Smiley

The Jupiter, Venus and the Moon which made a special appearance on 1st December 2008. The planets at their brightest.

I love this distorted one more than the previous. Found this now while cleaning the memory card. :)

Agra Fort

I am a greedy when it comes to travel. Almost at the end of every travel I console my self saying, ‘Akhila, there is always a next time’. I’ll never improve when it comes to travel. I wanted to do Matura, Vrindava, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri all in a day!

As planned I was ready by 5:30 AM, for the 6:15AM Taj Express to Agra. Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station was a 10min ride from the company Guest house. The Delhi cops were good enough to get me a Rickshaw at that time of the day. Another story is that, I was a bit scared as I was all alone and everyone around me had warned me thousand times that Delhi was not a safe place. Precautions taken : Ensured I were in trousers and shoes always, had my cell phone and Delhi Hertz number handy for emergency, carried a dagger and never wore any precious jewelry. I’m laughing out loud as I write this ....

The Yellow and Green, typical of Delhi Rickshaw brings a smile on my face. Most of the trains too are painted with the same contrast.

Crossed River Yamuna and was at Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station at 5:45AM. People always find it easy to tag me a South Indian. When this had been the case in Winchester, Delhi was no exception. I failed to see any female soul at the station; ignoring all those Auto and Taxi wallahs, I scurried down trying to find the entrance. The entire place looked like a refugee camp to me. Adding to that was Pan stains which had created patterns on the walls. The next thought was, ‘oh god, I’ll never crib about Bangalore and Mysore stations again’. I then found a flight of stairs, which took me to the platforms. But, I was still looking out for the ticket counter. Unable to find a decent-literate-looking chap to query, I waked down only to read, ‘Welcome to Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station. No Platform ticket is required to use this Station’. I have never heard or seen of one such Station. Hope those terrorist organization in neighboring Pakistan aren’t aware of this.

I am finally at the ticket counter, still desperate to spot a female soul. Its not crowded, but its ridiculously hot at 6 in the morning. INR 86 is a decent fare. I walk down towards platform 6. Gosh, I have a shock. The platform looked like it had survived an earthquake the previous night, people in colorful clothing busy with their morning ablutions. They are bathing, washing and drying clothes! And the platform has ceiling fans running to keep away the heat.

I settled down in a window seat. Within minutes a girl in her mid teens occupied the seat beside. One interesting observation was that, no rule of reservation is followed. The seat is occupied in first-come-basis as long as the other person has bought a ticket. I was thinking of the platform 6 in Bangalore Railway station, from where I would take the 6 :15 train to Mysore. The clean platform, granite benches, dustbins at regular intervals, Coffee day shops, purified drinking water, the old red tiled roof, wrought iron railings and the 18th century floral fabrications............

And entered a Railway police to check people and their belongings. People are questioned with, 'Where are you from? Where are you going? What is there in the bag? to what nots'.. Soon it was time for selling Samosa, Jalebi, Kachori and Chaat. The girl beside me kicked of a conversation by offering Samosa. She eagerly wanted to share it with me. But, I couldn’t have imagined a oil dripping Samosa at 6:45 in the morning. And there begins our conversation.

Girl : You don’t eat Samosa in the morning?

Me : No, it’s a evening snack for us.

Girl : You from South India.

Me : Yes. (oh, I really have to change myself to look different!)

Girl : Which place?

Me : Bangalore

Girl : ooooh, Bangalore…. It is better than Delhi no.

Me : (I simply smile)

She tells that, she is from Jhansi and in standard 8th. And the guy beside is her brother and the other her Father.

I have a tendancy bump into talkative people, although I am never the first to start a conversation.

Girl : What are you in Bangalore?

Me : Engineer

Girl : Whaaaaa…. (To her it seemed like I had landed after a Mars mission)

Girl : You have seen a computer? You know computer?

Me : Yes, a little.

Girl : You have one?

Me : Yes.

Well I needn’t explain how bemused she was. She told me that she was at Delhi to meet her sister, and was heading home. And I told her that I was going to Agra to see Taj Mahal.

Girl : I have seen Taj Mahal once when I was a kid, because it is near to Jhansi. Why should you come from Bangalore to see Taj?

Well, I didn’t have an answer. To her I looked a crazy person to have traveled all the way to Delhi and now to Agra just to Taj. :-)

Around 9 AM, I was at Raja-ki-Mandi Station. I had predicted that Agra Cant to be the first and Raja-Ki-Mandi as the last station in Agra, but it was a other way round. I bid her a bye, accepting her invite to visit Jhansi sometime.

