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Temples of Kashi - The Tilbhandeshwar Temple

The city of Kashi is filled with temples, big and small, old and new. There are temples at every corner, and you never know where you will stumble upon a small shrine. There are idols beneath what remains of trees (there are hardly any trees any more within the core area of the city), there are saffron covered forms resembling deities which seem attached to walls, an especially incongruous sight when the idol itself appears to be old, while the wall is evidently new…. And there are surprisingly large temples rising from what appear to be a bunch of houses. The city is sometimes colloquially said to be as old as time, and some of the shrines and temples are said to date back to times unknown, at least the deity itself, if not the structure. Not much remains of the ancient structures anyway. The city has seen more than its fair share of good and bad times. It has seen the heights of grandeur, and the lows brought about by destruction. The city that exists today has grown so haphaza...
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Indian Roller

The Indian Roller is a bird which is quite common all over India, especially Southern India. It is the State bird of Karnataka, and we saw it quite often on our visit to Hampi, Aihole, and Badami.





However, I never managed to get a decent photograph. On my recent trip to interior Maharashtra, we were surprised to see the Indian Roller all over the place. So often, in fact, that Samhith now prides himself on being able to identify it from a distance!!!



We spent much of our time in the bus looking out for birds, even though we couldnt always identify them... and every time we saw a Roller, it was nice to see Samhith excitedly pointing it out. I wonder what the other passengers thought of us!!!



I did manage to photograph the bird finally, when we were travelling by auto. And each time, the auto driver appeared surprised that I was stopping to take photos of birds!!!! The last one said, "Mumbai might be a big city and life there might be wonderful, but I guess you don't see birds there, do you?" How right he is! 


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Comments

  1. MridulaNovember 24, 2012 at 1:38 PM

    A perceptive auto driver and lovely pictures of the bird!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 24, 2012 at 8:08 PM

      Thanks Mridula! and such perceptive chaps are really rare

      Delete
  2. Rebecca SawNovember 24, 2012 at 4:14 PM

    Hi hi! I have sent you an email Hope you received it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. DietmutNovember 24, 2012 at 9:56 PM

    Indias roller, this is a very nice bird. A beautiful day for you. Greetings Dietmut

    ReplyDelete
  4. Airport Limo ServiceNovember 25, 2012 at 7:10 PM

    It's rare to find at our place. Nice to see the pic of this beautiful bird. Thanks for sharing. ~ Tariq Mehmood

    ReplyDelete
  5. R Niranjan DasNovember 26, 2012 at 3:04 PM

    Lovely clicks!!

    http://www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  6. SanandNovember 27, 2012 at 6:57 PM

    Superb clicks and useful info.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bindhu UnnyDecember 4, 2012 at 11:19 AM

    Nice shots! Didn't know it's the state bird of Karnataka. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Manu PonnappaDecember 4, 2012 at 3:31 PM

    Nice photos.. Thanks for sharing..:)

    manuponnappa.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
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