Mysore Zoo - Blue-and-gold Macaw

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 Blue-and-gold Macaw.

It is a large South American parrot with blue top parts and yellow under parts. These birds grow 76 to 86 cm. They have blue wings and tail, dark blue chin, golden under parts, and a green forehead. Beaks are black on the white face. It inhabits forests and woodland of tropical South America.

Images of India - 89

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

River front in Aluva

Monastery No. 4, Lalitgiri

Lalitgiri Buddhist complex has various structures of religious and architectural importance that have been excavated by the A.S.I.  There are various monasteries here and Monastery No. 4. measures 30 sq.m. and is facing toward west and oriented north-south.

On the basis of architectural ground and excavated material this monastery came into existence between 8th and 12th century A.D during the period of Bhaumakara and Somavamsi dynasties. It is a large monastic complex square in plan with ten cells, of which five are on each wing and a central courtyard a shrine chamber at the rear wall. 

The monastery has an open courtyard with chambers in all side fronted by a veranda and a sanctum in the rear wall. It is plain, except the pedestal of Buddha, which is represented with triratha symbol, lotus medallion, lion and scroll work. 

For courtyard and doorjambs the material used is Khandolite stone where as bricks are used for other structures. 

Thousand Pillar Basadi, Moodbidri

Thousand Pillar Basadi in Moodbidri is one of the most important Jain Temple in the area. The local Chieftain Devaraya Wodeyar initiated the construction of the this beautiful temple in 1430. 

The construction of the temple completed in 31 years and it was built in phases. In the first phase sanctum was built with eight foot idol of Chandranath. As a result this temple is also known as the Chandranath Basadi. In the second phase magnificent prayer hall was built with its innumerable pillars.

Every pillar in this basadi is very unique and showcases the architectural excellence and grandeur. 

The big and small pillars all together they are thousand and hence the name. Every pillar has unique figures carved on them. 

In the last phase of construction was the erection of 60 foot monolith pillar, commissioned by Queen Nagala Devi. 

Sparrow Tree at Ooty

When in Ooty, we noticed a tree with bare branches. On hearing lot of chirping sound, we approached the tree curious to know what it is.

The tree was decorated by the little sparrows. 

Images of India - 88

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

Chand Minar in Devgiri Fort at Daulatabad

Shravanabelagola

Shravanabelagola at a distance of 150 km from Bangalore is a prominent center for Jain art, architecture, religion and culture. About two thousand years ago, the Jain Acharya Bhagawan Bhadrabahu came here with his disciples. This town has got some historical references, which add to the importance of this place. 

The town is located at an altitude of about 3350 feet above sea level. The town is wedged between two rocky hills: Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri. There are monuments of rare excellence and skill developed by Gangas and Hoysalas in these two sacred hills.

There is a tank in the midst of this town called "Belagola" meaning White Pond. The place is well-known for its scenic beauty as well as for its religious sanctity. More than 800 inscriptions have been found at Shravanabelagola, dating to various times from 600 to 1830. 

Places of interest here are:

• Gommateshvara 
• Monuments of Chandragiri
• Monuments of Indragiri 

The town is well connected by road and rail network. It is just 13 km from Channarayapatna and 51 km from Hassan. 

Sarkhej Roza, Ahmedabad

Sarkhej Roza is the first place we visited in Ahmedabad on our Gujarat trip. In the 13th century this was a small village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. But today it is extension of the Ahmedabad city. In those days it got associated with the name of Sufi saint Sheikh Ahmed Khattu Ganj Baksh who was an adviser Sultan Ahmed Shah of Ahmedabad. 

Upon his death in 1445, then monarch Mohammed Shah ordered construction of Sarkhej Roza complex. It is one of the most elegant and unique architectural complexes of the city. It represents a 'Indo-Saracenic' architectural style that is a mix of Islamic influences  from Persia with indigenous Hindu and Jain features.

The interesting structures in the complex are:

• Tomb of Sheikh Ahmed Khattu Ganj Baksh
• Jamma Masjid,
• Tomb of Mehmud Begada
• Baradari
• Tomb of Ranj Rajabai
• Ahmed Sar Lake
• Royal Palaces (Kings Palace, Queens Palace)

Below is the pictorial representation of layout of the place.

