A New Beginning

This post onwards, I have effectively entered an on-line group which picks up a specific topic as a photography challenge each week.
Each week I will attempt to post a photograph (hopefully) as an entry to that week's challenge. As this blog started out as travel blog, readers can expect a number of pictures to come from my travel experiences.

This week the topic is "A New Beginning". For me the most obvious statement that comes to mind... Its a new day - a new beginning.
Thus I have two photographs (from my archives) that symbolize a new day (and thus a new beginning).

This picture of dew drops on grass was taken in the village of Ratanwadi at the base of the Ratangad fort, near Bhandardara, Ahmednagar, Maharasthra.

The second entry for this weeks blog is one prized picture for my lazy self. Why ...? Its a rare (i.e. rare for me) picture of a Sunrise - a daily event which I seldom catch simply because, by the time I get up ... Sun is already shining quite brightly. However this one time, someone did bother to wake me up just in time to catch the beautiful sunrise.
This picture was taken on top of Kumar Parvat peak in Karntatka.
The previous day had been a long and grueling trek from Subramanya to the peak ... a trek which took me nearly 10 hrs (including several pit stops) and then we pitched tent on top of the peak.
When I was watching this Sunrise, most of the bones and muscles in my body were aching, I was shivering from the cold breeze atop the peak not to mention in absolutely frame of mind to make the long journey back to Subramanya....
Needless to say this Sunrise definitely inspired me to look at the rest of journey as a new day and a new beginning...

Camouflage and Romance

Its was another lazy Saturday morning. As I got up and gazed out of the window in my living room I saw the usual sight. A couple of trees, the usual crows, pigeons and sparrows busy with their nesting and brunch. The tree right in front of the window is some species of Fig tree (I think). I do not know much about trees so feel free to comment if you can figure out what tree it is by looking at these snaps. Anyways I was looking at the ripe red fruits and suddenly, I felt like I saw a leaf physically moving from one branch to another. I thought that my half asleep brain was playing games but then I saw it move again. A closer look and it looked like a bird - a good old Indian Parrot. I quickly rushed to grab my Camera just in time to capture a few pictures. Take a close look (might I suggest zoom in) at the picture to right and you might see it sitting on the branching nibbling on the fruit almost oblivious to its surroundings. The camouflage was so perfect it was almost as if the bird is a part of the tree. Even more so because its red beak seemed to match the color of the fruit it was nibbling. If it weren't for its movement the parakeet could have been sitting there all day without anyone noticing.

Camouflage

The moment I noticed this I knew that it was a rare appearance. Parrot is a bird that we Indians have usually only seen in captivity as pets. They seem to have only two major purposes as pets -  entertaining an audience with their mimicry skills and fortune telling. Personally I don't like either of these purposes and always wanted to see a parrot free in the nature. All through my life I have hardly seen a free parrot. As I sat down on the windowsill adjusting focus to get a good clear picture, I noticed that it was not one parrot but a couple. As soon as one of them had localed an optimum spot to nibble at the fruits it made way for its partner to cozy up beside. I am guessing that they were a couple and they sure look romantic in the picture.The couple didn't stay long and were off after finishing brunch - flying somewhere in the urban sky. Thanks to them now I am the proud owner of this (and a few more) picture.

Romance

Guarding the Express way

For centuries India's Deccan plateau has been home to prosperous civilizations.
India has been a trader's delight since long before the East India Company came here. One of the most significant routes leading to the Deccan is via the Sahayadris. While Mumbai is one of the busiest ports in India, before Mumbai there was Sopara. The the west coast of India has always been busy with travelers and traders pouring in. Then there is the Bhor ghat (pass) which tore through the Sahayadris. For centuries it has served as the entry to the great Deccan plateau.
In recent history of course this pass is more popular as the deadly Khandala ghat - the location of a somewhat risky section of the Mumbai - Pune highway.
Given that Maharashtra is home to more than 300 forts, it is no surprise that there are a couple of forts guarding even this route.

As you pass by the Malavali station en route to Pune from Mumbai be sure to look to your right. There are two massive ridges visible to the right of highway. These are the ancient twin forts of Lohagad and Visapur. The subject of this post is first one Lohagad (literally translation to English - Iron Fort). It indeed lives up to its name. Despite several invasions the ramparts of this Fort are among the best preserved ones. The route leading up to the top is quite scenic and not far from the highway. Naturally it is a weekend trekker's favorite. I have visited this place twice at different times of the year and found some great scenic clicks. Here are a select few.

