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...
A flock of Grey Hornbills flew across, their calls echoing
over the surface of the calm lake. A pair of Cormorants perched on the
dried branch of a tree, stretching their wings, trying to dry them before the
sun set. On the lake, a bunch of spot billed ducks swam peacefully, quacking to
each other every now and then. On the other side of the lake, more birds –
egrets, herons, and cormorants, returned to their nests, calling out eagerly to
announce their arrival. Every now and then, a peacock screeched, its harshness
muffled by the thick foliage around. Sitting on a bench placed conveniently
near the lake, we simply sat and watched the birds, enjoying the peace here, in
this oasis of birdlife in the heart of a city.
Spread over 90 acres, Karanji
Lake in Mysore was once a haven for migratory birds. Rapid urbanization and
neglect led to it becoming a garbage dump. However, timely intervention managed
to save the lake, and turn it once more into a birdwatchers’ delight. A walk-in
aviary, a butterfly park, a bird watching tower, and lots of place to just sit
and relax, show just how effective this transformation has been.
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| Great Cormorants |
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| Spot Billed Duck |
Maybe it was just the summer
heat, or probably this lake is not really a tourist destination yet, but it was
practically deserted when we visited. There are no boards here, just a path
running around the periphery of the lake, surrounded with dense vegetation.
Wandering over the path, we found the aviary without any difficulty.
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| A portion of the walk in Aviary |
Like at the zoo, we were greeted
by dancing peacocks!
We wondered why the peacocks were
dancing in this searing heat, but got our answer when the skies clouded over
and brought us rains that very evening!
The peacocks seemed to be least
bothered by us, and continued to dance, or perch on trees. They were probably
used to cameras by now!
What an experience it was, to be so close to these birds, especially the peacocks...
Most of the birds here were
pheasants. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture all of them on camera,
mostly because I had to keep an eye on Samhith, who was completely excited by
all the birds around him. Here are those I did manage….
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| White Peacock |
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| Lady Amherst's Pheasant |
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| I am not quite sure about what this is... all puffed up as it was, I couldn't help clicking, and it looks more like a jungle fowl than a pheasant |
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| Golden Pheasant? |
There aren't just pheasants though... We saw other birds too... such as this Grey Hornbill...
and these white doves...
And Swans....
Tearing ourselves from the
aviary, we walked along the path, hoping to walk all the way to the butterfly
garden. On the way, we stopped at the tower built for birdwatching, and were enthralled
at the sight of ducks, herons and cormorants.
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| Great Cormorant |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron, with Purple Morrhen in the background |
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| Another Grey Heron |
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| I wonder if this is also a Grey heron? |
Unfortunately, that was when my
camera gave up and the battery died, probably exhausted from all the clicking.
This made Samhith very happy, since he always complains I pay more attention to
the camera than to him!
We did think of going to the
butterfly garden, but were so happy watching the birds, that we elected not to.
Instead, we simply sat on a bench, and watched the birds, for the next hour or so, before finally heading back home.
After all, we should keep something in Mysore for our next visit, right? Incidentally, there is also a Natural History Museum nearby. We didn't have time to visit that either, but if you are in Mysore, give it a try too.
Nice avian shots!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Niranjan!
DeleteThough I'm not a good fan of birds, I read the full. Well written and good clicks. Carry on!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mahmud!
DeleteNice shots, Anu. Love the dancing peacocks :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Bindhu!
DeleteI loved Karanji Lake, too. It has become one of our favourite haunts in Mysore now. Absolutely loved your peacock clicks! They are gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sangeeta. Welcome to my blog!
DeleteA visual treat!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mridula. you will love this place too. if u are ever in mysore, dont miss it
DeleteWhat beautiful pictures Anu! And to think I spent an entire day in Mysore without knowing about all these places. We just saw both the palaces and Brindavan Gardens. That took us the entire day. There are so many places one wishes to go back to :(
ReplyDeleteThanks Usha. I think you would have enjoyed this place more than either of the palaces and def Brindavan gardens. btw, i didnt go to brindavan gardens at all :) but very few people actually seem to know about this. i read about it in a mag just before i left, so made it a point to visit, plus, shankar wasnt with us, and all the palaces closed at 5:30 so we had to find some way to spend the evenings, and the lakes were just perfect/ anyways, i am sure there will be a next time, so u can go sometime
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