Opulent Elegance: A Journey through Ornate India (Part-6)


Last week over tea, some colleagues started talking about how they have been unable to go for vacations ever since they had kids some of their kids are two years old now. The discussion quickly turned into a debate with people vociferously defending both ends of the spectrum. While some colleagues had started going out on vacations when their kids were just a few months old, others were still waiting for the kids to grow up to a more "manageable" age (though the definition of "manageable" was different for everyone). I have a little nephew and a neice and both have been travelling since they were babies. One cannot deny that there are challenges when it comes to taking young kids on long travels. One may get stuck at a place without basic amneties. Kids may fall sick. They may be cranky and moody. They may not enjoy the road trip at all. If you start thinking about things that can go wrong, the list will be endless, so I can empathize with parents who keep postponing travel. However, the question is what is a good age to start travelling. A lot of it depends upon how comfortable parents themselves feel, irrespective of the age of the child. If you belong to the set of parents who are contemplating taking your child on his/her first vacation ever, there are some things you can do to make yourself feel at ease and to ensure that you as well as your child have a comfortable trip: 1) Talk to people who take regularly take their baby/toddler on vacations I don't think this point needs much explanation. People who have been there and done that and then done that all over again can obviously give you tips to prepare well. They can not only give you advice, they can also talk about the mistakes they made so that you can avoid making the same. There's no better teacher than experience. 2) Think of everything, make lists If you are taking your baby out for the first time, you cannot be more careful. Start preparing days before the actual travel. List down everything your baby needs during the day. Talk to the pediatrician and prepare a first aid/basic medication kit. While packing, ensure that you pack for at least one extra day. 3) Don't be too adventurous If this is the first time you are taking your baby out, play safe. Choose a place that is not too remote and has a market and medical facilities. Book your travel and hotel beforehand. Don't leave anything for the last moment. 4) Ensure that the place is suitable for kids Speak to the hotel before making a booking. Ensure that they can provide milk/food/hot water for your baby any time you need. It may be better to opt for a proper hotel for the first time, instead of a homestay. 5) Travel with other families Preferably the one you consulted with in point 1. This way you will have experienced travellers with you and your child too will have company. You will have support in case any unforeseen circumstances arise. And now that it is getting too hot to stay in the plains, you will probably want to take your baby to a hill station. You may get some ideas from our list of 30+ Hill stations in Himachal Pradesh to beat the heat. For those who are adventurous and are traveling without kids, the following post can probably be an inspiration: Trek to Malana from Kasol There are folks who are doing amazing work even as they travel. Check out this wonderful initiative: In discovery of butterflies in Himalayan State of India - with Reetu Patial However, if you are unable to travel too far and still want to experience new things, there's plenty to do in Delhi/NCR too. Following are some of our recent experiences. For more inspiration, you can do a search on our blog. Fatehpuri Masjid WWIM Food-Walk around streets of Old Delhi Elaborate Change of Guards ceremony at Indian President's House Or you could simply explore some malls and new restaurants. Here's the outlet we reviewed this month - Mamagoto in the Mall of India, Noida. And while we are talking about reviews, here's our opinion on various other things: Adobe Slate - a brilliant tool for bloggers and story tellers. Bloggers, PR and Brands Nikon D3300 Vs Canon 1300D We need to thank our guest writers too. They went where we could not go, and brought us beautiful photo journey's from their travels. Check out their posts: Kinnaur Diaries with Arnav Tandon Golden Dunes of Thar - Jaisalmer Diaries by Sukhman Dhillon Redwood Coast - by Anushka Bhishen Chhinj - by Ajay K Jamwal We conclude this month's digest with a post that will keep inspiring us for long. Some projects are more special than the others, and this one indeed is one of those. This month in our inspiration corner -- Incredible India Project by Dinesh Khanna

In continuation to our journey to Orissa, here we share about Udaygiri and Khandgiri Caves around Bhubaneshwar. I hope you enjoyed the Photo Journey from Konark Sun Temple and now excited about this new journey to Udaygiri and Khandgiri Caves.Udaygiri and Khandgiri Caves are mix of natural and man-made caves around Kumari parwat. It seems that caves were carved for Jain monk. Udaigiri means sunrise hill. Udaipgiri has 18 caves, while Khandgiri has 15 caves.Ranigupha (Queen Cave ) is one of the most popular caves and part of Udaygiri and this is double storied monastery.Hathigumpha which is 14th cave in Udaygiri is specially known for it’s art sculptures and similarly Ganeshgumpha which is 10th cave.There is a brilliant view of Bhubaneshwar from Khandgiri Caves. 3rd cave, which is known as Ananta cave has carved figures of women, elephants, athletes and geese on it.Caves in Udaigiri include - Ranigumpha, Bajagharagumpha, Chota Hathigumpha, Alkapurigumpha, Jayavijayagumpha, Panasagumpha, Thakuranigumpha, Patalapurigumpha, Mancapurigumpha, Ganesagumpha, Jambesvaragumpha, Vyaghragumpha, Sarpagumpha, Hathigumpha, Dhanagharagumpha, Haridasagumpha, Jagammathgumpha, RosaigumphaCaves in Khandgiri include - Tatowa gumpha No.-1, Tatowa gumpha No.-2, Ananta gumpha, Tentuli gumpha, Khandagiri gumpha, Dhyana gumpha, Navamuni gumpha, Barabhuji gumpha, Trusula gumpha, Ambika gumpha, Lalatendukesari gumpha, Ekadasi gumpha.More about Udaigiri and Khandgiri caves can be checked at here Entry Fees - There is entry ticket which costs 5 Rs per person (for Indians) and if you want to carry video camera, you need to get 25 rs ticket. For foreigners, ticket costs 100 Rs.How to Reach – Buses don’t go close to the caves ut bus number 801 drops you to nearby bus stop. Since distance is not much auto can be booked and shared autos are also available.Timings – Like any other ASI site, It opens after sunrise and closes around sunset time.

Dalhousie is a small town in Chamba region of Himachal Pradesh and easily accessible through Train till Pathankot. Peaceful hill station, just to relax. Surrounding places like Khajjiar, Kala Top Wildlife Sactuary, Dainkund, Chamba, Chamera Dam, Bharmour makes this whole region rich in terms of natural beauty. I have been Dalhousie plenty of times and always loved being there. Less commercial as compared to Shimla and Manali. And there are plenty of options around Dalhousie, where you can go and stay in Homestays.

Dalhousie is a small town in Chamba region of Himachal Pradesh and easily accessible through Train till Pathankot. Peaceful hill station, just to relax. Surrounding places like Khajjiar, Kala Top Wildlife Sactuary, Dainkund, Chamba, Chamera Dam, Bharmour makes this whole region rich in terms of natural beauty. I have been Dalhousie plenty of times and always loved being there. Less commercial as compared to Shimla and Manali. And there are plenty of options around Dalhousie, where you can go and stay in Homestays.

Dalhousie is a small town in Chamba region of Himachal Pradesh and easily accessible through Train till Pathankot. Peaceful hill station, just to relax. Surrounding places like Khajjiar, Kala Top Wildlife Sactuary, Dainkund, Chamba, Chamera Dam, Bharmour makes this whole region rich in terms of natural beauty. I have been Dalhousie plenty of times and always loved being there. Less commercial as compared to Shimla and Manali. And there are plenty of options around Dalhousie, where you can go and stay in Homestays.

Long time back when started searching about Change of Guards, goolge was suggesting London or Buckinghom Palce. On searching more I got the confirmation that Change of Guards at Indian President's house is open for public on Sturdays. For a long time, the visit remained in plans till I saw the blog by Ruby Singh. So this saturday we planned to visit President's house to witness Change of Guards in morning. Since the ceremony starts at 8am sharp one needs to plan the day early. All of us were up by 5:30 and started from Noida at 6:30am. It hardly took 30 minutes to reach Rashtrapati House in morning and that gave us enough time to figure out the entry gate and car parking. We followed the road which connects India Gate to President's house. And when we reached at the entry, police directed us to Dalhousie Road and asked to enter from Gate number 37. When I talked to them, it seemed that no one at entry was very sure. They were sure of one thing that some shooting is happening so entry through gate number 2 is not possible. Anyways we headed to Gate number 37. The security man at Gate number 37 was not sure if entry would happen through this gate. So we requested to confirm so that we head towards the right entry gate. There were 5 more cars following us :). He had few calls and confirmed that entry would happen through gate number 37 and car parking is also available inside. That was a great news because finding parking in this region would be a task (because of security reasons). As we parked our car, Vibha and I were thinking about the security. No one checked our car and we were already in President's house premises. While we were discussing this, we saw these jawans going towards the ceremony ground. It was a good indication that we should walk fast as it was 7:50 already. We reached the ceremony and almost all chairs were empty. I headed to the first row and a jawan asked me to move to second row. He mentioned that first row is reserved, while there is no such thing. This is first time I experienced an Armyman cheating in front of me. Anyways, it was not a big deal so I simply moved to second row. By now, only Army band was available at the ceremony ground. And a man was describing about the whole process on loudspeaker. And then Change of Guard Ceremony started. The Army band started playing 'Saare Jahan se Achha' and these Jawans entered the ceremony ground on their magnificent horses. At the beginning of the ceremony who see so much disciplined action and feel energetic. There must be a reason why Army ensures that every Jawan is highly disciplined and energetic. Looking at their each action you feel proud. These horses are amazingly trained. All of them take position and ensure that each one is in row. While standing they hardly do any movement. A few times, you can see some movement around their neck but their legs remain at same position all the time. When we walk, each of them are in sync. I have also seen Beating the Retreat ceremony and was super impressed with camels trained for that ceremony. Guards already on duty came to foreground of Rashtrapati Bhawan and took their place. Soon after the new set of guards joined them on ground and the formalities started. All of them were walking with full energy and enthusiasm. Please note the dirt around their feet. All of them were in sync and accurate. New guards are inspected. It's hard for me to describe each and every ceremony on ground and that's the reason that you should visit Rashtrapati Bhawan on any Saturday to witness the action yourself. I was super happy to see a Photographer and Videographer who were covering the ceremony. I have never seen Army Photographer earlier and wondering what's the eligibility to become a Photographer with Indian Army :). The ceremony concluded with some interesting actions by horses. Do check out the video for full action and I found it very interesting. Some quick details - Time of Change of Guards - 8 am sharp When should one reach - By 7:30am (Reason behind this time is explained above) Nearest Metro Station to Indian President's House - Central Secretariat Car Parking around President's House - If entering from Gate-37, parking is available inside. If entering from main gate (Gate no 2, you need to park near water fountains - As per traffic police, it's allowed in morning although I was not very sure ) . Otherwise you can on the road connecting President's House with India Gate. Entry Ticket for Change of Guards - No ticket or special permission needed Documents to carry - Any valid identity proof in original form. Mom and dad moving back towards the car after witnessing Change of Guard. Selfidow or something else. Some creative suggesstions are welcome. These carved elephants caught my attention and thought of taking a quick shot. The President House has very beautiful carvings all around. While we were heading towards the car parking we noticed these folks taking some rest in shade. This was the troop, which gave charge to the new team. This is how Delhi roads look on weekend morning :) How here is a quiz for you - Which of these photographs are clicked with DSLR and Mobile Camera? Do answer through comment below (And you have to judge through visuals only). The one who answers correctly would get something interesting from Travellingcamera.com Team !!!

