Ladakh: Khardung La and Beyond

Khardung La is world's highest motorable pass situated 40 kms from Leh. One has to pass through this road for getting towards Nubra Valley. It's very strategic pass for Indian army in order to supply essential items to Siachen glacier. 

Ladakh: Leh and Around

This is a photo-essay from part of my memorable trip to Ladakh last year. Also read about summary about trip at Ladakh Trip: Summary and Retrospect

Places Covered which we covered in Leh and around

• Shanthi Stupa
• Leh Palace
• Hemis Monastery 
• Sindhu Ghat
• Stok Palace
• Sangam: Indus and Zanskar
• Magnetic Hill
• Gurudwara Sri Pathar Sahib

Kannada KBC Blog

Kaun Banega Crorepati has now headed to South India with launch regional versions in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.  The Kannada version of the show which started two weeks back is being hosted by leading actor from sandalwood Puneet Rajkumar. My initial reaction was not enthusiastic as it would be repeat of the Hindi version. But  to my surprise the game is loaded with lot of questions related to Karnataka and Kannada which has made it very different from the Hindi version.

Along with my blogging buddy Raveesh, I am involved in a dedicated blog for the game show where all the questions are being archived episode wise. Apart from the actual questions, we will posting set of 15 practice questions every week which will be handy reference for people who will be preparing for the game show. Please visit kannadakbc.blogspot.in and provide your valuable feedback.

Also, read my old post Callback from KBC one of my attempt for getting to the hot seat of Hindi version :)

Photowalk: Halasuru Someshwara Temple

Halasuru/Ulsoor is one of oldest localities which was established by Britishers for migrants from Tamil Nadu who used to support the cantonment in 1800s. Jackfruits (Halasina Hannu in Kannada) were integral part of everyday life hence the name Halasuru which was later anglicized to Ulsoor.

On 17th March 2012, as part of Bangalore Photowalk we organized a location based photowalk at Ulsoor and the meeting point was the famous Someshwara Temple. The temple which is one of the oldes in Bangalore was constructed in 1200 A.D. by Cholas. Later, in 1500s it was extended with a Gopuram in Vijayanagara style by Kempegowda I and II. The temple has two dwaja stambhas and the outer walls of the main temple have detailed carvings of Nava Nathas and Girija Kalyana.

Next to main entrance of the temple there's a Kalyani which was recently excavated by authorities as part of restoration work. It's believed that due outbreak of plague in 1898 Britishers had closed to the Kalyani to check the spread of epidemics.

Inside the temple preparations for upcoming Halasuru Pallaki Utsava were happening in full swing. For this festival a car decorated with jasmine buds worth 5 lakhs is taken around the locality.

Inside the temple apart from the architecture one will be awestrucked by two tall cannon ball trees (Linga Pushpa in Kannada) and the sweet fragrance of its flowers.

Further References:

• Citizen Matters: The land of Halasina Hannu
• IBN Live: Rich in tradition and culture

Rigzin: Soul of our Ladakh Trip

It's time of the year when many of you would have started planning for Ladakh Trip. Not to mention we went through the same phase last year. After preparing a draft itinerary and booking flight tickets our subsequent task to finalize the transportation inside Ladakh ?  Ravi digged out a reference of a person by name Rigzin(Regzin). An ex-army man who now makes his living by taking tourist around Ladakh in his Mahindra Scorpio.

Royal Walk in Mysore City

For long time there was demand in our Bangalore Photowalk group to organize a photowalk outside Bangalore city. After sufficient brainstorming we decided to start our initiative with a photowalk in Mysore City. In order to make the experience different from typical college/family trips, we decided to conduct the walk in association with Royal Mysore Walks.