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...
The river Kabini is the heart of the Nagarhole National park,
and a boat ride on the river is an integral part of the stay at the Kabini
River Lodge. The incessant, unseasonal rainfall had marked our stay so far, and
heading to the jetty for our boat ride on our second evening at the lodge, we
kept our fingers crossed, hoping for clear skies.
 |
| The Jetty... at the Kabini River Lodge |
The weather was clear when we
set out. However, within minutes, the skies turned dark, and it began to rain.
We thought that was the end of our boat ride, but just as quickly as it had
started, the rain stopped, and a rainbow appeared in the sky.
 |
| The River, with the overcast sky... |
 |
| And the Rainbow... |
Soon, birds began to appear… Cormorants…
 |
| Cormorants |
 |
| Cormorant |
River Terns…
 |
| River Terns in flight |
Snake-birds or Darters…
 |
| Snake Bird, or Darter |
A variety of Kingfishers…..Pied Kingfishers…
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| Pied Kingfisher |
Common Kingfishers…
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| Common Kingfisher |
And the White Throated Kingfishers too.
 |
| Pied Kingfisher (top) and White Throated Kingfisher (bottom) |
Lapwings…
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| Lapwing |
Grey Herons…
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| Grey Heron with a fish in its beak |
Painted Storks…
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| Painted Stork |
And White Ibis….
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| White Ibis |
Flocks of herons flew homewards as the light began to fall…
And hidden in a bunch of fallen branches, we spotted a flock
of Night
Herons, both, adult and juvenile!
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| Can you spot the Night Heron? |
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| Night Heron - Juvenile |
 |
| Night Heron - Adult |
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| Night Herons - Juvenile and Adult |
An Osprey swooped over us and perched on a branch…
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| Osprey in flight |
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| Osprey |
And yes, there were crocodiles too, in the water… and
out!
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| Croc! |
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| Crocodile - so well camouflaged! |
A herd of spotted deer were the largest animals we saw!
And we came across people... fishing in coracles
And in the fields.
The sun was setting as we made our way back to the jetty.
As the orb dipped over the horizon, and the night sky
glittered, we thanked our stars for a wonderful evening… and wondered what the
morning would bring!
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The varieties of kingfishers are wonderful to see! I love your sunset pics too. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Natalie! We love seeing all these varieties of Kingfishers. and there are many more, that I have yet to see! as for the sunset, I guess we can never tire of watching them, whether at home, or out!
DeleteBeautiful tour of National Park with lovely birds.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rajesh!
DeleteEnjoyed the boat ride with you,thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ani! Glad you enjoyed it! It was a pleasure to share our experience!
Deletebeautiful nature.... And Thank You Very Much.........
ReplyDeleteNature is always beautiful! there is so much to see and enjoy!
DeleteYes you're absolutely right
DeleteI want to thank you for this exceptionally awesome write up along with the pictures. Nature is always mesmerizing. I myself had Kabini experience and must say the view is just awesome...I went for long walks by the river either during dawn or in the evening...Moreover the boat ride is the best ever option for an exclusive "boat jungle safari"..
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