Long time back when started searching about Change of Guards, goolge was suggesting London or Buckinghom Palce. On searching more I got the confirmation that Change of Guards at Indian President's house is open for public on Sturdays. For a long time, the visit remained in plans till I saw the blog by Ruby Singh. So this saturday we planned to visit President's house to witness Change of Guards in morning. Since the ceremony starts at 8am sharp one needs to plan the day early. All of us were up by 5:30 and started from Noida at 6:30am. It hardly took 30 minutes to reach Rashtrapati House in morning and that gave us enough time to figure out the entry gate and car parking. We followed the road which connects India Gate to President's house. And when we reached at the entry, police directed us to Dalhousie Road and asked to enter from Gate number 37. When I talked to them, it seemed that no one at entry was very sure. They were sure of one thing that some shooting is happening so entry through gate number 2 is not possible. Anyways we headed to Gate number 37. The security man at Gate number 37 was not sure if entry would happen through this gate. So we requested to confirm so that we head towards the right entry gate. There were 5 more cars following us :). He had few calls and confirmed that entry would happen through gate number 37 and car parking is also available inside. That was a great news because finding parking in this region would be a task (because of security reasons). As we parked our car, Vibha and I were thinking about the security. No one checked our car and we were already in President's house premises. While we were discussing this, we saw these jawans going towards the ceremony ground. It was a good indication that we should walk fast as it was 7:50 already. We reached the ceremony and almost all chairs were empty. I headed to the first row and a jawan asked me to move to second row. He mentioned that first row is reserved, while there is no such thing. This is first time I experienced an Armyman cheating in front of me. Anyways, it was not a big deal so I simply moved to second row. By now, only Army band was available at the ceremony ground. And a man was describing about the whole process on loudspeaker. And then Change of Guard Ceremony started. The Army band started playing 'Saare Jahan se Achha' and these Jawans entered the ceremony ground on their magnificent horses. At the beginning of the ceremony who see so much disciplined action and feel energetic. There must be a reason why Army ensures that every Jawan is highly disciplined and energetic. Looking at their each action you feel proud. These horses are amazingly trained. All of them take position and ensure that each one is in row. While standing they hardly do any movement. A few times, you can see some movement around their neck but their legs remain at same position all the time. When we walk, each of them are in sync. I have also seen Beating the Retreat ceremony and was super impressed with camels trained for that ceremony. Guards already on duty came to foreground of Rashtrapati Bhawan and took their place. Soon after the new set of guards joined them on ground and the formalities started. All of them were walking with full energy and enthusiasm. Please note the dirt around their feet. All of them were in sync and accurate. New guards are inspected. It's hard for me to describe each and every ceremony on ground and that's the reason that you should visit Rashtrapati Bhawan on any Saturday to witness the action yourself. I was super happy to see a Photographer and Videographer who were covering the ceremony. I have never seen Army Photographer earlier and wondering what's the eligibility to become a Photographer with Indian Army :). The ceremony concluded with some interesting actions by horses. Do check out the video for full action and I found it very interesting. Some quick details - Time of Change of Guards - 8 am sharp When should one reach - By 7:30am (Reason behind this time is explained above) Nearest Metro Station to Indian President's House - Central Secretariat Car Parking around President's House - If entering from Gate-37, parking is available inside. If entering from main gate (Gate no 2, you need to park near water fountains - As per traffic police, it's allowed in morning although I was not very sure ) . Otherwise you can on the road connecting President's House with India Gate. Entry Ticket for Change of Guards - No ticket or special permission needed Documents to carry - Any valid identity proof in original form. Mom and dad moving back towards the car after witnessing Change of Guard. Selfidow or something else. Some creative suggesstions are welcome. These carved elephants caught my attention and thought of taking a quick shot. The President House has very beautiful carvings all around. While we were heading towards the car parking we noticed these folks taking some rest in shade. This was the troop, which gave charge to the new team. This is how Delhi roads look on weekend morning :) How here is a quiz for you - Which of these photographs are clicked with DSLR and Mobile Camera? Do answer through comment below (And you have to judge through visuals only). The one who answers correctly would get something interesting from Travellingcamera.com Team !!!

Long time back when started searching about Change of Guards, goolge was suggesting London or Buckinghom Palce. On searching more I got the confirmation that Change of Guards at Indian President's house is open for public on Sturdays. For a long time, the visit remained in plans till I saw the blog by Ruby Singh. So this saturday we planned to visit President's house to witness Change of Guards in morning. Since the ceremony starts at 8am sharp one needs to plan the day early. All of us were up by 5:30 and started from Noida at 6:30am. It hardly took 30 minutes to reach Rashtrapati House in morning and that gave us enough time to figure out the entry gate and car parking. We followed the road which connects India Gate to President's house. And when we reached at the entry, police directed us to Dalhousie Road and asked to enter from Gate number 37. When I talked to them, it seemed that no one at entry was very sure. They were sure of one thing that some shooting is happening so entry through gate number 2 is not possible. Anyways we headed to Gate number 37. The security man at Gate number 37 was not sure if entry would happen through this gate. So we requested to confirm so that we head towards the right entry gate. There were 5 more cars following us :). He had few calls and confirmed that entry would happen through gate number 37 and car parking is also available inside. That was a great news because finding parking in this region would be a task (because of security reasons). As we parked our car, Vibha and I were thinking about the security. No one checked our car and we were already in President's house premises. While we were discussing this, we saw these jawans going towards the ceremony ground. It was a good indication that we should walk fast as it was 7:50 already. We reached the ceremony and almost all chairs were empty. I headed to the first row and a jawan asked me to move to second row. He mentioned that first row is reserved, while there is no such thing. This is first time I experienced an Armyman cheating in front of me. Anyways, it was not a big deal so I simply moved to second row. By now, only Army band was available at the ceremony ground. And a man was describing about the whole process on loudspeaker. And then Change of Guard Ceremony started. The Army band started playing 'Saare Jahan se Achha' and these Jawans entered the ceremony ground on their magnificent horses. At the beginning of the ceremony who see so much disciplined action and feel energetic. There must be a reason why Army ensures that every Jawan is highly disciplined and energetic. Looking at their each action you feel proud. These horses are amazingly trained. All of them take position and ensure that each one is in row. While standing they hardly do any movement. A few times, you can see some movement around their neck but their legs remain at same position all the time. When we walk, each of them are in sync. I have also seen Beating the Retreat ceremony and was super impressed with camels trained for that ceremony. Guards already on duty came to foreground of Rashtrapati Bhawan and took their place. Soon after the new set of guards joined them on ground and the formalities started. All of them were walking with full energy and enthusiasm. Please note the dirt around their feet. All of them were in sync and accurate. New guards are inspected. It's hard for me to describe each and every ceremony on ground and that's the reason that you should visit Rashtrapati Bhawan on any Saturday to witness the action yourself. I was super happy to see a Photographer and Videographer who were covering the ceremony. I have never seen Army Photographer earlier and wondering what's the eligibility to become a Photographer with Indian Army :). The ceremony concluded with some interesting actions by horses. Do check out the video for full action and I found it very interesting. Some quick details - Time of Change of Guards - 8 am sharp When should one reach - By 7:30am (Reason behind this time is explained above) Nearest Metro Station to Indian President's House - Central Secretariat Car Parking around President's House - If entering from Gate-37, parking is available inside. If entering from main gate (Gate no 2, you need to park near water fountains - As per traffic police, it's allowed in morning although I was not very sure ) . Otherwise you can on the road connecting President's House with India Gate. Entry Ticket for Change of Guards - No ticket or special permission needed Documents to carry - Any valid identity proof in original form. Mom and dad moving back towards the car after witnessing Change of Guard. Selfidow or something else. Some creative suggesstions are welcome. These carved elephants caught my attention and thought of taking a quick shot. The President House has very beautiful carvings all around. While we were heading towards the car parking we noticed these folks taking some rest in shade. This was the troop, which gave charge to the new team. This is how Delhi roads look on weekend morning :) How here is a quiz for you - Which of these photographs are clicked with DSLR and Mobile Camera? Do answer through comment below (And you have to judge through visuals only). The one who answers correctly would get something interesting from Travellingcamera.com Team !!!

Long time back when started searching about Change of Guards, goolge was suggesting London or Buckinghom Palce. On searching more I got the confirmation that Change of Guards at Indian President's house is open for public on Sturdays. For a long time, the visit remained in plans till I saw the blog by Ruby Singh. So this saturday we planned to visit President's house to witness Change of Guards in morning. Since the ceremony starts at 8am sharp one needs to plan the day early. All of us were up by 5:30 and started from Noida at 6:30am. It hardly took 30 minutes to reach Rashtrapati House in morning and that gave us enough time to figure out the entry gate and car parking. We followed the road which connects India Gate to President's house. And when we reached at the entry, police directed us to Dalhousie Road and asked to enter from Gate number 37. When I talked to them, it seemed that no one at entry was very sure. They were sure of one thing that some shooting is happening so entry through gate number 2 is not possible. Anyways we headed to Gate number 37. The security man at Gate number 37 was not sure if entry would happen through this gate. So we requested to confirm so that we head towards the right entry gate. There were 5 more cars following us :). He had few calls and confirmed that entry would happen through gate number 37 and car parking is also available inside. That was a great news because finding parking in this region would be a task (because of security reasons). As we parked our car, Vibha and I were thinking about the security. No one checked our car and we were already in President's house premises. While we were discussing this, we saw these jawans going towards the ceremony ground. It was a good indication that we should walk fast as it was 7:50 already. We reached the ceremony and almost all chairs were empty. I headed to the first row and a jawan asked me to move to second row. He mentioned that first row is reserved, while there is no such thing. This is first time I experienced an Armyman cheating in front of me. Anyways, it was not a big deal so I simply moved to second row. By now, only Army band was available at the ceremony ground. And a man was describing about the whole process on loudspeaker. And then Change of Guard Ceremony started. The Army band started playing 'Saare Jahan se Achha' and these Jawans entered the ceremony ground on their magnificent horses. At the beginning of the ceremony who see so much disciplined action and feel energetic. There must be a reason why Army ensures that every Jawan is highly disciplined and energetic. Looking at their each action you feel proud. These horses are amazingly trained. All of them take position and ensure that each one is in row. While standing they hardly do any movement. A few times, you can see some movement around their neck but their legs remain at same position all the time. When we walk, each of them are in sync. I have also seen Beating the Retreat ceremony and was super impressed with camels trained for that ceremony. Guards already on duty came to foreground of Rashtrapati Bhawan and took their place. Soon after the new set of guards joined them on ground and the formalities started. All of them were walking with full energy and enthusiasm. Please note the dirt around their feet. All of them were in sync and accurate. New guards are inspected. It's hard for me to describe each and every ceremony on ground and that's the reason that you should visit Rashtrapati Bhawan on any Saturday to witness the action yourself. I was super happy to see a Photographer and Videographer who were covering the ceremony. I have never seen Army Photographer earlier and wondering what's the eligibility to become a Photographer with Indian Army :). The ceremony concluded with some interesting actions by horses. Do check out the video for full action and I found it very interesting. Some quick details - Time of Change of Guards - 8 am sharp When should one reach - By 7:30am (Reason behind this time is explained above) Nearest Metro Station to Indian President's House - Central Secretariat Car Parking around President's House - If entering from Gate-37, parking is available inside. If entering from main gate (Gate no 2, you need to park near water fountains - As per traffic police, it's allowed in morning although I was not very sure ) . Otherwise you can on the road connecting President's House with India Gate. Entry Ticket for Change of Guards - No ticket or special permission needed Documents to carry - Any valid identity proof in original form. Mom and dad moving back towards the car after witnessing Change of Guard. Selfidow or something else. Some creative suggesstions are welcome. These carved elephants caught my attention and thought of taking a quick shot. The President House has very beautiful carvings all around. While we were heading towards the car parking we noticed these folks taking some rest in shade. This was the troop, which gave charge to the new team. This is how Delhi roads look on weekend morning :) How here is a quiz for you - Which of these photographs are clicked with DSLR and Mobile Camera? Do answer through comment below (And you have to judge through visuals only). The one who answers correctly would get something interesting from Travellingcamera.com Team !!!

