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 [View with PicLens] 1234…91011► We left the quite village of Shiyong making a day trip into Mon town to view the official Aoling celebration, a program of traditional dance organized by the district government. While not as intimate as the village celebrations, the mass of dancers made for good photography, and we as [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…678► Fresh off the Meitei festival of Yaoshang, in Imphal, I headed further northeast to my friend Phejin’s village of Shiyong in Nagaland, to partake in another festival, the Konyak festival of Aoling. Being so close, a relative term in India given that it took a day and a half [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234567► Halangkar concludes with a dance by the young women from the locality around the Bejoy Govinda Temple. Dressed in hooded white dresses speckled with pink dye, hiding their faces, they traditionally perform the last dance of the festival. After which the idols of the Bejoy Govinda and Sri Govindjee [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…789► The festival of Yaoshang (Holi) in Imphal ends spectacularly with Halangkar. While the opening day festivities are held at the Sri Govindjee temple, the final days events take place at an open field adjacent to the Bejoy Govinda Temple. The idols from both the Sri Govindjee and the Bejoy [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…678► The days of Yaoshang are a festive time in Imphal. The entire city is caught up in the celebration. Young girls man ropes across the streets demanding a small “tax” to pass, while marauding groups of young boys and teenagers roam the streets armed with water balloons, buckets, and [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…678► From all across the Imphal valley buses, cars, minivans, and trucks carry men and women to the Sri Govindaji Temple on the first full day of Yaoshang (Holi as celebrated by the Meiteis). Clad in their traditional attire carrying drums and banners they dance in the hall opposite the [...]  [View with PicLens] 123► During the fist day of Yaoshang the streets of Imphal fill with runners (and walkers) of all ages. Each locality of the city begins there Yaoshang sports festival with a torch lighting ceremony. The fire is brought in a running procession through the streets from either the Kangla (the [...]  [View with PicLens] 12345► The Indian spring holiday of Holi is kind of a big deal in Imphal. Unlike elsewhere in the hills of the Northeast India where the tribal communities are mostly Christian, the Meiteis of the Imphal valley are Hindu and celebrate the spring holiday of Holi, know locally as Yaoshang, [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234567► I had connected with a fellow Moorpark-ian, Gene, who was now an ex-pat teaching at an international school in Delhi. In a “small world” encounter, he had been at Moorpark High the same time as me (though a year ahead), later he took a class on South Asian history [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234► Before the long journey back to Delhi, I stuck around in Shiyong to see the inauguration of a new community center built with the help of the Assam Rifles, unit of the Indian Army. Anxious to boost their image in the region the Assam Rifles had built the community [...] 7/24/2010 to 7/28/2010 | Himachal Pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 12345► I’ve been through Manali often but I’ve never spent much time in the place. I’m usually on my way up to Ladakh or Spiti anxious to reach my destination. Malali has never really attracted me much though it’s a very popular destination for both Indian tourists and western backpackers. [...] 3/17/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234…678► As I walked along side one of the channels of the Ganges that ran through the camps on the Eastern edge of Haridwar I noticed a small group of Sadhus gathered by the river. Some were chanting others just stood watching. I would find out after the small crowd [...] 3/17/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 123456► A stream a Sadhus passed by me as I sat resting in the afternoon sun, immediately curious as to where all these holy men were headed, I jumped to my feet and followed. It turned out I had stumbled upon a lunch that was being put on for a [...] 3/16/2010 to 3/17/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234…111213► The wide flood plain that harbors several channels of the Ganges on the eastern edge of Haridwar sprouts into a tent city during the Kumbh Mela. Temporary Ashrams, Naga Sadhu camps, and tented accommodation for pilgrims from various states cover the barren plains in a patchwork of canvas and [...] 3/16/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234► Hari Ki Pauri is believed to be the point at which Ganges leaves the mountains and enterers the plains of India. It is the most revered site in Haridwar believed by Hindus to have been visited by both Siva and Vishnu. While this revered ghat was closed to all [...] 