Camera Critters

Walk into any Indian temple and you will see a plethora of sculptures dedicated to elephants, tigers , horses and even the mythological yali .The picture above is one that I shot at Darasuram in Tamil Nadu, a 12th century temple built by the Cholas.

The second is a picture of young Sala who is shown killing a tiger on the " gopura" of the temple at Doddagaddavalli, a Hoysala temple. There is a story behind this sculpture which led to the dynasty being found in the 11th century. The story takes one to Angadi, the birthplace of the Hoysala Dynasty , a small village tucked away inside a coffee estate .Click here to read my story of Angadi in CLAY.

For more critters around the world, click here

India through my eyes - Palette or plate at Lepakshi ?

I thought it was first a giant palette used by the royal artists to paint the walls of the temple..maybe I imagined that the colours for the exotic murals came from here. The Vijaynagar kings had indeed patronised the artists to paint some wonderful murals that still stand the test of time in Lepakshi..However I was told by the guide that this was probably where the locals used to be served food and hence the "thali" like shape of this sculpture. I wouldnt know which is right though..

December has seen very little travel from my end except for my trips to Chennai which has become quite regular. I was there last week and got back yesterday and I am off again tomorrow. I havent been extremely busy , but just been a bit tied down with little things.I will be slowly catching up on all your blogs and here is the regular reading list from me.My Inside Story in Today's Metro Plus is about Lepakshi as well, meanwhile CLAY has an interesting story by Celine on the Datia Palace

And its celebration time as Ive got this award from Hitchwriter, whose posts and photographs are always a pleasure to visit. Thank you so much. I really cannot choose 8 bloggers and as usual, I pass it on to all those who visit my blog.

Wildlife Photography exhibition in Bangalore

Do visit this exhibition if you have the time .It is at Chitrakala Parishad.Gowreesh is a friend of mine and he is also a graphic designer and blogger . He blog, Bimba is in Kannada and even if you dont understand the language, his photographs are wonderful. He is also a writer at CLAY

Some monkey business to attend to...

I had visitors today at home...unwelcome though. A couple of monkeys entered my 3rd floor apartment through the balcony while I was seated in the living room, watching a film and trying to work on a story . They sneaked in post lunch. We have an open kitchen and the house is kind of seamless, so an entry inside the kitchen virtually meant they are in my drawing room. It was a rather cloudy day, so I threw the balcony doors open .I saw a movement through my bamboo curtains and I thought maybe it is the wind or probably a bird in my little garden, when I suddenly spotted one monkey stealthily sitting next to the sink in my kitchen balcony..I rushed to close my balcony doors when I was stopped by one sitting happily inside my kitchen munching a carrot that it has probably snatched from somebody else's house..Today I had skipped preparing lunch and there was nothing in the house to munch..not even a stray biscuit ..so the monkeys probably had knocked at the wrong number. They didnt give up though..when I finally with the help of people chased them away, I saw one desperately opening a dustbin and gnawing at some pieces of apple and orange peels. They had plucked some flower buds in desperation and tugged at the clothes and left some paw marks in my kitchen ..but fortunately disappeared..Some monkey business this.Incidentally this is the second time I am seeing monkeys in this area in these few years Ive lived here .(By the way, the monkey in the picture is not the one that visited me today..this was taken at the Shibi temple at Tumkur..I had no intention of photographing my visitors.more keen on chasing them away :))

River Kali

Some trips are planned, some are spontaneous, some bring in me the traveller, some a backpacker and some , a tourist. Some are laid back, some are very hectic, some are assignments, some are luxury, some are to chill out, some are to bond with friends, some are wild and adventurous, some are to relax in a hammock ,some are to learn, some are to unlearn, some are to slog and some are just to soak in all the fun..this trip was one of those..:)

India through my eyes - The Ramappa temple

The ASI board says that it was built in the 13th century (1243 AD) by a General, Recherla Rudra serving in the army of the Kakatiya king, Ganapatideva. Located in Palampet, a small village , this is the famous Ramappa temple .We travelled around 70 kms from Warangal and we did not even find a single signboard.Even though it seems out of bound to most tourists, its quite a favourite among locals. The picture however is taken against the background of one of the smaller shrines in the temple complex. More on Ramappa Lake here.

Some weekend reading if you have the time. Medhini's beautiful story on Sanchi Stupa in CLAY,Jungle Lodges's blog has some great wild life stories in Tales of the Wild and my story on the journey of a coffee bean in Bangalore Mirror today. The last one especially is not your regular travel story, so let me know what you think.I have a lot of writing to do this week and I go to Chennai after that.Have a good week

The moon in Bandipur

This is not the night sky, but an early morning sky at about 5.45 am in Bandipur Wildlife Santuary in Karnataka, India .Our morning safari in the jungles had just begun.

If you want to do sky gazing, do visit Skywatch