Last weekend 2 events happened for me - a good one and a bad one. Here I am sharing about the good one which happened on Saturday. I was excited to join this walk in Delhi, because some of the awesome photographer, blogger friends were also joining in. And it was a good opportunity to know about the famous eating places in Old Delhi.I will be sharing a different post about popular food options available in Old Delhi. Here I am trying to share some photographs clicked and details about the events happened during the walk. This walk was planned by Desi TravellerWe met in front of Sheeshgunj Gurudwara and walked towards Jain Temple first, which is just opposite to the Red Fort . Tarun breifed us about the Jain Temple, how Chandni Chow was built. When it was build, areas are allocated on the basis of caste system. That's why you see lot of temples in the beginning of Chandni Chowk. I wasn't aware of this fact. And when Chandni Chowk was build, various communities from various parts of the country were invited to live there.We walked through the streets of Chadni Chowk and also enjoyed some of the popular food offered in these streets. Most of the shops were closed till 10am, but food shops were open, so that's an appropriate time to be in Chandni Chowk. After 11am it gets very crowded.Chandi Chowk challenge a Photographer in you and that's when you realize how difficult street photography is. It's quite challenging to make images which are meaningful and express something about the place and it's people.It's a great experience to walk around these streets of Old Delhi and notice the action. It's very different from rest of the city and that's why it has it's own charm . These 2 men were awesome. They were calmly posing for few minutes. Otherwise I have seen people around these street who get irritated with cameramen. Because thousands of cameras click these street everyday, I am sure all the experiences would not be pleasant for people around these streets of Old Delhi.You see unique things around these streets. Above is the town hall where people come and offer grains to pigeons. Everyone keep pouring the plates even when there is more than enough. There are 3 folks just outside the townhall who only sell these grains whole day.There are lot of temples in the streets of Chandni Chowk. Here is a beautiful scene when a lady comes out of the temple, offers prasad to these ladies and indulge in morning chit-chat.What a classic way of spending the mornings. There are lot of folks in Old Delhi who live in small rooms, houses and go out for work during the day. Most of the times the day starts for them with a cup of tea in streets and newspaper.Around these streets, you would find lot of different things. Folks cleaning ears on streets, dentists sitting around the streets and fixing up the problems and folks selling old coins from different centuries and from various countries on the globe.Chandni Chowk has much more than what anyone can explore in a day.

Last week I was out with fellow Photographers, Bloggers and Foodies to explore some of the popular eating places in Old Delhi (Chandni Chowk). During this walk we went to different places around Chandni Chowk & towards the end we also thought of going inside Fatehpuri Masjid. Chandni Chowk is just across the Red Fort. The road going from Red Fort ends at Masjid Fatehpuri. This is such a peaceful place in the middle of lot of hustle bustle of Chandni Chowk. There is a huge campus surrounded by four walls and entry gates from 3 sides.There is a very interesting history behind this mosque of old Delhi. This mosque was built in 1650 by wife of Shah Jahan, her name was Fatehpuri Begum. She belonged to Fatehpur Sikri (a place around Agra). After 1857, Britishers auctioned this mosque to a Hindu businessman Lala Chunnamal. He had bought the mosque for 19 thousand rupees and to me it sounds a lot of money at that time. And people say that Lala Chunnamal used the mosque for social causes. Later on Britishers bought it back in lie of 4 villages. This was the time when Britishers invited back the muslims to Old Delhi and renovated the mosque for the community. Tarun Gaur was with us to share all these interesting events from History of Old Delhi.This walk was planned by Desi Traveller with the help of Deba Rajpal and Tarun Gaur. There was good turnaround and all of us had lot of fun eating some of the interesting things in Old Delhi. I will be sharing another post on food we tried and some history around these food items. These food businesses are run by some specific families who came to Chandi Chowk from different parts of country. And that’s why there is a such nice mix of food from different states of India.As we entered inside Fatehpuri Mosque, we noticed these groups studying. This was first time I was seeing such interesting sessions outside television. These folks were reading something and it seemed that they were trying hard to remember what they were reading. These folks were rocking their bodies back and forth while reading.Fatehpuri Masjid is quite different from Jama Masjid. Somehow this Mosque was not as crowded as we Jama Masjid. There is a water pond in the middle of this whole compound. You can see this water pound in first photograph.In the rectangular compound the main Mosque is on one side and other three sides have beautiful arched corridors. It was a great visit to the mosque. Hopefully I will visit Fatehpuri Mosque again and spend a little more time. This time, I had to accompany the group and adhere to the schedule of the food-walk.

Last week I was out with fellow Photographers, Bloggers and Foodies to explore some of the popular eating places in Old Delhi (Chandni Chowk). During this walk we went to different places around Chandni Chowk & towards the end we also thought of going inside Fatehpuri Masjid. Chandni Chowk is just across the Red Fort. The road going from Red Fort ends at Masjid Fatehpuri. This is such a peaceful place in the middle of lot of hustle bustle of Chandni Chowk. There is a huge campus surrounded by four walls and entry gates from 3 sides.There is a very interesting history behind this mosque of old Delhi. This mosque was built in 1650 by wife of Shah Jahan, her name was Fatehpuri Begum. She belonged to Fatehpur Sikri (a place around Agra). After 1857, Britishers auctioned this mosque to a Hindu businessman Lala Chunnamal. He had bought the mosque for 19 thousand rupees and to me it sounds a lot of money at that time. And people say that Lala Chunnamal used the mosque for social causes. Later on Britishers bought it back in lie of 4 villages. This was the time when Britishers invited back the muslims to Old Delhi and renovated the mosque for the community. Tarun Gaur was with us to share all these interesting events from History of Old Delhi.This walk was planned by Desi Traveller with the help of Deba Rajpal and Tarun Gaur. There was good turnaround and all of us had lot of fun eating some of the interesting things in Old Delhi. I will be sharing another post on food we tried and some history around these food items. These food businesses are run by some specific families who came to Chandi Chowk from different parts of country. And that’s why there is a such nice mix of food from different states of India.As we entered inside Fatehpuri Mosque, we noticed these groups studying. This was first time I was seeing such interesting sessions outside television. These folks were reading something and it seemed that they were trying hard to remember what they were reading. These folks were rocking their bodies back and forth while reading.Fatehpuri Masjid is quite different from Jama Masjid. Somehow this Mosque was not as crowded as we Jama Masjid. There is a water pond in the middle of this whole compound. You can see this water pound in first photograph.In the rectangular compound the main Mosque is on one side and other three sides have beautiful arched corridors. It was a great visit to the mosque. Hopefully I will visit Fatehpuri Mosque again and spend a little more time. This time, I had to accompany the group and adhere to the schedule of the food-walk.

During my recent visit to Kolkata , I visited both the railway stations in town but Howrah Railway station definitely caught my attention. While going from Delhi , we got down at Sealdah Railway station and went to Howrah for our back journey to the capital city of India.The very first thing we were told by all our Kolkata friends was to leave early from our hotel, because traffic on the way to Howrah Railway station can be very unpredictable. We took good amount of time and hence reached early. But it's always better to reach early as compared to missing the train :). Howrah Railway station has 23 platforms and it's must to know about your platform before you board your taxi, so that taxi can drop you at appropriate gate. Otherwise one needs to walk a lot outside the railway station. Unfortunately our driver was new in the city and he dropped us at wrong gate, so we know exact length of Howrah railway station.Howrah Railway station is also one of the most busiest stations in India, which handles huge number of passengers everyday. And at the same time, some of it's parts are well maintained and cleaned up regularly. Although some parts of the railway station are in very bad state. It seems that cleaning exercise happens on the basis of kind of passengers a platform gets and trains.Beautiful building and huge capacity makes Howrah a special Railway station in India. Every year, Indian Railways is making progress and millions of passengers use rails on daily basis.

While in Goa , we planned to drive to Mageshi Temple. More than the final destination, we were more interested in driving about hilly terrains of Goa. So after visiting Se Cathedral, we drove towards Mageshi Temple. This post shares about the drive, road condition, terrain, temple, shopping options and other things to explore on the way or ahead of Mageshi Temple.The road which connect Panjim with Se Cathedral goes further towards Mageshi Temple. Temple is 21 kilometers from Panjim. This temple is situated in Mangeshi village, Priol where Lata Mageshkar's father was born. This temple is one of the largest and most frequently visited temples in Goa.The roads are very well maintained and the terrains are beautiful. This road has some of the beautiful views around it. There is a parking area on road side and one needs to walk till temple. It's 400 meters walk from road till temple. Above photograph shows school of Mangesh Village in Goa. In 2011, the temple along with others in the area instituted a dress code on visitors of the temple.While walking towards the temple, you see these ladies selling freshly plucked flowers from water streams around Mangesh Temple. And they sell them super cheap. We were expecting exorbitant rates but small baskets of flowers were available for 10 rs each. If you want to spend little more, you can get the bigger one at 25 Rs. (This is what we paid in 2013)As you reach near temple, there is a beautiful water pond in front of the temple compound. When we were there, this water pond was completely enclosed with walls and a locked gate. Not sure, if it's kept like that or opens on some occasions. After entering into the temple, we got to know that temple has some restrictions in terms of what you are wearing. I was in shorts and my wife was wearing a knee length dress. She was told not to go beyond a certain point, whereas I was allowed though her dress was longer than my shorts. After a quick chat, both of us thought of coming back and pay our respect to God from the temple boundary.It seems that one can drive further and experience spice plantations and enjoy more serene views, but we didn't have time that day so we headed back to North Goa.

While in Goa , we planned to drive to Mageshi Temple. More than the final destination, we were more interested in driving about hilly terrains of Goa. So after visiting Se Cathedral, we drove towards Mageshi Temple. This post shares about the drive, road condition, terrain, temple, shopping options and other things to explore on the way or ahead of Mageshi Temple.The road which connect Panjim with Se Cathedral goes further towards Mageshi Temple. Temple is 21 kilometers from Panjim. This temple is situated in Mangeshi village, Priol where Lata Mageshkar's father was born. This temple is one of the largest and most frequently visited temples in Goa.The roads are very well maintained and the terrains are beautiful. This road has some of the beautiful views around it. There is a parking area on road side and one needs to walk till temple. It's 400 meters walk from road till temple. Above photograph shows school of Mangesh Village in Goa. In 2011, the temple along with others in the area instituted a dress code on visitors of the temple.While walking towards the temple, you see these ladies selling freshly plucked flowers from water streams around Mangesh Temple. And they sell them super cheap. We were expecting exorbitant rates but small baskets of flowers were available for 10 rs each. If you want to spend little more, you can get the bigger one at 25 Rs. (This is what we paid in 2013)As you reach near temple, there is a beautiful water pond in front of the temple compound. When we were there, this water pond was completely enclosed with walls and a locked gate. Not sure, if it's kept like that or opens on some occasions. After entering into the temple, we got to know that temple has some restrictions in terms of what you are wearing. I was in shorts and my wife was wearing a knee length dress. She was told not to go beyond a certain point, whereas I was allowed though her dress was longer than my shorts. After a quick chat, both of us thought of coming back and pay our respect to God from the temple boundary.It seems that one can drive further and experience spice plantations and enjoy more serene views, but we didn't have time that day so we headed back to North Goa.