3/15/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234…789► Until March 15, 2010 in Haridwar, despite having been to Varanasi and other sacred cities on the Ganga (Ganges) numerous times the extent of my contact with the river had been limited to washing my hands in the icy cold waters at Gomukh, the point at which the Ganges [...] 3/15/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 123456► Somavati Amavasya occurs when a new moon falls on a Monday. On this auspiciousness day Hindus believe that a dip in a holy river will have especially good karmic results. During a Kumbh Mela this auspiciousness is amplified. The stream of Sadhus toward Hari Ki Pauri Ghat inching toward [...] 3/12/2010 to 3/15/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234…121314► (warning nudity -not the good kind) Sadhus, Hindu holy men, are a fixture amidst the holy cities and temples of India. Normally wondering the road between holy sites or meditating in caves up in the Himalayas, once every 3-4 years they converge on the site of the Kumbh Mela. [...] 3/12/2010 to 3/15/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 1234…789► As the Second Royal Bath (Somvati Amavasya – Dvitya Shahi Snan) approached, the banks of the holy Ganga(Ganges) at Haridwar steadily filled with pilgrims. In the mornings the pilgrims who had descended on Haridwar from across India would flock to the ghats, taking their morning bath in the holy [...] 3/12/2010 | India , Uttarakhand  [View with PicLens] 123456► From Nasik I would continue my festival hopping heading North via Delhi to the mother of all Indian festivals, the Kumbh Mela, which was taking place in Haridwar. Billed as the worlds largest religious gathering the Kumbh Mela is a bathing festival that rotates between 4 sites, Haridwar, Allahabad, [...] 3/5/2010 | India , Maharastra  [View with PicLens] 1234…141516► I put on my already color stained hole ridden shirt which I had worn for the Holi celebration in Hyderabad. I had saved this item that might ordinarily gone straight to the trash can for this particular day. I placed my camera inside my dry bag backpack securing the [...] | India , Maharastra  [View with PicLens] 123456► As I arrived in Nasik (Nashik) it was apparent there was something going on. There were statues set up on nearly every street corner and music was blaring at a volume that surpassed the speakers’ ability to render an undistorted sound in typical the louder the better Indian esthetic. [...] 2/28/2010 to 3/1/2010 | Andhra pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 123► I had decided to stick around Hyderabad for Holi, while not the most exuberant place to celebrate Holi, I would get a chance to attend the Indian School of Business (ISB)’s Holi party with my friend Sunny. It was being held the day before Holi since classes were being [...] 2/27/2010 | Andhra pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 1234…101112► The following morning I returned to the Charminar area for the procession I had been told about the night before. More and more people flooded in to the area opposite the Jamma Masjid on the street leading North to the Charminar. Some colored there faces with green sparkling paint, [...] 2/26/2010 | Andhra pradesh , India  [View with PicLens] 1234► We went down to the Charminar, the iconic center of Hyderabad’s Islamic old city center, on the eve of Malid un Nabi the day Muslims celebrate the birthday of the prophet Mohammad. It was a festive atmosphere as people stood along the streets waving flags and dancing, while others [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234567► For weeks leading up to this day the massive wood cart parked at the end of Car Street in Gokarna had slowly metamorphosed into its present ornate configuration. Teams of laborers had constructed an elaborate canopy on the massive wood wheeled platform decorated with splendor fitting enough for the [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…111213► With the arrival of Shivarati pilgrims poured into the sleepy sea side town of Gokarna. In addition to these pilgrims who blanketed the town beach in lingams out of sand and waited in lines that wound around the town for a chance to enter the temple on this auspicious [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…8910► A couple of the members of our group had made a promise to visit and perform a puja at the temple of Ambaji in Northern Gujarat, about an hour drive from Abu Road where we stayed the night. I decided to join them on their early morning pilgrimage, while [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…91011► I spent a particularly uneventful, Christmas eve and morning on a night train to the Gujarati city of Baroda (renamed Vadodara), where I was meeting Vinay, a friend of mine from the states of Gujarati descent. Vinay’s family is from the nearby village of Bhadran, an origin which would [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…789► We had arrived in Korzok for the annual monastic festival held at the local gompa. Another Tibeatan monastic festival with the requisite Cham dances, trumpets and drums. While the Cham masks were not as spectacular as others I’d seen, the main interest for me were the locals who flocked [...]  [View with PicLens] 123456► The next morning we gave our legs a break and took a bus from Shang Sumdo to Hemis. The monastic festival of Hemis is the largest and most well known of the many monastic festivals that take place throughout Ladakh and Zanskar. Its fame, proximity to Leh, and timing [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…101112► May and I left Shiyong, leaving Phejin to recover from her busy week preparing for and coordinating the television shoot, for Shillong the capital of the state of Meghalaya sandwiched in the hills between Assam to the north and Bangladesh to the south. We stayed with Phejin’s sisters who [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…141516► I hopped on the Northeast express at Mughal Serai station just south of Varanasi for the long hall to Guwahati, very long, considering the train was 6 hours late by the time it reached Mughal Surai and it only lost more time after that. I was headed back to [...] 3/10/2009 to 3/13/2009 | India , Uttar Pradesh 
 [View with PicLens] 1234…789► legacy gallery with captions I was back in Delhi to take care of a laundry list of tasks that required my presence in the confines of the capital. I needed a new laptop thanks to the Goan cook relieving me previous one in Leh, I needed to clean my [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…8910► Shortly after I arrived in Ladakh, the festival at the Monastery of Hemis was scheduled to take place. Probably among the most touristy of the monastic Cham dance (traditional Tibetan masked dances) festivals in Ladakh, due to its proximity to Leh and the fact that it takes place in [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…789► There has been more than a few times when I’ve arrived in a town and after a quick look around thought to myself what am I going to do here for the rest of the day, yet on each occasion that thought as crossed my mind something invariably arises [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…8910► My initial experience with the art of Theyyam enthralled me to the point where I was anxious to seek out more of this captivating ritual art form. I returned to the Kannur District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) office that had been so helpful in leading me to the first [...]  [View with PicLens] 12345► Getting to Kannur, a city in northern Kerala along India’s southwest coast should have been the easy part. But as I arrived at the Mangalore state run bus stand I was told the same thing I was told at the private bus stand, “no bus to Kerala, strike.” My [...]  [View with PicLens] 1234…678► Udupi is a pilgrim town near the coast in southern Karnataka. It is also the birthplace of the masala dosa, a tasty south Indian snack/meal consisting of spiced potatoes wrapped in a rice flour pancake served with chutneys. It as close as India comes to a breakfast burrito, which [...]  [View with PicLens] 123456► Bijapur, the last in my three city tour of central India’s former Islamic kingdom capitals, was the capital of the Adil Shani kings from 1489 to 1686 AD. Bijapur became one of the major centers of power in the region after the disintegration of the Bahmani Empire centered at [...]  [View with PicLens] 123► The Bundi festival extended to a few neighboring towns. The Rajastani tourist office in Bundhi was using the festival as an occasion to try to develop the tourist industry in these towns by organizing a free bus tour. I went along with 8 other tourists to town of Kasherai [...]  [View with PicLens] 123► Images from the Deepans (ghee lamps) that took place around the town.  [View with PicLens] 1234…789► There were far fewer western tourists at the festival in Bundi than at the more famous Pushkar fair. The relatively small number of tourist meant that the 20 or so foreign tourists who were there were given the “royal” treatment. On the first day of the festival there was [...]  [View with PicLens] 12345► After leaving Pushkar, with the rest of the crowds at the conclusion of the fair, I spent a half day in Ajmer before heading on to the town of Bundi. Ajmer is a Muslim pilgrimage town, the site of the tomb of an important Sufi saint. For me it [...]  [View with PicLens] 123► Desert sunsets are always nice; add some camels, and it’s hard to put the camera down. Here are few of my sunset pictures from Pushkar.  [View with PicLens] 12345►  [View with PicLens] 1234567► In addition to the camel trading there were a number of cultural programs and events for tourists as well as locals. Among the most photograph friendly events (basically because they took place during the day) were the “spiritual walk,” (essentially a parade consisting of carts, dancers, musicians, and, of [...]  [View with PicLens] 123456► It’s a long way from the mountains of Nepal to the deserts of Rajastan in western India. That distance feels quite a bit further when you are riding on an 8 hour bus from Kathmandu to the border having just come down with a case of diarrhea. I was [...]  [View with PicLens] 123► From the small Tibetan town of Langmusi seven of us from the hostel I was staying at headed over to the nearby town of Maqu for another horse racing festival. Unlike the races at Litang and Yushu, they had a circular 1 km long track at Maqu. There was [...] | ||||
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