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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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Water Birds at Gokarna

Driving through Gokarna in the monsoon, the last thing we expected to see were birds. Therefore, when, in the middle of nowhere, when Samhith excitedly shouted,  "Amma!! Flamingo!!" I didnt really believe him. I didn't believe my eyes either, when, a little way off, there was indeed a bird, which, from a distance, did look like a flamingo. We requested our auto driver to take us closer, without disturbing the birds, which, to our relief. he did, with a smile, here is what we saw....



Yes, it was indeed a flamingo!



And it wasnt alone. These ducks gave it company...


These are Lesser Whistling Ducks or Lesser Whistling Teals, which seem to be quite common birds, but nice to see nevertheless! Thanks Karthik for help with the identification. 


This little cormorant was busy drying itself.....



And a little farther, was this Lapwing...



Common birds they might be, but seeing them so unexpectedly, certainly perked us up!

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Location: Gokarna, Karnataka, India

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 5, 2013 at 9:21 AM

    Chancelesss!!!! superb Click YAr!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. vaidehiNovember 5, 2013 at 8:48 PM

    Superb images !!!
    www.vaidehivaidehi.blogspot.com.au

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sankara Subramanian CNovember 6, 2013 at 4:11 AM

    WOW! Flamingos in and around Gokarna is so rare. Either you were extremely lucky or bird migration patterns have started to change. Either ways, it was good you could see these birds. I am going to give it a try too and see what comes my way :-)

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    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 6, 2013 at 2:32 PM

      Thanks Sankara! we were indeed lucky, but am not really sure if it is a change in the migration pattern. there was just this one flamingo around, so it was probably lost or made the place its permanent home :D but it was nice to see it nevertheless. but do go and see if it is still there!

      Delete
  4. Paresh KaleNovember 6, 2013 at 7:14 PM

    First time seeing flamingos see around Gokarna, never knew ! TFS

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownNovember 7, 2013 at 10:09 AM

    the pictures are really great...
    the cormorant, is the best one, the moment captured is awesome...

    pulkit

    ReplyDelete
  6. MridulaNovember 9, 2013 at 5:16 PM

    The lapwing reflection looks so good!

    ReplyDelete
  7. kritikaJanuary 12, 2017 at 8:02 PM

    Hi, loved the photographs, would love read about kaikondranahalli lake birds.

    ReplyDelete

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