Barabati Fort, Cuttack

Barabati Fort at Cuttack is a 14th-century fort built by the Ganga dynasty. This medieval fort is about 8 km away from the center of the city.

King Anangabhima Dev III built the fort of Barabati in 1229 AD. The ruins of the fort remain with its moat, gate, and the earthen mound of the nine-storied palace. Archaeological surveys reveal that the Fort was roughly rectangular in structure having an area of over 102 acres, and it was surrounded on all sides by a wall of laterite and sandstones. 

Inside the fort one can also see Gadi Chand Temple and we will explore it next.

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A glimpse of  India in black and white. I had taken this snap long time when driving on my way to office.

A old building on MG Road, Bangalore

Cave No. 23, Ajanta

The Cave No. 23 at Ajanta is an unfinished monastery built sometime between 5th century and 6th century A.D.

It consists of pillared verandah having a cell at each end, an hall with 4 cells at both the ends of side wall and back wall contain antechamber with side cells.

The cave is known for the rich decoration of pillars and the naga doorkeepers. The pillars of verandah are all intact and display  fine workmanship in ornamental details. 

The naga doorkeepers of the door-jambs, each with a foot resting on an elevated platform, are noteworthy. 

Birds of Hebbal Lake - 9, 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.

Katak Chandi Temple, Cuttack

Katak Chandi Temple at Cuttack is most famous religious establishment of city. This is an ancient temple dedicated to the Goddess Chandi, the presiding deity of the city.

The temple is small with an impressive idol of the Goddess that is older than the temple. It is a very colorful temple. It is famous for the annual Durga Puja and Kali Puja festivals. It is just 7kms from railway station.

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

My kids in front of a sculpture at Kailasanath Temple at Kanchipuram

Mallikarjuna Temple, Basaralu

Basaralu is a small village in the Mandya district of Karnataka 75kms from Mysore and 130kms from Bangalore. This village is known primary for the ornate Mallikarjuna Temple. This temple dedicated to Lord Shiva was built in the 13th Century by Harihara Dannayaka, who was in charge of the armies under the Hoysala King Narasimha II. 

The temple is a fine specimen of Hoysala architecture and it stands on a platform. The temple plan is that of a three shrined with only the one shrine having a tower. The three shrines are connected by a common hall. Since the lateral shrines have no tower over them, they do not appear like shrines at all from the outside. Rather, they are absorbed into the walls of hall. 

The tower and walls of the temple are highly decorative with intricate carvings of Gods, animals. The tower has a large domed roof over it and the kalasa on top of it. 

By the side of tower is the Hoysala emblem of the Hoysala warrior fighting a lion. The base of the temple has six layers of intricate pattikas starting with war elephants at the bottom, horse riders above it, the Hoysala emblem, scenes from episodes like the Mahabarata, Bhagavata and Ramayana, crocodiles and the last layer has swans. 

The exterior walls of the temple are carved beautifully. Some of the sculptures on the walls are Ganesha, Narsimha, Shanmuga. 

How to Reach: Traveling from Bangalore to Mysore at Mandya turn right to Nagmangala. It is around 25kms from Nagmangala.

Cone Shells at Bhitarkanika

Bhitarkanika National Park is home for many common as well as rare birds. But birds are not the only wild life here. While boating we came across many cone shells on the shore.

They are thick golden and black color cone shaped shell of varying stripes or speckled appearance. Cone Shells or Cone snails as they are sometimes called have teeth like small harpoons.

Daria Daulat, Srirangapatna

Daria Daulat at Srirangapatna was the summer palace of Tipu Sultan that was built in the year 1784 A.D.  The palace is square in plan, built on a raised stone plinth, with teak pillars running along the outer edge, enclosing a corridor. 

There are two recessed bays on the northern and southern sides overlooking two large hall, through canopied balconies. The living spaces on the two floors of the palace are accessible by four staircases.

All the walls and ceilings of the entire palace are painted. The paintings depict the victories of Hyder Ali and Tipu over the British, and the durbar scenes of Tipu's contemporaries like the Rani of Chitoor, the Raja of Tanjore, The Raja of Banaras, Unfortunately photography is not allowed inside the palace.

