India Photo Album

mountains of nothern India

2008-08-18T17:26:44Z

This shots were made last year, on my trip from Kullu to Srinagar.
It was amasing!!! I've never seen something more beautiful :)

Descent of the Ganga

2008-08-06T00:29:31Z

x-posted

Mamallapuram, about an hour south of Chennai along India's East coast, hosts India's largest and most dramatic relief-sculpture representing the celebrated myth of the descent of the river Ganga from heaven to earth. The Great Penance, is carved out of a giant granite rock wall 27 meters wide and 9 meters tall, and the project was believed to be initiated during the reign of the Pallava King Mahendra Varman, ca 7th century bce.

While a traditional sculpture (or other work of art) would memorialize a climactic scene, this Great Penance is depicted as a "continuous narrative," wherein multiple scenes from a series of events are portrayed on the same canvas, permitting the observer to focus on different parts of the work and recollect different scenes in the narrative. The more details one observes and associates, the more richer the experience.

Three more pics and rest of writeup

indiaphotoalbum @ 2008-06-28T18:18:00

2008-06-28T12:54:21Z

Glimpse of India

2008-06-27T10:59:37Z

Rishikesh.

2008-06-19T05:19:53Z

Kanchi Kamakshi

2008-06-07T18:08:41Z

x-posted

Kanchi is verily the City of Temples. Poems composed in the 2nd century ce refer to a shrine dedicated to the love goddess (Kamakshi - eyes of love). The current Kamakshi temple (Sri Kanchi Kamakshi Peetham Sri Kamakshi Ambal) was built by the Pallavas in the 8th century.

Replicating the original shrine, Adi Shankaracharya installed the Shri Chakra Yantra in front of a beautiful Lalita Kamakshi seated in padmasana - lotus pose. Puja and archana (offering) are made not to the murti, but to the yantra in front - how cool is that!

Write-up and three more images from Kanchi

hi

2008-06-01T19:42:09Z

hi for all those who love cakezzz...... tht waz my bday ...

Photos from the south

2008-05-30T08:37:40Z

Here are some photo from the south (mostly Tamil Nadu):

Annuwijay Township. This is a town of engineers and workers who are engaged in the construction of atomic station "KudanKulam".

Ocean shore next to Annuwijay. Shark fins are sails of fisherman boats actually.

A church on the shore.

A tamil girl is hiding in the shadow.

Road to Manapadu. The village with three great catholic churches.

Morning in Kovalam. The popular tourist beach next to Trivandrum.

Kanyakumari. People are playing cricket.

Kanyakumari. On the pier

A woman. Kanyakumari islands.

A girl. Kanyakumari islands

Haridvar.

2008-05-29T05:22:19Z

Bidri Work, Bidar, Karnataka

2008-05-27T10:17:17Z

Etching the design : one of the steps in Bidri Work; Bidar, Karnataka.

Bidri : Silver inlay work brought down by the Persians and localized here has become one of the unique arts of Bidar.

Our search for this unique art began by asking about it at the hotel reception in Bidar, he did not know where it was made but another person sitting at the reception did: all the workers had their own housing complex, Bidri Colony, and that was where they worked in their homes. We thought the best way to get there was to take an autorickshaw since the driver would know exactly where it was; the auto driver knew the place and mentioned that the colony had existed for as long as he could remember. He took us to the sales depot there and then after talking to the manager there took us to a couple of workshops where it was being done.

