Monday, March 29, 2010

INDIA TRIP - RAMESWARAM - TAMILNADU


I went to Rameswaram last month for one week trip. Rameswaram is a town in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is considered to be one of the holiest places in India. It is situated in the Gulf of Mannar at the very tip of the Indian peninsula. According to legend, this is the place from where Lord Rama built a bridge Ram Setu (also known as Adam's Bridge) across the sea to Lanka to rescue his consort Sita from her abductor Ravana.


Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu, India) is an island port about 2 km from mainland India. The Pamban Bridge links Rameswaram island with mainland India. It refers to both: a road bridge and a cantilever railway bridge. Small boats would go below the 2065m long road bridge and the railway bridge would open up.


The masterpiece of South Indian architecture boasts of the largest temple corridor in India. Different rulers built the Ramanathaswamy Temple over a period of time starting from the twelfth century. The temple comprises twenty two wells where the taste of the water of each well is different from the other.


The grandest part of the temple is the 1219 m pillared corridor consisting of 3.6 m high granite pillars, richly carved and well proportioned. The perspective presented by these pillars run uninterruptedly to a length of nearly 230 m.

In Rameswaram Temple, a spiritual "Mani Darisanam" happens in early morning everyday
. This "Mani" is made of "spatikam"(a precious stone) and in form of "Holy shivling" according to ved this is "Mani" of "sheshnag".


The Ramanatha Swamy Temple occupies major area of Rameshwaram. The island is connected to mainland India by the Pamban Bridge.

Ex-president of India, Dr
. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, hails from a fishing hamlet called Dhanushkodi situated on this island. It was a wonderful experience to see Dr. Kalam’s house.


The beach of Rameswaram is famous for its beautiful sea featured with no waves at all. The sea waves rise to a maximum height of 3 cm and the view looks like a very big river.


Adam's Bridge also known as Rama's Bridge or Rama Setu is a chain of limestone shoals, between the islands of Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar, near northwestern Sri Lanka. The bridge is 30 miles (48 km) long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (southwest) from the Palk Strait (northeast).

Adam's Bridge starts as chain of shoals from the Dhanuskodi tip of India's Rameswaram Island and ends at Sri Lanka's Mannar Island. Rameswaram Island is connected to the Indian mainland by 3 km long Pamban Bridge.


The charming beauty of the sea and its cooling breeze has made the place very special. I enjoyed very much at Rameswaram and shall try to visit again.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

HUNTING KINGFISHER



























































































































































































































































































































Sunday, March 21, 2010

ISN'T IT MAGNIFICENT????

This picture was done with one pen stroke. It starts at the tip of the nose and ends at the bottom.


Tuesday, March 16, 2010

EXTREME BALANCE STUNTS










































































































































































































































































































































Thursday, March 11, 2010

DILLIE THE DEER - AMAZING

Dillie the deer acts just like a house-trained dog as she walks up the stairs and lounges around on her owner's bed.

Living with vet Melanie Butera, in Canal Fulton, Ohio, four-year-old Dillie is so spoiled she is served linguine in bed.

She has even managed to work out where a deer that lives in a house should go to do her business...aSh...



House trained: Dillie the deer polishes off a plate of linguine in her owners' master bedroom

Taking full advantage of Melanie and her husband Steve's generous hospitality, Dillie even gets to enjoy their swimming pool and five acres of property on which to run around on.

Living with the Buteras since she was three days old, Dillie now knows how to turn lights on and off and how to take ice from the dispenser in the fridge.

'We took a call from a local farmer at 3 am one wintry night,' said Melanie, 48. 'Dillie's mother was not taking to her and he asked if we wanted to try to nurse her back to health.

We put her on an IV drip because she weighed four pounds and got her back up and running after around two weeks.

We then realised that she couldn't go back to the farm and live with the other deer and she couldn't live with our horses because they scared her too much.



Deer's best friend: Dillie plays around with Lady, the dog of the house

Leaving her in the capable hands of her eight-year-old poodle Lady, Melanie decided that Dillie was going to become the Butera household's latest pet.

'She developed cataracts and this meant that she had to be cared for in a sensitive manner,' explained Melanie.

She would hang around Lady and she very quickly learned to act like a dog.

This became apparent to us when we came home one day and couldn't find her downstairs.

We walked upstairs and found her standing on our bed with Lady. She had obviously learned a few tricks from the old dog.



Family: Dr Melanie Butera and her husband Steve Heathman share their bed in their home in Canal Fulton, Ohio, with Dillie and Lady

Dillie slept for the first few years at the Buteras' home in their bed with Lady.

'I suppose it was quite a cute get together, said Melanie. 'Me, my husband, Dillie and Lady all sharing the same bed.

My husband Steve always liked the way that Dillie would warm his feet up when she lied on them.

Fully house-trained, Dillie now wears a GPS collar due to a frightening runaway incident last year.

'She went missing because a gate was left open on our property when she was out roaming,' said Melanie.

So we got this collar fitted to her to keep our minds at ease.

Enjoying a wide variety of meals, Dillie's favourite is ice cream and coffee, topped with frozen ice shavings.



Stairway to heaven: Dillie has the run of the house, and has even learned how to use the toilet.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

WONDERFUL HINDU TEMPLES OUTSIDE INDIA

Lord Venkateshwara Temple, Birmingham, United Kingdom


Malibu Hindu Temple, Malibu, California,US


Shiva-Vishnu Temple, Livermore, California,US


Lord Vishnu Temple, Angkor, Cambodia


The largest temple of the world, raised during the reign of Suryavarman-II in 12th century, is, in fact, located in Angkor, a major archaeological site of Cambodia. It is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is also one of the two temples intact in Angkor, Cambodia. The other is a Buddhist Temple. The largest temple of Lord Vishnu in Angkor is built according to Khmer architecture, original to Cambodia.

Prambanan Shiva Temple, Central Java, Indonesia



Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple of Greater Chicago - Aurora, Illinois, United States


BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir - Toronto, Canada


Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, Washington DC, United States


BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London (Neasden Temple), United States


Sri Murugan Temple, Penang, Malaysia



Sri Venkateswara Temple, Bridgewater, NJ, US



Mother Temple of Besakih, Bali, Indonesia



Murugan Temple, Sydney, Australia



Venkateswara Swami temple, Riverdale near Atlanta, Georgia, US



Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple, Helensburgh, Sydney, Australia


Velmurugan Gnana Muneeswarar Temple, Rivervale Crescent Sengkang,Singapore


Sri Meenakshi Devasthanam - Pearland, Texas, US


Ekta Mandir, Irving, Texas, US



Sri Venkateshwara Temple - New Jersey, US



Sri Lakshmi Temple - Ashland, MA, US



Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple, Pittsburgh, US


Shiva Vishnu Temple of South Florida Inc, FL, US


Shiva - Vishnu Temple of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia


Sri Murugan Temple, London, UK



Quad City Hindu Temple , Rock Island, IL, US


Sri Prasanna Venkateswara Swami Temple, Memphis, Tennessee, US


Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, Singapore