Just About Everything

Kite or insect? Some very interesting Kites from China. I am sharing some pictures of kites taken by my cousin who went to China recently. Some of these Kites look so uncannily real! A paper kite or a bird? Beautiful Kite Another beauty  Gliding Kite Kites A long tailed Kite!

Suryanarayana temple, Lakkundi, Gadag, India The Kasivisvesvara temple in Gadag beautifully connects with another temple, the Surya temple, this temple is dedicated to the Sun God. The architecture is beautiful. Gadag has so many precious ancient temples that it does certainly warrant a visit, especially if you are fond of ancient temple architecture of South India. Exquisite doorway to the Surya temple Work on the doorway Intricate work Work on the pillar inside the Surya temple Decorative work on the Surya temple Intricate work Surya temple, Lakkundi with the open terrace More of the beautiful work

Kasivisvesvara temple, with the Sun temple far right, Lakkundi, Karnataka In continuation to my earlier post on the beautiful ancient temples of Lakkundi , I am posting another beautiful temple from Lakkundi. This 11th century temple in Lakkundi, Gadag, is dedicated to lord Shiva. This temple is also known as the Kashivishvanatha temple. This is one of the most elaborate and beautiful temples of Karnataka. The interesting part of this temple is how it connects to another temple, the Surya temple. The Surya temple is known as Suryanarayana temple, and as the name suggests it is dedicated to the Sun God. The interesting thing to note is that usually the Sun temples face east but Suryanarayana temple faces west. I will post some pictures of the Surya temple in my next post. Kasivisvesvara and Surya temples are connected Beautiful doorway Kasivisvesvara Shiva temple Elaborate work on the doorway of the temple Simple and beautiful work ...

Exterior decoration motifs at the Brahma Jinalaya temple Karnataka is known for its beautiful old temples. Some of the lesser  known temples are located in a place called Gadag. Gadag is a small village in North Karnataka and you will likely pass it on your way to Hampi from Hubli. I could not visit Gadag during my last trip to Karnataka. But I certainly have it in my list of places to see. My cousin went there last year. She saw some absolutely beautiful temples during her visit.I wonder why not many people know about Gadag. I am sharing some temples from a place called Lakkundi which is around 11 kms from Gadag. Gadag is very well connected. A number of government buses ply from all over Karnataka to Gadag. Gadag also has a railway station. Lakkundi has a Jain temple, Brahma Jinalaya, dedicated to Mahavira, it happens to be one of the oldest and largest Jain temples in Lakkundi. This temple is beautiful. I think the temple's name comes from Brahma's figur...

A Godavari Dutta painting on the wall of her house Did you know that there is a museum in Japan devoted to Madhubani paintings? Well, I didn't either, but that was before visiting Madhubani. Ranti village in Madhubani is home to quite a few famous madhubani artists like Mahasundari devi and Godavari Dutta.We wanted to meet at least one of them, and as luck would have it we did meet with Godavari Dutta. Godavari Dutta is over 80 years old but she is so active at this age that you will find it hard to believe that she is over 80! A Rashtrapati award winner for her excellence in painting and social welfare, She is quite a well known name in Madhubani. Love this one Godavari Dutta's Madubani painting in a museum in Japan We reached her place around 1 pm, and she was actually resting then. We did not want to disturb her because it was after all an odd time to call on anyone. But then we did not have an option to visit her later:( Her daughter- in- law...

From Kesariya we set off for Vaishali. It took us around 1 and a half hours to reach Vaishali by road. Kolhua which was a part of the ancient city of Vaishali is famous for being the place where Lord Buddha was offered a bowl of honey by a local chief of monkeys. According to Buddhist literature this event is one of the eight most significant events in Gautam Buddha's life. He spent a lot of time here. This place is also considered to be very significant because Lord Buddha announced his approaching nirvana, and converted a proud dancer, Amrapali, to a nun. Posting some pictures from Vaishali.  On the way from Kesariya to Vaishali we stopped over at a roadside dhaba to have lunch. It was hot and delicious. Just what we needed! Brick stupas Vaishali Asokan pillar, Vaishali Brick stupa in Vaishali Asokan Pillar Inscriptions on the Asokan pillar in Vaishali

Buddhist Stupa at Kesariya, Bihar India From Madubani, we set off for Muzaffarpur, we needed to halt at a place for the night. We still had Kesariya and Vaishali on our list. I was very interested in kesariya because the Buddhist stupa in Kesariya is suppossed to be the largest in the world! We started off very early the next day, around 5 am. Kesariya is around 82 kms from Muzaffarpur, it took us around 2 and a half hours to reach Kesariya. The first view was almost like a hillock; after we got a little closer, I relaized that we were looking at the largest Buddhist stupa in the world! It is quite something. The stupa was excavated in 1998 by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and dates back to 200 AD to 750 AD.Certainly worth a visit, especially if you happen to be in that area. Kesariya stupa Side view of the stupa