Skip to main content

Featured Post

Odisha Part 5: Two less visited temples

My quest for ancient temples often takes me to hidden corners of the country, often less visited by regular tourists. More often than not, my drivers are completely unaware of these temples, and we often get lost looking for them, despite the ease that Google Maps has provided. On my recent visit to Odisha, I had only two such less visited temples on my list – the Varahi temple at Chaurasi, and the Gangeshwari temple. I had heard and read about the Varahi temple at Chaurasi , and was eager to go see her. The form of Varahi has always fascinated me, and this particular temple was said to have an exceptionally beautiful idol of the deity. Persuading my driver wasn’t an easy feat – he was reluctant (to say the least) about going in search of temples he had never heard of, but my persistence paid off. The Varahi Temple at Chaurasi The Varahi temple dates back to the 9 th century, and the architecture is unusual, as compared to the other temples of Odisha. The temple is closest in st...
Post a Comment

Bay Backed Shrike

I have seen this bird before, but had never been able to capture it on camera. On my recent visit to Nanded and around, we saw these birds in plenty. However, it was only when we were in an auto, visiting the temples around Shegaon, that I could stop and photograph it.





The Rufous Bay Backed Shrike is quite a common bird in India. Our auto driver was surprised that I was stopping to photograph it, but he seemed to be used to people with cameras who stopped every now and then to click something, and he happily indulged me!


Thanks so much, to Karthik for pointing out that this is a Bay Backed Shrike.. 
Labels:

Comments

  1. magiceyeDecember 1, 2012 at 11:06 AM

    Lovely captures!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. MridulaDecember 1, 2012 at 11:07 AM

    Lovely clicks Anu.

    ReplyDelete
  3. R Niranjan DasDecember 1, 2012 at 12:51 PM

    Nice clicks.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  4. ArtiDecember 1, 2012 at 7:29 PM

    Nicely shot! Thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. TeamgsquareDecember 3, 2012 at 8:34 AM

    Wonderful capture of this beautiful bird .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarDecember 6, 2012 at 2:09 PM

      Thanks Team GSquare. nice to see u here after such a long time!

      Delete
  6. UnknownDecember 3, 2012 at 1:30 PM

    Anu,

    This was lovely. Truly a great pic. I know what a challenge it is to shoot birds! Awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bindhu UnnyDecember 4, 2012 at 11:14 AM

    Nice one, Anu. Many times we spot birds but getting a nice photo is difficult. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarDecember 6, 2012 at 2:12 PM

      THanks Bindhu!!! and so nice to see u here after so long!

      Delete
  8. AnonymousDecember 14, 2012 at 5:47 PM

    Wow!! fantastic Photography and Description.

    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...
9 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