Pleasure of driving.....

'Pleasure' of driving.....

For photography tours, I always preferred travelling on bike rather than car. Driving bike gives you pleasure being open to nature. Go slow, looking the beauty around, and stop when you like it to be captured. Two wheeler is fastest and easiest mode of conveyance. On one of my memorable weekend travel to Guhagar, I borrowed 'Hero Pleasure' from my sister. Evening golden light on the grass meadow on the way was a perfect surrounding for photographing this beauty. Here are some images for you....

Butterfly garden at Gogate Joglekar college, Ratnagiri (MH, IN)

 

Butterfly garden at Gogate Joglekar college, Ratnagiri (MH, IN)

The priests of Bubaneshwar !

The priests of Bubaneshwar !

 

The job hours are long. Lot of wait and patience is required to attract (!) the devotees .

 

One priest is devoted to every idol / worshiping place in the temple campus. He earns bread and butter from the it. More devotees he attracts, more he earns !

Apart from performing rituals, any other sacred job has to be performed by the priests of the temple. Cooking included.

There is leisure time too ! They are so many fr a small temple.

Some lucky ones get time to pose for the camera and they do it happily !

Wild Guava, Kumbha (Careya arborea)

Wild Guava, Kumbha  (Careya arborea)

Wild Guava, Kumbha  (Careya arborea)

Botanical name:  Careya arborea

 Family: Lecythidaceae (Brazilnut Family)

Common name: Wild Guava, Ceylon Oak, Patana Oak 

• Marathi: कुम्भा Kumbha 

•  Sanskrit: Bhadrendrani, गिरिकर्णिका Girikarnika, Kaidarya, कालिंदी Kalindi

Wild Guava is a medium sized deciduous tree, up to 20 m tall, the leaves of which turn red in the cold season. It is the Kumbhi of Sanskrit writers, and appear to have been so named on account of the hollow on the top of the fruit giving it somewhat the appearance of a water-pot. 

Wild pigs are very fond of the bark, and that it is used by hunters to attract them. he Tamil name Puta-tanni-maram signifies ”water- bark-tree,” in allusion to the exudation trickling down the bark in dry weather (ref: FlowersOfIndia) 

Grey Count uses kumbha as its host plant

Wandering Destination: Indira Gandhi Park, Bhubaneshwar

Wandering Destination: Indira Gandhi Park, Bhubaneshwar

Enjoy the snacks ! A vendor outside the entrance of the park

The design: In the park, tourists can view a statue of Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi that was designed and sculptured by Russian sculptors Mr. Dimitry Ryebachev and Alexander Ryebachev.

The last speech: Indira Gandhi Park was erected at the site where Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi had delivered her last public speech on 30th October, 1984. After returning from the destination, she was shot dead by her own bodyguards.

 A favorite place: The park is a favourite for strolling, relaxation and walking. In the morning, many locals can be seen jogging within the park.

More colorful now : Once the parade ground of the city, the park is decorated with flower gardens and fountains.

Best place: for relaxing after wandering the city. Place is near by to Rabindra Mandap, shopping street and AG chowk. So good for waiting, relaxing during transit time.

Timings: Park remains open till evening 8 Pm. Camera, edibles are allowed. 

It's large: the park is spread over an area of 10.6 acres.

Location: Located in front of Orissa Secretariat and State Assembly

Location and conveyance:

Park is located opposite of Odisha Secretariat on Sachivalaya marg in AG Chhak (Chowk). AG chowk is located at the center of the city. So, Almost all share auto travel to or pass through it. From Kalpana square and Acharya Vihar square share auto takes five rupees only while from CRP square it takes ten rupees.

Busy AG Chowk

Shared Auto Rickshaw is the best mode of travelling in Bhubaneshwar.

Wandering Destination : Dhauli Shanti Stupa, Bhubaneshwar (Part-II)

Wandering Destination : Dhauli Shanti Stupa, Bhubaneshwar (Part-II)

Environment around stupa is peaceful in early morning hours when tourist are yet to start flooding.

