Skip to main content

Featured Post

Temples of Kashi - The Kardameshwar temple

The absence of ancient Hindu structures in Kashi is something I have always lamented about. The shrines are certainly ancient, and that is something that has always attracted me to the city. However, I miss the beauty of the ancient structures that we see at other sites. This feeling is intensified when I see marble and concrete and tiles in temples that once would have been beautifully adorned with evocative sculptures, and worn by the passage of time, touched by the hands of seekers who came before. This time , this desire to see some remnants of an ancient Hindu structure in Kashi came true when I managed to visit the Kardameshwar Temple. The Kardameshwar temple is not one of the main temples in the city. It is part of the temples on the Pancha Kroshi yatra, a pilgrimage which takes one on a circumambulatory tour of the whole city. The temple is located on the outskirts of the city, on the western bank of a tank called the Kardama Kund. The Kardameshwar temple is one of the...
Post a Comment

More from my garden.....


The rains are here, but it still doesn't seem the same. It rains, but in a desultory way, as if it's heart isn't in it. More of concern is the fact that there has been very little rain in the catchment areas, which means that we are looking at a major water problem. It has already been announced that the water cut is being taken further, so we shall get water just once in two days from now on!

On a personal note, Samhith is upset that the snails haven't appeared yet. We spend our few minutes waiting for his bus looking for snails and earthworms, but haven't seen one yet.

Meanwhile, as we wait for the snails and the creatures of the rain, here are the birds and other members of our extended family whom we have been noticing from our window -

Red-Vented bulbuls - there are plenty of them around, and they regularly come to eat the food we put out for the crows (a tradition which symbolises providing food for our ancestors). But I have never been able to take a photograph. I am trying for a better shot, though, and shall put it up when I manage it!








I wonder if this one is a water-hen or some other bird???


The poor Kingfisher is looking for food.... wonder if it found any....


A lone insect struggles to hold on to the swaying branch..


We have been noticing these birds for years.... but never managed to get a pic.... they are too fast for my clumsy shutter.... but perseverance finally paid off... and here are two of my pics.... the better ones... I took quite a few, but these were the best....
this one is the female....



and here is the male....


I think those are purple rumped sunbirds, but am not sure. Can someone confirm this??

And finally, here is a pic of a group of guys making the most of the rain... and the slush too..... football!!!!





Labels:
Location: Chedda Nagar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. MridulaJuly 1, 2009 at 8:43 PM

    I clicked a Bulbul to recently! And there is some rain here too now. Thanks for sending it across. :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. IndraniJuly 5, 2009 at 10:06 AM

    Clicking birds is a very tricky affair. You have got some good shots.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UshaJuly 20, 2009 at 7:05 PM

    I was told the last two are Asian Warblers by a birding guide at Panghot in Uttarakhand. He was working with a description, not a photograph or sighting. So, I am not sure but they are definitely not hummingbirds. Did I tell you about watching one suck nectar from a flower of one of my potted plants?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anuradha ShankarJuly 21, 2009 at 8:45 AM

    no usha, they arent warblers.... those look similar... come home sometime,and lets look at the book together... yes, and they do suck nectar...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bhavesh ChhatbarJuly 23, 2009 at 1:08 PM

    A wonderful set of photographs!

    Slow and Beautiful — Snail

    ReplyDelete
  6. AB ApanaJuly 30, 2009 at 11:50 AM

    Hi Anu,

    The last two are Purple-rumped Sunbirds. The first is the female and the second the male.

    You seem to have a very interesting garden with lots of photo ops.

    Apana

    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...
2 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