Holiday Inn was a 10min walk from the station. But, I heard Taxi, Auto and Cycle Rickshaws approaching me from Rs 150 to Rs 30. I opted for a Cycle Rickshaw, as that is a rarity in the South. And that too for Rs 10! I was joined by a friend at the Holiday Inn. A quick refresh, a leisure breakfast, and we decided to visit Agra Fort first. Both of us decided to tour Agra only by Cycle Rickshaw that day. She too seemed to have a fascination like me.

Agra Fort is Lal Quila there, and there is not such thing called Agra Fort which the Rickshaw wallahs would understand. When we told the Rickshaw guy that Lal Quila is in Delhi, he replied saying, ‘Lal Quila is in Agra, there is no such thing in Delhi’. I then told him that I had visited Red Fort in Delhi the previous day, and showed him prints from Wiki, he then said, 'I’ll take you to Agra ka Lal Quila, that is where tourists go apart from Taj Mahal.'

Agra Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The great Mughals Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangazeb lived here and the country governed from here. During Akbar’s reign, the main part of the Agra fort was built. Construction of the fort started in 1156 and was finished in 1605.

The fort is built alongside the Yamuna river and stretches almost 2.5 km. The wall has 2 gates, the Delhi Gate and the Amar Singh Gate or Lahore Gate. You can only enter the fort via the Amar Singh Gate.

Amar Singh Gate



The Fort is vast and its best seen along with a map of the Fort.


Diwan-e-Khas



Moti Masjid

Isn't this tiled pathway more interesting than those English cobbled ways? I loved walking this only to occupy the lone bench under a shady tree at the other end, where we then chit-chatted for hours....

Diwan-e-Khas

This instantly reminded me of Jodha Akbar aka Hrithik and Aishwarya.



This belonged to some British general, whom I have forgotten now.

Diwan-e-Khas




Nagina Masjid - This Mosque was specially built only for the Women.

Thatz a water fall in the background and a fountain in the foreground. Carved out of Marble, it really fascinated me.


Aaaaha, the first glimpse of Taj we caught for the day, while we got out of Nagina Masjid.

The Agra Fort, River Yamuna and Taj Mahal.

The Taj and the Yamuna River from the ramparts of Agra Fort.

From the pavilions you get nice view of Yamuna river and the Taj Mahal. It was here in the Agra Fort, that Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb, where he was allowed a view on the building erected for his deceased wife.

Diwan-i-Am , Diwan-i-Khas, Nagina Masjid & Mina Masjid,Macchi Bhavan, Khas Mahal, Shish Mahal, Shah Jahani Mahal and Zenana Mina Bazaar, that was really tiring......


Less than 3 kilometers from Agra Fort was Taj Mahal. But, we wanted to roam around the city to get a feel of the place. This time too the Cycle Rickshaw guy was more than eager to take us around and then drop us at Taj Mahal.

Some bits of shopping at the Agra Emporium, a visit to Mall/Sadar Road - A lively road full of handicraft, leather goods and not to mention Chaat. The best Chaat I have ever tasted is at Agra.

The next Cycle Rickshaw ride was to Taj Mahal.

Post on Taj Mahal here.

Agra ka Petha and the Marble Taj Mahal are the must-buys, which I never forgot.

KRS and Brindivan Graden

KRS is associated with Mysore, as is Mysuru Dasara. I might have visited KRS over a hundred times. But, my blog never had a dedicated post. The pictures are a potpourri from various visits to the Dam.

Entrance to the Dam :


The reservoir :

The island :


When the catchment area is full and all 101 gates open




Inviting it really is...



Info on Brindavan Gardens here.

PS : I am sure the present audience have got used to SLR photographs, but these ain't of those from SLR days, but old P&S days.

Wellington Art Gallery, Mysore

Last Dec while I was away from work for Christmas vacation, spending the remaining PLs at Mysore, I visited Wellington. Although I had heard and read about the gallery before, I was not sure of what it had for display.

But, it actually stood there as an amazing structure, with quite good collection from all over the country. Later I found out that even the Lonely Planet spoke about Wellington Gallery in Mysore, as 'must visit'.

Why Wellington House?

This is named after Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington who is said to have lived here when he was in political charge of Mysore from 1799 to 1801.


