Pushkar

‘Pushkar’ in Sanskrit means born out of a flower. The legend is that: A demon Vajra Nabha who had killed Lord Brahma’s children was struck dead by Brahma with his weapon, a lotus flower. The petals from the lotus flower fell at three places, lakes sprung up in these places. One of them, the largest is the Pushkar.

The Pushkar city around the lake has around 400 temples, the most famous being the Brahma temple. Built in 14th century, it is the only temple in the world to be dedicated to Lord Brahma. The temples of Pushkar were ruined by Aurangazeb, particularly the Varaha temple. Aurangzeb was quite disappointed with the enormous statue of Varaha, the god with the body of a man and the head of a wild boar! No photography was allowed inside.


There is a swan at the entrance of the temple crowned with a red spire. Inside there is a turtle made of silver, placed when the temple was rebuilt in 1809. The temple walls and floors were studded with coins, placed by devotees to commemorate the death and birth of near and dear ones.

There are 52 bathing ghats (series of steps leading to the lake) around the Pushkar Lake. Enlarge the pics to see the steps leading to the lake. Hindus consider it holy taking a dip there. Water at each of these ghats is believed to have miraculous healing power.
The water around Roop Tirth gives beauty and charm
A dip in the Kapil Vyapi Kund helps in curing leprosy
Mrikand Muni Kund is believed to grant the boon of wisdom
Naga Kund is believed to give fertility
… 48 more.


I did not take a dip; instead I took handful of water from some of the ghats and poured it over my head. My head was soon dripping with water.

For the World, Pushkar is famous for the Pushkar Camel Fair. It is the world's largest camel fair. This year it is scheduled to be held between: 25 October - 02 November, 2009

To see the World visit other participants at: That's My World .

Right Tusked or Left Tusked?

“Tusks are used for lifting heavy trunks of trees, we read that in books,” screamed the children in delight seeing the elephant with a log on its tusks. We were at Dubare Elephant Camp, 273kms from Bangalore. It is famous for training the elephants for Mysore Dussera festival.



This tame elephant was trying to pass the log between two logs of a cabin which caged a rogue elephant. After one log was fixed, it would pick up one more fix it in the next slot.

Like human beings, elephants are either left tusked or right tusked. And the dominant tusk is usually shorter of the two. Seeing the tusks of the elephant I could not make out whether it was right tusked or left tusked, but from the way it was pushing the logs from right to left, I felt this elephant was left tusked. The entire weight of the log seemed to be on the left tusk.

What do you think?

(Please click on image for a better view.)

Earth Day: What Can I Do?

There she goes with her most prized collection during the day. She is returning home to light her stove, to cook meals for her family.


See him, how he is clutching his firewood. He was rushing; I guess he had to reach home to his waiting family.

Can I tell them, “Listen friends all these firewood that you are going to burn is going to produce lots of CO2. At this rate you are going to increase the global warming at a faster rate and in fifty years there will be lots of floods and we will all drown.”?

These day laborers earning about Rs100 a day, struggling to make their both ends meet, what do they know about climate change and the causes of the global warming. Ask them, they will definitely tell you they need a stove which gives out less smoke and uses less fuel.

A mass scale change to cooking stove using gas or solar panels is the need of the hour in rural India.


Can I influence them to go in for a change? May be I can tell them the excessive CO2 in atmosphere will affect theirs and their kid’s lungs.

Look up for a beautiful Earth Day poster created by Susan at her ArtSpark Theatre.

Think Green Thursday

Taragarh Fort, Bundi

"Taragarh Fort must have been built by angels not by human beings," commented Rudyard Kipling.

It looks beautiful. A steep climb up the hill, then through enormous gates decorated with elephants which are now in ruins, we were inside the Taragarh Fort of Bundi. In its heydays this fort was well known for the tunnels criss-crossing the entire hill side facilitating the King and his men to flee in case of imminent defeat in wars. Most of the tunnels are blocked with rubble now.


The lawns of the Bundi palace and one for the queens are maintained well, but the structure seems to be crumbling with age steadily but slowly.



The fort was built in 1354 and has witnessed the battles and reigns of many Maharajas. The murals have faded and the stained glasses in the windows are no longer in one piece.


View of Nawal Sagar an artificial lake with a temple of Varuna (water-god) in the middle. Click on it to see the temple in the middle of the lake.


View of the town from the palace windows is magical. It is the same town which inspired Rudyard Kipling’s Kim.

To see the World visit other participants at: That's My World .

Eurasian Hoopoe

What do you do when the pretty bird refuses to face your lens?

Stalk her? Well, that is what I did at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. From behind it was difficult to identify the bird. I had this urge to call it, make some kind of sound to look at me, to attract its attention. I dared not to, lest it flies away.

After many clicks the Eurasian Hoopoe kindly cast a sideward glance in my direction, blessing me with just one single shot before it flew off. The crest was flat, I found later to my disappointment on downloading the shot.


Many months later, at Kokkare Bellur near Bangalore I spotted one more Hoopoe. It was searching for its food among the short grass, in the soil. They mainly feed on spiders, earthworms, lizards and sometimes on frogs too. These birds keep walking around, digging their bills deep into the soil, often making you follow them through uneven paths.

This Hoopoe was slightly alarmed or disturbed by my presence, click on the image to see its erect crest.


Nestlings of Hoopoe can be nasty when you approach them. They defend themselves by hissing, jabbing with the bill, producing an evil-smelling secretion and even spraying feces. But the adults are well-mannered, I can confidently say from my experiences.