The Baje Caves... Perhaps much older than the twin forts. These lie as a short detour just at the beginning of the trek from Malavali. In my first trip (when I incidentally was also the misinformed guide) I thought that the route to the fort was via these caves and found ourself wandering around for a good hour in the afternoon sun with no visible route leading to either of the twin forts. Eventually we created our own route which joined the path to Lohagad. The extra detour did exhaust us though.The caves are simple yet imposing (look at the height of the entrance to the main stupa). They may not have frescoes like the more famous Ajanta - Ellora caves. Nevertheless worth a short stop over to appreciate architecture that is more than a 1000 years old.
Visapur	Lohagad
The first major pit stop - Lohagad wadi village. This is the common base for the twin forts and provides an amazing view of both the forts.
A view of the backwaters of Pavana dam, flanked by the Tikona (left) and Tung (right) forts.	A scene so breathtaking ... you want to grow wings
Observe with a keen eye and you might notice the Nedhe (or eye of the needle in Marathi). A natural erosion hole in the mountain.
A view from inside the storage chamber for Cannonballs. (No naughty thoughts please)	Visapur fort again - as viewed from the top of the Iron Fort
Two rare pics. Suffice to say here that both sets of Ape cousins can be quite a handful.
Last but not the least - the inspiration behind the title. This path leading to a bastion is aptly named Vinchoo kata (Marathi for Scorpions tail). The bastion lies at the toe end of this tail and might have served as a perfect defensive sting. One can see far into the valley right up to Lonavala's famous Valvan dam from this bastion. In ancient times, this bastion would be the first to spot any armed incursions coming via the Bhor pass and thus be in a position to use the sting (Cannons) to a good effect. Today the Mumbai pune expressway and railway are visible from here and have of course replaced the ancient trade route. The armies manning the fort are long gone. The bastion is in ruins. The Iron Fort still stands tall overlooking the route. Thus I chose the title "Guarding the Express way"

Red Moon

I have been using this blog as a place to hold my travelogues. My travelogues tend to be long and sometimes boring. My last blog Of Heaven and Temple was my first attempt to writing differently and it earned a few page hits so thank you all readers.
So recently armed with a new camera, I have begun to rediscover my interest in photography and in process am discovering the meaning of the phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words".

My second installment of photo-blog is a very simple picture. I was unaware of the lunar eclipse yesterday until post dusk while driving around the town I noticed a relatively dull moon (think the eclipse was approaching totality). I presumed it to be partially hidden by clouds. I thought it was a little strange as the sky appeared to be near cloudless .. but who knows. When I did return home I saw some kids in the neighborhood were jumping and quite excited about the celestial event.

Thankfully I made a dash to the terrace and assembled my tripod just in time to get a relatively steady picture. The moon appears so beautiful so instead of writing a thousand words ... here is the picture.. use your vocabulary to add adjectives.

