Angels & Demons

Shillu :: The picture you see here is a statue of demon - Mahishasura which is located on Chamundi Hills located in India, close to the palace city of Mysore. Legend has it that that the demon Mahishasura, the king of the area that is currently Mysore, was killed by the Goddess Chamundeswari after a fierce battle. The hills hence got their name and a temple of the goddess was built on the top. The goddess is also known as MahishasuraMardini meaning She who slew Mahishasura (Source:Wiki)

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VJ :: Attending to the numerous requests by the mankind, running around the world in a jiffy, can make anyone tired. Seems like these angels are just taking a power nap so that they can be up and about in no time again...can we have some silence...please ?

Ganesha at home

Shillu :: Ganesha in an urn in my house. I like the reflections of the plants from the balcony in the water.

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VJ ::

vakratunda mahakaya suryakoti samaprabha

nirvighnam kurumeideva sarva karyeshu sarvada
Meaning: Lord with the twisted trunk, with the brilliant radiance of a billion suns, always remove the obstacles when I am on any challenging task.

Time for a break

Shillu :: This little angel flew in to relax under the shade of the money plant leaves and was checking out the cute couple driving by.

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VJ :: Resting on a sunny afternoon
Location: Shravanabelagola
Time : 1445Hrs IST
In Hassan District of Karnataka, right opposite the Chandragiri Hill, is where this hand carved Ganesha was found taking a nap on a sunny afternoon, amidst the other idols. Also notice that he has lost a lot of weight, could it be due to the summer heat in India?

Happy times

Shillu :: Its Aabharan's 1st anniversary! Its my first blog & I am happy celebrating.

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VJ :: The Trio- Jagannath- Subhadra & Balabhadra I was brought up in Orissa and I consider it lucky because I learnt a lot..the language, the culture, the traditions and more so the Gods that people worship. This Trio of Jagannath (Lord Krishna), Shubhadra (His Sister) and Balabhadra (Balrama) are worshiped without fail. Every year, truck loads of people reach Puri in the month of June to pull the chariot... a procession, which is an activity described as God's way of socializing with his creation.

Statues

VJ :: Statue of Gomatheswara - When you climb 650 steps, you are on the top of the Chandragiri Hill, where the statue of Gomatheswara is located. I was told that this statue was carved out of a single monolith. However, what appealed to me was this a statue made of bronze that was placed at the foot of the giant statue. Notice the bronze bell placed next to it..have we all seen it somewhere and does it ring a bell ?

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Shillu :: One more picture from the temple series. Unfortunately the head of this statue is missing - I am sure there is a story behind this...An invasion, a battle maybe?..

Bells

VJ :: Have you heard the legendary Dr. Chitti Babu's composition called- Temple Bells..when I took this picture, those were my first thoughts..I have seen in many temples in South India lately where it is forbidden to ring a bell.

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Shillu :: Handmade copper bells in various sizes & forms for decorative purposes for sale.

Divine intervention

Shillu :: Another temple in Karnataka state (South India) - Simhachala swamy temple. Don't you love the details in white?

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VJ :: God's miracle, one pleasant evening at South end- on- Sea. Taken on my trip to South end with friends, an hour and half away from London, this is a small coastal town with hustle and bustle.

What lies within

VJ :: Lal Darwaaza (Means "red door" in Hindi) : Every morning, when I walk past this door on my way to work, I stop for a moment and make an unfulfilled promise to take a picture of it. There is nothing special about the door, I was telling shillu this morning that it is not great, but I must admit that there is something about this door that appeals to me. If ever I figure out, I will let you know for sure.
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Shillu :: Stone sculpture of Goddess Padmavathi inside the temple adorned with Kum-Kum (Red powder made from Turmeric or saffron) and flowers.

Attention to details

Shillu :: 9 stone door which is a part of this temple. I love the details on it, espicially the elephants.

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VJ :: Terrace Location: The place that I called home- Paris. Fancy a nice home in the French countryside with mouth watering French cuisine coupled with sunny exteriors & tastefully done interiors. This is the terrace of one such house that I resided during my post graduation days in France. Jo, the owner, ensured that the house is clean and well maintained at all time. Her attention to detail and ability to preserve antiques is simply superb!

Chocolate indulgance & a sculpture

VJ :: Chocolate Milk Shake: One afternoon, during the summer of 2008, I decided to make something nice for my Sister and Brother-in-law. What next, I scouted the fridge and found some ice-cream, chocolate and milk. I melted the chocolate on a double boiler, added ice-cream to it and blend it with milk. Served it in a frosted glass with chocolate syrup..now, that's what I call too much of chocolate. What do you say?

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Shillu :: One of the sculptures on the walls of this temple. This is supposed to be the view inside an elephants stomach, If you pay attention top the picture you will realise that there is an outline of an elephant outlining the God's sculpture.

Indian splendor

Shillu :: India is such a beautiful country with rich history. South India is very famous for beautiful temples constructed centuries back. For a couple of weeks starting today I am going to share pictures of such temples from various trips. Let me know how you like them. This is the picture of Chalukya temple in Karnataka
If you would like to know the story behind each of these pictures you can find it here

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VJ :: Good Morning! Have you ever seen the sunrise by the beach? I have done it and this is my picture.

Location: Kailashgiri, Vizag

Date: 3 Jan 2008

Time: 5:15am

Mohan, a colleague of mine and I went on a early morning drive to capture the sunrise by the beach in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam followed by breakfast at a beach view cafe. Awesome experience marked the start of a great day.

Heavenly sights'

Heavenly Sights' - One for the eyes, one for the palette

Shillu :: We recently celebrated an important Indian festival - Sankranthi. This is the dessert I made at home as an offering to the God & then for us. Its called Semiya Payasam or Vermicelli Kheer. Vermicelli cooked in milk, flavoured with cardamom & garnished with roasted cashews & raisins. And yeah, In case you are wondering - Yes, I love Ganesha Idols & I have loads of them.

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VJ :: Good Morning - In summer of 2007, I was in Paris doing my Post Graduation. One morning when I woke up accidentally at 5:15am, I saw this sight. What next? I caught hold of my camera and captured 'God's Creation'. Isn't it perfect?

Sankranthi Subhakankshalu

Shillu :: Sankranti is an Indian festival that is celebrated beginning of of the harvest season for the farmers. I miss celebrating this festival back in Hyderabad. Tulasi decorates the outdoors with colorful Rangoli (painting on the ground with white powder & other colors), we would all wear new clothes and visit a temple. All the kids would gather on the terrace and have a kite flying competition with the kids from our neighbourhood. In the evening my cousins and I decorate all the Bommalu (toys) in a colorful display called bommala koluvu & invite neighbours to our house.



Yesterday BK & I decorated our house with flowers and made Payasam (dessert made with rice, milk & jaggery garnished with cashews & raisins). The picture you see here is from one of the corners of our house - an urn/urli decorated with flowers & Ganesha holding an oil lamp in his hands. Sankranthi Subhakankshalu (Greetings) to you.

Random Pictures

VJ :: A random stranger watching the boats go by near the Millennium Bridge near the TATE Modern Museum in London .

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Shillu :: This is my 4 year old bamboo tree which is a gift from one of the guys I trained at work. According to fengshui this brings luck when gifted. When I received it, it was just 4 inches tall. Look at it now! It adds a refreshing touch to my desk at work.

Happy New Year

Shillu :: Buddha from Ganga Ramaya Buddhist Temple, Colombo

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VJ :: Cute Ganesha from Vj's Collection