• हरिद्वार में वैसाखी और मुंडन

    हरिद्वार में वैसाखी और मुंडन

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  • Winch at Palani

    Munnar Magic

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  • Are you looking for a perfect Staycation with kids & family? Abu Dhabi is the answer.

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Recent Stories

पंचवटी की यात्रा – भाग २

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पंचवटी का शाब्दिक अर्थ है, “पांच बड़/बरगद के वृक्षों से बना कुञ्ज”. अब हम उस स्थान में प्रवेश कर रहे थे, जहाँ रामायण काल में श्रीराम, लक्ष्मण और सीताजी ने निवास किया था. पर्णकुटी तो इतने दिनों तक अब शेष नहीं रह सकती. पर पांच वृक्षों से घिरा वह कुञ्ज आज भी शेष दिखाया जा रहा है. सभी पांच वृक्षों पर नंबर लगा दिए गए थे, ताकि लोग उन्हें देख कर गिन सकें. वर्तमान में उन पांच वृक्षों के कुंज के बीच से ही पक्का रास्ता भी बना हुआ था, जिस पर एक ऑटो-स्टैंड भी मौजूद था और साधारण यातायात चालू था. बरगद के वे वृक्ष काफी ऊँचे हो गए थे. श्रधालुओं ने उन वृक्षों की पूजन स्वरूप उनपर कच्चे धागे भी लपेटे थे. हमलोगों ने पहली बार पंचवटी से साक्षात्कार किया.

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Golden Triangle – Agra, Fatehpur Sikri

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We then decided that we should go around Agra a bit like visiting Red Fort. So, we took a Tonga to go to Red Fort. We enjoyed the ride and Tonga wallah obliged by letting us take pictures with Tonga. Red Fort was another revelation with so many stories about it. We had hired a guide who was telling us all the places where Shahjahan lived or exiled, where his daughters lived, mosque, sheesh mahal, bombshell damage etc. Soon, it was dusk and there were lot of birds circling the fort and its courtyard. We imagined how it would have been for Shahjahan watching his beloved Taj Mahal and the Yamuna while in exile.

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Silvassa, safari and then on

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We had already planned to visit the deer park in the morning and later Dudhni Lake in the evening. We also found out that from Silvassa towards south the deer park comes first and then comes Dudhni Lake. I heard about Dudhni Lake turning romantic in the evening. It just matched my mood since I wanted to do some wildlife photography in the morning & relax in the evening. Our main challenge was to reach these two spots on time and without any expensive transportation.

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पंचवटी की यात्रा – भाग १

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नारोशंकर मंदिर की छत अपने आप में स्थापत्य-कला के लिए प्रसिद्ध है. काफ़ी विदेशी पर्यटक इस मंदिर की छत का अध्धयन करने आते हैं. चट्टानों के नक्काशीदार टुकड़े सिर्फ उन टुकड़ों पर बने खांच में लग कर अभी तक खड़े है. मंदिर के अन्दर के सभा मंडप में एक नंदी और एक कछुए की मूर्ति है. कछुए की मूर्ति तो जमीन के सतह पर ही अंकित है. कुछ ऐसा-ही त्रैम्बकेश्वर मंदिर में भी देखने को मिलता है. मंदिर के बाहर के प्रांगन में भी कई कलात्मक आकृतियाँ हैं, जैसे की काल-सर्प की प्रतिमा. नारोशंकर मंदिर में कुछ समय बिताने के बाद हमलोग फिर से राम-तीर्थ की तरफ बढ़े.

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A Triad in Time – Gharapuri, Ambarnath and Pataleshwar

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The most important sculpture here is the Trimutri, 3 faces of Mahadev which have found its space on Maharashtra tourism logo as well. Nearly full length of wall, the faces are very skilfully carved. Point to note that this is not a sculpture of Trimurti – Brahma , Vishnu and Mahesh but these are faces of Shiva only. There has been tradition to carve faces on Shivling as well. And based on number of faces, the shivling gets the name from Ekmukhi to Panchmukhi.
Although the common man thinks these are 3 faces, the experts have always more to add. Stella Kramrisch is one such expert in Indian iconography. She has proven that these are not 3 but 5 faces. There are distinct names to each of the face and it really represents the attribute of colorful character of Shiva. Five faces of Shiva represent five elements, Ishana (sky), Tatpurusha (wind), Aghora (fire), Vamadeva (water) and Sadjoyata (earth) and together this depiction is called as Sadashiv as per iconography. We see three faces and there is one assumed to be behind and one on top.