I remember seeing the Wellington House in London and even the Duke of Wellington square, and I have it mentioned in my London post too. Picked this photo from my London archive.


The Southern Regional Centre of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, works from this heritage building popularly known as ‘Wellington House’. This is a central government initiative to preserve tribal and folk art. The main branch is housed at Bhopal.

The ground floor houses the National Folk Art Museum run by the Central Government and the first floor houses the Art Museum run by our State government. It kept me awed for the next 5hr. That’s definitely a lot of time for a Museum of that size, but at the end I was happy to have seen and registered every display. Another reason was that it’s a Museum completely dedicated to Art.

National Museum

It houses every form, from every corner of the country. The mighty Himalayas, the richness of eastern states, the Pathachitra, Phat, Warli, Madhubani and even the Thangka. Clothing and housing styles, musical instrument and what nots. Adding to that was a very friendly and a knowledgeable Curator. Photography was however prohibited, and I however could still photograph the tribal art works displayed in the compound outside. And here they are….


Title : Ayyannar Kovil
Community : Velar
Region : Pudukottai, Tamilnadu


Title : Iron mural depicting Ghotul
Community : Lohar
Region : Bastar, Chhattisgarh


Title : Gond Painting
Community :Mandal
Region : Madhya Pradesh


Title : Bhil Painting
Community :Jhabua
Region : Madhya Pradesh


Title : Simgha Festival
Community :Warli
Region : Thane, Maharashtra


Title : King Sailesh
Community : Prajapati
Region : Dharbanga, Bihar


Title : Ramayan Katha
Community :Kumbhar
Region : Subarnpur, Orissa


If you closely observe, you can see that the roofing tiles are created to have various creatures. This would surely be a perfect roofing for a Gazebo. :-)

Title : Manasa Kalash
Community :Kumbhakar
Region : Bankura, West Bengal


Title : Gramadev
Community : Kumhar
Region : Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh


Title : Lillari Kothi
Community :Gond
Region : Mandla, Madhya Pradesh


Title : Chittara Art
Community : Sagar
Region : Shimoga, Karnataka


Title : Gramadev
Community : Kumhar
Region : Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh


Title : Mendka Bihav
Community : Kumhar
Region : Bastar, Chhattisgarh


Title : Lillari Kothi
Community : Gond
Region : Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Every work here was explained. The folk lore and folk art were pretty interesting. I was even gifted with an handbook. Seeing my interest and enthusiasm, the Curator took us to the workshop behind the Wellington House. It had some artists from around the country working on their creations. That was very pleasant indeed....It also has an attached shop where the artists creations were on sale. Since its direct-Artist-to-the-Customer, they are affordable, unique and definitely an appreciable initiative by the Government.

And then while I thanked the curator and decided to take leave, I was informed about the State Museum housed in the first floor.

Some bits about it….

# It does not have a Curator or even at least an informed person.

# Its dedicated to painting styles in Karnataka and specially Mysore Style Painting.

# It houses many works of artists from Mysore.

# A board at the entrance says, ‘Leave your footwear outside. You are entering a temple dedicated to Art’. You'll love the concept.

# Vishnu and Goddesses are more common in Mysore and Tanjore Style. But, here I saw some wonderful creation with Shiva as the Subject. They were definitely falling-in-love-stuff.

# Subhashini Devi a renowned artist from Mysore who lived in early 18th century has a good number of her works on display. As an artist evolve he/she is bound to create a style of their own. And its almost impossible to ape them.

Oil painting, Graphite, Charcoal and Mysore style. I was always jumping around and running around from one room to another. Photography is again prohibited here. I really have plans to observe, learn and reproduce some of them.

Recent update….

While I recently visited the place with another friend of mine (I wanted to show her what we had missed all these day being Mysoreans), I bumped into a team of tourists from Europe. They had tons of questions, while the people in the Museum were ignorant and did not even know basic English. And I were there to explain them every style and answer every question. After an interesting discussion, they profoundly thanked me and made an exit, while another family from Germany entered and I repeated, also exercising the residual Deutsch which I still remember.

But, its fascinating to know that tourists are aware and come in search of this place in Mysore and they know quite a lot about these styles, but disheartening that fellow Indian/Mysorean here isn’t aware of any of these. After this the authorities there invited me to drop-in anytime leisurely to sketch any work which interests me, since Photography is prohibited. You might see some amazing works at my Art blog soon. :-)