Between 1st February and 31st March, join the movers and shakers of Brussels and share with them the creativity of the capital of dance! BRUSSELS, DANCE! is an original initiative by cultural venues to celebrate the vitality and effervescence of a capital city. Recently and spontaneously, artists from all over Europe, especially contemporary dancers, have settled down in Brussels. For this second edition, twelve Brussels venues – from the Dutch speaking and the French speaking communities – in collaboration with Visit Brussels, have combined forces to bring more attention to the dynamism of the choreographic scene in Brussels. For two months, BRUSSELS, DANCE! will present a programme of contemporary dance that emerged from the capital. The venues range from alternative spaces yet to be
Read MoreYear: 2017
I am not a birder specifically, but being interested in wildlife I love bird watching as much as I love sighting tigers. Both give you equal chance to play with your camera. All the tiger reserves and national parks per say (other than specific bird sanctuaries) too have rivers, lakes, ponds and other water holes which are shelter for waterfowls and migratory birds. Jungle themselves are best places to see the birds. Having been to few bird sanctuaries, this was first time I specifically kept time to see birds in a tiger reserve and I was certainly not disappointed. Hence, comes this fourth post from Sariska visit. Sariska is a big national park and has many perennial sources of water which in turn become good harbouring ground form birds. Hence, when you are close to a water body, ...
Read MoreImmediately after Bhangarh, I landed to this place. And, I am sure that less than 10 percent of people present at Bhangarh would have heard about this temple and among those who would have heard, less than 10 percent would have ever visited it. As a day later at Kankwari fort, here too, we were the only travellers. There were some locals to pray, although. Besides, we also came to know that there were many tourists a day earlier (on first day of the new year). Well, this is all about Neelkanth Temple, how it is commonly known. The board here says its name as Neelkantheshwar Temple (not any difference in the meaning of both words). Actually, if you go on searching online, all the pages will lead you to Neelkanth temple near Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. You would have been lucky enough t
Read MoreBetween visits to Bhangarh and Kankwari forts, I had other three notable experiences. All are worth independent posts, that would certainly be in coming days. But, to me it seemed rather more appropriate to write about Kankwari fort immediately after Bhangarh. It helps more in drawing comparisons and parallels. Although the visit to Bhangarh fort had its worth because of all the stories attached to it and I was impressed by the fortress city as a whole, but I was largely disappointed by upkeep and ruins of the Bhangarh fort. In that context, visit to Kankwari fort right next day was a huge surprise... a pleasant one. I had read about Kankwari Fort sometime back but never had chance to visit it in my earlier trips to Sariska Tiger Reserve. Even the information available about
Read MoreWhat's a love without chocolate! Countdown to valentine day has already started and chocolate always brings some sweet memories. From 1 - 15 February chocolate aficionados can once again indulge in European capital Brussels. For the third time visit.brussels focuses on chocolate during the Chocolate weeks. Armed with a Chocolate pass, the visitor will be able to sample more than 20 chocolatiers’ delicacies while also enjoying discounts to the chocolate museums and purchases at various chocolate stores. With Valentine’s Day fast approaching and the Salon du Chocolat in Brussels set to run from 10 - 12 February chocolate is again top of mind. This is the third time since 2012 that Chocolate weeks has been organised. Genuine chocolate aficionados will use the Chocolate pass this year. This g
Read MoreSO much has been written and told about Bhangarh fort in recent times as the most haunted place of India (some claim to be in Asia) that if you just blindfold somebody and take him or her to a place and whisper in ear that- you are in 'BHANGARH' and that person will just get spooked and run out of horror. We did something similar. We didn't blindfold but kept telling all the way that we are going to some other place (fort) and kept all hints of Bhangarh out of the view of that person. Once we entered the fort and the person came to know about the truth that we were in Bhangarh, we could see the horror written on the face. But with no scope of running for anybody, we continued. Rest all is history and we came out laughing on all the spooky stories of Bhangarh. With extent of writings
Read MoreAlmost six hundred year old Dargah of Haji Ali at Mumbai is not just one of the most important Sufi shrines in India but also one of the most revered religious places in India. This is also one of those popular shrines which have been part of Indian cinema, especially Bollywood a lot. Many sufi songs and qawwali have been filmed here, which went on to become popular musical numbers as well. More recently the shrine has been in news for all the dispute related to entry of women to the inner sanctum sanctorum of the shrine. Putting all this aside, this shrine is going to celebrate its annual URS on 15th January this year. This shrine is also popular for its structure. Dargah is built in Arabian sea, almost half a kilometre offshore from the coast at Worli in Mumbai. A pathway for pedestr...
Read MoreIt is indeed one of the reminiscence of India's glorious past- one which has been largely well-documentated and one which is largely intact, as is the case with most of the Mughal-era structures of that time. The beauty of this place is that every time you come here, you learn a few new things about the old times, just like sort of revising the history. Every time, it gives you a new perspective in current situations. Well, we are talking about Father Sikri, near Agra which was the capital of great Mughal emperor Akbar. This architectural wonder is located right adjacent to the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti, who was the guiding soul of Akbar throughout his life. Both the structures, often visited together, have different identities and different architectural values as well. But both...
Read MoreMissing the chill this year, isn’t so? Nevertheless, festivities are on. New year comes with a number of festivals celebrating India’s dance and musical traditions. One among them Swathi Sangeethotsvam has already started last night. So, one might have plenty of options to travel from skiing to sun bathing at beach, but there is still always more to do. This month also has Makar Sakranti (14th January), considered to be one of the most auspicious days of the year and also an occasion of many travels and pilgrimages. Bringing you the selected few events for this month. Mamallapuram Dance Festival Mamallapuram has retained its fame in stone, thanks to the great contribution of Pallava artisans. It is among the most outstanding examples of Dravidian art and architecture and a jewel in
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