temples – VAGABOND IMAGES

Lodurva, a temple to see and a love story for delight

Upendra SwamiJanuary 28, 20203230 Views2

The vast barren dunes of Thar are strewed with many mysteries of history… many of them untold, a few unexplained. A lot of it might be because of absence of more written account of those times. Erstwhile capital of the Jaisalmer Rawals- Lodurva stands one among those. Nothing remains of the capital city, but for a beautiful Jain temple. The deserted ruins of Lodurva, the Bhati Rajput capital before Jaisalmer, are 17 km northwest of Jaisalmer and 10 km beyond Amar Sagar. Lodurva itself is on the banks of river Kak. Shikhars of temples as seen from outside There would have been a perfect logic for any strongman to rule this place. This place was on ancient silk route and entry point to India, hence rich traders would have been passing through here on regular basis. This would have als...

IndiaPhotogallery

Lord with a might: Ranganathaswamy of Srirangam

Upendra SwamiJuly 9, 20193302 Views0

While going from Tiruchirapalli to Srirangam, the skyline dotted with gopurams is simply unmistakable. It immediately tells you about the enormity of the place we are visiting. Therefore, I now feel it very intriguing that Srirangam was not the among the first names that I heard whenever I read or listened to about prominent temples of South India. Only word closer to it that I heard was the Srirangapatna, the erstwhile capital of Tipu Sultan. I came to know it at a very later stage that both Srirangam as well as the Srirangapatna are famous for Ranganathaswamy temples along with an another temple of the same deity at Sivasamudram. Four storey gopuram at Ranganathswamy temple Hence, having heard of temples of Rameshwaram, Madurai, Chidambaram, Tirupathi, Guruvayoor, Thiruvananthapur...

आवारासफरIndia

देवी के धाम से हिमालयी नजारा

Upendra SwamiApril 8, 20151925 Views6

बड़े हिल स्टेशनों की चमक-दमक में अक्सर हम उनके आसपास की ज्यादा खूबसूरत जगहों को भूल जाते हैं। सैलानी ज्यादा लोकप्रिय जगहों पर ही आकर अटक जाते हैं। ऐसी ही बात सुरकंडा देवी के मंदिर के बारे में भी कही जा सकती है। सुरकंडा का मंदिर देवी का महत्वपूर्ण स्थान है। दरअसल गढ़वाल के इस इलाके में प्रमुखतम धार्मिक स्थान के तौर पर माना जाता है। लेकिन इस जगह की अहमियत केवल इतनी नहीं है। यह इस इलाके का सबसे ऊंचा स्थान है और इसकी ऊंचाई 9995 फुट है। मंदिर ठीक पहाड़ की चोटी पर है। इसके चलते जब आप ऊपर हों तो चारों तरफ नजरें घुमाकर 360 डिग्री का नजारा लिया जा सकता है। केवल इतना ही नहीं, इस जगह की दुर्लभता इसलिए भी है कि उत्तर-पूर्व की ओर यहां हिमालय की श्रृंखलाएं बिखरी पड़ी हैं। चूंकि बीच में कोई और व्यवधान नहीं है इसलिए बाईं तरफ हिमाचल प्रदेश की पहाडिय़ों से लेकर सबसे दाहिनी तरफ नंदा देवी तक की पूरी श्रृंखला

IndiaPhotogallery

Naranag: Kashmir we know less about

Upendra SwamiAugust 1, 20132169 Views9

Talking about tourism in Kashmir, will generally take you to Srinagar, Gulmarg, Sonmarg and Pahalgam. No doubt that they are the gems of the valley, but there is still a lot besides these four top spots. Lot many places to see and admire and lot beyond the regular natural beauty spots. Naranag is one of them and it was an altogether different experience for me to visit an archaelogical site in such a scenic surroundings. But equally anguished was I to see such a place in total shambles. Nobody to protect or even take care of such an important site. It has been left to be ruined. I was astonished to see that there was not even a single sign board or a plaque which could give visitors any idea about the site, its history, importance or architecture. Go googling was the only option left. ...