Sri Vidya Shnakara Swamy Temple, Durgadhalli

The small village of Durgadhalli close to famous tourist destination Devrayan Durga has an old temple.

It is believed that Sri Vidya Shnakara Swamy had visited this place and stayed there. The temple here is almost 900 years. 

The deity in this temple is Lord Shiva. This temple has been recently renovated. 

There is a beautiful flowering tree near the temple.

Images of India - 51

A glimpse of heritage monument of India in black and white. Other posts will give you more details about this monument.

Meharangarh Fort and palace at Jodhpur

Poetry in Stone - 18

This is eighteenth in the series on the rich cultural heritage of temples in India. The ancient temples are richly carved and they behold ones attention for their craftsmanship. Most of these temples have carvings of Lord Ganesh in various forms. Each of these sculptures are marvel stone in their own right.

Here is the huge sculpture of Lord Ganesh within the complex of the 12th century Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebid in Karnataka. The crown is a true masterpiece.

Above carving is on the pillar inside the 8th century  Hazar Ram Temple of World Heritage Site Hampi in Karnataka. 

First one is on the external walls of Airavateswarar Temple at Darasuram. Second one is 12th century sculpture of Lord Ganesha at ASI Museum, Shimoga. Third one is at the Brihadeeshwarar Temple at Gangaikondacholapuram.

There are many more such beautiful carvings, we will explore some other time.

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Birds in Neighbourhood - 15

I get to see variety of birds around my parents house in Udupi. I have captured few of them in my camera and one such beautiful bird is Indian Golden Oriole. 

They are similar to the Eurasian Golden Oriole but has more yellow in the tail and has a paler shade of red in the iris and bill. 

The male has the black eye stripe extending behind the eye, a large carpal patch on the wing and wide yellow tips to the secondaries. The streaks on the underside of females is more sharp. 

Their inhabit in a range of habitats including open deciduous forests, semi-evergreen forests, woodland, forest edge, mangroves, open country with scattered trees, parks, gardens orchards and plantations.

Chhatrapati Shivaji

Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri, near the city of Junnar in Pune district on 19 February 1630. As per legend, his mother Jijabai named him Shivaji in honor of the goddess Shivai, to whom she had prayed for a healthy child. His father Shahaji Bhosale was Maratha general who served the Deccan Sultanates.

Shivaji Maharajah was a brave and fearless military leader as well as a responsible administrator. Shivaji along with his friends took a blood oath to fight against the Mughal empire. And young age of 17 he carried out his first military action by attacking and capturing Torna Fort of the Bijapur kingdom. Through out his life he waged many wars against the Mughals, Sultans and annexed several forts and established Maratha Empire. 

Not only brave, he was known for his good will towards his subjects. He encouraged all socio-economic groups to participate in the ongoing political/military struggle. He brought revolutionary changes in military, fort architecture, society and politics. Even today one can get to see several of his hill forts and most of them can only reached by trekking. 

This statue of the Shivaji Maharajah is near Gateway of India in Mumbai.

Images of India - 50

A glimpse of heritage monument of India in black and white. Other posts will give you more details about this monument.

Vishwanath Temple at Khajuraho 

Lalbagh Flower Show Jan 2014, Bangalore

Every year in the month of January and August, the Lalbagh Gardens at Bangalore hosts Flower Show. If in Bangalore around this time one should not miss the event.

In the month of January, it is usually organized for 10 days from January 17th to 26th. The theme for this year is to show respect to all the martyrs and freedom fighters of our country. 

One of the prime attraction among others is majestic floral tower.

The colorful bunny was very cute with her cart of fruits and vegetables. On display were around 100 varieties of  Orchids, Pansea and among others. Cute floral replicas of veggies and fruits are on display in the Glass House of Lal Bagh. 

Every day thousands people enjoy the beauty of these flowers on display. It is mostly crowded in the evening on the weekdays. Best time to be in this place is the early afternoon. I had been here on the weekend afternoon. Even though it was crowded I had enough space to take some snaps.

Cormorant, Chilka Lake

Chilka Lake which is around 55 kms from Puri is home for many birds. On my visit to this place in the off season I spotted few birds. One of them is Cormorant.

