Well, just after the Summer solstice when on World Music Day, everybody was listening to the music of Yoga, we had chance to witness an excellent Bharatnatyam performance by Purva Dhanashree. Purva is known along with her accomplishments in Bharatnatyam, also for carrying forward the tradition of lesser known Vilasini Natyam from none other than the legendary Swapnasundari. Any dance has to do lot with the facial expressions. Along with body movement, its by there expressions that a dancer creates a perfect emotional contact with the viewers and takes them to a different world. Well, so here I have tried to capture some of the facial expressions from Purva Dhanashree during her performance last night (click the photos to see them in enlarged form and enjoy the real beauty of the exp...
Read MoreMonth: June 2016
On way to Kaza in the Spiti Valley, Nako, at an altitude of 3660 m is the highest village in the valley of Hangrang surrounded by barren and dusty landscape. Nako village is just 20 kms from Ka, once the zigs end. It is roughly four kms before Malling (Nullah) towards Kaza. Kaza is around 110 kms from Nako. Nako is almost a customary stop-over for all adventurists (read: bikers, riders, drivers, tourists) going to Kaza. How much time to spend here? This is upto each traveller because there are different time constraints for everybody coming here. Those who are on a mission to complete Shimla-Kaza in a day, might even give this a miss. Others with more time may stop here for couple of hours and that will also depend on there last stop over and time left for them to reach to Kaza. But...
Read MoreWe have always heard about Belgian glasses, somewhat in tune of- neighbour's envy, owner's pride! But once you are in Belgium, you realise the actual beauty of glasses in Belgium. Specially the stained glass windows of its churches. Most of them are actually piece of art. Few of them have been actually painted by top artists of their times. All of them have historical, architectural value. Actually until medieval times, churches had been the prominent patrons of the art. Many renowned painters did their all well-known works for the church. That's the reason churches in Europe still preserve many those artefacts and hence they are major source of attraction for tourists. Yasmine Hafiz from Huffington Post had once written, "When stepping into a holy place, our eyes seek the light. If we’...
Read MoreThis is the Memmelocke Statue at Botermarkt 17 in Ghent, Belgium. A classical sculpture on the top of a building which was once the entrance to the city prison and also the wardens house. This building is located between the Belfry and the Lakenhelle. In the crypt of the Lakenhelle the city jail was housed for almost 150 years from 1742 to 1902. This sculpture depicts a scene from a Roman legend that tells how a prisoner was condemned to death by starvation and thirst. The man was thrown into a dungeon by the Roman prefect in Ghent. Only his daughter was allowed to visit her. But she was not allowed to take any food or drink to her father. Daughter was an adult. The father remained alive still after six months. Apparently the daughter had just become a mother. In attempt to save her...
Read MoreIndonesia is a land of volcanos. Its has highest number of volcanos in any country in the world. Out of them more than 125 are active volcanos. Indonesia has suffered most due to volcanic eruptions than any other place in the world. But it seems volcanos are part of their lives. That is why active volcanos are also a place for tourist attraction here. This is the Ratu crater of active volcano at Tangkuban Parahu near Bandung in West Java province of Indonesia. This volcano had last eruption in 1983. Tangkuban Parahu is a natural Park located at the altitude of 2084 metres. There are three main craters here- Ratu, Upas and Domas. Ratu is the main crater, visited most and has the most developed infrastructure around. There are a couple of adjacent craters. There also some hot springs ...
Read MoreOn the World Environment Day, one of the most inspiring stories of environment protection. Story of one of those rare incidents in the world, when people sacrificed their lives for the sake of the environment. A story that happened more than hundred years ago before the famed 'Chipko Movement' of Uttarakhand led by legendary Sundarlal Bahuguna. This particular story is from area just bordering India's great Thar Desert in Rajasthan. This story is from close to Jodhpur, from a place made famous by that infamous episode of Bollywood actor Salman Khan and others hunting a black buck and then finding themselves under the wrong side of law. A place where sights like this are common and so pleasing- This is story of Khejadi Kalan, a village 25 kms from Jodhpur on the Sardarsamand road ...
Read MoreAlmost two years ago when I went to Uttarakhand Himalayas for 14 days to document the Nanda Devi Rajjat Yatra, I was carrying my old love Nokia C7 phone with me (as a phone companion only, my camera gears were altogether different). I loved that phone for its toughness and camera quality. The phone had a 1200mAh battery and the Sonilex power bank that I carried on the trip had a 3600mAh battery, theoretically enough to charge my phone three times. Last year when I got a ASUS ZenFone2 Laser, it had a 3000mAh battery. Now last month I received new ZenFone Max for review and when I opened the box six days after receiving it, the message said that the phone had been in the box in the power on mode ever since it left ASUS India office. The phone was actually on and the power meter on the...
Read MoreThis post is couple of days or more late, but still worth perhaps. Its the Monsoon time. Kerala will be receiving it in a few days, although it is already late by a week. Rest of India will be patiently waiting for its turn sweltering in humid heat until then. But it is still the vacation time for the most parts of India and hill stations will be packed of tourists. Besides the routine trips, have a look at the some of the other ideas for travel this month that I can recollect. 1. Boat race season kicks off at Champakkulam The snake boat race of Kerala or the vallamkali (boat race) is not just an event that lasts for a few hours or a day. Rather, it is a phenomenon the impact of which will last for a lifetime. In Kerala, the season of boat races starts with the famous Champakkulam Mo
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