I could capture some beautiful paintings which were near the entrance to the palace. After the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799, this palace was occupied by Colonel Arthur Wellesley.

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

A sub-shrine in Brahmeshwar Temple complex at  Bhubaneshwar 

Ahmedabad, the City of Mills

Ahmedabad is an important city in the state of Gujarat. This city was built in an open and spacious plane to the East of Sabarmati. The city was enclosed inside a fort wall containing 12 Gates. Since then the city has been expanding in all direction by the addition of new areas on the sides of the river, with well laid out beautiful buildings, lakes and mosques. 

It was known by the name of "Karnavati" till 1411 as it was founded by King Karandev 1.   Thereafter it was taken over by Sultan Ahmed Shah and the city was renamed as Ahmedabad after him. The city was also known as "City of Mills or "the Manchester of India" due to its exquisite mill culture. But today it has been flooded with malls, multiplexes, premiere institutes and all forms of development.

It is one of the safest city in the World as per the recent surveys. The places of interest here are:

• Bhadra Fort
• Bhadrakali Temple
• Sidi Saiyyed Mosque
• Teen Darwaz
• Jamma Masjid
• Tomb of Ahmed Shah
• Sabarmati River-front
• Brick Minars
• Jhulta Minars
• Gandhi Ashram
• Rani Sipri Mosque
• Rani Sipri Tomb
• Rani Rupmati's Mosque 
• Hutheesing Jain Temple
• Sarkhej Roza
• Dada Hari Vav

The places of interest nearby are:

• Vadodara
• Adalaj
• Patan
• Shamlaji
• Modhera

Will cover these places in and around the city in more detail soon.

Great Eastern Egret Fishing at Chilka

Chilka Lake which is around 55 kms from Puri is home for many birds. We went boating in the lake for around 4 hours and could see few birds.

One such bird is Great Eastern Egret trying to fish in the fishing net. Here are few glimpses of the same.

Srirangapatna

Srirangapatna is a town of great cultural, religious and historic importance just 20 kms from the city of Mysore. As per the several inscriptions the history of the place dates back to 10th century when Hoysala Kings built the city. This place became the seat of the local Viceroys of the Vijaynagar empire during 15th century. 

In the 17th century it was taken over by Wodeyars and became their set of power and it was later taken over by Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan. The town takes its name from the celebrated Ranganathaswamy temple which dominates the town.

Other than the famous temple one can also see here Tippu's Summer Palace. Apart from the above, there are several sites of interest in this small town:

• Jumma Masjid
• Obelisk
• Dungeon
• Tippu's palce of Death
• Gumbaz

Nearby places of interest are:

• Ganjam
• Mysore
• Rangatititu Bird Sanctuary
• Sangam

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A glimpse of image of India in black and white. The nature in black and white.

Teeta Reservoir near Bangalore on the way to Tumkur 

Mysore Zoo - Sangai

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 Thamin or Brow-antlered Deer. 

This endangered species of deer is seen only in Southeast Asia. In India it is seen in the national parks of the Manipur state and it locally known as Sangai. 

This are medium size animals. The name Brow-antlered deer is because of their uniquely distinctive antlers, measuring 100–110 cm in length with extremely long brow tine. The two tines form a continuous curve at right angles to the closely set pedicels. The antlers of the opposite sides are unsymmetrical with respect to each other. 

Their coats, rough and coarse and color varies as per season: summer - reddish-brown, winter - dark brown. The tail is short in length. They feed on a variety of water living plants, grasses, herbaceous plants, and shoots.

Ooty Rose Garden - Pink Rose - 1

There are many roses of different colors and sizes at the Government Rose Garden at Ooty. 

They differ from each other with very minute differences. One of them is in pink color here.

Sun Temple, Ranakpur

Ranakpur is widely known for its marble Jain temple, and for a much older Sun Temple which lies 300 meters away from the Jain Temple.

It was built around the 13th century and renovated in the 15th century. Built of white lime stone in the classic Nagara style, the temple shows a profusion of intricate sculptural work.

It consists of a sanctum crowned with Shikhara and an octagonal mandapam which has six verandas. Exterior of the sanctum contains the sculptures of Sun God seated on a chariot.

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

Facade of Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus at Mumbai