Keoladeo Ghana National Park at Bharatpur has been the earliest and most popular of bird sanctuaries in India so much so that until few decades back whenever plans to visit a bird sanctuary will come in mind, name Keoladeo used to prop up almost instantly. But this park, popular for its cranes and once a critical wintering ground for endangered Siberian cranes, is also known for its giant soft shelled turtles. Park has seven species of turtles. The number of turtles is very good, in few hundreds. There are many myths and folklores associated with these turtles, but indeed there lifespan is very good. In that sense many turtles here are said to be living here for more than couple of hundred years. Now the catch is that this park doesn't have perennial source of water. It depends lot on m...
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It is one of those months, which have festivities right from start till end and that too almost in every corner of the country and with many shades. How wonderful to have all these occasions to supplement the usual zest for travel! And, what a diversity we have, it can be envious for any other country on the planet. Just consider this- the nine days before Vijayadashmi are celebrated as Durga Puja in Bengal, Garba in Gujarat, Ramlila in north and as Bathukamma in Telangana. All these festivals celebrated on same days of calendar have different myths, different customs, different performances, different food but same gusto. Even the ramlilas are different in different parts and so is Vijayadashami. Festival of prosperity & joy - Onam Festivities for the month start with Onam in Ke
Read MoreI have been to this temple number of times since childhood, but never got to photograph it as extensively as I did recently. It is indeed one of the landmarks of the old city of Udaipur. Jagdish Temple rises high on the middle of a square, which is the main junction leading to Udaipur’s city palace. On this square road on two sides go downhill, while another two go uphill. So, it would have been a hillock on the banks of the lake, when this city would have been established centuries ago. Well even this temple is a few centuries old, 365 years precisely. It is temple of Lord Krishna in Jagannath form. Built in 1652 by Rana Jagat Singh of Mewar, this temple rises 125 feet from the road through steep stairs. These stairs might be having almost a gradient of something between 50 to 60 degre
Read MoreIts vacation time and also plan some quick trips. Besides regular beach and hill station trips, national parks, especially the tiger reserves are the most preferred ones. For two reasons precisely- it is time to go to tiger reserves before they close for yearly four month monsoon vacation period. Secondly, in this sweltering heat, chances of wildlife sightings around water bodies is more likely. (Read: Some wild moments in Sariska!) Had done quite a few posts about Sariska Tiger Reserve and places around it of lately. Now it is time to look at places of stay.So here is the review of the place, where we stayed- RTDC’s Tiger Den, located at the Sariska Gate of the Tiger Reserve. I have stayed in these government tourism properties at various places across North and had mixed ex...
Read MoreHow often will we visit a landmark destination and return satisfied, without even knowing whether there was anything else, that we missed in the aura of that wonder! There are many hidden architectural gems in India. How often would have we noticed the shark difference between number of visitors to Taj Mahal and then to Tomb of I'timad-Ud-Daulah in Agra!! Well, this is not about Agra, but about something down west in Rajasthan, close to Udaipur. You would have heard about famous Jain Temples at Ranakpur. (Read: Going to Udaipur! Don't miss on these 10 things) This temple I am talking about, is right adjacent to Ranakpur temples and actually in the same complex. But as it happens, not even one percent of the tourists going to Ranakpur visit this quite smaller temple. Ranakpur ...
Read MoreWell, since Udaipur is my hometown so I had always been knowing about this temple and have visited this quite a few number of times, since my school days. Similarly, almost all people from Udaipur know about it. But ironically, though Udaipur is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India for domestic as well as foreign tourists, still you will rarely find any tourist visiting this temple. Baring the school days, when we would come here for picnics or drop here while visiting the famous Eklingji temple; in recent times whenever I visited this temple, I or our group were the only persons around. So strange. Well, this part of north-west India is full of shrines and temples but this image shows that it is no ordinary temple. It is actually a temple complex with a few temples...
Read MoreWell, this is final post on this trip to Sambhar. This is a sort of a first for me. First time six posts in six days on trot and also for the first time six posts on a trot on a single destination. Sambhar is on most accounts a sleepy town in Jaipur district. Would have been a village some time back, but has gone bigger now to be called as town. How to reach: There are two ways to reach Sambhar- by road and by train. Sambhar Lake actually in its vast expanse touches three district of Rajasthan- Jaipur, Ajmer and Nagaur. Sambhar railway station is right inside the town. This railway station falls on Jaipur-Jodhpur railway line. While coming from Jaipur, this railway station is next to Phulera junction railway station. But express trains don’t stop at Sambhar Lake railway station. Th...
Read MoreThough flamingos were my primary interest and they were who actually pulled my all the way to Sambhar, but wintering at Sambhar is not all about flamingos. Flamingos might be very high in count and attraction but there are many other birds coming for winter migration. As I said in my last post, there are more than 70 species of birds coming here every year. So while I was busy admiring flamingos at Sambhar lake, I couldn't have failed to notice and try to click few other migratory birds. Pied avocet (pictured above) was the among the first one to come across and was quite attractive because of its distinctive beak and black & white appearance. Though there were some northern pintail and pochards as well, but I could manage to get close view of only these northern shoveler
Read MoreMoving ahead from Devayani, I was asking every other guy the way to Chatri (cenotaph) of Daadu Dayal. The way wasn't far from Devayani. Just half a kilometre ahead was a railway crossing and the just before the railway line was a dusty path going inside the salt fields along side the now unused railway track. There were many structures in the area, all of them actually remnants of a very well-planned rail network meant for the salt extraction. It looked like a no-man's land. I kept on moving ahead till there was a way. Till that time I didn't even had an idea that how the chatri of Daadu Dayal looked like. Track wasn't easy, but still negotiable and enjoyable. Then, I suddenly saw a man out of nowhere and asked him about the exact location of the cenotaph, and luckily also about the possib
Read MoreIt was second day at Sambhar. Last day was interesting with engaging myself in pink salt of Sambhar and then soaking in some refreshing sights of a pink sunset. But as I said, my mind was still lurking in search of the pink flamingos. The other day Sohan Singh had suggested me to go towards the Devayani, where I can probably find the birds. One things I have learnt over the years of travelling is never to feel shy in asking locals about any doubt or any information- basic or may be additional. So, while riding my bike in the morning, I asked my lodge owner about possible location of flamingos and he suggested me to go towards 'chatri (canatoph) of Dadu Dayal (दादू दयाल की छतरी). I decided to try towards Devayani first. This is third aspect of a trip to Sambhar. It was not in my age
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