No Ghostly Experience!

Ignorance is bliss!

And we spent two whole blissful nights at Kota Brij Raj Bhavan Palace Hotel. I call those nights as blissful today, because I now know, that Palace is haunted. Yes, haunted by the ghost of Major Charles Burton, killed by Indians in the 1857 armed revolt against the British. I was ignorant of this fact on the nights of 8th and 9th of Oct. 2008. Probably that is why the nights were blissful.

I try hard to recollect if I felt anything unusual on those two nights I spent there. Nothing, nothing at all! The dining hall was huge and the walls were decorated with stuffed heads of animals hunted by the kings. Of course this collection must have been before the enforcement of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. There was a stuffed lion at the entrance to the dining hall which did give an eerie feeling, everything else looked and felt normal.



It is said that: two of the Indian leaders of the Mutiny, Jai Dayal and Mehrab Khan, who led the attack on the Residency, were hanged within the grounds of the mansion. Ask the staff and they will tell you that in the still of the night, an English voice has been often heard by the drowsy chowkidars (watchmen) to say, "Don’t sleep, no smoking" followed by a sharp slap. The ghost of Burton still patrols the mansion.


As quoted by Ann Morrow in her book "The Maharajas of India", page 106-107, the Yuvrani (princess) stated "As far as we know, he (Major Burton) is an elderly man with white hair and a walking stick. I have seen him myself, because he was murdered in the first floor bedroom, which is now my study.”

I am content with my ‘no experience’ with the ghost of Major Burton, but if you are interested in more haunted hotels of India, here is a list: The Haunted Hotels of India.

To see the World visit other participants at: That's My World .

My Flights of Fantasy

Sindbad set sail simply because he was bored with the quiet life of the city.

It is a similar situation here, the only difference being it is a ‘mad rush of city life’ and not ‘a quiet life’. If only I could just set off like Sindbad into nature’s settings not looking for adventure but to cuddle myself up in nature’s lap and have few moments of peace.

Just 95kms from the city is Kokrebellur, where migratory birds travel thousands of miles to home in here. This winter too they had flocked around this village and we set off to see these exotic birds and their chicks, spend some moments away from the hustle and bustle. It was around four in the evening the birds were flying in home. Heads turned up, we would follow their flights to their maneuvers, twists and turns. Their homecoming flights would set me off in my flights of fantasy, sometimes forgetting to click.

(Do click o the images to enjoy the enlarged view.)

Sindbad was horrified to see a huge bird descending upon the very spot where he stood.

Not me, I was not horrified. These were Painted Storks and Pelicans. Their wide spread wings, the sounds of the flapping of their wings would set my heart in a rush. Do I enjoy the moment or do I concentrate on the technicalities of the flights? Do I simply put on Sports Mode or do I do Manual Settings or do I simply let my eyes feast on the flights?

(Do click on the images to enjoy the enlarged view. )

…and Sindbad had an idea… he unraveled his turban and tied it round a leg of the bird, which soon rose into the sky carrying Sindbad with it.


If only I could tie myself to those legs and set off on my Flights of Fantasy!

This was 'My World Yesterday'.

To see the World visit other participants at: That's My World .

At Authorblog Today, I am ‘The Sunday Roast’!

My warmest thanks to David McMahon of Authorblog who interviewed me for his Sunday weekly posts ‘The Sunday Roast’.

You can read my interview here.

Pendula Lobster Claw

For the past few weeks, we Silverwoodians are waking up to the brightly colored blooms adorning our gardens. The ‘early birds’ of spring are usually the flowers of bulbs. Our gardener has planted a variety of them in clusters all around our apartment and the ‘flowers’ of labor are there for all to see.



It is the Pendula Lobster Claws that has got the most ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’ till now. There are plenty more to show their true colors, but till then it is the Pendula Lobster Claw, scientifically called Heliconia Rostrata. It is named ‘Pendula’ because it swings like a pendulum along with the gentle breeze and ‘Lobster Claw’ because each bract resembles the claws of Lobster.



The actual flower which pops out from the bracts lasts only for a day or two. The bracts keep opening one after the other. The whole length can be almost three feet long and when it sways in gentle breeze, it is a sight to behold. The modified leaves or the bracts have colors from bright red to yellow to green in the edges. It lasts from several days to several weeks making it an ideal choice for floral decorations.

Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

Infancy in Animals

Infancy is the most captivating stage not just in humans, but even in animals and birds. I don’t know how it is in fish, but after seeing ‘Finding Nemo’ I believe (?) they too have that bonding period.

At Mysore zoo, I saw this mother elephant suckling its calf. The mother and the calf were in an enclosure and we watched them from a distance. The baby would suck with its mouth for some time and then with its trunk. It went on like that for some time. The mother elephant stood still all this time. This calf must be at least a couple of years old.

Do click to enlarge and view details.

Normally it takes anywhere between two years to ten years to wean away and they consume around 11.4liters of milk a day.

The shot below is of a mother Langur with its suckling baby clinging on to her tightly. It is a common sight here, around temples especially. I was a little apprehensive to focus my lens on her and when she was looking away, I quickly took a shot and made a hasty exit from that place.


To see the infant animals in their helpless state, being assisted by their mothers, their bonding moments touches you somewhere deep inside. And if you have parented a child you feel the warmth all over. I was motivated to do this post after seeing these lovely posts linked below. Do visit them; you won’t be disappointed.

Esther's Isolde Seven Months!
Crystal Jigsaw's Lambs
Nevada and Lilli's New Babies

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