travel – Page 8 – VAGABOND IMAGES

A panchpura and a legend of shepherd king at Raithal

Upendra SwamiAugust 12, 20194084 Views2

It’s the time of the year again, when Raithal village in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand gets ready for a unique festival. A festival celebrated to welcome the cattle folk as well as shepherds back to village after months of rearing and grazing in higher meadows of Himalayas. It’s a Holi celebrated not with colours but with butter and curd milk. More about Butter Holi of Raithal, read: Get ready for a Holi with Butter at Dayara Temple at Raithal village Raithal is also popular as base for many treks originating from or concluding at Dayara Bugyal. Truly, Raithal is no ordinary village. Besides its locational value just on the footsteps of Dayara Bugyal and its unique Butter Holi, it is also a historical village. It has got some very old traditional Garhwali homes. Many o...

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Experience the best of bush, beach and highlands in Sri Lanka!

Upendra SwamiJuly 31, 20192842 Views0

It’s not about a hotel, but about a whole chain of hotels. We often review hotels on their facilities, rooms, comfort, but here I am talking about the outdoor experience that these hotels guarantee and I can assure you that these are the reasons good enough to try them, and while you do so you won’t be compromising on any other thing that you would like to judge this hotel upon. Having said that, this is a fact that tiny island nation of Sri Lanka is an amazingly rich place in natural heritage and it gives you some very fascinating encounters with beautiful, beautiful world of wildlife. What more can be fun when you get some fantastic deals to stay and enjoy. That is all experience with Cinnamon is all about. Into the wild of Yala If you’re keen to make the most of incredibl...

AdventureIndia

Get ready for the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek

Upendra SwamiJuly 29, 20192374 Views6

Its the time of the year when trekking lovers should be ready for the two of the most beautiful treks in mid-Himalayan region- the ever popular Valley of Flowers trek and the newly popularised Kashmir Great Lakes Trek. When the major trekking season in Himalayan region takes a monsoon break in August-September, these are the two most sought after treks. Camps alongside the stream Kashmir Great Lakes trek, read: Thajiwas is the perfect acclimatisation There is still big difference between the two. Valley of Flowers is largely a single day trek, as there is no camping allowed inside the Valley. So, one has to start early morning from Ghangaria, do as much of trek inside the national park as possible (depends on individual fitness and capability) and return back to Ghangaria in t...

IndiaPhotogallery

Nature’s poet and poet’s museum

Upendra SwamiJuly 19, 20192528 Views0

Pant museum at Kausani in Uttarakhand isn’t a touristy place as such. In my three visits to this place in the course of last few years, I have rarely seen any other tourist there. Despite, this place being in the heart of the Kausani town with just a few steps to walk upto the museum from the road head. I wonder, if even more than five percent of the tourists coming to Kausani would remember the name of Sumitranandan Pant, although surely most of us in Hindi heartland of India have read his poems in school text books. Ancestral house converted into museum Main entrance to the Sumitranandan Pant museum Actually, we don’t respect our literary persons. They are the ones who guide our intellectual discourse, many of them have been leading lights for various movements but we tend to...

IndiaPhotogallery

Lord with a might: Ranganathaswamy of Srirangam

Upendra SwamiJuly 9, 20193620 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...

InternationalNews

Now explore Brussels with the people who live there

Upendra SwamiJune 23, 20191606 Views2

When you’re exploring a city, there's no better way than to visit the places the people who live there like. I have always admired the way the Belgium in general and particularly European Capital region of Brussels has made their tourism more and more accessible, interactive and user friendly. Here comes another first from the beautiful city. From this summer onwards, people who visit the European capital will be able to explore the “real” Brussels. This is because visit.brussels has developed an online, free guide in real time: “now.brussels”, a unique opportunity to discover “the Brussels of the people who live there”. One can now find exactly what it needs at a glance, as it offers a customised, selection conveniently near you, and takes into account your immediate wishes, as ...

IndiaPhotogallery

Kashmir, we know less about: Charar-e-Sharief

Upendra SwamiJune 15, 20194514 Views0

In the previous post on Kashmir, we travelled to Aishmuqam Dargah of Hazrat Zain-ud-Din Wali, who was principal disciple of Sufi saint Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani. Now we are talking about the shrine of the saint himself at Charar-e-Sharief. Well, name Charar-e-Sharief might not be as unknown as the Aismuqam, but its importance might be. Charar-e-Sharief shrine Also read: Kashmir we know less about: Aishmuqam Dargah Recent past Actually, being a journalist, the first time I heard about Charar-e-Sharief was all because of negative reasons, way back in 1995. It was then, when the shrine as well as the town was in siege for 66 days because of a stand-off between army and terrorists lead by Mast Gul. It all ended even badly when the whole town as well as the shrine were put to fl...

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Witness one of the biggest pride celebrations in the world at Tel Aviv

Upendra SwamiJune 12, 20191113 Views0

Tel Aviv is a diverse city with multicultural influences and open-minded locals. Every June, in honour of Pride month, people of all genders, religion and colour flood the streets of Tel Aviv in support of love, diversity and freedom to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. With a series of events across the city, Pride is that time of the year when the city takes on a new life with vibrant colours and an intoxicating atmosphere that cannot be ignored. With parties, lectures and art exhibitions, Tel Aviv Pride Week presents an effervescent celebration in a creative and energy-packed environment. The festivities attract hundreds of thousands of participants from both Israel and abroad, with the most-attended and anticipated event being the Tel Aviv Pride Parade on June 14th. Tel Aviv ...

IndiaPhotogallery

Kashmir we know less about : Aishmuqam Dargah

Upendra SwamiJune 3, 201917051 Views7

I visited Aishmuqam Shrine near Anantnag in Kashmir valley for the first time years before the Salman Khan starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan was shot in 2015. This Bollywood superhit film did lot on its part to make people aware of this place. A very beautiful song sung by Adnan Sami was filmed here. The song was inspired from a very old traditional qawwali and it is said that it was for the first time that a film was granted the permission to shoot inside the premises of the shrine. Aishmuqam shrine Mosque and shrine of commonly known as Saint Sheikh Zain-Ud-Din Wali at Aishmuqam is considered to be one of the most famous dargahs of Kashmir. One needs to climb 560 steps before you can enter the shrine which is located about 40 minutes away from Pahalgam. We came from the Pahalgam s...

AdventureIndiaPhotogallery

Nature, myth and history of Syahi Devi Temple

Upendra SwamiMay 26, 20198191 Views7

Last year, when we went to Shitlakhet, we headed for an early morning trek to Syahi Devi temple. But we started a bit late, and then we had a packed schedule in the day ahead. And, with some clear view of Nanda Devi range consuming lot of our time, we dropped the idea of going till the top and returned mid-way. I had then decided that, I won’t let that happen next time. Hence, when I visited Shitlakhet again this year, I kept the very next morning after my arrival for the trek to temple. What a beautiful day it was, calm and clear. Now, in the hindsight when I look back at that decision, how remarkable it turned out to be, as the second morning onwards, the weather went for a toss. Sun rises while on trek to Syahi Devi temple Morning colours on the snow peaks It gets brighter a...