Skip to main content

Featured Post

Odisha Part 6: The Yogini Temple of Hirapur

I fell in love with this temple the first time I set eyes on it. Back in 2017 , I had been excited to see yet another Yogini temple, when I visited Puri. The resort I was staying at (and writing for), had arranged for a car and driver to take me around. The driver was happy to take me to most of the places I wanted to go, but when it came to Hirapur, he was appalled. He knew of the temple, but had never been there. It was a tantric temple, one not visited by women, and certainly not women travelling alone. He tried to convince me not to go, but my stubbornness and persistence paid off, and he reluctantly agreed when I told him that if he didn’t take me, I would find another driver who would. All along the way, he kept going on about the sinister things that happened at the temple, the tantric rituals that were performed at night…. An Odisha brahmin who took his religious duties very seriously, to the extent of stopping the car to perform the sandhyavandam when he deemed it time, he...
2 comments

Pictures of 7 Cat Species Found in 1 Forest - A Record

I stumbled across this as I was surfing through the net, aimlessly as always...... and then my eyes fell on this, and I was absolutely stunned!

This article from the National Geographic News tells us of a rare sighting of seven different species of cats - one of which was totally unknown there. But what was really surprising was the location - Assam! Yes,  in our very own country!!!! Hard to believe isn't it, considering the state of our forests?? Maybe everything is not yet lost....Let us salvage what we can while we still have it.

You can read the whole article here.


Meanwhile, I couldn't resist downloading the pics onto my blog..... All the photos belong to Kashmira Kakati, the wildlife biologist whose research led her to this wonderful sighting. Thanks to Kashmira and National Geographic for these wonderful pics..

Leopard

Leopard Cat

Clouded Leopard

Golden Cat

Jungle Cat

Tiger

Marbled Cat

Labels:

Comments

  1. A journey called LifeMarch 17, 2010 at 5:18 AM

    Hey Anu.. loved ur new organised look.. This made very interesting read.. thanks so much

    ReplyDelete
  2. SoulSpaceMarch 17, 2010 at 7:57 AM

    wow..thats awesome
    going by this i am hoping this Tiger no of 1114 is false and there are many more safely (and thankfully)hidden away in our forests
    and not the end of the world as predicted...
    eternal optimist!
    love the blue feel to yr blog..feels like I am at the beach...and thats my fav.spot!

    ReplyDelete
  3. sriMarch 17, 2010 at 8:50 AM

    you wont believe how happy and scared this news makes me. Happy that such things still exists intact, scared that it may be the last time we see them, even in pics. I really wish the forests are conserved for the wonderful bio diversity they have. And thanks a load for the pics!

    ReplyDelete
  4. chitraMarch 17, 2010 at 10:53 AM

    That is really good news Anu and thanks for sharing with us.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Julia DuttaMarch 17, 2010 at 11:02 AM

    Wow! That is something!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anuradha ShankarMarch 18, 2010 at 10:30 AM

    @AJCL: thanks a lot...knew this would interest a lot of people like us, which is why i put this up...

    @ssstoryteller: i hope so too...... thanks...... i just noticed the new template designer on blogger and tried it out.....

    @Sri: absolutely!!!! it is great news certainly, but we dont want more tourists rushing there trying to spot them and disturb their habitat!!!

    @CHitra : its really great news..

    @Julia: Absolutely!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. UshaMarch 18, 2010 at 11:25 AM

    Hey
    This is awesome stuff! I'm fwding the link to ur blog to a few of my friends!

    ReplyDelete
  8. SaravananMarch 29, 2010 at 9:02 PM

    It is quite exciting to see all 7 breeds of cats

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw...
10 comments
Read more

Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
9 comments
Read more

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport.  That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’...
2 comments
Read more