Gateway of India

Gateway of India, originally uploaded by Amar Raavi.

I have heard how vibrant, lively and fast-paced Bombay was, but never got a chance to visit the busiest city of India. Finally, i made up my mind to visit a friend of mine, Arun and stayed in the city for couple of days. It was mere luck that it didn’t rain the day we planned to drive around Bombay and visit couple of places. One among them was Gateway of India. Constructed in the year 1924, Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay in December 1911.

Oh man! Gateway of India is definitely one of the busiest monuments i ever saw. After going through the security checks (much needed these days), tried to take few photographs but the place was so busy that, i couldn’t get a decent picture with out people moving right in front of the camera. I was trying all crazy shots standing, sitting and sleeping on the floor. Don’t even think about setting up a tripod there. Either people will run over it or Police will run over you

Thanks to the rain gods, this puddle saved my day. At least i could get one photograph worth posting here.

Lamb’s Rock

Lamb’s Rock, originally uploaded by Amar Raavi.

I think Lamb’s Rock is one of the best view points in and around Ooty. 8 km drive from Coonoor through winding roads and lush green tea plantations takes you to this amazing place. It is named after Captain Lamb who made earnest attempts to open a path to the place. That guy definitely need credits.

It was around 4 PM by the time we reached there, but couldn’t spend time till sunset, even though the view was getting better as the light started diminishing. Had to hurry back to Bangalore, as one of the roads passing through Madhumalai/Bandipur National Park is going to be closed for the night.

Gokak Falls

Gokak Falls, originally uploaded by Amar Raavi.

Yes. You can call it Niagara falls of India, but on a smaller scale. After a long winding course, the Ghataprabha river takes a leap of 170 feet over the sand-stone cliff amidst a picturesque gorge of the rugged valley forming Gokak Falls.

I visited this falls almost 8 months ago when the river was almost dry and couldn’t get any pictures worth posting but i was lucky this time.

Gokak falls is located 535 km northwest of Bangalore in Belgaum District, Karnataka.

Sunflower(s)

Sunflower(s), originally uploaded by Amar Raavi.

Another shot at photographing Sunflowers! On the way to H.G. Hills, stopped at this sunflower farm to take some landscape shots. But how can i resist the beauty of Sunflowers? Got another chance to try out the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 lens. Definitely i am liking this lens better than standard 50 mm because i don’t have to move away from the subject and IS is an added advantage.

Bharachukki Falls

Bharachukki Falls, originally uploaded by Amar Raavi.

Eastern branch of the Kaveri forms this segmented waterfalls named Bharachukki, located 10 km east of Gaganachukki falls. It is spectacular to view the water plunging from a height of nearly 300 feet with a width of nearly a kilometer. It was too windy and had to hold my breath to get a long exposure shot. After multiple tries i could get something satisfactory if not excellent. BTW this is just the middle segment of Bharachukki Falls and you can partially see the left segment.

I still remember the coracle ride i had last time and if you want to really explore this falls, don’t miss the coracle ride. Be safe with the camera though!

Shivanasumudram falls, also known as Bluff is located 125 km southwest of Bangalore off NH 209.

Gaganachukki Falls

Gaganachukki Falls, originally uploaded by Amar Raavi.

Photographed is the right segment of the Gaganachukki falls at Sivanasamudram. Gaganachukki is a segmented waterfalls with multiple streams of water with an average plunge of 300 feet. There are couple of view points and this view is from the Durgah located on the east side of falls.

Sivanasamudram is located 125 km southwest of Bangalore on NH 209.

First Stop

First Stop, originally uploaded by Amar Raavi.

This dead tree in the fields prompted me to make the first stop on the way to Ooty. Even though i couldn’t get a better composition, it was nice playing around with the new Canon 17-55 mm f/2.8 (costliest lens i have owned so far). Blue skies, Sunflower farms with a backdrop of Himavad Gopalaswamy Hills offered relaxation to eyes after a sleepless night. Expect few more photos from the trip this week

25000

25000, originally uploaded by Amar Raavi.

Day or Night, Rain or Shine, Smooth or Rough ride, it was with me all the time since November 2010. That is Hyundai i10, the first car i have ever owned. Even though i gave so many troubles to it, it never gave up on me (at least until now).

It all started when Binish and myself decided to go on a bike ride to Kemmangundi, 250 km west of Bangalore in October, 2010. The troubles started with rear view mirror flying off when i started riding the bike at 120 km/hr. The ride was pretty rough for almost 30 km from the base to the hill top mixed with drizzling rain. Then there was no accommodation available at the hotel up top and we had drive to nearest town about 60 km away, through hilly terrain in heavy rain. After waking up in the morning, one more disappointment. Found that the camera LCD broke. After fixing the bike (all the parts of bike were about to fall off), we visited Mullyanagiri (highest peak in Karnataka) and headed back to Bangalore without even knowing how the photographs turned out. When we were 100 km away from Bangalore, again rain gods blessed us with heavy rain and got stranded at a roadside dhaba (restaurant) for 3 hours in the middle of the night. I will never forget, how painful the whole trip was.

But it was that trip, which gave birth to this car. Very next week i bought the car and ever since i have made many wonderful and memorable road trips minus the pain . As per the Odometer reading on Sunday, i have completed 25000 km of driving and i know it is an awful lot of driving in 8 months. Why not a small thanks to this friend of mine on this occasion!

Lepakshi Ganesha

Lepakshi Ganesha, originally uploaded by Amar Raavi.

One of the major attraction of Veerabhadra temple at Lepakshi is the this giant monolithic Ganesha carved in to the side of the boulder. A separate mandapam (Canopy) with sculpted pillars enclosing the idol is a typical Vijayanagar style of art. Similar sculptures can be found at Hampi which are huge and amazing. So, if you want any monolithic sculptures out of boulders, call Vijayanagara folks

Lepakshi is located 120 km north of Bangalore in Ananthapur District, Andhra Pradesh.

Lepakshi Nandi

Lepakshi Nandi, originally uploaded by Amar Raavi.

Located 120 km north of Bangalore, Lepakshi is known for this biggest monolithic bull aka Nandi. Carved out of a single stone, 15 feet in height and 27 feet in length, this bull dates back to Vijayanagar Empire (14-16th century AD) facing the Veerabhada temple. This bull is currently under the supervision of Archaeological Survey of India.

The ride from Bangalore was pretty much smooth, except for few stretches on the district road leading to Lepakshi.

Via Flickr:
Located 120 km north of Bangalore, Lepakshi is known for this biggest monolithic bull aka Nandi. Carved out of a single stone, 15 feet in height and 27 feet in length, this bull dates back to Vijayanagar Empire (14-16th century AD) facing the Veerabhada temple. This bull is currently under the supervision of Archaeological Survey of India.

The ride from Bangalore was pretty much smooth, except for few stretches on the district road leading to Lepakshi.