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The Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves , located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri, about 11 Km off the coast of the Gateway of India, Mumbai, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A visit to these caves, excavated probably in the 6 th century CE, is awe-inspiring, and also thought-provoking. Over the years, I have visited the caves a number of times, and also attended a number of talks by experts in the fields of art, history and archaeology on the caves. Together, they help me understand these caves, their art, and the people they were created for, just a little bit better. Every new visit, every new talk, every new article I read about the caves, fleshes out the image of what the island and the caves would have been like, at their peak. I last wrote about the caves on this blog, in 2011, almost exactly 11 years ago. Since then, my understanding of the caves has, I would like to think, marginally improved. Hence this attempt to write a new and updated post, trying to bring to life, the caves of Elephan
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Some Views from my Window

Samhith has been fascinated by animals ever since we bought him his first plastic animals. He loved them so much, we bought him more, and now, he has an amazing collection of animals. They are his favourite toys, and he can spend hours (when he really gets into the mood, of course!) making all kinds of things with his blocks and placing animals around them….. The first time we went on a safari, he was looking forward to seeing lions and tigers, but was happy with deer. From the second time onwards, he realised that deer were practically the only animals we saw in the wild, and started getting a bit upset, but thankfully, we were lucky to spot a few elephants and bison… Now he knows that wild animals are really rare, and he needs to have much more patience to see them.
At our recent trip to the Hermitage, he seemed surprised that we only saw birds, but it awakened him to the fact that there are so many kinds of birds around us!!!! After our flamingo watching trip, he looks forward to seeing birds everywhere, and as a result, every time he hears a  bird call out, wants me to take a picture……
So, this one is for him – here are some of the birds we have spotted from our house ----
Here is a kingfisher which appears on this tree right opposite our house, everyday, at the same time…. what a pity my camera just manages to capture the lovely colour, but misses all the details!!!!



Here are a pair of crested Bulbuls cosying up, again right opposite our window….




Now here’s a good one – we had heard a cuckoo for days, but hadn’t managed to spot it… Then, suddenly, a pair of crows scared it, and it flew to a tree right outside our balcony, and we got this wonderful pic… my first sight of the cuckoo!!!



Now here’s one on the same tree, but I don’t know its name… we just spotted the red and green, and first thought it was a parrot,but a closer look told us it was something else – maybe a green barbet??? Here are two pics of the same bird -





Since last year, these two black kites have made our colony their home, and their cries and fights with crows keep us engrossed……. Here are both of them together, a rare sight……




Here is one of them sitting on our terrace……




And here are more photos of these wonderful birds……..




These are all the photos I have managed to click till now…… Keep looking for more……..


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Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 22, 2009 at 2:40 PM

    ooh ! Anu!! How lovely!! I'm a bit envoius of you now!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMarch 23, 2009 at 10:33 AM

    Beautiful series. The first one is a white-breasted kingfisher and that green fella is a coppersmith barbet. The black one is an Asian Koel male.

    WOW you have a spectacular variety of birds right next to your window.

    ReplyDelete
  3. introspectionMarch 28, 2009 at 12:04 AM

    beautiful pictures Anu. I like your blog. Will be back to read more, if I may.
    Thanks for visiting my blog. I have also just received my book from Penguin. Will begin reading now. I love reading/writing alike.
    Look out for my review in a few days.
    Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. DaleApril 13, 2009 at 3:37 PM

    Hi Anu,

    I love the black kites,
    is it not a joy to have them calling? such a hauntingly beautiful sound.

    Dale
    http://alpinebirds.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anuradha ShankarApril 13, 2009 at 10:36 PM

    yes Dale, it took me quite some time to attach the sound to the bird, but once i learnt, have been hearing it all ady long... the minute we hear it, we rush to the window, lookingout for the bird

    ReplyDelete

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