Skip to main content

Featured Post

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...
Post a Comment

Back after a long break

195 days. 

 That’s how long it is since I wrote my last post. In the 9 years that I have been blogging, I have taken breaks, but this is the longest I have ever been able to stay away. Usually, it is writers block which keeps me away, and the itch to write which brings me back. This time, however, has been different, which is also the reason it has taken me so long to get back.

The year so far has been interesting, and eventful. The first half of the year kept me busy, first with a trip to Delhi, Gwalior, Orchha and Khajuraho, then my course in Indian Aesthetics from Jnanapravaha Mumbai, and finally, a trip down South, to Chennai, Madurai and Trichy. Returning from my trips, I had assignments to complete, and lots of pending work at home. Now that my course is over, as are the travels, and my son is busy with school work once again, I finally have time on hand. And so, here I am, back to blogging!

While I think about what to write, and, more importantly, where to begin the stories of my travels, here is a collage of pics from my travels….. You can expect to see stories about all these, so how many do you recognize? 


Comments

  1. NatalieGJuly 5, 2016 at 9:52 AM

    Post that first story soon! ;) Looks like there is a lot to share on your blog.

    Will you share more details of the course you just finished, and what you had to do for it? Was a lot of the travel related to it? Sorry if it should be evident but I've never heard of an cultural Aesthetics course before. I know there are major and minor degrees you can pursue at the Liberal Arts colleges over here in the States that sound similar, if much more prolonged.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJuly 20, 2016 at 12:41 PM

      just starting with the posts, Natalie... and about the course, will send you a message...

      Delete
  2. விஸ்வநாத்July 5, 2016 at 1:29 PM

    Thank you & welcome back.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJuly 6, 2016 at 5:59 PM

    Wonderful posts! keep sharing and welcome back.

    Agencia de Viajes en Marruecos

    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...
2 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