While in Goa , we planned to drive to Mageshi Temple. More than the final destination, we were more interested in driving about hilly terrains of Goa. So after visiting Se Cathedral, we drove towards Mageshi Temple. This post shares about the drive, road condition, terrain, temple, shopping options and other things to explore on the way or ahead of Mageshi Temple.The road which connect Panjim with Se Cathedral goes further towards Mageshi Temple. Temple is 21 kilometers from Panjim. This temple is situated in Mangeshi village, Priol where Lata Mageshkar's father was born. This temple is one of the largest and most frequently visited temples in Goa.The roads are very well maintained and the terrains are beautiful. This road has some of the beautiful views around it. There is a parking area on road side and one needs to walk till temple. It's 400 meters walk from road till temple. Above photograph shows school of Mangesh Village in Goa. In 2011, the temple along with others in the area instituted a dress code on visitors of the temple.While walking towards the temple, you see these ladies selling freshly plucked flowers from water streams around Mangesh Temple. And they sell them super cheap. We were expecting exorbitant rates but small baskets of flowers were available for 10 rs each. If you want to spend little more, you can get the bigger one at 25 Rs. (This is what we paid in 2013)As you reach near temple, there is a beautiful water pond in front of the temple compound. When we were there, this water pond was completely enclosed with walls and a locked gate. Not sure, if it's kept like that or opens on some occasions. After entering into the temple, we got to know that temple has some restrictions in terms of what you are wearing. I was in shorts and my wife was wearing a knee length dress. She was told not to go beyond a certain point, whereas I was allowed though her dress was longer than my shorts. After a quick chat, both of us thought of coming back and pay our respect to God from the temple boundary.It seems that one can drive further and experience spice plantations and enjoy more serene views, but we didn't have time that day so we headed back to North Goa.

While in Goa , we planned to drive to Mageshi Temple. More than the final destination, we were more interested in driving about hilly terrains of Goa. So after visiting Se Cathedral, we drove towards Mageshi Temple. This post shares about the drive, road condition, terrain, temple, shopping options and other things to explore on the way or ahead of Mageshi Temple.The road which connect Panjim with Se Cathedral goes further towards Mageshi Temple. Temple is 21 kilometers from Panjim. This temple is situated in Mangeshi village, Priol where Lata Mageshkar's father was born. This temple is one of the largest and most frequently visited temples in Goa.The roads are very well maintained and the terrains are beautiful. This road has some of the beautiful views around it. There is a parking area on road side and one needs to walk till temple. It's 400 meters walk from road till temple. Above photograph shows school of Mangesh Village in Goa. In 2011, the temple along with others in the area instituted a dress code on visitors of the temple.While walking towards the temple, you see these ladies selling freshly plucked flowers from water streams around Mangesh Temple. And they sell them super cheap. We were expecting exorbitant rates but small baskets of flowers were available for 10 rs each. If you want to spend little more, you can get the bigger one at 25 Rs. (This is what we paid in 2013)As you reach near temple, there is a beautiful water pond in front of the temple compound. When we were there, this water pond was completely enclosed with walls and a locked gate. Not sure, if it's kept like that or opens on some occasions. After entering into the temple, we got to know that temple has some restrictions in terms of what you are wearing. I was in shorts and my wife was wearing a knee length dress. She was told not to go beyond a certain point, whereas I was allowed though her dress was longer than my shorts. After a quick chat, both of us thought of coming back and pay our respect to God from the temple boundary.It seems that one can drive further and experience spice plantations and enjoy more serene views, but we didn't have time that day so we headed back to North Goa.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.

These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.

These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.

These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.

These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.

These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.

These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.


These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we planned to take her on Delhi Tour. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography show, Lodhi Garden and few other places we planned to conclude day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but never came to see it during night at Purana Quila. 2 shows happen every night - one in Hindi and other in English.Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and English show starts at 8:30pm (during october month). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out ITDC website for right timings of these shows.For English show entry starts 15 minutes before the show and show starts almost on time. A brilliant sound start telling story of Delhi which is perfectly in sync with the visuals shown on the old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the falls of Old Fort in Delhi.Story starts from Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded on Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, how things changed. Whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.Ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take metro to Pragati Maidan and then auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Lot of buses also come this side from Pragati Maidan Metro station.Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.October is probably the best time to visit for this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, either it would be too hot or cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.Since seating arrangements are in open, so there can be mosquitos. So it's advisable to wear appropriate cloths or carry mosquito repellant spray with you. Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :).Purana Quila (Old Fort)Apart from this Light & Sound show, lot of other events are hosted by Old Fort. One of the popular one is South Asia Music festivalIn general, quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and best curation makes this show special. Voice over of the show is amazing. This time, we saw English show and hope to visit again for Hindi version.This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabarwal.

I have been staying in Delhi for more than 10 years now and when it comes to Mirza Ghalib, I had only heard of his haveli in Old Delhi. Recently when I visited Nizamudin Basti for one of the Poetry event, I came across the tomb of Mirza Ghalib.Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is unexpectedly small. The tomb is situated outside the courtyard of the Hazrat Nizamuddin's Tomb along with many other tombs of famed personalities in the same vicinity. In the recent years Mirza Ghalib's Tomb has been covered with a marble structure and fenced within the compound walls (the one you see in first photograph).The entry to the tomb is through Chausath khamba and Urs Mahal. Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is tiny as compared to other royal tombs in Delhi.Most of the tombs in Delhi are protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India. Tomb of Mirza Ghalib is dressed with a structure made of marble and sits within a small courtyard enclosure, which is locked most of the times. The small Tomb area is also dotted with several other graves of persons unknown.Some of the walls around the tomb are in bad shape. Although they are standing strong but surrounding market makes it a little dirty.'Ghalib Academy' is close to the tomb (just behind the tomb) which was established by the Government of India in memory and honor of this legendary poet. Ghalib Academy has a large library which has a wide collection of literature books written in the Urdu language as well as several other related subjects. It also nestles a small museum dedicated to Mirza Ghalib and has works of Ghalib and other collectables like rocks and paintings of the poet.One can enter into the area of the Tomb of Mirza Ghalib via a narrow lane that stretches along the Nizamuddin Basti (Village). Entry is free for all on any day. Since the Tomb site remains locked, you will need to obtain the keys from the Ghalib Academy Administration Office.While at Mirza Ghalib Tomb, you can also enjoy shopping at the nearby Sunder Nagar Market that sells a variety of antiques, jewellery and brassware. The Lajpat Nagar market is also close by which is a good market place to shop for garments. Dilli Haat can also be an interesting place to buy handicrafts from various states of India.Located in front of the Chausath Khamba, Urs Mahal is an assembly hall where Khawwali programs are held on festival days and on the days during “Urs of Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya”.After discovering this place, I realized that Delhi has lot more than what we know and it always presents you new surprises.

I have been staying in Delhi for more than 10 years now and when it comes to Mirza Ghalib, I had only heard of his haveli in Old Delhi. Recently when I visited Nizamudin Basti for one of the Poetry event, I came across the tomb of Mirza Ghalib.Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is unexpectedly small. The tomb is situated outside the courtyard of the Hazrat Nizamuddin's Tomb along with many other tombs of famed personalities in the same vicinity. In the recent years Mirza Ghalib's Tomb has been covered with a marble structure and fenced within the compound walls (the one you see in first photograph).The entry to the tomb is through Chausath khamba and Urs Mahal. Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is tiny as compared to other royal tombs in Delhi.Most of the tombs in Delhi are protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India. Tomb of Mirza Ghalib is dressed with a structure made of marble and sits within a small courtyard enclosure, which is locked most of the times. The small Tomb area is also dotted with several other graves of persons unknown.Some of the walls around the tomb are in bad shape. Although they are standing strong but surrounding market makes it a little dirty.'Ghalib Academy' is close to the tomb (just behind the tomb) which was established by the Government of India in memory and honor of this legendary poet. Ghalib Academy has a large library which has a wide collection of literature books written in the Urdu language as well as several other related subjects. It also nestles a small museum dedicated to Mirza Ghalib and has works of Ghalib and other collectables like rocks and paintings of the poet.One can enter into the area of the Tomb of Mirza Ghalib via a narrow lane that stretches along the Nizamuddin Basti (Village). Entry is free for all on any day. Since the Tomb site remains locked, you will need to obtain the keys from the Ghalib Academy Administration Office.While at Mirza Ghalib Tomb, you can also enjoy shopping at the nearby Sunder Nagar Market that sells a variety of antiques, jewellery and brassware. The Lajpat Nagar market is also close by which is a good market place to shop for garments. Dilli Haat can also be an interesting place to buy handicrafts from various states of India.Located in front of the Chausath Khamba, Urs Mahal is an assembly hall where Khawwali programs are held on festival days and on the days during “Urs of Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya”.After discovering this place, I realized that Delhi has lot more than what we know and it always presents you new surprises.

I have been staying in Delhi for more than 10 years now and when it comes to Mirza Ghalib, I had only heard of his haveli in Old Delhi. Recently when I visited Nizamudin Basti for one of the Poetry event, I came across the tomb of Mirza Ghalib.Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is unexpectedly small. The tomb is situated outside the courtyard of the Hazrat Nizamuddin's Tomb along with many other tombs of famed personalities in the same vicinity. In the recent years Mirza Ghalib's Tomb has been covered with a marble structure and fenced within the compound walls (the one you see in first photograph).The entry to the tomb is through Chausath khamba and Urs Mahal. Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is tiny as compared to other royal tombs in Delhi.Most of the tombs in Delhi are protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India. Tomb of Mirza Ghalib is dressed with a structure made of marble and sits within a small courtyard enclosure, which is locked most of the times. The small Tomb area is also dotted with several other graves of persons unknown.Some of the walls around the tomb are in bad shape. Although they are standing strong but surrounding market makes it a little dirty.'Ghalib Academy' is close to the tomb (just behind the tomb) which was established by the Government of India in memory and honor of this legendary poet. Ghalib Academy has a large library which has a wide collection of literature books written in the Urdu language as well as several other related subjects. It also nestles a small museum dedicated to Mirza Ghalib and has works of Ghalib and other collectables like rocks and paintings of the poet.One can enter into the area of the Tomb of Mirza Ghalib via a narrow lane that stretches along the Nizamuddin Basti (Village). Entry is free for all on any day. Since the Tomb site remains locked, you will need to obtain the keys from the Ghalib Academy Administration Office.While at Mirza Ghalib Tomb, you can also enjoy shopping at the nearby Sunder Nagar Market that sells a variety of antiques, jewellery and brassware. The Lajpat Nagar market is also close by which is a good market place to shop for garments. Dilli Haat can also be an interesting place to buy handicrafts from various states of India.Located in front of the Chausath Khamba, Urs Mahal is an assembly hall where Khawwali programs are held on festival days and on the days during “Urs of Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya”.After discovering this place, I realized that Delhi has lot more than what we know and it always presents you new surprises.

I have been staying in Delhi for more than 10 years now and when it comes to Mirza Ghalib, I had only heard of his haveli in Old Delhi. Recently when I visited Nizamudin Basti for one of the Poetry event, I came across the tomb of Mirza Ghalib.Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is unexpectedly small. The tomb is situated outside the courtyard of the Hazrat Nizamuddin's Tomb along with many other tombs of famed personalities in the same vicinity. In the recent years Mirza Ghalib's Tomb has been covered with a marble structure and fenced within the compound walls (the one you see in first photograph).The entry to the tomb is through Chausath khamba and Urs Mahal. Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is tiny as compared to other royal tombs in Delhi.Most of the tombs in Delhi are protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India. Tomb of Mirza Ghalib is dressed with a structure made of marble and sits within a small courtyard enclosure, which is locked most of the times. The small Tomb area is also dotted with several other graves of persons unknown.Some of the walls around the tomb are in bad shape. Although they are standing strong but surrounding market makes it a little dirty.'Ghalib Academy' is close to the tomb (just behind the tomb) which was established by the Government of India in memory and honor of this legendary poet. Ghalib Academy has a large library which has a wide collection of literature books written in the Urdu language as well as several other related subjects. It also nestles a small museum dedicated to Mirza Ghalib and has works of Ghalib and other collectables like rocks and paintings of the poet.One can enter into the area of the Tomb of Mirza Ghalib via a narrow lane that stretches along the Nizamuddin Basti (Village). Entry is free for all on any day. Since the Tomb site remains locked, you will need to obtain the keys from the Ghalib Academy Administration Office.While at Mirza Ghalib Tomb, you can also enjoy shopping at the nearby Sunder Nagar Market that sells a variety of antiques, jewellery and brassware. The Lajpat Nagar market is also close by which is a good market place to shop for garments. Dilli Haat can also be an interesting place to buy handicrafts from various states of India.Located in front of the Chausath Khamba, Urs Mahal is an assembly hall where Khawwali programs are held on festival days and on the days during “Urs of Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya”.After discovering this place, I realized that Delhi has lot more than what we know and it always presents you new surprises.

