects. On one of my visits to the park, I spotted beetle bug.

Here are some of the shots of the bug that I had attempted of taking while it is in action.

I followed it for some time to click all that I could. Finally it sat in one place for me to take a decent shot.

Bijapur Citadel

The city of Bijapur was ruled bu many dynasties like Chalukyas, Mughal, Bahamani rulers. The landscape is covered with great monuments of historical importance built during those dynasty.

During those periods it had a citadel of 6km stretch around the city. Within the citadel are the remains of both Hindu temples and old mosques. 

Poetry in Stone - 13

This is thirteenth in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India.  They are richly carved and they behold ones attention for their craftsmanship. Some of these temples have carvings of Goddess Lakshmi in various forms. Each of these sculptures are marvel stone in their own right.

In the Brihadeeshwara Temple at Gangaikondacholapuram on the exterior walls there is a magnificent larger than life sculpture of Lakshmi. On the Lotus flower in the sitting posture with 4 hands every minute details have been beautifully carved.

In the Kailasha Temple at Ellora, there is a beautiful sculpture of Lakshmi surrounded by elephants. Here she is known as Gajalakshmi.

There are many more such sculptures of the Goddess in the various temples decorating the exterior walls. Here we see some of those sculptures. First one is at Brihadeshwar Temple at Tanjore. The second one again the larger than life sculpture is at Kailasha Temple, Ellora. The third one is at Srirangapattana Temple where Laksmi is sitting at the feet of Vishnu. I shall feature more such sculptures as I discover them.