As I entered the premises of the Sun Temple, Gwalior, this was the first look that greeted me. I was instantly humbled. I had visited Konark and Modhera (Ahmedabad) Sun Temple, and hardly expected anything worthy or imposing. Of course, being a devotee of Adityam, I came for worship. But this first glance itself was…
Category: Travel
रानी विक्टोरिया का इस्तक़बाल और सूखे घोड़ों की सवारी
बरगद के तने सी चौड़ी रानी विक्टोरिया जड़ मुद्रा में जमी बैठी हैं कलकत्ता में । काले कौवों को अक्सर इस कांसे की काली महारानी के साथ क़हक़हे लगाते देखा जा सकता है । 1901 में जब रानी ने अपनी भारीभरकम देह त्यागी थी ,तब उनके एक मातहत नथेनियल कर्ज़न ने उनकी और ब्रितानी हुकूमत…
Bishwanath Ghosh’s AIMLESS in BANARAS – Being in Kashi is the Aim in itself!
Ten years have passed since I last visited Banaras , but on every Tuesday I find myself reciting Hanuman Chalisa at the Sankat Mochan and every other evening is spent walking along the Assi Ghat. Everytime I eat chaat, it gets compared with Kashi Chaat Bhandar’s offerings. No glass of lassi has ever tasted as…
DHANYAKURIA–A Forgotten Wonderland at a Stone’s Throw from Kolkata
Gaine Rajbari- Front View A day before the country-wide Lockdown was promulgated, I drove towards north on the VIP Road, then took the Jessore Road, and reached Dhanyakuria, a treasure trove of 19th century castles and baris on the Barasat-Basirhat Road(Taki Road), about 7 km from the Berachampa Crossing(Chandraketugarh) . This adds up to just…
बीएचयू – मधुर मनोहर, अतीव सुंदर (कविता)
ज्ञानपथ, यह प्रेमपथ, कर्मपथ, कर्तव्यपथ, जो महामना के स्वेद से सिंचित हुआ वह धर्मरथ, गुरु त्याग के मानक जहां, शिष्य लें समर्पण की शपथ ।6। कृष्णचूड़ा की लहू-लालिमा में आल्हादित,उन्मादित विजयपथ, काशी की अनुपम धरोहर का यह स्वर्णिम चित्र है उद्धृत, महादेव की असीम अनुकंपा से उल्लासित सदैव यह पुण्यपथ।12। (चित्र व्हाटसप पर प्राप्त, विश्व-विद्यालय…
Jacaranda: Purple Corollas Against Blue Sky (Poem)
Precious Jacaranda,Cunning and coy!How do you bloomwith such unabashed joy?Whither the sweet fragranceof thy famed name? For the lost smell,Is Purple Panic to be blamed?Neither Exam tree,nor Neeli Gulmohar,Neelkantha suits thy frame. (11,contd.) Purple corollas against blue sky, Crown is sparse and cannot hide, The glow, or is it Indigo? (14) In a picture,or…
Pink Sightings in Kolkata – Tabebuia Rosea in Bloom
If any flowering tree could have enhanced the beauty of ITC Royal Bengal , it is surely ROSY TRUMPET or Pink Poui, botanically TABEBUIA ROSEA. Also called as Basanti Rani , it belongs to Jacaranda family, genus Bignoniaceae. I was mesmerized as I witnessed the splendour of these pink flowering trees along the backdrop of…
Spring in Salt Lake – Palash & Rudrapalash
YELLOW PALASH ORANGE PALASH & Red Semul RUDRAPALASH Palash is Butea monosperma. The flowers are Yellow and Orange-red in colour. Rudrapalash is Spathodea campanulata. I have yet spotted only its Orange-red flower, but have also read about the yellow variety. RUDRAPALASH Flowers – Note its five petals, one pistil and 4 stamens. The Bud is…
Din & Bustle @A Railway Station
Rare is it to spot a crowd anywhere in India, and register anything but paunches – flabby, distended bellies, popping out of sari folds , or pushing against shirt buttons , walking around in daze, waiting to be filled with more junk food or casually – conceived foetuses . It would be simplistic to attribute…
TRIPURA – A Treasure Trove of Temples, Hills & Palaces
Tripura Sundari Temple , which gives the state its name, and Ujjayanta Palace , which was the seat of the Manikya Kings till 1949, ( and later served as the Vidhan Sabha till 2011) are not the only places of interest in Tripura. Devi Tripureshwari Temple was constructed in 1501 by Dhanya Manikya , Maharaja…
MURSHIDABAD – The City of Totos, Tumtums & Hazaarduari
Located on the eastern bank of Bhagirathi, the ancient channel of Ganga, Murshidabad was the capital of Nawab-Nazims of Bengal in the 18th century. It gradually lost its importance to Calcutta, but remained the seat of Nawab Bahadurs . I had read about the beauty of Hazaarduari Palace ,but was dissuaded from making the journey…
Cooch Behar – A Palace Modeled On Buckingham
165 km east of Siliguri , surrounded by Assam in the east and Bangladesh in the south , is located the district of Cooch Behar. It derives its name from the Koch Rajbongshi tribe, which dominates the region.Today , it is a famous tourist destination because of its magnificent palace and Madan Mohan Temple. It…
Abhinav Pancholi 