They were right in the middle of lake sitting on few wooden poles.

I guess they were targeting some of the fishes that they could catch for the meal. 

Lalbagh Flower Show - Red Rose

At flower show in Lalbagh Gardens at Bangalore on January 2011 there were exclusive collection of Roses on display. The colors were amazing. Below is one of the roses on display:

Happy Valentines Day

Kappe Channigraya Temple, Belur

In Belur, the Kappe Channigraya Temple is one of the beautiful temples in the Chennakesava Temple complex. This temple smaller than the Chennakesava Temple architecturally significant, though it lacks any sculptural features on the external walls. The construction of the temple was initiated by Shantaladevi, queen of famous King Vishnuvardhan in 1117 AD.

It is a dual structure temple with the later addition of a shrine to its original plan. The original shrine has a star-shaped plan while the additional shrine is a simple square. The temple built on an elevated platform has perforated side walls. The image inside the temple is Lord Keshva.

The doorway is beautifully executed with a figure of Lakshminarayana flanked by makaras on the lintel. 

Inside the temple there are exquisite sculptures of Lakshminarayana, Ganesha, Saraswati and Mahishamardini. 

Images of India - 49

A glimpse of  of India in black and white. Snake sculptures around the Srimad Anantheshwar Temple in Manjeshwar.

Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves is on a small island Elephanta just 11 km north-east of the Apollo Bandar,  Mumbai. This is a small round island which is 7 km in circumference. The island is named after a colossal elephant found in the island, which is popularly known as ‘Gharapuri’.

After reaching the island one can either walk by a narrow road or  go by a narrow-gauge toy train from the boat area to the base of the steps leading up to the caves.  As the caves are located on the top of a hillock one has to climb up a flight of 600 steps to reach the caves. The island consists of two groups of caves: the first is a large group of five Hindu caves, the second, a smaller group of two Buddhist caves. The caves we visited here are:

• Great Cave
• Cave No. 4

These caves hewn from solid basalt rock have been dated to between the 5th and 8th centuries. The Hindu caves contain rock cut stone sculptures, representing the Shaiva Hindu sect, dedicated to the god Shiva. The sculptures here not only huge, but also magnificent and beautiful. These caves have been declared a World Heritage Site. 

The place is open from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. To reach this place one has to travel by ferry or boat from the Gateway of India in the Mumbai. The journey takes 1 hour to reach the island by sea. 

Red-whiskered Bulbul 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 such beautiful bird is Red-whiskered Bulbul.  

This bird is about 20 centimeters in length with brown upper-parts and whitish underparts. It has a tall pointed black crest, red face patch. The tail is long and brown with white terminal feather tips, but the vent area is red.

ASI Museum Sculptures - 1, Shimoga

In Shimoga (State: Karnataka) in the fort area is the 16th century Shivappa Nayak Palace of Keladi Dynasty. Today, this palace also serves as a museum for Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). 

There are lot of sculptures in the museum garden on display which were excavated from many parts of the country.

Above is the idol of Lord Krishna  belonging to 16th century A.D. At the bottom of the idol one can also see beautiful carving of Garuda. 

Above is the idol of Vrabhadra belonging to 16th century A.D. Every detail is carved beautifully.

Images of India - 48

A glimpse of  of India in black and white. A loaded truck on the highway.

Shanti Stupa, Dhauli

Dhauli located on the banks of the river Daya, just 8 km from Bhubaneswar is a hill with vast open space adjoining it. On the top of the hill is the magnificent white peace pagoda, the Shanthi Stupa.

It was built by the Japan Buddha Sangha and the Kalinga Nippon Buddha Sangha in the 1970 - 1972. 

The overall structure of the stupa is in the shape of a dome. Here, one finds the edict of Lord Budddha which is visited by numerous Buddhist devotees. 

One can spot the Buddha footprints as well as the Bodhi tree over the stone panels. Over the panels, one also spots the image of Ashoka who keeps his sword of war in front of Lord Buddha suggesting that he had given up the idea of war completely. 

Birds of Hebbal Lake - 6, Bangalore

Hebbal Lake in north Bangalore is favorite spot for joggers, photography enthusiasts and birds. Here are some shots of the birds around the lake.