Skip to main content

Featured Post

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
1 comment

Skywatch Friday - Yearning to be somewhere else!

The hectic days of the Navaratri festival are over, but the chaos in our house continues, with repair work going on. I find myself under a virtual house arrest, which, for itchy feet like mine feels like the harshest of punishments. Stuck inside the house, I yearn for the hills and open spaces.... and feel like getting away somewhere, even if just for a short while... This tiny village tucked in amidst the western ghats, surrounded by mountains, clicked somewhere near Mahabaleshwar, is just the kind of place I would love to escape to, at the moment!


Meanwhile, my post on Wai, near Mahabaleshwar, has been featured on the Club Mahindra Blog!!!

For more beautiful skies from around the world, go to Skywatch Friday!
Labels:
Location: Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. MridulaOctober 26, 2012 at 11:00 AM

    What a beauty! And I am exactly in the same state of mind, itching to be someplace else!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 26, 2012 at 12:09 PM

      Thanks Mridula!!! i guess we cant stay more than a month or so at home before the itch sets in... or i wonder, does the itch go away at all, or do we just suppress it because we have work to do?

      Delete
  2. Julia DuttaOctober 26, 2012 at 11:03 AM

    Lovely Anu! I have been to Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar many times, but stay over at Wai, never! So is there a flight to Mahabaleshwar now? Or you were going elsewhere, flying low over Wai?
    Julia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 26, 2012 at 12:11 PM

      Thanks Julia! No, this is not taken from a flight... but from the winding road to Mahabaleshwar! looks just like it was taken from the air, right?

      Delete
  3. R Niranjan DasOctober 26, 2012 at 11:52 AM

    Beautiful click!!

    http://www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Vishal RathodOctober 26, 2012 at 12:29 PM

    Wonderful picture

    Congrats on Wai .

    ReplyDelete
  5. http://www.p-ter.netOctober 26, 2012 at 3:29 PM

    A photo from the air! :-)
    Amazing shot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 26, 2012 at 3:34 PM

      Thanks P-ter! but this is not taken from the air, but from the road!

      Delete
  6. AartiOctober 26, 2012 at 4:53 PM

    Lovely photo Anu... Have been itching to escape and it seems the more i itch, the more grounded i become :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 26, 2012 at 5:54 PM

      Thanks Aarti!! thats so true for me too... the more I try, the more I cant escape... the less i plan, the more I go...

      Delete
  7. CarverOctober 26, 2012 at 5:49 PM

    That looks like a wonderful place to escape to. Great shot!

    ReplyDelete
  8. LizOctober 27, 2012 at 3:06 PM

    Beautiful capture! Happy sky watching.

    Skywatch

    ReplyDelete
  9. SudhageeOctober 30, 2012 at 10:13 PM

    Oh my, my. I don't think any place can beat the Deccan Plateau region in the monsoons. Beautiful capture, Anu.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 30, 2012 at 10:59 PM

      So true, Sudha! its certainly among the most beautiful places in the monsoons.. i can never tire of them!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw
9 comments
Read more

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport.  That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’t ju
1 comment
Read more

Rama Temple, Gokarna

To my right , the waves rush to the shore, eager to merge with the sand. To my left, the same waves crash against the rocks, their spray diverting my reverie as I ponder over the beauty of nature, and wonder what first brought people here. Was it this beauty that encouraged them to build a temple here, or was it the fresh, sweet spring water flowing from the hill here that made this place special? No matter what the reason, I am glad my auto driver brought me here. We are at the Rama temple in Gokarna, just a few minutes away from the Mahabaleshwara Temple, yet offering so different a perspective.
3 comments
Read more