I have been staying in Delhi for more than 10 years now and when it comes to Mirza Ghalib, I had only heard of his haveli in Old Delhi. Recently when I visited Nizamudin Basti for one of the Poetry event, I came across the tomb of Mirza Ghalib.Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is unexpectedly small. The tomb is situated outside the courtyard of the Hazrat Nizamuddin's Tomb along with many other tombs of famed personalities in the same vicinity. In the recent years Mirza Ghalib's Tomb has been covered with a marble structure and fenced within the compound walls (the one you see in first photograph).The entry to the tomb is through Chausath khamba and Urs Mahal. Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is tiny as compared to other royal tombs in Delhi.Most of the tombs in Delhi are protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India. Tomb of Mirza Ghalib is dressed with a structure made of marble and sits within a small courtyard enclosure, which is locked most of the times. The small Tomb area is also dotted with several other graves of persons unknown.Some of the walls around the tomb are in bad shape. Although they are standing strong but surrounding market makes it a little dirty.'Ghalib Academy' is close to the tomb (just behind the tomb) which was established by the Government of India in memory and honor of this legendary poet. Ghalib Academy has a large library which has a wide collection of literature books written in the Urdu language as well as several other related subjects. It also nestles a small museum dedicated to Mirza Ghalib and has works of Ghalib and other collectables like rocks and paintings of the poet.One can enter into the area of the Tomb of Mirza Ghalib via a narrow lane that stretches along the Nizamuddin Basti (Village). Entry is free for all on any day. Since the Tomb site remains locked, you will need to obtain the keys from the Ghalib Academy Administration Office.While at Mirza Ghalib Tomb, you can also enjoy shopping at the nearby Sunder Nagar Market that sells a variety of antiques, jewellery and brassware. The Lajpat Nagar market is also close by which is a good market place to shop for garments. Dilli Haat can also be an interesting place to buy handicrafts from various states of India.Located in front of the Chausath Khamba, Urs Mahal is an assembly hall where Khawwali programs are held on festival days and on the days during “Urs of Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya”.After discovering this place, I realized that Delhi has lot more than what we know and it always presents you new surprises.

I have been staying in Delhi for more than 10 years now and when it comes to Mirza Ghalib, I had only heard of his haveli in Old Delhi. Recently when I visited Nizamudin Basti for one of the Poetry event, I came across the tomb of Mirza Ghalib.Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is unexpectedly small. The tomb is situated outside the courtyard of the Hazrat Nizamuddin's Tomb along with many other tombs of famed personalities in the same vicinity. In the recent years Mirza Ghalib's Tomb has been covered with a marble structure and fenced within the compound walls (the one you see in first photograph).The entry to the tomb is through Chausath khamba and Urs Mahal. Mirza Ghalib's Tomb is tiny as compared to other royal tombs in Delhi.Most of the tombs in Delhi are protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India. Tomb of Mirza Ghalib is dressed with a structure made of marble and sits within a small courtyard enclosure, which is locked most of the times. The small Tomb area is also dotted with several other graves of persons unknown.Some of the walls around the tomb are in bad shape. Although they are standing strong but surrounding market makes it a little dirty.'Ghalib Academy' is close to the tomb (just behind the tomb) which was established by the Government of India in memory and honor of this legendary poet. Ghalib Academy has a large library which has a wide collection of literature books written in the Urdu language as well as several other related subjects. It also nestles a small museum dedicated to Mirza Ghalib and has works of Ghalib and other collectables like rocks and paintings of the poet.One can enter into the area of the Tomb of Mirza Ghalib via a narrow lane that stretches along the Nizamuddin Basti (Village). Entry is free for all on any day. Since the Tomb site remains locked, you will need to obtain the keys from the Ghalib Academy Administration Office.While at Mirza Ghalib Tomb, you can also enjoy shopping at the nearby Sunder Nagar Market that sells a variety of antiques, jewellery and brassware. The Lajpat Nagar market is also close by which is a good market place to shop for garments. Dilli Haat can also be an interesting place to buy handicrafts from various states of India.Located in front of the Chausath Khamba, Urs Mahal is an assembly hall where Khawwali programs are held on festival days and on the days during “Urs of Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya”.After discovering this place, I realized that Delhi has lot more than what we know and it always presents you new surprises.


I have shared about Lodhi Garden in multiple posts, but here I am sharing some of the photographs I recently clicked. Lodhi Garden is full of health conscious & fitness freaks, especially early in the morning and evenings. And if you visit the place during weekend (early mornings), lot of folks from different parts of NCR (National Capital Region of India) come to Lodhi Garden for jogging, running, yoga, exercise, cycling, and various other fitness activities.Photographs shared in this post are clicked in the evening and the scene looks pretty different during mornings. During morning, there are mostly individuals or couples walking around the jogging paths or doing yoga in lush green lawns. While in evening, you would also see lot of families sitting around the lawns and indulged in different games like - football, badminton, cricket, volleyball etc. One need not to worry about Lodhi Garden timings , as it's open most of the time you would plan to visit.There are few monuments in Lodhi Garden and kids love playing hide-n-seek around these structures. In the late evening, most of these monuments are well lit and photographers love shooting Lodhi Garden in low light. Many families visit Laodhi Garden during the weekends and especially in evenings. Kids can be seen buying baloons, candies and playing football. Some of the parents ensure that kids make best use of open space and do some exercise in terms of games like football, badminton, cricket etc.There are lot of fitness groups who do various kinds of fitness sessions at LOdhi Garden. Frequency of those sessions is different. Some are organized by individual and few by companies like Reebok & Decathlon.Athpula bride inside Lodhi Garden is another interesting place to visit. There is huge water body under the bridge which has lot of geese. Kids love coming to this place and lot of folks bring bread to feed the geese.Lodhi Garden is full of birds. Probably most of the other areas in Delhi are very noisy and huge green patch of Lodhi Garden suits the best for them to relax.Every time I visit Lodhi Garden, I observe a new thing. Whenever I am around India Habitat Center of Khan Market, I ensure that I take a round of Lodhi Garden.

As we parked our car in Red Fort parking lot, we noticed this little Mosque across the road. Beautiful architecture surrounded by green trees in Old Delhi. I along with my friend thought of going closer to find out about the place and found a gentleman sitting on the stairs to shared about Shahi Sunahari Masjid and then he pointed us to the board which had more details about the Masjid.The Sunehri Masjid (Mosque) was constructed during 1750s by the order of Qudsia Begum for Nawab Bahadur Javed Khan. Javed Khan was the supervisor of the harem and was in great favour with the begum and therefore was very influential. He was later assassinated. The Sunehri Masjid is made of bassee jung, a light salmon-colored stone not usually used for building mosques.Nawab Ahmad Bakhsh Khan, father of the Nawab of Firozpur, repaired the mosque to benefit the neighborhood. Not long after its renovation, Nawab Ahmad Bakhsh Khan was attacked by an infuriated elephant while out with his son. His horse was killed in the attack, and his vehicle was destroyed. The Nawab and his son were only saved from death by taking refuge inside this mosque.The mosque has three domes, which were originally gilt with copper from which it derives its name. The mosque has a main prayer hall and two minarets. The central arch of the mosque bears an inscription about the builder of the mosque and date of its construction. In 1852, Bahadur Shah II had the mosque repaired and replaced the copper plates of the domes with sandstone facing.Delhi has lot of such hidden hertitage sites and I am happy that some young groups are helping people discover and know about these.

Kolkata has lot of beautiful buildings from british era and Victoria memorial is one of the most beautiful & popular place in the city. During our trip to Kolkata, we visited Victorial memorial twice - once in the morning and once in the evening, when whole building was well lit. This post shares about Victoria Memorial, it's lush green gardens and some of the interesting facts about this beautiful building & other places around.The Victoria Memorial is a huge marble building in Kolkata (Calcutta) city of West Bengal, India. Victoria Memorialis dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum and tourist destination and taken care of by Ministry of Culture. The Memorial is surrounded by grounds around Hooghly river near Jawaharlal Nehru road.There are multiple gates for Victoria Memorial and the Memorial building is surrounding some water bodies & lush green lawns. We entered into the Victoria Memorial campus through main which is just front of the memorial.We turned towards left just after entering into the Victoria Memorial campus. There is a beautiful water body on the left side of the memorial, which offers great views of Victoria Memorial in water reflection.Different types of birds can be seen around lush green gardens of Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, but Cormorants were in abundance. Most of them were sitting around the edge of water body and it seems that campus has good amount of fish as well.The day we visited Victoria Memorial was being celebrated as National Tourism Day and entry to all monuments was free. Otherwise entry ticket for Victoria Memorial costs 10 rs and ticket for museum is extra,which is priced at 20 rs.Lot of folks come to Victoria Memorial for morning walk or jogging. There are monthly/yearly passes available for folks which cost 100 rs for month and 1000 rs for an year.Victoria Memorial opens at 10am in morning and closes at 5pm. Ticket counter closes at 5pm. There are lot of maulshree trees around Victoria Memorial, which make the whole environment fragrant. Especially the other side of water body, which is full of trees and plants.These lions sitting on the entry makes the places grander.

Kolkata has lot of beautiful buildings from british era and Victoria memorial is one of the most beautiful & popular place in the city. During our trip to Kolkata, we visited Victorial memorial twice - once in the morning and once in the evening, when whole building was well lit. This post shares about Victoria Memorial, it's lush green gardens and some of the interesting facts about this beautiful building & other places around.The Victoria Memorial is a huge marble building in Kolkata (Calcutta) city of West Bengal, India. Victoria Memorialis dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum and tourist destination and taken care of by Ministry of Culture. The Memorial is surrounded by grounds around Hooghly river near Jawaharlal Nehru road.There are multiple gates for Victoria Memorial and the Memorial building is surrounding some water bodies & lush green lawns. We entered into the Victoria Memorial campus through main which is just front of the memorial.We turned towards left just after entering into the Victoria Memorial campus. There is a beautiful water body on the left side of the memorial, which offers great views of Victoria Memorial in water reflection.Different types of birds can be seen around lush green gardens of Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, but Cormorants were in abundance. Most of them were sitting around the edge of water body and it seems that campus has good amount of fish as well.The day we visited Victoria Memorial was being celebrated as National Tourism Day and entry to all monuments was free. Otherwise entry ticket for Victoria Memorial costs 10 rs and ticket for museum is extra,which is priced at 20 rs.Lot of folks come to Victoria Memorial for morning walk or jogging. There are monthly/yearly passes available for folks which cost 100 rs for month and 1000 rs for an year.Victoria Memorial opens at 10am in morning and closes at 5pm. Ticket counter closes at 5pm. There are lot of maulshree trees around Victoria Memorial, which make the whole environment fragrant. Especially the other side of water body, which is full of trees and plants.These lions sitting on the entry makes the places grander.