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To Thimphu, Bhutan by Road from India

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The international Boarder between India and Bhutan is shared by Jaigaon in India and Phuntsholing in Bhutan.

There is free access between these two places, however you are required to get permit to move beyond Phuntsholing. After an hour of journey, the view besides the road began to change and after crossing large fields, tea estates appeared. Total journey was about five hours and before we realized we reached Bhutan. It was a big gate, painted with colorful dragons and guarded by soldiers from Indian BSF and Royal Bhutan Army.

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Paradise on Earth- Part 4

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Pahalgam turned out to be very beautiful too, with the roaring Lidder and the rocky snow clad mountains complimenting each other. After finishing our breakfast, we headed for our first destination, Betaab Valley. It is so called as it was once the location for the filming of the film, “Betaab”. It was also the background in many scenes from the Ranbir Kapoor starrer, Rockstar. To reach the valley, a detour has to be taken from the road leading to Chandenwadi. It is located beside a much calmer portion of the Lidder, and with its artificially planted forest, does give the feel of being in the UK. Although Betaab valley is slightly commercialized, it has a very calming effect on the nerves.

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पुराने इंदौर की एक शाम – गलियों में खाने का ख़जाना

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और ऐसे ही एक शाम ढल चुकी थी. खजराना स्थित गणेश मंदिर में पूजन के पश्चात मेरे बड़े भाई के परिवार के सभी सदस्यों का मन पुराने इंदौर की इन्ही गलियों का लुत्फ़ उठाने का हुआ. मेरी तो जैसे की मौज हो गयी. संध्या के धुंधुलके से लिपटे हुए इंदौर के ऐतिहासिक राजवाड़े के बगल से होकर हमलोग सराफा की उन गलियों में पहुंचे. वहां की दुकानें बंद तो हो चुकी थीं, पर गलियाँ बड़े-बड़े बिजली के बल्बों की रोशनी से जगमगा रही थीं. खाने की दुकानें सज चुकी थीं और मानों सम्पूर्ण इंदौर के लोग उन गलियों में लगे बेहतरीन खाने का मजा लेने उमड़ पड़े थे.

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Himachal – Spiti Valley – Kaza, Kibber

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At Kibber we stayed at Tashi Zom guest house which was just before the village separate from the rest of the village. It was really sunny, windy and chilly outside so most of the time we stayed indoor. I went out a little to take a walk around the guest house and inside the village. This is a proper village with a school and a game of volleyball was going on. There are other guest houses and this village witness some tourists. Here I met Mr. Anurag Jately and his assistant. He is ex-NGC, ex-Fox Traveller head of programming for them and he was shooting night sky in timelapse, phew!! I was just awestruck listening to his anecdotes and watching some of his work on his laptop.

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शान्तमय सुरमय निर्मल नीरव चम्बा, उत्तराखंड

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पूछने पर पता चला की वहां किसी और का कमरा बुक नहीं है और अगली तीन रातों के लिए हम लोग अकेले ही वहां रूकने वाले हैं | हम लोग रूम में पहुंचे और ‘मेरे द्वारा सरकारी होटल के चयन’ विषय पर पत्नी जी का भाषण सुना | एक बार फिर मामले को सँभालते हुए मैंने शीघ्र सोने का प्रस्ताव रखा जो कुछ संक्षिप्त टिपण्णीयों के बाद मंजूर हो गया |

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Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh- Central India’s only hill Station

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It was raining heavinly so we moved quickly and covered the place from different angles. To avoid rains I devised a trick and used my cowboy and raincoat hats as one person would hold the cap while second will hold the device right under it and click photos. The trick worked really nice and we managed to get good shots even in heavy downpour without any damage to our cameras.

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Khajuraho - Beyond Temples

All that you can do besides the temple sojourns in this beautiful city Take me here