Historical

Salem – Madurai – Kanyakumari Road trip and sightseeing

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1322km, hidden beach, kanyakumari, 6:10am, 10mins away from sunset. The Road ends and it ends with Indian extreme south land zone, and turquoise sea in front about to turn saffron and then black gradually.

The feeling can’t be explained in words, of what we were watching, what we have achieved and what we have experienced so far.

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मुंबई की गुफाएँ – मंडपेश्वर और महाकाली

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यह भी कहा जाता है कि जब-जब शासन बदला, तब-तब इस गुफा का विभिन्न प्रकार से उपयोग किया गया. कभी तो यहाँ सैनिकों के टुकड़ियाँ निवास करती थीं, तो कभी शरणार्थी-गण. यह भी समझा जाता है कि प्रत्येक शासन काल में यह गुफा उजड़ी और फिर नए सिरे से बसी. लोग यह भी मानतें हैं कि विश्व युद्ध के समय भी अंग्रेज सैन्य-बल यहाँ बसा हुआ था. इनका यह मतलब निकलता है कि मंडपेश्वर गुफाएं हमेशा से लोगों द्वारा आबादित रहीं हैं.

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Neemrana to Bundi: In search of Indian step wells – Part 1

Neemrana to Bundi: In search of Indian step wells – Part 1

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But leaving the roads apart, when I entered Chand Baori, a WOW just came out from my mouth. I mean Neemrana Stepwell was massive, but this one is like some aliens came to build it. This stepwell is enormous and mind-blowing & now I understand that why a scene of Batman 2008 was filmed here. There is no parallel of such structure in India.

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Road to Eternity

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We followed the surging crowds that seemed to be heading in just one direction – towards the Sistine Chapel. With masses of people packed like sardines inside the chapel, it was hard to imagine it as a quiet place of deliberation. But cardinals have gathered here in conclave for centuries to elect new popes, broadcasting their results through smoke signals from a chimney. It’s also the only place in the museum where photography is prohibited. A world of discovery awaited us as we entered the Sistine Chapel – the pinnacle of western art.

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संजय गाँधी राष्ट्रीय उद्यान, मुंबई की पदयात्रा – “कान्हेरी गुफा”

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पर एक बात थी. कान्हेरी पहाड़ का वह स्थान बिलकुल वीरान था. इतना वीरान कि गुफाओं के अन्दर अकेले जाने में ऐसा महसूस हो कि कोई वहां पहले से मौजूद है, जो आपको निरंतर देख रहा है. उस वीरानी में मन में कई ख़याल आते हैं. जैसे कि क्या वहां जाने वाले का कोई सम्बन्ध पश्चात काल में उस गुफा से था और उसी सम्बन्ध के सहारे वह इस जीवन में भी वहां लौट कर आया हो? उस अंतिम गुफा में बैठ कर मैंने अपनी एक कविता का प्रथम अन्तरा लिखा. इस कविता के दूसरे अंतरे बाद में मुंबई के अन्य गुफाओं की यात्रा में पूर्ण हुए.

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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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Jovial Jaipur…

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As we came out of the hotel, It started raining but we were prepared for this. We took out our Rain-coats and started our exploration. In the market we bargained with an Auto wala and for Rs 600 he agreed to took us to various places including Hawa Mahal, City Palace, Amer Fort and Chokhi Dhani. First of all we went to check out the famous Hawa Mahal of Jaipur. Hawa Mahal is a palace built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, so named because it was essentially a high screen wall built so the women of the royal household could observe street festivals while unseen from the outside.

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Along the old silk route – East Sikkim

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The entire zigzag road was blocked with snow. We were the only souls from far off plain lands stuck in the midst of old silk route, completely disconnected from the outside world and covered in a thick blanket of snow. Our journey to Gnathang Valley was cancelled. But what we witnessed was much more than what we had wanted and could ask for no more.

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Exploring East Coast – A road trip to Southern states

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I tried to negotiate, suddenly an ambulance came from back, at the same time there was a government vehicle came and took a left turn to our right side road of the T Junction. While I was thinking that I should tail the ambulance, all the villagers ran toward the ambulance to agitate, the government vehicle took left, and in the middle of the chaos, I heard my wife, “Pronil Bhaag yahan se”, and I watched that right is clean and without wasting seconds I took right to tail the government vehicle.

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गंगऊ बाँध और रनगवां बाँध – सौ साल पुराना छुपा खजाना

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एल टाइप सी अजीब सी शेप लिए हुए विसाल डैम आपने आप में एक सुरंग सा था आर पार जो उसके मेंटेनेंस के लिए होगी शायद। जिसमे सैकड़ो खिड़किया थी जिनसे रोशनी ऐसे आ रही थी मानो हम कई शीशो में एक के गहराते  से माहोल में अपने अक्ष देख रहे हों।   वहां जगह जगह विदेशो से लायी गयी मशीने और उपकरण आज भी ज्यों के त्यों

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