This Summer, Fox Life will ease up your thirst for adventures with a brand new show Spirited Traveller when Catch Chef Kiran Jethwa travelling across the country to explore diverse Indian culture, through its beverages! Fox Life, India’s favourite lifestyle channel, brings an all new exciting show - Spirited Traveller that explores the exotic beverages of India with the acclaimed Indo-Kenyan Chef Kiran Jethwa. The show unravels the enigmatic culture of India as the Chef travels the length and breadth of the country in search of its unique beverages and delicacies. Spirited Traveller will voyage across India - Kerala, Goa, Mumbai, Coorg, Bangalore, Jaipur, Delhi, Varanasi, Kolkata, Ravangla in Sikkim, Dimapur and Benreu village in Nagaland and Majuli Island and Jorhat in Assam – delvi
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Immediately 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 MoreThese are days of Ramlila around the country and perfect time to see Ramayana as performed in different parts of world. Prominent among them is Indonesia. The islands of Java, Bali and Sumatra still have the historical hindu influence and they still follow the hindu culture and traditions. Java is also famous for its theatrical rendering of Hindu epic Ramayana. Although the story is more or less the same, but the presentation in traditional Java style is very fascinating. It is one of the high points for tourists visiting Java, specially Yogyakarta. Ramayana Ballet is performed at Purawisata, located just one kilometre from Jalan Malioboro at Yogyakarta in Indonesia. Purawisata is a place where legendary Ramayana Ballets are performed. This particular Purawisata is very close to Yog...
Read MoreThere were many revelations for us in Bali - an island of Hindu culture in Islamic Indonesia. And many of them came to us in the Bali Art Centre. I will be talking about the Bali Art Centre in a later post, but this is about something we witnessed there. Pre-wedding photo-shoots are not uncommon world over. Even Bali is famous globally as a wedding and honeymoon destination. But here I am talking about pre-wedding photo-shoots of local Hindu Balinese couples. Its grown into a tradition now and is extremely popular. Its quite unlike hindu traditions in India where to be bride and groom are not supposed to meet openly before the marriage and a planned, open and detailed photo-shoot is out of question. But here, to be couples get the photo-shoot at all type of exotic, traditional, hist...
Read MoreWe visited Borobudur temple in the third leg of our Indonesia trip, when we were stationed at Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta is the biggest city close to this UNESCO world heritage site. Borobudur at Magelang in Central Java province of Indonesia is a Mahayana Buddhist Temple built in 8th and 9th centuries. It has been recorded as the largest Buddhist Temple in the world. But not just that... it is not just because of its size. It is considered to be one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world and for that matter, among the greatest monuments in the world. Complex is huge and very artistically and geometrically built. It wasn't possible for us to see it from the top, but this aerial image (below) taken from internet gives an idea of what this structure is like. In the image below yo...
Read More'रंगीलो म्हारो राजस्थान' (My colourful Rajasthan), that's what we say here. It is truly one of the most colourful, vibrant and tourist friendly states in India. It is distinctly known for its culture, history, forts, food, hospitality and lot more. Despite being a Rajasthani, I always found it very fascinating to travel to interiors of the state. Every time you will find something new and interesting. Here are some captures from one such visit- All images here are from a trip to Shekhawati region, precisely from Churu & Sikar districts. Bangles women here wear normally are made of lac or lakh (लाख). Lac bangles are although a big sector in the state, but a lot of work is also done in the household set-ups like this one. Very interesting to watch, and what a precision these hands...
Read MoreWe have already read about how city of Bruges in Belgium showcases its Public Art. Another city in Belgium is know for its different form of art- graffiti. This is Ghent. We are talking about Graffiti Street in Ghent. This narrow alley called Werregaren straat, between Vrijdagmarkt and Groentenmarkt is know as Graffiti Street- a street full of graffiti. Ghent is a university town and hence obviously a city with active youth culture. We associate this generation with more expressive behaviour such as graffitis. Belgium has historically been a big centre of art. Combined with a historical interest in art, in Ghent we see streets where whole walls are covered in cartoons. Ghent is also territory of renowned artists such as ROA and the Blue Warrior. So this street has graffiti al
Read MoreThese are tough times, all over. Challenges to keep the hopes afloat are tougher than ever. But even few lights might be enough to fight the darkness. That's what perhaps these earthen lamps try to say to us. India celebrated Diwali on Wednesday, 11th November as festival of lights. ...
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One of the premier dance festivals of India, Khajuraho festival of Dances is organised every year during springtime for last 41 years by Ustad Alauddin Khan academy of music and art under the aegis of ministry of Culture, government of Madhya Pradesh. Khajuraho Festival of Dances is organised at UNESCO world heritage site of Khajuraho in the premises along the western group of temples. Kathak duet by V. Anuradha Singh and Rajendra Chaturvedi on 24th February 2015. V. Anuradha Singh is best known for the introduction of Sufiyana Kathak style of dance. See some snapshots and a video of the dance. Devadasi dance by Dr Yashoda Rao Thakore at Khajuraho festival of dances (2015) was perhaps the biggest achievement of this year's dance festival. This was perhaps the first time that
Read MoreTraditional folk dance at Waan during Nanda Devi Rajjaat Yatra 2014. Last inhabitated village on Rajjaat route towards Bedini Bugyal, Waan is famous for its Latu temple. Latu is considered to be brother of Goddess Nanda Devi. Here onwards Latu leads the Yatra till Homkund. The video here is of traditional 'Jhora' in Nanda Devi's praise by men & women in traditional attire. Most special are women ornaments, these ornaments also reflect their social status. Sung in local dialect, group of men first recite a couplet, which is repeated by the women folk. This can go on for hours, the flow of words and rhythm (steps as well) of dance keep on changing, but tempo remains the same. Normally it is a slow paced dance. People keep on joining or moving out of the sequence as per their conve
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