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...
Waking up
at 4 AM is never an easy task for me. But waking up at that unearthly hour to
climb up a mountain to see the sunrise? I wasn’t sure if I would even be able
to walk. But the activity guy at Club Mahindra’s Baiguney resort was persuasive.
“You will easily be able to walk. Its not really a trek. There are steps too.” He assured me, and I finally gave in. Leaving Samhith to sleep in peace, the two of
us managed to be awake, and ready at 4:15, all set to see our first sunrise at
Sikkim! We had company from the resort, and all of us huddled into cars, and
headed to the place from where we would have to walk. And then began the strenuous
climb. The sky was already turning orange, and I didn’t want to miss anything,
so I managed to pull myself up the steps, just in time to see the beautiful
sight. Without wasting any more words, let me show you the sunrise through my
lens…
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| The sky began to turn orange, readying for the sun to rise |
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| As we climbed higher, the valleys were clearly visible in the east, the river flowing between them, and the sun rising somewhere behind them |
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| On the west were the mighty Kanchenjunga range of mountains, and it was on them that the first rays of the sun fell |
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| As the sun's rays caressed the snow clad peaks, they glowed , bathing them in a golden light! |
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| The highest peaks stood out, bathed in this glow, while the rest remained dark |
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| Slowly, the light began falling on the other peaks too... |
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| And as they moved, the shadows moved downwards too |
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| as if forming patterns on the mountains... can you see the pattern here? What does it remind you of? |
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| On the other side, the sun had just begun to show itself, a tiny ball of light |
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| The ball of light seemed to grow |
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| As the sun spread its light, the mist began to rise... |
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| The heat of the sun and the cold of the mist were fascinating to watch! |
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| And this was the last of the ball that we saw. For then, it was too bright to capture! |
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| Meanwhile, on the other side, the mountains were now white and bright, in all their snow clad glory! |
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| The sun had risen, and it was even more beautiful... the sun peeping through this tree for instance |
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| The path too was bathed in a golden glow as we turned back |
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| On our way back, our driver stopped to show us the point from where we had watched the sunrise. Can you spot it? (Hint: you can see the watchtower atop the greener peak ) |
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| Here is a closer look at the watchtower. |
We returned
to the resort in time for breakfast, and it was surely the heartiest breakfast I
have ever eaten! After all, we had woken, walked and climbed, all to see our
first sunrise in Sikkim!
I am posting this as part of Skywatch Friday. For more gorgeous skies from around the world, visit the Skywatch Page
Information:
The watchtower is on forest land, in what is called the Sunrise / Sunset Point in Baiguney, West Sikkim. We visited the place along with a group while staying at the Club Mahindra Resort
Wow - stunning shots.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Ladyfi!! have a great weekend!
DeleteSimply magnificent shots! I'm sure it was worth getting up for!
ReplyDeleteThank you bellybytes! It sure was!
DeleteThere are beautiful colors on the tops of mountains. Fabulous pictures
ReplyDeleteThank you Jarek! Absolutely! the variety of colours is astounding!
DeleteSome really good wow photo's from a stunning landscape. Thanks for showing.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, s.c.!
DeleteWonderful images. Love the morning rays on snow mountains.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Niranjan!
DeleteAbsolutely stunning photos!! The colors and the view, WOW!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much !
DeleteMarvelous photos.
ReplyDeleteJM, IL-U.S.A.
Thank you so much, JM!
DeleteGreat snaps!! The mountains look beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you Aravind! They certainly do!
DeleteHimalayan sunrises and sunsets are really something, aren't they/ Seeing yours, I was reminded of the ones I experienced at Himachal Pradesh, especially at Kalpa over the Kinner Kailash range.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pics, Anu. Very soothing and relaxing too.
Absolutely, Sudha! I havent yet seen the sunrise at Himachal, but I remember some we saw at Badri-Kedar, loong back.. and they were just as beautiful. I can imagine how beautiful the Kinner Kailash would look at sunrise! and thanks so much!
DeleteBeautiful shots, well worth getting up so early.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! It certainly was worth getting up so early! will do it more often now!
DeleteGreat snaps!! The mountains look beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Yogi Saraswat! and welcome here!!! Yes, the mountains do look so beautiful...
Delete