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Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
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Purple Rumped Sunbird

This is one bird I see every single day, but has proved the most difficult to photograph. They are so small and flit endlessly between the flowers and leaves on the tree that I can hardly focus before they are lost. I noticed this one a couple of days back, for once sitting peacefully.... and wondered if it was the same.
Thankfully my camera was near and I managed to get a couple of shots before it flew away... Here are my only pics of the elusive Purple Rumped Sunbird...



I know the photo isn't all that great... another reminder for me to upgrade my camera soon :)

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Comments

  1. Hossain Al WasiNovember 27, 2012 at 11:34 AM

    Ma'am, your blog is awesome! I'm pretty hooked up.
    I'm from Bangladesh, and I find a lot of birds common. For some days, I've been trying to capture some local birds, but as you said, the sunbirds and the tailor-birds are so fast and restless...
    Nevertheless, I managed to capture some photos. If you want, you may use these in your blog.
    You can find the photos in my flickr photostream here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hossainalwasi/
    Thank you :)

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    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 27, 2012 at 12:16 PM

      Thank you so much, Hossain!! welcome to my blog! I just went to your flickr page, and wow! you have managed some awesome captures! keep going and all the best!

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