Kolkata has lot of beautiful buildings from british era and Victoria memorial is one of the most beautiful & popular place in the city. During our trip to Kolkata, we visited Victorial memorial twice - once in the morning and once in the evening, when whole building was well lit. This post shares about Victoria Memorial, it's lush green gardens and some of the interesting facts about this beautiful building & other places around.The Victoria Memorial is a huge marble building in Kolkata (Calcutta) city of West Bengal, India. Victoria Memorialis dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum and tourist destination and taken care of by Ministry of Culture. The Memorial is surrounded by grounds around Hooghly river near Jawaharlal Nehru road.There are multiple gates for Victoria Memorial and the Memorial building is surrounding some water bodies & lush green lawns. We entered into the Victoria Memorial campus through main which is just front of the memorial.We turned towards left just after entering into the Victoria Memorial campus. There is a beautiful water body on the left side of the memorial, which offers great views of Victoria Memorial in water reflection.Different types of birds can be seen around lush green gardens of Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, but Cormorants were in abundance. Most of them were sitting around the edge of water body and it seems that campus has good amount of fish as well.The day we visited Victoria Memorial was being celebrated as National Tourism Day and entry to all monuments was free. Otherwise entry ticket for Victoria Memorial costs 10 rs and ticket for museum is extra,which is priced at 20 rs.Lot of folks come to Victoria Memorial for morning walk or jogging. There are monthly/yearly passes available for folks which cost 100 rs for month and 1000 rs for an year.Victoria Memorial opens at 10am in morning and closes at 5pm. Ticket counter closes at 5pm. There are lot of maulshree trees around Victoria Memorial, which make the whole environment fragrant. Especially the other side of water body, which is full of trees and plants.These lions sitting on the entry makes the places grander.

Kolkata has lot of beautiful buildings from british era and Victoria memorial is one of the most beautiful & popular place in the city. During our trip to Kolkata, we visited Victorial memorial twice - once in the morning and once in the evening, when whole building was well lit. This post shares about Victoria Memorial, it's lush green gardens and some of the interesting facts about this beautiful building & other places around.The Victoria Memorial is a huge marble building in Kolkata (Calcutta) city of West Bengal, India. Victoria Memorialis dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum and tourist destination and taken care of by Ministry of Culture. The Memorial is surrounded by grounds around Hooghly river near Jawaharlal Nehru road.There are multiple gates for Victoria Memorial and the Memorial building is surrounding some water bodies & lush green lawns. We entered into the Victoria Memorial campus through main which is just front of the memorial.We turned towards left just after entering into the Victoria Memorial campus. There is a beautiful water body on the left side of the memorial, which offers great views of Victoria Memorial in water reflection.Different types of birds can be seen around lush green gardens of Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, but Cormorants were in abundance. Most of them were sitting around the edge of water body and it seems that campus has good amount of fish as well.The day we visited Victoria Memorial was being celebrated as National Tourism Day and entry to all monuments was free. Otherwise entry ticket for Victoria Memorial costs 10 rs and ticket for museum is extra,which is priced at 20 rs.Lot of folks come to Victoria Memorial for morning walk or jogging. There are monthly/yearly passes available for folks which cost 100 rs for month and 1000 rs for an year.Victoria Memorial opens at 10am in morning and closes at 5pm. Ticket counter closes at 5pm. There are lot of maulshree trees around Victoria Memorial, which make the whole environment fragrant. Especially the other side of water body, which is full of trees and plants.These lions sitting on the entry makes the places grander.

Kolkata has lot of beautiful buildings from british era and Victoria memorial is one of the most beautiful & popular place in the city. During our trip to Kolkata, we visited Victorial memorial twice - once in the morning and once in the evening, when whole building was well lit. This post shares about Victoria Memorial, it's lush green gardens and some of the interesting facts about this beautiful building & other places around.The Victoria Memorial is a huge marble building in Kolkata (Calcutta) city of West Bengal, India. Victoria Memorialis dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum and tourist destination and taken care of by Ministry of Culture. The Memorial is surrounded by grounds around Hooghly river near Jawaharlal Nehru road.There are multiple gates for Victoria Memorial and the Memorial building is surrounding some water bodies & lush green lawns. We entered into the Victoria Memorial campus through main which is just front of the memorial.We turned towards left just after entering into the Victoria Memorial campus. There is a beautiful water body on the left side of the memorial, which offers great views of Victoria Memorial in water reflection.Different types of birds can be seen around lush green gardens of Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, but Cormorants were in abundance. Most of them were sitting around the edge of water body and it seems that campus has good amount of fish as well.The day we visited Victoria Memorial was being celebrated as National Tourism Day and entry to all monuments was free. Otherwise entry ticket for Victoria Memorial costs 10 rs and ticket for museum is extra,which is priced at 20 rs.Lot of folks come to Victoria Memorial for morning walk or jogging. There are monthly/yearly passes available for folks which cost 100 rs for month and 1000 rs for an year.Victoria Memorial opens at 10am in morning and closes at 5pm. Ticket counter closes at 5pm. There are lot of maulshree trees around Victoria Memorial, which make the whole environment fragrant. Especially the other side of water body, which is full of trees and plants.These lions sitting on the entry makes the places grander.

Kolkata has lot of beautiful buildings from british era and Victoria memorial is one of the most beautiful & popular place in the city. During our trip to Kolkata, we visited Victorial memorial twice - once in the morning and once in the evening, when whole building was well lit. This post shares about Victoria Memorial, it's lush green gardens and some of the interesting facts about this beautiful building & other places around.The Victoria Memorial is a huge marble building in Kolkata (Calcutta) city of West Bengal, India. Victoria Memorialis dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum and tourist destination and taken care of by Ministry of Culture. The Memorial is surrounded by grounds around Hooghly river near Jawaharlal Nehru road.There are multiple gates for Victoria Memorial and the Memorial building is surrounding some water bodies & lush green lawns. We entered into the Victoria Memorial campus through main which is just front of the memorial.We turned towards left just after entering into the Victoria Memorial campus. There is a beautiful water body on the left side of the memorial, which offers great views of Victoria Memorial in water reflection.Different types of birds can be seen around lush green gardens of Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, but Cormorants were in abundance. Most of them were sitting around the edge of water body and it seems that campus has good amount of fish as well.The day we visited Victoria Memorial was being celebrated as National Tourism Day and entry to all monuments was free. Otherwise entry ticket for Victoria Memorial costs 10 rs and ticket for museum is extra,which is priced at 20 rs.Lot of folks come to Victoria Memorial for morning walk or jogging. There are monthly/yearly passes available for folks which cost 100 rs for month and 1000 rs for an year.Victoria Memorial opens at 10am in morning and closes at 5pm. Ticket counter closes at 5pm. There are lot of maulshree trees around Victoria Memorial, which make the whole environment fragrant. Especially the other side of water body, which is full of trees and plants.These lions sitting on the entry makes the places grander.


Lush green meadows, grazing sheeps, beautiful cottages, high deodars and high hills of Khajjiar makes it a popular destination for traveller, explorers and tourists from India & abroad. Khajjiar is also known as mini Switzerland of India. Khajjiar is located on the way from Dalhousie and Chamba. This Photo Journey shares more about the ways to reach Khajjiar and other interesting things to explore & do around Khajiar/Dalhousie.How to reach?Here I am sharing details about reaching Khajjiar from Delhi and then will share some pointers about options from Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar etc. HRTC bus for Chamba starts from Delhi at 7pm. The link shares has more details about booking bus from Delhi to Dalhousie. The one which starts at 7pm is 2*2 AC bus. Apart from this 2 ordinary buses go from Delhi to Chamba/Dalhousie. Any of these buses can drop you at Dalhousie, which is closest main station near Khajjiar. Khajjir is just 22 kilometers from Dalhousie. Other option to reach Khajjiar is by taking a train from Delhi to Pathankot. From Pathankot, you can either hire a taxi or board local bus from Dalhousie. Please note that most of the buses going to Chamba can drop you at Dalhousie but there is rare possibility to find direct bus for Khajjiar. There are few buses from Dalhousie to Chamba which cross through Khajjiar. There is one which starts from Dalhousie at 9:15am. When I was staying in Dalhousie, I chose to take this bus to reach Khajjiar and then took 2:30pm bus to come back. Expect lot of passengers in these buses between Dalhousie and Khajjiar. If you are coming from other cities like Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Dharmshala or Shimla; there are various bus routes. Check HRTC, PRTC websites to know timings. Apart from these private buses are also available for Dalhousie. Hope these details are helpful. If not, please drop a comment with your specific question and I will try to share appropriate details. Let's talk about options to stay around Khajjiar. Where to stay? I have been to Khajjiar many times, but most of the times stayed in Dalhousie. I wish to spend a night around Khajjiar. There is one HPTDC hotel which faces Khajjiar lake (dry lake). Apart from this there is one forest guest house and a HPPWD guest house around Khajjiar. All of these beautiful properties are best located around lush green meadows of Khajjiar. Apart from these prime location properties, there are few resorts around Khajjiar, but they are not around the main lake. 3 options mentioned above offer brilliant views of lush green grounds of Khajjiar. During summers, it's hard to get booking in Khajjiar. The next good option is Dalhousie. Dalhousie has comparatively more hotels & resorts. But it's recommended to do advance booking if you are going to Khajjiar or Dalhousie in main tourist season. Activities at Khajjiar - 1. Paragliding - Now you can enjoy paragliding at Khajjiar. Like Solang nala, kids can also enjoy small flights within Khajjiar and adults can enjoy the longer flights from surrounding hills, which usually land in Khajjiar. 2. Horse riding - You can ride around the Khajjiar. There is a proper path defined for horses and this is one of the early & popular activity to enjoy at Khajjiar. The horse owners also tell you few tricks to ride the horse. On the halfway, you feel like controlling the horse on your own :). That's fun ! 3. Zorbing - You would see zorbing balls rolling on other side of Khajjiar lake. 4. Photo shoot in Himachali dress - This is typical activity which is offered in most of the hill stations in Himachal and Kashmir. I think, I need not explain this more. 5. Interacting with rabbits and getting some photographs clicked - You would find few kids with rabbits. They allow you clicking photographs with these rabbits and charge 10 rs. During tourist season, they may ask 20 rs or so. 6. Enjoy local folk music - There is a gentleman, who sings local songs around the dry lake of Khajjiar. He sings brilliantly and you can find his videos on Youtube.You can carry your own stuff with you. Many times, we carry Badminton, frisbee, a football and picnic stuff. Khajjiar is appropriate place for picnic. Folks living in Dalhousie and Chamaba usually come to Khajjiar during sundays with friends and family.Main places to explore around Khajjiar - Dalhousie - Churches, Mall road, walks Panchpula Waterfalls Dainkund TrekKalatop wildlife sanctuary trek, Chamera Lake Dam, Chamba Town - Bhuri Singh Museum, Laxmi Narayan Temple, Chattradi Temple, Chugan and lot more , Ravi river , View of snow covered Pir Panjal mountain ranges, I was there in Khajjiar again in August and it looks awesome in the month of August & September. It was a day out with my niece Urvi and enjoyed clicking her photographs. Above photograph shows deodar cones. August is the month when you can see all these cones on deodar trees. Khajjiar is surrounded by dense forest of high deodars. There is water in the middle of the lake. More than water, it's quicksand. This wooden pathway takes you to the water pond and this time I saw lot of fish in this. Although scene is not very interesting. Kids really enjoy to see fish in the pond. A gentleman sits around this place and sell some eatable for the fish. That's a good way for kids to interact with fish. Direct sunlight, fresh & cold breeze, lush green meadows, grazing sheep & cows, beautiful huts surrounded by dense forests of Deodar make Khajjiar a irrisistable place in Himachal Pradesh . Khajjiar is my favorite place around Dalhousie and Chamba regions of the himalayan state. Here is a panorama of Khajjiar. Notice the size of people walking around and try to imagine the size of this beautiful green meadow. It's huge. If you love walking, this is perfect place with appropriate weather. At times sun can be too harsh, so choose to walk around the edges with shade of deodars. Hope this post would help you plan your trip to Khajjiar and by now you must have an idea about things to expect at Khajjiar. Please feel free to drop your comments for further questions or suggestions.




