Skip to main content

Featured Post

2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

A tea plantation walk in Dharamsala - a Photo Post for Skywatch Friday

This weekend promises to be a hectic one for me, and I am sure you have plans too. Therefore, instead of something for you to read, I have a photo post for you... These were clicked when we went for a walk in a Tea Estate in Dharamsala. The sight of greenery against the backdrop of the mountains, birds, butterflies and flowers never fails to inspire me, and I hope they will inspire you too! 

It was supposed to be a Tea Plantation walk, but the first thing we saw were roses!!! lots of them! 


And here is the Tea Plantation.


The play of light and shadows early in the morning is always a beautiful sight!

The tea plantations merge with the natural groves, and create a fascinating sight against the backdrop of the Dhauladhar Ranges


A Male Asian Paradise Flycatcher poses for us, pausing in its play with another male. 


This is a sight I can never have enough of.. and we were the only ones here, so we had it all to ourselves!

A pair of female Plum Headed Parakeets

A pair of Grey Hornbills were hard to spot, so well camouflaged were they,
but once we did, they kept us entertained for quite a while. 

These were just a pair of many hornbills around, but these were the only ones I managed to capture with any clarity

The tea plantation gave way to a wheat field and the golden sheaves were a pretty sight 



Among all the sheaves of wheat were these pretty butterflies, flying everywhere




And there were lots of flowers!


And of course, more birds, like this barn swallow

Our walk brought us to a river, a mountain stream, flowing from the snow clad Dhauladhars


and the clear, cold water glimmered in the morning light

a Black Drongo watched as we wound our way homewards, tired but exhilarated after our morning jaunt!

I hope the photos have been inspiring enough to have you smiling. If you need any more inspiration, head over to the Skywatch Page for more inspiring images from across the world! Have a great weekend, everyone!

This post is part of my series on my #summertrip 2015, and I hope to take you along with me as I recount stories from my month long trip, which took me across the country. To get an idea of all the places I visited, and what you can hope to read about, click here.  

Related Posts:
  • The Himachal Series- 

Comments

  1. I love the birds and butterflies you've captured!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjoyed my walk around the tea plantation with you. Thank you! :)
    I love all the shots with the mountain range in the background, also the stones in the stream and the lovely one of the butterfly on the white thistle are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. nice. Looks like you did a lot of exploration in Dharmashala..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Shrinidhi! we did manage to get around a bit... and since we skipped the temples, we had lots of time to explore other places...

      Delete
  4. Nice Captured of the natural wonder i like it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So beautiful. One usually does not associate Himachal with tea estates

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, The Untourists.. thats true. we dont usually associate Himachal with tea estates, which s why this was a real surprise for us too.

      Delete
  6. Beautiful clicks! That blue flycatcher is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds like a good mountain day :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anuradha, thanks for visiting our tea estates. Dharmsala Tea Company (www.dharmsala.com) owns the tea estates that you visited - Hoodle Tea Estate, Towa Tea Estate and Mann Tea Estate. Thanks for the lovely photos you've taken - and we're glad that you enjoyed bird watching as much as we do! Kangra is really well known for its bird watching - and also for its teas:) We look forward to hosting you again - you can come visit our tea factory as well. For more details about us, you can visit our website, www.dharmsala.com.

    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

Rama Temple, Gokarna

To my right , the waves rush to the shore, eager to merge with the sand. To my left, the same waves crash against the rocks, their spray diverting my reverie as I ponder over the beauty of nature, and wonder what first brought people here. Was it this beauty that encouraged them to build a temple here, or was it the fresh, sweet spring water flowing from the hill here that made this place special? No matter what the reason, I am glad my auto driver brought me here. We are at the Rama temple in Gokarna, just a few minutes away from the Mahabaleshwara Temple, yet offering so different a perspective.

Pandharpur Yatra 2023

The first time I visited Pandharpur was back in 2007 . The names Vitthal and Pandharpur, were just names to me. I had heard of them, but that was about it. Seeing the lord standing on the brick, hands on his hips, was memorable, but more memorable was the sight that greeted us as we walked out of the main sanctum of the temple. In the mandap just outside were a group of devotees singing abhangs , and dancing. This was the first time I had heard abhangs , and even almost 15 years later, I can remember the welling of feeling within me, listening to the songs, and how fascinated I was by the sight of the devotees dancing, lost in their love of the Lord. Over the years, as I have read more about Vitthal, and participated in Ashadi Ekadashi programmes at Puttaparthi, that first experience has stayed clear in my mind and heart. Every time I tell my Balvikas students of the saints who sang of Vitthala, it is that experience that I re-live. I visited Pandharpur again, in 2010, but that experie