FoG

First Story on this destination on Ghumakkar

Zanzibar: How to explore Stone Town on foot

By Sharada

Also known as Zanzibar mix, it’s an Indian inspired Zanzibari Tanzanian bowl of curry soup with lots of toppings. It’s packed with diverse flavors and textures. The ‘Mix’ is a bowl of smooth and tangy soup cooked with lemon and mango, with pieces of mashed potatoes, onions slices, peanuts and crispy bhajias immersed in it. It’s topped with a spoon of coconut chutney, a dash of red-hot chutney and a scoop of deep fried potato shavings sprinkled on top.

Hornbill Festival – The Liveliest Festival of India

By Anupam Chakraborty

Oof! The show was breath taking. While local tribes gave a good show, the visitors also enjoyed the hotness of the Raja Mircha. The Israeli girl put a brave face though her chicks grew red in every second that made her look more beautiful. Anyways, she could successfully eat two King Chilies.

Ruins Of Alamparai Fort on East Coast Highway

By Prasad Np

We were not ready for the pathetic state the Alamparai fort was in. As per Archaeological survey of India board it was built some time in 17^th century and was a trading post during the Mughal period and changed hands many times between various powers till India got independence. What appears is that after independence the fort totally lost its significance as a trading outpost as more modern Chennai and other ports in South India gained prominence.

The fort though in a very scenic location, near a natural lagoon and the adjoining village is inhabited by fishermen. But the fort is an example of the pathetic attitude we have towards our historical monuments. Full of sand in a very bad shape the fort is more of ruins and a source of bricks for the locals than anything else. There was not a single guard or tourist beside us, though we saw some bikes parked near the entrance which instead of a magnificent gate like most forts was just a big gaping hole in the wall. The parapet was broken at many places and one portion of the wall was lying on the ground. The whole wall had hundreds of bushes growing on it and at many places bricks were missing. It appeared they were being regularly removed by locals to construct their homes.

Holy Muktinath And Beautiful Mustang- Part 2

By Anupam Chakraborty

I came back to hotel and joined my friends for our journey to Muktinath. Today we would pass through the village Kagbeni to reach Muktinath. Jomsom and Kagbeni is the main gateway of Muktinath. We drove only a few minutes and reached the riverbed of Kali Gandaki. Around that place Mr. Bachchan’s film “Khuda Ghawa’ was shot and our driver was more interested in showing us the shooting spots. But we were more excited to the adventurous drive over the riverbed. I peeped outside the window and saw wheels of our vehicle were rolling inside the river water. We crossed the river Kali Gandaki and started ascending through the rocky mountain road.

The climate and landscape all around looked like a rain shadow region of Himalaya, very similar to those of Ladakh region. It’s Mustang! A lost kingdom in Himalayas! We stopped and looked around. Far on the foothills of Mt. Dhaulagiri the view of tiny town Jomsom was awesome.

Holy Muktinath And Beautiful Mustang

By Anupam Chakraborty

It is not a star category hotel but undoubtedly the best of the lot. Hotel owner endeavoured to preserve the past glory by hanging photographs of Mr Bachchan with him and some film shots of ‘Khuda Gawah’ on the walls. Staying in this hotel was comfortable; it had 24 hours hot water facility and free wifi. The foods were nice but they cost too high.

Hornbill Festival –The Liveliest Festival of India, Day Two

By Anupam Chakraborty

There we saw nothing like individual performances and all the tribes were dancing in a group. In every performance group of artists in colourful costumes began dancing slowly, made circles or some geometrical formations, gradually raised the tempo with steps and on reaching the climax, tempo was brought down again with a satisfying finale.

The tribes of Mizoram entered into the arena with their most popular Bamboo Dance. In that format of dance bamboos were placed and held horizontally across each other on the ground. While the boys tapped bamboos in rhythmic beats girls were dancing by stepping alternatively in and out to the beats with ease and grace.

My day in Rashtrapati Bhawan

By Anjan

This is the location where all the functions (India’s prestigious award given to its citizen) take place. This place is called the Darbar Hall, the celebration hall of the Rastrapati Bhawan. The hall was situated just below the Gombuz (Doom), which we see from the long distance.