Birds of Hebbal Lake - 12, Bangalore

Glimpses of birds at Hebbal Lake in north Bangalore.

Images of India - 87

A glimpse of ancient sculptures of India in black and white and they are on display in the museums for the benefit of interested people.

The Hero Stone with inscription at Archaeological Museum in Shimoga

Mansa Devi Temple, Haridwar

Mansa Devi Temple in Haridwar at the top of the Bilwa Hill on the Sivalik Hills is a must visit place for devotees. The temple also known as Bilwa Tirth is one of the Panch Tirth in this city. 

The temple is dedicated to Goddess Mansa, a form of Shakti and is said to have emerged from the mind of the Lord Shiva. Mansa is regarded as the sister of the Vasuki. 

One can reach this ancient temple either by trekking along the steps or using the rope-way service. Here in the background you can see this temple on the hillock.

On a normal day, the temple is open between 8 am and 5 pm, except for lunch closings of 12 pm to 2 pm.

Ramalingeshwara Temple, Avani

Ramlingeshwar Temple complex at Avani has several shrines and most prominent among them is Ramalingeshwara Temple. This temple is built by rulers of Nolamba dynasty in 10th Century A.D. 

This shrine on plan has a garbhagriha, an antarala and a navaranga. The pillars in the navaranga are of very ornate.

Shiv-linga is of dark stone and is smaller than that of in Lakshmanalingeshwara Linga. The temple is built with granite blocks and heavy lintels that are wedged together without lime mortar. 

The external walls of the temple have beautiful carvings. One of them is Devi, the eight armed Scorpion Goddess.

The four pillars outside the temple at the entrance are elegantly carved in all directions. Each of the carvings all around the pillar are unique and ornate.

Colony of Indian River Tern - 1, Chilka Lake

Chilka Lake which is around 55 kms from Puri is home for many birds. One of the birds we noticed here is Indian River Tern. 

Images of India - 86

A glimpse of sites of India in black and white. Other posts will give more details of the monument.

A view of Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Tower 

Mandwa

Mandwa is a small fort town in town in Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. It is situated 190 km from Jaipur. This place is well connected with the other places by good network of roads. We reached this place by road from Delhi Airport. As we landed in Delhi in the afternoon instead of in the morning, we reached our destination only in the night.

This 18th century place is well known for its fort and havelis. And we stayed one of the havelis which is converted into a hotel. We could not see much here because of our late arrival here. We straight away had our dinner on the terrace as it was already late. 

The sites we visited here are:

• Castle Mandwa
• Mandwa Haveli

Poetry in Stone - 24

This is twenty-fourth  in the series on the rich cultural heritage of temples in India. The ancient temples of India are richly carved and they behold ones attention for their craftsmanship. 

In the Chennakesava Temple of Belur there are several pierced stone screens  created in 1175 A.D. through which sun light enters the temple. They have been pierced by squarish holes at intervals and interspaces are carved with ornamental designs and figure sculptures.

One such interesting sculpture is on the middle panel of first screen to the south of east doorway depicting a seated King Vishnuvardhana in durbar with long hair, trimmed bearsd, twirled moustaches and royal dress and ornamentation. 

To his left is seated is the Queen Santaladevi with her hair tied up in butterfly knot in addition to usual dress and ornamentation and heavily tasseled waist belt.  

Here is a beautiful sculpture of entwined snakes along with other beautiful sculptures on the external walls of Sun Temple at Konark.

In the above the first two one below the other are sculptures of Lord on the walls  underneath the Natataraja Temple at Chidambaram.  In the next set the top one is on the walls of Vishwanatha Temple at Khajuraho. The remaining two beautiful sculptures are from Kandariya Mahadev Temple at Khajuraho. There are many more such beautiful carvings, we will explore some other time.

Birds in Neighbourhood - 19

I am the few of the fortunate who occasionally get to see few birds of different variety around my house in Bangalore. I have captured few of them in my camera and here they are. One such beautiful bird is Rose-ringed Parakeet.  

It is a one of the unique spices of bird that have successfully withstood the onslaught of urbanization and deforestation.

The average size of the bird is 40 cm in length. The bird is green in color and adult birds sports a red neck-ring. This is a noisy bird with an unmistakable squawking. It is herbivorous and non-migrating.