Endemic birds of India; Happy new year 2018!

White-bellied blue flycatcher

A very happy new year 2018!

May this new year bring you love, joy, good health,  more wisdom, peace, magic, the courage to speak your truth, to hold your head high, and see your dreams fulfilled.

Just like our feathered friends, wouldn't it be nice to free ourselves of worry and fear and soar higher and higher....

I am sharing pictures of these beautiful birds that are endemic to India.

Out of 1266 species of birds in India, 61 are endemic to India (from wikipedia).These pictures are courtesy Soma Jha.

Grey Junglefowl-female

Grey Junglefowl-male

Kerala Laughing Thrush

Malabar Whistling Thrush

Malabar Grey Hornbill

Malabar Parakeet

Nilgiri Flycatcher

Nilgiri Wood Pigeon

Photographs of places relevant to Jesus's birth; Merry Christmas:)

Merry Christmas! Wish you a very-very happy Christmas, and a wonderful  year ahead; a year filled with love and joy.
On the occasion of Christmas, I thought of sharing some pictures that are very relevant for this day. These pictures are courtesy Soma Jha.

The Church of Annunciation in the city of Nazareth (in northern Israel) is where Mother Mary lived. This is where the angel Gabriel appeared before Mother Mary to give her the message that she would conceive a child who would grow up to change the world. This church is built over a house from before Jesus was born. It is believed that this is the house where Gabriel appeared before Mother Mary.

The Church of Annunciation in the city of Nazareth

Mother Mary's house

Church of Nativity, Bethlehem (Palestine) is where Jesus was born.Mother Mary(who had already conceived Jesus) and Joseph travelled from Nazareth to Jerusalem (a census had been declared and Joseph had to register his name at Jerusalem). They stopped over at Bethlehem, a short distance away from Jerusalem, since night had fallen. They could not find any accommodation since all the inns were completely full. Jesus was born that night in a stable.

Church of Nativity

Inside Church of Nativity

In the picture below, the Silver Star shown is believed to be the birth place of Jesus. This is one very-very holy place for all Christians

Jesus's birth place

Shepherds told of Jesus's birth

The Church of Shepherd's Field, Bethlehem, is the place where the angels first announced the birth of Jesus to the three shepherds (who were asked to follow the star over Bethlehem, and go to this place)

Chapel of Shepherd's Field

Where is the world going?

When I picked up today’s newspaper, it did not say anything unusual, it was pretty much in line with what I read almost every day…killings, rapes, starvation, poverty, global warming,….

From TOI Kolkata, Dec 10, 2017

Some of the news that we come across may cause us a momentary disturbance, unhappiness, and may even cause some of us to squirm… but we forget about the news as soon as put down the paper, and move on with our lives...

By now we seem to have grown a thick skin, and nothing seems to matter as long as we think it does not impact us.

Does it truly not impact us? Can we progress without considering the needs of everyone around us?

And where are we moving? Are we moving forward, or backward? Should we call ourselves a civilised society or a primitive one?

Should we call ourselves advanced just because we have made some technological advancements? What about advancement of humanity?

Endemic monkeys of Sri Lanka

Tufted Gray Langurs Sri Lanka

In continuation to my earlier post on the Birds of Sri Lanka, this post has pictures of Monkeys of Sri Lanka.

There are some species of monkeys that are endemic to Sri Lanka. The Purple-faced Langur (also known as the purple-faced leaf monkey), and the Toque Macaque are endemic to Sri Lanka, and was spotted by Soma.

She also spotted the Tufted Gray Langur, also known as Madras Gray Langur. They are not endemic to Sri Lanka, and are found in South-East India and Sri Lanka.

Purple-faced leaf monkey Sri Lanka

Purple-faced leaf monkey

Toque Macaque Sri Lanka

Toque Macaques

Tufted Gray Langur

Beautiful birds of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Junglefowl-National Bird of Sri Lanka

I am going to take a break between posting popular durga puja pandals...and share birds of Sri Lanka in this post. These are beautiful birds and even more exciting because many of the birds found in Sri Lanka are endemic, and not found anywhere else.

Out of a total of 482 birds in Sri Lanka, 34 are endemic species and are typically found in forest reserves such as Sinharaja NP, Kitulgala rain forest, etc.

For bird watchers Sri Lanka is an exciting destination because of the possibility of sighting endemic birds. During her recent trip Soma Jha sighted a number of birds, out of which a few are endemic to Sri Lanka. These pictures have been taken by her.

Brown-capped babbler

Chestnut-backed owlet

Layard's parakeet

Orange-billed babbler

Red-backed flameback

Red-faced Malkoha

Sri Lanka  Scimitar babbler

Sri Lanka blue Magpie

Sri Lanka white-eye

Sri Lanka wood pigeon

Yellow-eared Bulbul

In my next post I will share pictures of monkeys of Sri Lanka. Out of the three sighted by Soma, two are endemic to Sri Lanka.

Durga Puja 2017

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace - Jimi Hendrix

Happy Dussehra.

Singhi Park Durga idol

Bosepukur Shitala Mandir Durga Puja 2017

Today is Vijaya Dashami also known as Dussehra. Vijaya Dashami marks the end of Durga puja and signifies the victory of good over evil. This day also marks the end of Ramlila and celebrates the victory of Rama over Ravana.

I am posting some of my favourite Durga puja pandals from South Kolkata, and will post some more awesome Durga puja pandals from Kolkata in my next few posts.

Bose Pukar Durga puja pandal 2017

Hindusthan Park Durga Puja 2017

Ballygunge Cultural Durga Puja 2017

    Tridhara Sammilani Durga Puja 2017

   Deshopriya Park Durga Puja 2017

You may want to check out some of these beautiful Durga puja pandals from last year:

• Kolkata Durga Puja 2016, Telengabagan and Karbagan, Ultadanga, Kolkata
• Durga puja 2016, creative pandals and idols from North Kolkata