The Ellora (also known as Elura or Elapura) Caves are one of the largest rock-cut monastery cave complexes in the world. There are around 100 Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves at the site, of which 34 are open to public. They are locally known as Verul Leni This complex of monolithic temples in India narrates a...
.Ajanta caves are a group of 30 rock cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from 2nd century BC to 480 AD. These caves are situated in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, 100 kilometres away from the Aurangabad city centre. Many medieval era travellers from China like Faxian have mentioned Ajanta caves in their memoir. It also features in...
My tryst with Indian history was through the school text books. I learnt more about them through the history books, newspaper articles, TV serials and movies as I was growing up. I am sure , all of us are aware of the Mauryas, the Marathas, the Rajputs, the Pallavas, the Cholas etc . They were...
I am reminded of a game I have played as a kid, a game with colours. Tipi Tipi Tap, what colour you want? The person says, I want red and everyone would run helter-skelter to find that colour, in the garden, in their clothes, the wall paint or anything that came close to that colour. As...
Tawang, a place for soul searching Visualise a spiritually enlightened Buddhist outpost at 10000 feet ! Now imagine a grand welcome with the chants of the monks and beats of the traditional Buddhist instruments. Welcome to Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh ! Tawang has a great importance in Buddhism as 6th Dalai Lama was born here. The 13th Dalai...
I keep hearing this question - should Laos be an item in my bucket list ? Well, the simple answer is why not. But for those looking for reasons, I can list a few. The list is endless but I am sharing a few from my travelogue. I happened to be in Laos during summer,...
Norway “the Land of Midnight Sun”, is a country which has 20 hours of Sunlight during the summer and 20 plus hours of darkness during winter. But if you want to explore Norway, either budget for a good number of days or plan for multiple visits. Norway is a 12 month destination for travellers and offers...
Kaziranga is home to the famed one-horned rhinoceros. This National Park boasts of almost two thirds of world’s rhinoceros population and a diverse flora and fauna. Add to that, wetlands, grasslands, forests and riverine habitats fed by the Brahmaputra River, and many colorful fables and legends. Kaziranga has them all. Here are a few interesting...
Majuli is the world's largest river island. I grew up in a small town called Jorhat, only 44 Km from there. But, I never thought of visiting the island. I guess, I was always charmed by the big cities. Years later, my work brought me back to Assam. I then decided to explore this island....
Our travel to Cambodia is always for and about Angkor Wat . And why not? Angkor Wat is the largest temple complex in the world. This UNESCO site features in the bucket list for a lot of people. However, limiting this country just to Angkor would be huge injustice. Along with the ancient history experience...
