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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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Birds from my Window - Hoopoe

One of the best things about birdwatching is the excitement we feel on spotting a new bird. Even better is spotting a new bird in our own backyard! We were decorating the road outside our building with rangolis to welcome a procession of a local deity, and Samhith, who was hanging around, giving his opinion of our artistic skills, suddenly called me... This is what we saw....





a Hoopoe!!!!! In all honesty, it is quite a commonly seen bird, one we have seen many times before, but this is the first time we saw one at home!!! literally in our backyard! How could we not be excited!!




For once, I didn't have my camera with me, and had to run upstairs to get it while Samhith stood by, ready to stop people from frightening the bird away. Thankfully, the bird stayed where it was, till I managed to bring my camera and get some decent shots! 




The gaps in the stone paving of the compound, which so many of us have often complained about, seem to be providing the hoopoe with food. The bird somehow seems old and tired... or is it just me? It also didn't appear to be as bright as it usually does. All you experienced birdwatchers, any reasons you can think of, to explain? 

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Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

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