Kareri Lake ~ a poetic trail

By Vipin

Gaddis are basically a nomadic tribe who mainly lead a pastoral life depending on their cattle for their livelihood and wander in the high altitude alpine meadows for green and protein rich grass for their cattle and the nectar like pure water. These gaddis seem to be the happiest souls in the world without any worry cheering and living life happily in the lap of mother nature enjoying her eternal and purest beauty to the fullest. You envy at their life for a moment and then wish if you were born a gaddi, maybe in your next life…:)

महाकालेश्वर दर्शन व पुन: दर्शन (भाग 9)

By Naresh Sehgal

महाकालेश्वर मंदिर एक परकोटे के भीतर स्थित है। गर्भगृह तक पहुँचने के लिए एक सीढ़ीदार रास्ता है। इसके ठीक उपर एक दूसरा कक्ष है जिसमें ओंकारेश्वर शिवलिंग स्थापित है। महाशिवरात्रि एवं श्रावण मास में हर सोमवार को इस मंदिर में अपार भीड़ होती है। मंदिर से लगा एक छोटा-सा जलस्रोत है जिसे कोटितीर्थ कहा जाता है। ऐसी मान्यता है कि इल्तुत्मिश ने जब मंदिर को तुड़वाया तो शिवलिंग को इसी कोटितीर्थ में फिकवा दिया था।

राजा भर्तृहरि गुफा (भाग 5)

By Naresh Sehgal

तभी उन्होने झोले में से एक फल निकाल कर राजा को दिया और कहा यह अमरफल है। जो इसे खा लेगा, वह कभी बूढ़ा नही होगा, कभी रोगी नही होगा, हमेशा जवान व सुन्दर रहेगा। इसके बाद गुरु गोरखनाथ तो अलख निरंजन कहते हुए अज्ञात प्रदेशों की यात्रा के लिए आगे बढ़ गए।
उनके जाने के बाद राजा ने अमरफल को एक टक देखा, उन्हें अपनी पत्नी से विशेष प्रेम था, इसलिए राजा ने विचार किया कि यह फल मैं अपनी पत्नी को खिला दूं तो वह सुंदर और सदा जवान रहेगी।

हरसिद्धि शक्तिपीठ दर्शन (भाग 4)

By Naresh Sehgal

शिव पुराण के मान्यता के अनुसार जब सती बिन बुलाए अपने पिता के घर गई और वहां पर राजा दक्ष के द्वारा अपने पति का अपमान सह न सकने पर उन्होंने अपनी काया को अपने ही तेज से भस्म कर दिया। भगवान शंकर यह शोक सह नहीं पाए और उनका तीसरा नेत्र खुल गया। जिससे तबाही मच गई। भगवान शंकर ने माता सती के पार्थिव शरीर को कंधे पर उठा लिया और जब शिव अपनी पत्नी सती की जलती पार्थिव देह को दक्ष प्रजापति की यज्ञ वेदी से उठाकर ले जा रहे थे श्री विष्णु ने सती के अंगों को बावन भागों में बांट दिया । यहाँ सती की कोहनी का पतन हुआ था। अतः वहाँ कोहनी की पूजा होती है। यहाँ की शक्ति ‘मंगल चण्डिका’ तथा भैरव ‘मांगल्य कपिलांबर हैं

Let’s go Puerto Rico- 2

By Devasmita

By Devasmita Chakraverty Once the conference was over, we had a few days to explore Puerto Rico. The first day, we decided to explore…

1 Thinairexpedition The adventure of driving to Leh and Pangong from Kargil

Really nice Asif. I am going to Leh–Ladakh this June, feeling excited already
2 B Chandramouli Experiencing the temple town of Puri, Oddisha

Hi. Thanks for sharing your experience. Kindly share the Panda's contact details on my email id and also the dakshina that can be paid to him.
3 Shivani शिव खोडी – SHIV KHODI

What a wonderful blog, written very precisely and informative. This blog will definitely help me to plan my trip to shivkodhi.
4 sunil kumar गौरी से वो मुलाकात व इकाकुला का हसीन समुद्र तट !

Very well written about Bhitarkanika .
5 rjnivah Andaman and Nicobar – Around Port Blair

Really enjoyed reading this detailed Port Blair itinerary—it nicely captures both the sightseeing and relaxed moments like Wandoor beach and Chidiya Tapu. The mix of history, nature, and local experiences…
6 armaan Andaman and Nicobar – Around Port Blair

Really enjoyed reading this, it feels like a well-paced and genuine travel experience rather than just a checklist. The mix of relaxed beach time, museums, and a bit of trekking…
7 Abhinandan Sharma Delhi to Nepal in my Honda City!!

Great post. Planning to take my Honda city there soon. Was not sure if i can take a sedan there.
8 Abhinandan Sharma Delhi to Nepal in my Honda City!!

Great post. Planning to take my Honda city there soon