We got to know how it is made from a person who works on it everyday. The base metal is an alloy of zinc and copper which is molded into the required shape and then blackened. Then starts the time-consuming process of first drawing the design, then etching the drawn design so that it has grooves running along all the lines and then filling the grooves with silver wire. The wire is meticulously hammered into the grooves and once this is done the product is given its final polish and is ready to be sold. The products can be bought in some of the stores in Bidar but it makes better sense to buy them directly from the artisans here.

x-posted :North-Karnataka, January, 2008

Andaman island, 2008

2008-05-06T13:46:33Z

canteen

2008-05-03T06:24:21Z

infront of a CFTRI canteen,mysore

diu

2008-04-21T06:09:17Z

india_diu

2008-04-08T08:06:08Z

indiaphotoalbum @ 2008-04-04T21:42:00

2008-04-04T20:08:42Z

I know the picture is not of the highest quality, but I will tell you what it is and from where I got it and probably then there will be nothing wanting about it :)

Last week during the GMF-Kongress (a German national seminar on modern languages) Mita Banerjee and Susanne Stadler announced during one of the lectures (and in front of a very large audience) that until now there has been very little or no room at all for India in the German English classes- a fact that is really astonishing considering to what an extent English is spoken in India. Both women had decided that something had to be done about it- and they created a whole special issue on India especially for German students of English. It is a beautiful little textbook with various topics of which the authors thought that they might give useful, interesting and up-to-date information. My favourite article so far: An explanation what a "tiffin" is :)

As an Indologist this makes me really happy. Finally there is a chance that German students learn something about India in school and probably get more various impressions than they get from the Shahrukh Khan- movies on German television...

The picture above is the cover of the special issue :)

(no advertisement- just to make the entry complete- the
link to the book)

Uma: Quencher of Thirst

2008-03-31T02:04:54Z

It was a blazing hot summer afternoon in Hampi. As I walked out of the magnificent Hazara Ram Temple, I was beyond thirsty. Even the sweat had dried in this arid Northern Karnataka summer. The sight of this woman under a bright red umbrella and tending a cooler with drinks was an oasis of bliss to a weary traveler. I ambled over and quickly gulped two bottles of my beverage of choice: Limca! Aaaah! I bought a few more for M and for the driver.

She charged me 12 rupees for each. I gave her the money. But ever eager to practice my kannada and engage in conversation, I asked here only jokingly why it was 12 rupees here, while it was only 10 rupees in the city. She must have been surprised by my heavily accented and rudimentary kannada, and realizing I was joking, she started giggling. She was completely at a loss of words. I just could not keep a straight face and started to laugh too.

I made small talk, asked her name and generally how many drinks she sold in a day. Her name was Uma and said she sold about a crate (of 12) each day. I estimated she made 4 rupees profit on each bottle, netting her about 50 rupees a day (slightly more than a dollar)! And for that she had to stand in this heat all day! And some one had to drop her here and pick her up in the evening. And she has not yet eaten! Life is tough! But she had a certain calm about her and I think this pic radiates her inner peace. And her confidence!

As I prepared to leave, I asked her again why it was 12 rupees for each drink: yaakae hutnerdu rupaiya?
Now she really burst out laughing, and I laughed with her. After a few moments she composed herself, then lifted the lid of the cooler, pointed inside and with a twinkle in her eyes mouthed a single word: Ice!

For that thirst quenching ice cool drink I would gladly have paid twice as much! :-)

See One more of a different Uma! - Not to be missed! :-)

india, mumbai

2008-03-30T19:19:44Z

indiaphotoalbum @ 2008-03-24T16:36:00

2008-03-24T13:36:31Z

india. photo.

1. mumbai. sight from the water.

2. elephanta island. low water.

3.tourist girl talking to taxi driver. mumbai, colaba.

4.palolem peach. south goa.

5.local beggar woman. old goa.

6.children. panjim, goa.

Animalistic

2008-03-11T02:52:34Z

Galta Temple outside Jaipur, Rajastan

Faces at the park

2008-03-10T10:41:49Z

indiaphotoalbum @ 2008-03-02T01:00:00

2008-03-02T00:31:49Z

Join us at beautiful_india

india_diu

2008-02-26T19:53:20Z

india_diu

2008-02-26T19:51:00Z

indiaphotoalbum @ 2008-02-25T01:14:00

2008-02-24T22:14:24Z

Hampi
inside the temple

indiaphotoalbum @ 2008-02-25T01:02:00

2008-02-24T22:02:22Z

Hampi
the flooded temple