Last weekend we were in Churu Town of Rajasthan and the first thing to do in Churu was City Tour, mainly a 3 hour walk through the streets of Churu Town. This whole town has some of the very grand Havelis which are maintained by local folks. This Photo Journey shares some photographs of Havelis from Churu Town with relevant information.After crazy drive from Delhi to Churu, we reached Maji Ka Karma which is a Heritage Hotel in the town. Deepak at 'Malji Ka Karma' had organized this city tour for us after lunch. So after having our lunch we moved to the street walk with a local guide Lal Singh. Malji ki Kamra was basically a Haveli for guests, so we first encountered the main Haveli of Malji which was just across the Hotel.Churu is a beautiful town in the desert region of Rajasthan state of India. When I say beautiful, it essentially means the Heritage value and different culture to explore. Otherwise these streets were not very clean. Churu is also known as gateway to the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. Churu town is the administrative headquarters of a District of Rajasthan. Churu District lies in the Thar Desert around National Highway-65 which connects Pali to Ambala. Town is very well connected through Train as well. Churu Town is near shifting sand dunes of the Thar Desert & during the trip we had bonfire in desert as well. As of now, let's talk more about the Havelis and the heritage this town hasChuru has grand havelis with marvelous fresco paintings. Some of the biggest Havelis in Churu are Kanhaiya lal Bagla ki Haweli and Surana Haweli, with hundreds of small windows. There is also a Hawa Mahal which has 1111 windows and doors of different sizes. Churu also has some fine Chhatris but relatively lesser in number as compared to Havelis. Mr Lal Singh took us to different Havelis.Near Churu town, there is a Dharam Stup, which symbolizes religious equality and supposedly, it's a popular religious place. At the centre of the Churu town, there is a fort which is built about 400 years ago. Because of this short trip, we couldn't visit this fort but it seems there is hardly any preservation of the fort and very few folks go there.Most of the walls of these Havelis were Painted. Some of the paintings were not in good shape but most of them were there and we could make out the subjects drawn. Only very few Havelis were well maintained and some of them had redrawn the painting. Few looked good and many of them seemed overdone with modern colors. Charm of painting done with natural colors is very different and can't be replaced with chemical colors. There were paintings of Maharaja of Bikaner, the closest Rajya to Churu.Arches in different Havelis have intricate work and this really shows the way art-forms were used in building these luxurious places to live. There is something very special about discovering the unknown. While walking through these lanes, I realized that may of the popular cities of Rajasthan must also have such Heritage Havelis but we end up exploring popular things which are marketed well by commercial players of those cities/towns/regions. For the regular tourist, Churu is a dusty little town in Rajasthan with no infrastructure and no real attraction. But if we take time to know more and keep exploring, every Haveli of Churu Town has stories to tell about prosperity & strong culture. Vibrancy of Churu Town lies very much into the historical value and it's strong cultural environment.Most Havelis in Churu Town of Rajasthan are owned by the various generations of the Kothari Family and Parekh Family. Most of them are all lying in ruins. Most of these have caretakers but even those families can take care of small portions of these Havelis. Mostly 2-5 rooms out of hundreds are operational in most of these Havelis of Churu. Above photograph is shot from the top of a Haveli and the views from top were amazing...At times, these Havelis were haunting. While moving around these streets, we started talking about ghosts and the discussion continued throughout the trip. The Hawa Mahal speaks the about haunted air of the place.Every part of these Havelis in Churu is a piece of art in itself - Be it windows or doors, Pillars or Basements, Roofs or Terraces... There are various stories depicted on the walls of these Havelis through paintings. At the same time, all these paintings also depict elemental stuff. Be it trains, cars, horses, elephants, palakis, gods, godesses etc.While exploring these streets of Churu Town in Rajasthan, we met some Silver artists, who were making crockery with silver and it seems that most of this stuff is exported.Long forgotten.. During the walk some of us were discussing about the heritage value of windows, doors & other artifacts in these Havelis. And it was shocking to see that no one is worried about the preservation of many of these things in town. Only government or actual owners of these properties can take this bigger responsibility of preserve this Heritage and increase the lifetime of this town, region and the state.Many of these Havelis in Churu have portraits of the Maharaja of Bikaner and the ancestors of the family who own few of these Havelis in Churu town of Rajasthan. While walking through the streets and Havelis of Churu, we reaches a street having heavy painting work on outer walls. A wall was showing very different stuff. Marwari merchants from Churu were very rich and well travelled as well. On some of the walls, Jesus Christ images were there. Some of the depiction on these walls can be disturbing for believers of religions.There is a very well presevred Temple in the town, which is surrounded by Havelis. The Jain temple replicates the exact architecture found in Amer Fort of Jaipur. We shall share a specific Story on Jain Temple of Churu Town. One of the few things maintained in Churu town was a temple, which is funded by the Kothari family.There is beauty all around us, only if our definitions of beauty are flexible enough to see beyond the obvious and explore more to appreciate it better.






















During our Heritage walk through streets of Churu, we reached a beautifully maintained temple near market. This is a Jain temple and have outer structure similar to a building inside Amer Fort of Jaipur, Rajasthan. This Photo Journey shares some of the golden photographs from the interiors of the temple and colorful fresco pantingsThis Jain Temple in Churu has some of the best paintings painted in Golden colors. This special temple , which is maintained by Kotharis, is at least a few centuries old and worth a visit when you are in ChuruThe Paintings inside Churu Jain Temple are mostly of moral living suggestions type. There are some beautiful paintings on walls and some glass work as well. Whole temple is very well lit with colorful lights. Apart from this temple Churu has various other temples, Gurudwaras & Masjids. Almost all the times, we were hearing prayer sounds from one or other religious places. While walking through the streets, we saw various smaller temples as well. And there were some smaller temples inside few of the Havelis as well. his Jain temple is surrounded by various old Havelis which are comparatively in bad condition. The Havelies in Churu are impressively decorated with Belgian etched kaleidoscopic glasses in many shapes and designs in interiors as well as outer walls. Their intricate designs and wood-carving on door-frames are commendable. Let me stop talking about Havelis again :)It was amazing to see such a temple in this old town of Rajasthan, Churu. Whole temple was glittering with colorful lights and their reflections on golden paintings and galss-designs. Above photograph shows the roof of this temple.This Jain Temple is a must visit option while you take Heritage Tour through old Havelis of Churu.







While coming back from Kannurto Bengaluru , we planned stop at Mysore Palace. We didn't stop for lunch on the way and thought of taking a break at Mysore and have some light lunch. It's a historical palace in the city of Mysore in Karnataka, southern India. It is the official residence and seat of the Wodeyars — the Maharajas of Mysore, the former royal family of Mysore, who ruled the princely state of Mysore from 1399 to 1950. Asked our taxi driver to drop us at the entry gate of Mysore Palace and park for next 1 hr.There is a dedicated parking area adjoining Mysore Palace campus. There is another huge parking across the road and lot of buses were parked in that parking. Ticket counter was empty, so it hardly took 5 minutes for us to enter into the campus. There was no one at the main entry to check out tickets. Entry ticket for one person costs 40 Rs and there is no ticket for camera. I specifically asked for camera fees and surprised to know that no fees is charged for cameras.After entering into the Mysore Palace campus, we thought of taking a round of this huge compound. The palace houses two durbar halls and incorporates a mesmerizing and gigantic array of courtyards, gardens, and buildings. The palace is in the central region of inner Mysore, facing the Chamundi Hills on the other side. There is lot of open space around the main palace. There is a temple around one of the corners of Mysore Palace.The Palace of Mysore is also known as the Amba Vilas Palace. After walking outside the palace, we reached the entry which takes you inside the palace. We needed to take out shoes. As we reached the counter to deposit our shoes, the guy standing there refused to give us a token and assured that we need not to worry :). Anyways, we moved on and stood in the queue.As we reached the security check, we were notified that cameras are not allowed inside and you need to keep it somewhere. Now I got to know that why there was no fees for camera but the person at ticket counter didn't bother to inform us about that. After spending 5 minutes in discussions with security folks, we got to know that a counter is there outside the compound where camera can be deposited. This was again a task of 15 minutes to take shoes back, deposit camera and then come back.Now we decided to directly go back to our cab and continue with our next journey towards Bengaluru. As we headed back to the shoe counter, the man at the counter asked for 'tip' and then gave us our shoes. Isn't it weird?Mysore is also popularly the City of Palaces. There are about 7 palaces inclusive of Mysore Palace. Now we didn't have to explore more in Mysore City. Probably we shall go there again sometime. I have also heard a lot of the Dussehra celebrations in Mysore, so let's see if I plan for it in future.To know more about the history and architecture of Mysore Palace, check out. It seems that Mysore Palace is now one of the most famous tourist attractions in India, after the Taj Mahal, and has more than 3,000,000 visitors annually. But not sure if I should compare it with Taj or not.

Festival season is going to start in India and country is gearing up for celebrations. Folks are already waiting for Dussehra , Vijayadashmi, Navratras & Diwali. And planning for celebrations have begun. Some of the folks have already planned holidays around these festivals. Some are going to their families for celebration and some wandering souls are planning to go places where these festivals are celebrated in unique ways. Today we are sharing about top 5 places to celebrate Dussera in India.Mysore Dasara – Dussera is pronounced as ‘dasara’ in Mysore, which is 10 days event in the city of Karnataka . Mysore dasara is a royal affair, which celebrates victory of truth over evil. Dasara celebration in the city is concluded with Vijayadashami procession on last day. It is believed that Goddess Durga defeated the demon Mahishasura on Vijayadashami day. In Mysore, Chamundeshari seated in golden howdah of an elephant is progressed for 3 kilometers, which starts from the grounds of palace. Palace is beautifully decorated during these 10 days and city is completely transformed. Lot of tourists plan their visit to Mysore during these 10 days.Kullu Dussehra - Kullu Dussehra is celebrated in the month of October in Himachal Pradesh . Kullu Dussehra festival is celebrated in dhalpur ground of kullu town. This festival begins on Vijay Dashmi day and continues for 7 days after that. This festival is unique where lot of local deities of Himachal come together to celebrate the win of lord rama over devil. Approximately 250 deities come together at Dhalpur on final day including Godess Hadimba . There is huge rath which leads the procession of Lord Raghu Nath Ji. During the festival lot of cultural activities happen in Kullu town.Bastar Dushera -Like Kullu Dussehra, all the deities from the surrounding villages unite at the temple of Danteshwari in Jagdalpur of Bastar. This is one of the main celebrations in Basar district of Chhatisgarh. Dussera at Bastar is little different. It’s not about return of Rama to Ayodhaya. Dusshera in Bastar is devoted entirely to the goddess Danteshwari Devi. The festival involves participation of all the major tribes of Bastar and folks look forward to Dussehra celebrations. The preparations start in advance and whole mood of celebration remains there for a month.Kota Dussehra -Kota is a town in Rajasthan state of India and on Dussehra, a huge mela (fair) takes place for 3 days. On the last day the effigies of the Ravana clan are burnt in the ground. Rajasthani handicrafts, joy rides and the food stalls can be seen all around. Usually lesser number of tourists are seen in fair as compared to other fairs (mela) of Rajasthan state.Madikeri Dasara -Dasara festival is celebrated in the city of Madikeri in the Karnataka state of India. This is considered to be one of the oldest dasara celebration which is happening for hundreds of years in Karnataka. Madikeri Dasara is again 10 day celebration. It's known for 4 Karagas and 10 Mantapas depicting win of gods over devil by killing them. Preparation for Madikeri dasara starts few months before the real celebration. Folks of Kodagu collect money for this celebration and that's a very good example of crowd-funded project at this scale. And don't forget that it's happening for many years now. Each of these 10 Mantapa committees have approximately 100 members. A Mantapa comprises idols of height 8 to 15 feet, which is set up at the front of a lighting board.Can you visualize the scene of these celebrations? If not, then it's a right reason for you to plan a Dussehra trip to any of these places and explore a unique celebration of Dussehra.