Of Heaven and Temple

India is a land of diverse cultures. For centuries it has been a home to followers of most of the major religions in the world. I am not a religious person but I have come to understand a little bit about religion. One common theme in most religions is the concept of God - of course. More importantly every religion seems to have a concept of heaven and hell. Heaven has always been hyped and marketed as a pricey and desirable place. Why pricey ? cause you got to do a whole bunch of good deeds and thus earn a lot of brownie points with God to get there. That of course is perhaps a difficult ask of anybody in today's corrupt world. Of course a way earn some "good" human brownie points is through regular worship. Thus was born the place of worship - generally referred in the rest of the blog as Temple (i will include churches, pagodas, mosques and any other places of worship in this generalization). Coming back to India, we are an ancient culture and very religious too (didn't I mention we have followers of most of the major religions living here). We seem to have been so, for centuries. In today's densely populated India, you will always find that there is a temple at every nook and corner. The deity or type of temple (hindu, muslim, sikh, christian) is dependent on the local popular choice. There is a wide variety of deities but you can rest assured that there is a temple everywhere. After-all Hindus alone have 33 million names for God (debatable claim - but you get the drift). Now as a kid growing up in India the whole description above is nothing surprising at all. I mean in an urban jungle, you can throw a stone in a random direction and there is a good chance that it might just land on a temple. Perhaps I am exaggerating, but I guess God is omnipresent to the extent that we seem have a whole bunch of temples in any urban area. We seem to take the temples for granted. It was only when I had to drive a friend few miles to find the nearest place of worship in an unknown foreign land (Dallas, US), did I really understand the significance of this simple fact. On a side note - don't worry Uncle Sam - lots of temples are being built there too ... Lots of Indians are making it to USA, so not long before we will have established the omnipresence of god in a tangible manner. Even though we have a lot temples, I guess it is a given that with so many religious people, they also want the convenience of worship. Thus I do understand the omnipresence aspect in inhabited areas. However as a trekker I have learned something else about the omnipresence aspect. Wherever you go in India, you might not find edible food or water, but you can rest assured that you are not far from a Temple. My trips often take me to places where mobile phones don't work, there is no sign of civilization and often the only potable water is the one from natural springs / streams (and I am not referring to bottled mineral water). Yet almost always there is a temple to greet me. Following are a few pictures of some of the more interesting Temples (can even be just an idol carved on a rock) I have come across over the years.
Hanuman shows the way to Tikona Fort. This temple is somewhere midway to the top of the Tikona fort with the nearest inhabited village about couple of hours of walk from this point. Why does this photo make the cut ? We were pretty tired by the time we made it here in the middle of monsoon. We were also assuming that we were lost - until Hanumanji came to the rescue.	Forget the Holy Cow and Cobra, Even Panthers are worshipped This temple is at the Tolarkhind en-route to Harischandragad Fort. Immediately after this temple the route enters a dense forest famous for presence of Panthers. I am not sure what the Deity is called, but I guess the person who created this carving was praying the "Panther" god for a safe passage. Suffice to say, I did offer my own share of prayers on my second trip to this place when the distant purring of the large cat threw a shiver down the the whole group.
Purana Mandir This temple atop the Vasota Fort reminded me of some of the Hindi "horror" flicks. Why ? This temple is atop a mountain range surrounded by a dense forest which is a protected Leopard Sanctuary. To enter the sanctuary you need special permission from the local Forest Authority which also checks your baggage for presence of firearms. You are not allowed to stay overnight at this temple and the nearest inhabited place is about 4 hours walk (on either side of the mountain range). Of course there is no motor-able road anywhere near. So to visit this temple is a long and laborious journey and it is supposedly easy to get lost in the jungle (take knowledgeable guide if you plan on visiting). To top the fear factor, en route to this temple, I'd already heard a few eerie noises and had encountered a number of blood thirsty leeches. All in broad day light.	Hindu - Muslim Bhai Bhai This Mosque atop Lohagad Fort stands right beside a Hindu Temple. These two places of worship must be at least a few centuries old and have stood the test of time. Several battles have been fought over control of this fort and there seems to be no other civilian structure (obviously destroyed by wars) on this fort. Yet this mosque bears testimony to the fact that the two religions have always lived together for centuries. That  despite what the local rulers wanted to thrust upon their subjects as the religion of choice. I have hardly seen such a scene in the modern secular (?) and urban India. To me this mosque and the temple beside it suggest that Religion is but just a means to an end (God / Heaven) and not the end in itself. So stop the petty squabbles over which religion is superior and get on with life.
Where there is a will, there is a Temple. This particular Shivalinga (called Kedareshwar) atop Harishchandragad is at least a 1000 years old. It is carved out a single rock inside a cave. The cave itself, I believe may be a natural ground water reservoir. Even if the nearby streams are dry there is always water in this cave. There is one thing certain about this cave - No matter what time of the year you decide to visit this place, you can't touch the shivlinga without getting wet. Guess they were digging for water and eventually got tired to the point of thinking - if I find water on this freaking mountain - I'll dedicate it to Lord Shiva.	Motel - Temples. Long before the modern Motel business became popular, there were Buddhist Monasteries. Apparently ancient Buddhist monks lived in Monasteries built on Mountains. I am told that apart from serving as a home to monks, these monasteries also served as a resting point for tired travelers. This particular cave complex - called Pala Caves in Raigad, Maharashtra is a site of historic importance. Apart from the Buddhist Stupa photographed here, this site contains multiple floors of rooms with resting places. All of it carved directly into the mountain rock. There is no sign of bricks or any masonry work. This is not the only site with such caves and carvings. There a whole bunch of sites (e.g. Karla, Baje, even Kanheri in Mumbai) throughout Maharashtra.
	Where Heaven Meets Earth This site is really the site that inspired the title. It is the Parshurama temple located atop the Salher Fort on Maharasthra - Gujrat border. Salher Fort also happens to be the highest Fort within Maharashtra and the second highest peak in the state. At 5141 feet and after a good 3-4 hours of climb when you eventually reach the top this scene greets you. It is difficult to describe this scene and it is almost as if it is a scene straight from a Painter's canvas. Only (if you so believe) the Painter is divine. As you look around from the temple you realize that you are standing above the surrounding ranges and the clouds below. It is indeed as if the Heaven is meeting the earth and you are standing at the confluence of the two. Suffice to say I am happy someone deemed this place fit for a Temple.