https://youtu.be/xbF5xuXCyog In a previous blog post I had written disapprovingly about attending a Gita Jayanti celebration and coming back without hearing a single sloka of Bhagavat Gita but with a stomach full of food. I liked the food though. In many temples like the one I have mentioned about, elaborate dishes are prepared only on … Continue reading One can travel for food to these Odisha temples
Category: Travels
sounds interesting
This week's Indispire prompt of Indiblogger is unique in the sense that usually you know a place is interesting or not after visiting it. You know whether food is tasty or not only after you have tasted it. But the prompt asks you to write about an interesting place you are yet to visit. An … Continue reading sounds interesting
watchings of idle hours #10 : cities of gods
When it comes to what to watch on even specialised topics, these days we have problems of plenty. Apart from the fares available on paid subscribed TV channels, youtube and other free apps have opened the flood gates of professional and amateur videos. In watchings of idle hours #4, I have shared selected documentaries about … Continue reading watchings of idle hours #10 : cities of gods
watchings of idle hours #9 : lure of mountains
Only three centuries ago, climbing a mountain would have been considered close to lunacy. The idea scarcely existed that wild landscapes might hold any sort of attraction. Peaks were places of peril, not beauty. - Mountain (2017) My fascination for mountains goes back to my child hood days. I was born in a village flanked … Continue reading watchings of idle hours #9 : lure of mountains
watchings of idle hours #8 : shades of tourism
Dark tourism, dark side of tourism, and the age of selfie tourism What would it be like to visit a museum that displays Nazi era lampshades made of human skin? How does it feel to swim in a lake created as a result of nuclear tests by the Soviets in Kazakhstan? Will your body and … Continue reading watchings of idle hours #8 : shades of tourism
watchings of idle hours #7 : in convalescence
Tourism in Bhutan, a freak accident, and the flower pots in our balcony Bhutan seems to have woken up to the reality of over-tourism without suffering the wisdom of hindsight. Its policy of charging $250 per day for foreign tourists (excluding Indian, Bangladeshi and Maldivian nationals) is a big put off for the budget adventurers. … Continue reading watchings of idle hours #7 : in convalescence
a meal to remember … and the journey
During High School days, I was an active member of the National Cadet Corps (Army Wing). When volunteers were asked for to attend the annual NCC camp of 1982 to be held at the HAL town of Sunabeda near Koraput, I was one of the first batch of students to register. Early one morning I … Continue reading a meal to remember … and the journey
Amarnath yatra : down memory lane (Part-3)
Amarnath Yatra : down memory lane (Part-1) This year, the form has become formless. But the priest insists we bow. After a glimpse of the void we retrace our path back to the tenth ox. The story of the tenth ox is like this. Some Japanese Buddhist traditions use a series of ten pictures … Continue reading Amarnath yatra : down memory lane (Part-3)
Amarnath yatra : down memory lane (Part-2)
Continued from Part-1 The feeling of non dual consciousnessbecomes a reality as twenty of us huddle together inside a small tent.Some have taken off to their abode of blisswith a fleet of noisy engines waking up every one but themselves - a journey of awakening. Apart from paying to the Pithoo, the other expenses we … Continue reading Amarnath yatra : down memory lane (Part-2)
Amarnath yatra: down memory lane (Part-1)
As I read about the hype created by self styled seculars and unapologetic Islamic leaders about the massive security arrangements done for this year's Amarnath Yatra I am reminded of my own undertaken twenty years back. I was able to undertake this trip thanks to my posting in an Indian Air Force base in Jammu … Continue reading Amarnath yatra: down memory lane (Part-1)