Thursday, December 25, 2008

The Past Week In Pictures

It's been a busy month and I had to go away again this past week. A rite of passage necessitated us going on a short trip, which is the fodder for this post.

Until I see you again, Season's Greetings and a Happy New Year!


The Gangireddu, one of the heralds of the harvest festival Sankranti, came home just as we were preparing to leave. This bullock is trained to do a variety of things: nod its head (affirming its master's praises of the people whose homes it visits), kneel, bow and dance to the tune of the nadaswaram. Money, old clothes and rice are donated.

Everyone started clicking, and his master expected as many contributions, not convinced when we told him it was all the same family, so many cameras and so many people springing up from all corners of the house!


Amaravathi, once a Buddhist centre, is on the banks of the Krishna in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. This huge Buddha was begun to be built for the Kalachakra some time ago. Remember the 'snakes' photo I put up a while ago? That was taken by Dad during Kalachakra. Amaravathi also houses a famous and ancient Siva temple which I have visited several times. It's the stuff of many school excursions (read close, convenient, inexpensive).


In the complex that houses the giant Buddha, this sight of a profusion of Buddhas greeted us at the rear, almost as if they had sprung up from the soil.


As we went down the steps to the bathing ghat, we saw this image lying in solitary splendour. Though broken, it seems to be worshipped regularly.


The Krishna river at Amaravathi.


Disembarking from a boat. The boats are also called launches. This is one of the less popular forms of transport nowadays - people use them to cross the river to get to villages on the other side of the Krishna.


Flowers at home. We often see these flowers growing wild or used to border large plots of land. Does anyone know what they are called?

41 comments:

  1. Lovely photographs and awesome write-up, Sra! So perfect for a morning read.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sra, nice pics, remember seeing those flowers growing wild next to the railway tracks.Happy Holidays !!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Someone once told me that the flower belonged to the laburnum family. Some people use it for puja. We have it at home and use it for puja when other flowers are not available.:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sra,
    happy Christmas!
    pics are real fab and the budha statue is awesome...Do these sites are maintained well, I mean do tourists visit them often ?
    It needs great care to preserve our rich heritage...
    Thanks for sharing such awesome pics..
    hugs and smiles

    ReplyDelete
  5. Caesalpinia pulcherrima

    Wow... my three years of botany came in handy somewhere!! Mainly the Univ second higest in Taxonomy!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. hey sra
    nice memoribilias..loved the pictures.
    I would also like to wish you Merry Christmas and wonderful ushering into new year 2009.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Holidays! The Budha statue is really stunning...Great pictures..

    ReplyDelete
  8. Happy new year to you and yours, Sra! Lovely pictures - I especially like the first 2, the colorful bull and the amazing Buddha statue! Is Buddhism prevalent in the parts of Andhra you talk about?

    Mamatha

    ReplyDelete
  9. Seems like you had a merry time! That river was so inviting and I am feeling like getting a dip right now! Enjoy your time and Wishing you and your family and Prospoerous New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  10. while we lived in hybd, every morning I used to hear the gangireddhu coming. nice pics to refresh the nice moments spent while in Andhra. truly miss them!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sheetal, thanks. I wish I'd got more.
    Sreelu, yes, I've seen them there too. Happy hols to you as well.
    Vidya, oh, ok. I'll have to look up laburnum family now.
    Jaya, these are mostly visited by local tourists, I think, from nearby places. The Buddha statue is unfinished, it's only two years old, but the bathing ghat stinks.
    Raaga, wow!
    Anamika, thank you, happy new year to you too!
    Cham, it's a cement statue, I think. It was supposed to be ready two years ago, still isn't.
    Mamatha, yeah, even I liked the first two myself. No, Buddhism is not prevalent now, but it used to be a centre for Buddhism and Buddhist learning. There's a stupa and a museum there as well.
    Ni, that river stank, and the environs stank of drainage. It was awful!
    Sharmi, yeah, that day we were up early, otherwise we'd have missed all that.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for sharing wonderful pictures dear Sra! Happy Holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love your photos! Thanks for the tour.

    Season's Greetings!

    Paz

    ReplyDelete
  14. That was an interesting post, Sra

    Season's greetings!

    Shn

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nice post with the earthy feeling of back home :) Happy holidays, dear!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Uma, thank you, glad you enjoyed them.
    Cynic, hi, season's greetings to you too!
    Paz, thanks - we commented on each other's blogs at the same time!!!
    Shn, happy new year to you too!
    Pragyan, thanks, wish you the same!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Seasons greetings and a very hapy new year, Sra!Looks like u are relaxing.:)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Lovely pics! gr8 writing!
    Wish you a happy new year! May all your dreams come true.

    cheers
    Vij

    ReplyDelete
  19. Nice captures Sra,lovely write up too,and Wishing you and your family a very happy and fun filled,warm and FOOD FILLED Happy New Year:-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I see what you mean, Sra.
    We call thethat bullock "Appankaalai" back home.
    And I know those flowers as Pride of Barbados.:)

    Best wishes for a Happy New Year.

    ReplyDelete
  21. You've been travelling a lot lately... I am jealous... Hope you had a great Christmas. Looking forward to the 2008 recap post, you are doing one aren't you?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Mallugirl, no, not relaxing, really, this travel was necessary and I could have done without the reasons why :(
    Vij, thank you. Wish you the same!
    Alka, thank you!
    Aparna, Pride of Barbados? That's a first for me :)
    Sig, believe me, you wouldn't be jealous if you heard why! And it's somewhere I've gone pretty often as it's close to home. The only difference was, this time it gave me a blog post!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Sig, after reading your comment, I feel like doing a recap post but given the way things are, don't think I'll have the time unless I take time off from everyday life!!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wish you a very Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  25. New Year greetings, Sra!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Happy new year sra.Hope you a very blessed trip:)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wishing you a fab New Year with lots of exotic holidays, food and good health!

    ReplyDelete
  28. wish you and your family a wonderful 2009, dear sra.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Nice pics Sra! Wishing you and yours a wonderful new year!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  30. A wonderful new year to you and your family dear Sra!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Happy New Year Sra, you have been travelling plenty, looks like. Have a great year ahead with lots more travel, food, fun and good health and everything else you wish for :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Such interesting pics Sra...
    Wishing you a wonderful New Year ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  33. loved the flower pic... happy new year to you too sra! Looking forward to many delicious posts.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Sra,
    came back to wish you a very happy new year...may your wishes gets fulfilled this year if any ...
    I was kind of waiting for a wonderful recap of your lovely posts , anyways it seems life is busy for you right now...
    again wish you a very happy new year...
    hugs and smiles

    ReplyDelete
  35. Wow pics show you had gr8 time past days. Nice clicks...

    ReplyDelete
  36. Happy New Year! Sra.

    It is a pleasure whenever you get to post, but don't let blogging get in the way of life :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. very nice pics. I loved the one where they have so many buddhas.

    That flower stirred so many memories from back home. In Bengal we call it "KrishnaChuRa".

    Wishing you & your Family a Very happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Cynthia, Miri, Jyothsna, Yasmeen, Mallika, Bee, Namratha, Uma, Sandeepa, Laavanya, Mandira, Jaya, Lubna, Indo - thanks for the wishes, visiting and nice words.

    ReplyDelete

I moderate all my comments. So if you're a human spammer or a bot that can understand this warning, buzz off, don't waste your time here spamming.