These are group of temples at Somnath situated on the banks of a Hiren river. This is a calm and serene place just 5 kms away from the Someshwar Mahadev Temple.
Gita Mandir is modern temple built by Birla family in 1970, which is dedicated to the Bhagwat Gita.
Inside the temple there are 18 pillars and each pillar symbolizing a chapter from the Gita.
The main deity of the temple is Lord Krishna.
Mainly Balram took Krishna here after Bhalka Tirth and his footprint is here at this place.
The Veerabhadra Temple in Lepakshi has been built on a low altitude hillock of a large exposure of granite rock. This 16th century temple built by Virupanna Nayaka and Viranna, both Governors under the Vijayanagar Empire.
The architecture of the temple is that of Vijaynagar Style of that period. The main temple is laid out in three parts: the assembly hall, ante chamber and the sanctum. The assembly hall is a large sized open hall with a large space in its central part.
On the pillars and walls there are carvings of saints, guardians, musicians, dancers and 14 avatars of Shiva. Every pillar is of different style and shape. The open space in the middle part of the hall has large columns which have carvings of triple figures.
The temple also has a hanging pillar which is a medieval architectural wonder to witness. Out of the seventy pillars, this one pillar does not rest on the ground completely but hangs in the air, with enough space between its base and the ground to pass a sheet of paper through it.
On every corner of the temple one can find either carvings or paintings.
Jakkur Lake in north Bangalore you can come across many colorful birds.
Here is glimpse some of the water birds of different species.
This is thirty-third in the series on the rich cultural heritage of temples in India. The ancient monuments of India are richly carved and they behold ones attention for their craftsmanship.
Beautiful craftsmanship on 10th century Varahi Temple at Chaurasi. One of the windows of the 14th century Rudbai Step-well at Adalaj which has been carved intricately on all corners with different motifs and animals.
The sanctum doorway of Harishchandra ni Chori at Shamalaji is adorned with bands comprising a creeper, lotus leaves and the vine. The two female figures at the base represent Ganga and Yamuna.
Kolkata located on the east bank of the Hooghly River is the commercial, cultural, and educational center of Eastern India. In the late 17th century, it was ruled by the Nawab of Bengal and later East India company took over the city.
The city is known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage. Notable people who architected modern Bengali literature are Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The Bengal Renaissance was spear headed by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, and others.
While the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. There are many buildings that depict Indo-Islamic and Indo-Saracenic heritage of the city.
The places of interest in the city are:
- Victoria Memorial
- Indian Museum
- National Library of India
- Dakshineswar Kali Temple
- Howrah Bridge
- Eden Gardens
- Kalighat Kali Temple
- Birla Mandir
- Vidyasagar Setu
- Howrah Railway Station
Hebbal Lake in north Bangalore has a small garden on its banks. There are various flowering trees as well as small flowering plants in the garden.
One can see different colorful butterflies hovering over the flowers here.
Cheena Vala in Fort Kochi are commonly known as "Chinese fishing nets". It is believed that these nets are set up between 13th and 14th century.
They are fixed land installations for fishing which are 10 m high structure and comprises a cantilever with an outstretched horizontal net spread of size 20 m or more suspended over the sea. Large stones of 30 cm suspended from ropes of different lengths as counterweights at the other end.
Each installation is operated by a team of up to five or seven fishermen. The net is left immersed for a short time within the water, before it is raised by pulling on ropes. The net will when comes out will have a few fishes in them.
All the installation are not operated at the same time. Each of the nets are independent based on the state of the water tide.
Buddhist Caves in Junagadh, close to the mosque inside the Uppekot Fort is fine example of Buddhist rock cut architecture of 2nd century A.D. These caves are on the eastward slope leading to the Adi-chadi Vav.
These caves are scooped out in three tiers from surface downwards, with all members of each gallery shown in semi-relief. There are three rock-hewn chambers, each open to the skies. The caves feature many monastic meditation cells.
Only two of the stories have regular floors. The main hall of the lowest storey is partly open to the skies and contains exquisitely carved pillars, whose base, shaft and the capital contains unique decorative designs.
The pillars, having spiral ridges on their shaft, octagonal plinth bases and floral ornamented capitals with animal figures etc, represent the main Satvahana art traditions on one hand, and in the exotic, Grecco-synthian trends on the other hand.
There are still some traces of beautiful carvings in the cave that is built across several floors.
While travelling on the highway from Bangalore to Mangalore one can see beautiful bird perched on the electric wires by the side of the road. One such colorful bird is Indian Roller.
It is a stocky bird. The breast is brownish where as the crown and vent are blue. The primaries are deep purplish blue with a tail that is sky blue with a terminal band of Prussian blue and the central feathers are dull green.
The neck and throat are purplish lilac with white streaks. The bare patch around the eye is ochre in color. They have a long and compressed bill with a curved upper edge and a hooked tip.
These birds can be seen perched along roadside trees and wires. They can also be seen in open grassland and scrub forest habitats.
Pherozshah Mehta Gardens in Mumbai built on top of huge reservoir is one of the beautiful garden in the city. The park was primarily dedicated to Pherozeshah Mehta, a prominent Parsi political leader, activist and lawyer.
The garden is popularly known as Hanging Garden. It has numerous hedges carved into the shapes of animals in very creative forms.
The garden has well maintained pathways for strolling. It has varieties of plants, flowers that are treat to the eyes.
From here one can capture a sunset view of the Arabian Sea.
While one climbs up the Indragiri Hill at Shravanbelgola there is a fort enclosure. From the structure it looks like this fort might have been built during the 18th century or it might have been renovated around this time.
The fort enclosure has a gate known as the ‘Bellibagilu’ meaning Silver Gate. In one of the literary works of 1780 A.D. the gate has been referred by this name.