Prasad-vendors at the entry gate

A tiny parking space for vehicles. It may quickly get crowded during noon time

Stupa on the Dhauli hills as photographed from the approach road

For info and other details about the place, visit:

Dhauli Shanti Stupa
Sculptures at Dhauli Stupa,
Dhabaleshwar Temple

iClick !

“Look, I'm not an intellectual - I just take pictures.”
Helmut Newton

iClick !

A newly married couple enjoying a photo shoot at Raja-Rani Temple which is crowded otherwise. I overheard the conversation among them when they finished the shoot and sat on the desks nearby.

Boy said to the girl very innocently (please imagine original conversation in typical Hindi tone), " Do you know what a megapixel is? My mobile has 5 MP camera. You don't require expensive cameras to shoot, even my 5K worth mobile does better than that !".

Girl's face was happy and she felt proud for her husband :-)

Family first: At Dhauli a visitor capturing images of his family. Dhauli shanti stupa has many statues and sculptures depicting life of Buddha. Everyone was engaged taking a snap with those idols. None cared to take or let other take a picture of Buddha alone. Somehow I manged to get human-free shots already posted here.

Synchronized acrobatics : Visitors spot something in the premises of Dhabaleshwar temple, most probably another temple. One tourist spot something, other rushes in to capture the same. 

Who among you is the copy-cat? remember god is watching ! :-)

Stock photography : an event photographer at Kedar-Gauri temple shoots some images to be used for mixing for the event-album.

“It is one thing to photograph people. It is another to make others care about them by revealing the core of their humanness.” Paul Strand

Who is the real monkey? : A group of boys did very less sightseeing, however manage to attract monkey. Such behavior of attracting wildlife especially monkeys, for food has created problems. I have seen monkeys attack tourists for food to become snatchers at many zoos, Elephanta caves, Khandgiri caves etc. 

I observed people and their behavior at Khandgiri caves. People visit the spots just for fun, never bother about knowing the historical importance of the place, shoot plenty of photos and they go off to other place ! During the small stay they spoil the site with inscriptions on the walls of monuments about there love, litter with leftover food items, destroy the gardens around and wish government to do something ! 

When some movie releases which talks about anarchy, misbeliefs, and political use of religion, people protests ! Where are those hooligans now? Why don't they spread awareness about real history and culture of India? Why don't they educate people about not to ruin the assets of vivid Indian culture and protect it for next generations? 

Inception: I posted this photo on FB and asked friends to entitle it. Inception was the best among lot. 

Be professional: A dancer shoots for her portfolio at Raj-Rani temple. Raja Rani temple is a good spot to carry out theme based photography. Proud to see foreigners come a long way to learn something from Indian tradition, respect it and convey their understandings to others back in their country. 

Note: The opinions expressed in this post is not to target any individual. These are comments made on general behavior of the public at common and tourist places.

Wandering Destination: Pathani Samanta Planetarium, Bhubaneswar

Wandering Destination: Pathani Samanta Planetarium, Bhubaneswar

Portrait of Pathani Samanta

The Pathani Samanta Planetarium has been established in Bhubaneshwar with a view to invoking interest in our celestial environment and creating awareness in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science among the people. 

The place is named after a great astrologer of Pathani Samanta. He was renowned Indian astrologer and scholar who was being able to measure the distance from earth with a bamboo pipe and many other traditional and frugal instruments built by himself which earned him "Mahamahopadhyaya" award from British govt. His observations, research and calculations were compiled into a book "Siddhanta Darpana" which has verses written in Sanskrit in Oriya script.

I watched one English show here: "Wonders of universe". It is obviously a different experience midst your day full of visiting temples and gardens. Seats inside are not god enough. Wooden seats doesn't have good cushion. Seats doesn't bend more than 30 degree. New movies with better 3D effects can be introduced.

Note: All photographs are shot with Moto E mobile camera.

The box office:

The exhibits: 

 

Different solar dials for display

Renovation work at the place:

Location and conveyance:

Planetarium shares the fence with Regional Museum of Natural history, and is located on Sachivalaya marg in Acharya Vihar square (Chowk). From AG square share auto takes five rupees only while from CRP square it takes ten rupees.