The Nandi Bull at Mysore

On our drive down the Chamundeshwari Hills, we halted to see The Nandi… a towering statue of Nandi, The Bull, Lord Shiva’s vehicle... a must see sculpture.



This statue is one of the largest statues of Nandi in India. It is 16ft. tall and 24ft. long, cut out of a single granite stone in 1659. This colossal idol of Nandi is on the 800th step of the hill. The idol attracts millions of tourists every year.



(Do click on the pictures for a better view. I took pictures from different angles to present a better idea of the revered statue of The Bull.)


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Chamundeshwari Hills

One of our favorite weekend getaways is Mysore. The city has still maintained its charm and boasts of various sight seeing places well maintained. Recently we toured the city and I will be posting on the places I visited there.

To start with, this post is on Chamundeswari Hill, one of the sacred hills of India. This is located three km from Mysore. A temple dedicated to Goddess Chamundeswari is located at the top. You can access the temple via the 13km long motor able road or those interested in spiritual cleansing can take the 1000 steps up the hill. These steps were carved out of granite rock by Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar, the ruler of Mysore from 1659 to 1673. We were told that there is a separate set of equestrian steps carved in the rocks especially for the Kings using horses. I could not trace out those steps though.



The temple dates back to the 11th century, and is a fine quadrangular structure of Dravidian style of architecture. Unfortunately for us, the day we visited the temple, it was all cloudy, the pictures of the temple as you can see are not so clear. The seven storeys tall, 40m high gopuram, with intricate carvings looked marvelous in spite of the clouds hovering around it. The Chamundeshwari idol is made of solid gold, but no photography allowed inside. The doors are made of silver and so are the idols of other Gods inside.




Outside the scene is like any mini market, the usual hustle and bustle of sales boys selling postcards, souvenirs. The lady was selling flower baskets for puja, and also took up the responsibility of safe keeping of foot wears.


The hill got its name from Goddess Chamundi, an incarnation Goddess Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva. A tyrant demon Mahishasur was killed by the Goddess to protect the area; the temple is built dedicated to her. A 16 foot high statue of the demon is also put up there on the hill top. The region Mysore of yesteryear gets its name from the demon Mahishasura and has been ruled by great dynasties. Today the name is confined to just that city, the Mysore state has been renamed as Karnataka and the state capital shifted to Bangalore.

Elephant Eye

I took this shot at Mysore zoo. The elephant approached close to fence, may be say 20feet, my heart was beating fast, anytime it could turn and just walk away. I clicked and clicked and clicked with minor variations in the exposure of the lens. This is what I have.

Elephant's Eye.

(Do click on the image for a better view.)
It is said that the elephant's vision is quite poor and can see short distances between 10 meters to 20 meters. Elephants do not have a tear duct and 'tears' simply evaporate or run down the cheek. You can see that clearly in the picture. Elephants use their sense of vision and smell to tell the difference between people who pose a threat and those who do not. Only after taking a few shots I stood gazing at it and admiring it.

Shooting information:
Shooting Date/Time 8/15/2008 4:01:52 PM
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/160
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6

Visit more Camera Critters at Misty Dawn's.

Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down ?

While making the regular weekly purchases of vegetables, I chanced on this brinjal (eggplant). As I picked it up I felt the brinjal saying ‘Thumbs up! Come on pick me up!’


As the vendor weighed it and returned it to me, she was holding the brinjal in such a way, as if it was saying and mocking at me ‘Thumbs down!’


I shook my head, that can’t be, it has to be thumbs up. At home all of us had a good look at the brinjal, my daughters found it funny, my husband was more interested whether it will be begun bhaja or baingan ka bharta.

As I was trying out my culinary skills on the brinjal I was thinking…

Every day in life we stumble on various characters which leaves a lasting impression in our minds, sometimes they make our day and sometimes they ruin our spirits. And as I am growing older it is dawning on me how a positive spin on life can dramatically improve our life. Accumulating negative emotions develops negative attitude towards life. With various characters perpetuating a negative thinking, it is our understanding and appreciating the significance of what is being told that will help us absorb the positive message.

Remember the character Eeyore in Winne the Pooh preaching the negative message, as a child have we ever got influenced by him? It was Pooh, Tigger and the rest whom we appreciated. “Each of us must make a decision, best captured in A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh characters. Am I a fun-loving Tigger or a sad-sack Eeyore?” So asks Randy Pausch in his Parade Magazine article (April 6, 2008). RIP, Randy! We hope to translate your life’s lessons into our own lives.

