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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...
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The Resident Reptile

This one is a permanent resident of our colony, and can be relied on to appear every now and then, reminding us of his presence, especially as a warning to kids not to venture into the bushes! Capturing him on camera has never been easy, even though he comes out to bask in the sun,  because he seems to be more wary of the kids than they are of him, and he is the first to disappear when they mark their arrival with whoops and shouts.

I saw the chap this week as I left to collect Samhith from school, and he didn't seem to be bothered much by me, and continued to absorb the warm sun rays after a sudden spate of rainfall.


As I clicked on and on, happy that I had my camera with me for once, he turned to regard me, as if wondering what I was doing!


Incidentally, for those of you who are interested, this one is an Indian (or Oriental) Garden Lizard, also called a Changeable Lizard. It is NOT a chameleon, though it does change its colours, but much more slowly.

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Comments

  1. IndraniOctober 28, 2010 at 8:51 AM

    Great captures Anu, he seems to be knowing he is getting famous. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bindhu UnnyOctober 28, 2010 at 4:00 PM

    Nice shots, Anu. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. chitraOctober 28, 2010 at 8:21 PM

    Recently we were observing a chameleon and were surprised to see it was not changing colours. May be it is a slow process.
    This one looks like a mini iguana.

    ReplyDelete
  4. indicaspeciesOctober 28, 2010 at 8:50 PM

    Good to learn about this Garden Lizard. Thank you for this post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ArtiOctober 28, 2010 at 9:11 PM

    Nice clicks Anu... He too seems very curious!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anuradha ShankarOctober 28, 2010 at 10:24 PM

    @Indrani: Thanks... yes, he does seem to love the publicity!

    @Bindhu: Thanks.

    @Chitra: samhith was asking me the same thing sometime back, which is why I searched a bit on the net before simply labeling it as a chameleon! and yes, it does look like a mini iguana... i was trying to get samhith to understand about evolution that way...

    @Celine: thanks.. i learnt a lot too thanks to writing the post :)

    @Atri: thanks... he really seemed curious!

    ReplyDelete
  7. NatashaOctober 29, 2010 at 4:03 PM

    Awesome photographs, Anu. And I always thought that fellow was a chameleon- nice to know that he is not.

    ReplyDelete

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