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Temples of Kashi - The Kardameshwar temple

The absence of ancient Hindu structures in Kashi is something I have always lamented about. The shrines are certainly ancient, and that is something that has always attracted me to the city. However, I miss the beauty of the ancient structures that we see at other sites. This feeling is intensified when I see marble and concrete and tiles in temples that once would have been beautifully adorned with evocative sculptures, and worn by the passage of time, touched by the hands of seekers who came before. This time , this desire to see some remnants of an ancient Hindu structure in Kashi came true when I managed to visit the Kardameshwar Temple. The Kardameshwar temple is not one of the main temples in the city. It is part of the temples on the Pancha Kroshi yatra, a pilgrimage which takes one on a circumambulatory tour of the whole city. The temple is located on the outskirts of the city, on the western bank of a tank called the Kardama Kund. The Kardameshwar temple is one of the...

Faces in the Crowd : Children at Patalpani

We noticed these children playing near the temple of Tantya Bhil at Patalpani... It was a holiday, so they were home. They were kids of the local guard who lived behind the temple, and maintained it. They were too shy to speak, but thrilled when I clicked their photo. And, as I have often noticed, with kids and adults alike, even more thrilled to see their photo on my camera screen.  Read the full story of my Patalpani trip here . 

Encounters with Wildlife on our Ujjain-Omkareshwar-Indore Trip

Travelling in an area which has some interesting wildlife sanctuaries, it was one of my greatest regrets that we couldn’t visit a single one on this trip, since it was primarily a pilgrimage to the two Jyotirlingams. However, we are now constantly on the lookout for birds, and make all efforts to photograph as many as possible. The only wild animals we saw on this trip were monkeys and snakes. While we weren’t able to capture the snake on camera, the monkeys posed obligingly, especially at the Sandipani Ashram, Ujjain . The Sandipani ashram would be an interesting place to visit; for we found some peacock feathers lying near a bush by the path (what was really surprising was that no one had picked them!!). Samhith was all excited, but unfortunately, the peacocks did not make an appearance. Just outside the ashram, though, we chanced upon a flock of birds which we couldn’t identify. The only one among them that I could capture on my camera was the little green bee eater (t...

Indore - The city of the Holkars

Indore is the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, known for its textile industry. For us, it was simply the station nearest to Omkareshwar, from where we could board our train to Bombay . Considering its importance as an industrial city, we expected to find accommodation easily, and it was a great surprise to us that MP tourism did not have a single hotel here! The only hotels available via online or phone booking seemed terribly expensive (about 2500- 3000 per room), so we decided not to pre-book a room, but land there and search for one within our budget. Like most places in India, an auto wallah took us to various hotels until we found Hotel Mayur, which was conveniently located ( 5 minutes drive from the station), clean, and well within our budget (Rs. 650/- for a family room, air-cooled, with 4 beds!).  Though there was no restaurant, they had a kitchen from where we could order food for room service. The food was great, though a little spicy by our standards. I had a ...