God has given us the choice of how to analyze the various situations around us and shape the life He has given us. Now it depends on us whether we make an optimistic note or pessimistic note of the events in our life.

So friends, is it ‘Thumbs Up’ or ‘Thumbs Down’?


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Disappearance Of Hand Written Letters

During my routine web surfing I chanced on this interesting article on ‘Top 25 Things Vanishing from America’.

However in the Indian scenario, the list may not be same. While new technology is always welcome, paving the smooth exit of old technologies, there are certain things which may take more time to vanish. Pit toilets the last in the list may remain in use in India, may be most parts of Asia too, for many years. The latest that has been done in this matter in India is the development of an affordable and eco-friendly two pit toilet, which has helped in withdrawing women doing the menial job of removing the human excrement. Beyond this, the complete disappearance of pit toilet may take a few more decades.

In one of my earlier posts I had highlighted the plight of the vanishing honey bees. Honey will get dearer if the bees are not saved. What struck me to write today’s post is the ninth point ‘The hand written letters’.

Nobody has the time today to finish a letter and go to a mail box to drop it. It doesn’t burn a hole in the pocket to do it yet… the personal communication through snail mail is vanishing. Where are the greeting cards sent on birthdays and anniversaries? These hand written letters convey so much of warmth and personal feelings; it pains me to think they will vanish all together.

My first appointment letter came by post. I still remember I had cleared several rounds of face to face interviews (not telephonic), medicals and was very confident of the appointment. The postman used to deliver the letters once a day, so around noon my mother and I used to stand at the gate waiting eagerly for the postman to come. Two three days went by yet no sign of the appointment letter. Then finally one day the postman handed me the appointment letter, we were so happy. I remember my mother offering him tea, sweets, water and happily boasting to the postman that her daughter made it. Today that sharing of happiness is no longer possible because…

… today appointments are confirmed through e-mails, instant messengers and mobiles!

Through the Walls of...

Can you guess what the above shot is about? Yes, it is tunnel sort of thing… you can see the fields on other side… Any guess to what structure it can belong to?


Another clue… another shot.

There are four holes in this. The holes run through the entire thickness of the fort walls of Devanahalli. I am sure you can guess the purpose of these holes. The valiant soldiers of Tipu Sultan once inserted their guns and canons through these holes to take aim at the advancing troops of Lord Cornwallis. In 1791, Lord Cornwallis laid siege to the fort and took possession of it during the Mysore War.


Two centuries back, the warfare technology was nothing great… yet from these walls one can make out the amount of designing that must have gone in to making them, the strategy they must have used to attack the advancing armies. Each soldier could aim in four different directions standing in one position. The soldiers on this side of the fort were shielded well from the enemies’ onslaught by the thick fort wall. If anything could have defeated them, it may have been the numbers at the other side.

With a large army, Cornwallis marched through Vellore and Ambure to Bangalore. He captured Bangalore in 1791…



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The Big Banyan Tree of Bangalore

The Big Banyan Tree of Ramohalli, Bangalore is a favorite weekend haunt of most Bangaloreans. 28 kilometers west of Bangalore, it is very easily accessible by road, with clear signboards towards the location of the Banyan tree. Each time we make a visit there we are awe struck by its vast canopy… 400 years old and still going strong; spread over three acres of land.




The main trunk is no longer there, in its place there is a temple. The tree is worshipped here. All around is a maze of roots, trunks and branches. The branches spread out in all directions, the roots dropping down touch the ground, new shoots develop, which turn into thick trunks. These trunks spread out more branches; it appears as if the tree is walking. Interestingly the banyan tree is called Bahupada in Sanskrit, meaning one with many legs. It got its name Banyan from the baniyas (merchants, traders) who would assemble under these huge trees to discuss business.




The Banyan tree is the national tree of India, the interlinking branches and roots signifying the country’s unity in diversity. Of the various uses of the various parts of the tree, one hair care tip I came across while reading about Banyan trees is: crush the prop root of Banyan with elephant dung and apply to head to have a luxurious hair growth. Women of Indo-Nepal Terai region practice this. Do let me know if any of you is trying out this. :)




The whole area looked like a mini jungle; there were plenty of monkeys around. Many visitors to the place were seen calling them and offering eatables to them. It was obvious the monkeys were having a gala time. I was not sure who was entertaining whom. The Big Banyan Tree at Ramohalli, Bangalore is a place worth visiting, if you can appreciate a wonder of nature.

Update: The below pictures are 0f my friend Swarna's husband Bhaskar feeding the monkeys. The pictures were taken in 2001.