Jageshwar Temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlings and this whole campus has 125 temples. The complex is surrounded by deodar trees on one side and a small village on other side. Over a period of time, lot of shops are built around Jageshwar Mahadev temple.

Hills & roads are my two best buddies. This Photo Journey is from very special region of himachal pradesh, which is little away from hustle bustle of tourists and preferred by adventure lovers. Himalayan state of India has lot to explore and especially the rural areas which are comparatively less explored. Definitely, such places are not meant for all the travelers but those who like peaceful places would never miss the opportunities. I am sharing this post for the benefit of such people. We usually hear about such places through word of mouth and folks travelled these trails would have lot to share.Jibhi, Shoja and Banjar are popular amongst adventure lovers, motorsport buffs, bikers and backpackers. There are two routes to hit this part of Himachal Pradesh. Most preferred route is through mandi which diverts from Aut.Jibhi is a beautiful place in Banjar Valley of Himachal Pradesh, which offers you some exceptional landscapes. If you are a Photographer or painter, you would love to be around these hills & capture the beauty in your canvas.Jibhi can be approached from Chandigarh-Manali Highway. There is a small detour in right just before the tunnel at AUT. Banjar is approximately 30 kilometers AUT and you need to follow the road following the river. If you are coming in overnight Volvo, get down at this cut and take local bus. This region is well connected through private buses. Jibhi is another 8 km from Banjar town towards Jalori Pass.We spent most of the time driving around these villages which are connected through temporary roads. There are many villages which are not directly connected through roads.While compiling this post about this region, I read more and came across a very detailed post . I recommend you to also check this post for planning your trip to this region. Jalori pass and Sarolsar lake are must go places in this region. There is a small trek to reach Sarolsar lake but it's fun to walk through forest.Every now and then you get magnificant views of snow covered hills when driving around this region of Himachal Pradesh. There are plenty of easy and medium level treks around this region of Himalayan State of India.The villages in this part of Himachal are different. The architecture, sizes, locations, placement, colors etc. On the way, we randomly stopped at few houses and one family also offered us tea and packed few apples.Such terrains make to realize about simplicity of life in Himachal. Things are simple, time is passing slowly, everyone has time for each other, compassionate people and there is no race. Most of it may sound cliched but that's true. One must explore these terrains to get closer to reality of life. One of the best terrains for explorers. While driving around Jibhi, Shoja & Kalori Pass, we met different folks on our. This gentleman works with HPPWD and was coming back home. He was walking and there was hardly anyone around. We asked if he needs lift. He smiled that said that he needs to visit his fields on the way, which are not actually on roadside. We spent some time with him and it's his regular routine. He hardly uses vehicles to commute from home to work. Most of his work is in surroundings. There are few moments when HPPWD trucks come and pick all these workers to take them to work-site which is at distance.Sunset hues hitting these high deodars make these terrains more beautiful. Our campsite was planned at Shaij and this place was nearby. We spent some time here and then headed towards the camps. In future, I want to go there our own tents and other camping equipments. This region is safe and best suited for camping.Above photograph would give you some sense about roads some of the villages have. Here idea is not to say that roads are in bad shape, but to highlight that many of the villages are getting connected. Its practically difficult to have equally good roads in all terrains. So it's better to keep improving situation over time. First goal should be to connect these villages. 'PradhanMantri Sadak Yogana' started by Atal Bihari Vajpayee helped lot of villages in India to get connected through roads.Now, it's easy to find home-stays around Jibhi, Shoja & Banjar.


Hope you have enjoyed the journey of first two days with us so far. If you haven't gotten a chance, we recommend to check out Part-1 & Part-2 of the journey and then come back here to enjoy the third day trek to Dhanachuli Village around Kumaun hills. Let's start this Photo Journey to the beautiful Dhanachuli Village.It was bright sunny morning at Dhanachuli and some of us were up at 6:30am. Unpredictable weather during last two days had created so much curiosity that everyone was excited to see bright morning on third day. It opened the gates for the trek to the abandoned village of Dhanachuli. We started from Te Aroha at around 7:00 am. We drove from Te Aroha to the market of Dhanachuli village. We stopped near Bank of Baroda and started our trek downwards through green farms facing snow covered peaks. Mr. Sumant Batra personally led the entire trek and kept us informed about various trees, crops, plants, architecture & people.For initial 20 minutes, we were walking through the habitat area which is comparatively close to the main road which connects Dhanachuli village to other parts of Kumaun. Most of the villagers have pets and mainly cows & goats. Corn crops were all over the farms and some of the farms also had seasonal vegetables - peas, cabbage, bringle, tomatoas, green chillies, kidney-beans (Rajmah) etc. Dhanchuli village is deep in the valley surrounded by snow capped hills on one side and steep green mountains on other side. Dhanachuli hills are probably some of the highest hills in Kumaun region.At the end of the trek were some dilapidated houses of the old Dhanachuli village. Most of the old village is abandoned with only a couple of houses still occupied. The villagers, it seems, have moved to houses closer to the road.The houses were adorned with some interesting carvings and designs. Sumant pointed out some samples of carvings from as far as Rajasthan. He expressed his amazement at finding such designs up here in Uttarakhand. One possible explanation, he thinks, is that these people migrated from the plains over a hundred years ago to escape forced conversions. And with them they carried a part of their memories, tradition, and culture, always wanting to cling on to what they had to leave behind.The houses, though abandoned, still tell a story with their strong foundations, quality material used for building. If you look at the picture above, you will see stones stacked on top of each other. This material is native to the hills and has stood against the test of time.This was one of the houses that was still occupied. A cat was sunning itself on the stairs, while the occupants went about their daily chores. The villagers keep busy most of the times as they need to do almost everything themselves. It is a life full of hardwork and peace.These freshly plucked red chillies and corns have been spread out to dry so that they don't get spoilt when they are stored. The villagers keep some portion of the crops they produce for their personal use, while they sell of the rest. This particular house was so isolated from the rest that we were wondering if the occupants feel afraid at night. We were also asking ourselves what they do to keep themselves entertained. And then we noticed the dish antennae installed outside...but of course...While looking at the exteriors of the abandoned houses, we were curious about the insides. We found an interesting looking house and some of us dared to climb inside. A few of us were worried whether we would chance upon a sleeping leopard inside the house. But Sumant assured us that it wasn't a possibility because if there was a leopard inside, we would be able to smell it before we saw it. Our fear may sound funny to you, but in reality a leopard sighting isn't as rare in these parts. If a cattle is killed or a dog vanishes, the crime is mostly blamed on leopards. Some of the buildings were so beautiful that we were left wondering why no one had noticed them yet. No Bollywood film thriller/ horror film has been shot here, no fashion shoot has been organized with these houses as a backdrop, although the setting is perfect!The last point of the trek was a temple. We sat in the premises and had tea and cookies made by Te Aroha's chef. It was very considerate of Sumant to have thought of this because after the long trek, all of us were dying for a cup of tea. We sat there for about half-an-hour listening to the birds sing and watching the clouds drifting into the valley. We had some interesting conversations while sitting here. We spoke about how inconsiderate it is to build a huge concrete structure on the top of a hill in the mountains. Such things can be very risky for the villagers living below. We discussed how essential it is for development to happen in a responsible way. And during the course of this discussion we discovered that Te Aroha, even though they have taken a water connection from the government's water supply and pay for it, they never use the water. Simply because if the resort starts using the water, hardly anything will be left for the villagers. Instead, Te Aroha has made elaborate arrangements for rainwater harvesting and uses the water they collect from this along with the water from the borer they have installed themselves. After the tea, it was time to head back and this time we chose a different route. Instead of the slippery rocky route, we chose to walk a trail through thefields. En route we stopped and tasted some very sweet peas, and met some local children who were more than happy to oblige us with generous smiles. The morning was a tiring one and yet gratifying. And we felt exercised and yet relaxed at the end of it. More than anything else the trek provided a lot of food for thought and we dwelled on it for quite some time.

Serolsar is a beautiful lake situated in middle of dense forest around Jalori Pass of Kullu District. I have been to this lake twice and have seen 2 different colors of the lake, but I still want to visit it again. And probably during winters. This Photo Journey shares more about this trek from Jalori Pass to Serolsar Lake, along with some tips & other things to do around this place.I visited Jalori Pass 6 years back and then planned again in 2012. Both the times, we planned this small trek from Jalori Pass market to Serolsar Lake. Jalori Pass market has hardly 10 shops. The roads goes beyond Jalori pass and it hits another beautiful place Banjar. The trek to Serolsar lake is through dense forest. These multi-layered mountains look awesome from Jalori Pass. To reach Serolsar lake from Jalori pass, there are 2 treks. One is to take Banjar road and get into the forest and then reach Serolsar lake. Other starts from the temple, which is located near Jalori Pass market. We took the one which starts from Jalori Pass market. Before starting the trek, make sure that you have enough water to drink and some snacks. There is only one shop near lake and there is no fixed schedule of this shop. You may find it closed as well. So prepare yourself by assuming that there is no shop on the same. This trek takes 1.5 hrs from Jalori Pass to Serolsar lake, so it can be planned in a day. If you want to do camping around this place, you need to carry everything with you. Apart from this lake, we couldn't find any other source of water. The forest was quite vibrant during the time we visited Serolsar Lake. The dry leaves were giving nice color contrast to green forest around us. Throughout this trek you get shade of these huge trees, except few smaller stretches. As we crossed the half part of the trek, we hit this place where we saw lot of abandoned houses. It looked like a small village, which is left behind by a community. Some of these houses were built under huge rocks. I had seen similar houses in Spiti, but these were very old. Some of the houses were having locks on the doors, while others were open with no windows and doors. We asked about these houses at Jalori but now I don't clearly remember the information. Because on our way, all of us had varied theories, so I can end up writing my own theory if I plan to write :). There are moderate ups and downs on the way. It's recommended to have trekking shoes, because of the kind of terrain. Although one of the pahadi trekker with was in sleepers. After an enjoyable trek through forest, you reach the place where Serolsar lake is located in middle of forest and surrounded by colorful hills all around. This trek goes beyond the lake and you can experience some of the brilliant views of stone mountains. This lake is circular in shape and most of the time shining with clear reflection of sky. There is a belief that you would not notice any leaf floating in the middle of the lake. It seems that birds around the lake ensure that lake looks beautiful without any distraction in form of leaf or anything else of that sort. Can you guess what's unusual about above photograph? I would let you think about it and would share the inputs in the end of this post. Do comment back what you had guessed and did that match the reality? There is this beautiful temple on one of the sides of the lake. We spent some time around this temple and our gang had few performances along with other trekkers at Serolsar lake. Check out the video below. Rohit and Saurabh singing & dancing on a Himachali folk song from Shimla. There is small shop at a distance of 100 meters from lake. This shop offers nice maggie, tea and some variety of munchies. We had tea with biscuits at the lake. This man told us various stories about the lake and suggested us to visit the lake again in winters, when water gets frozen and you can play on the frozen Serolsar. It sounds scary, but true. I checked some of the images of frozen lake and it looks awesome. Hope to visit Serolsar lake during winters soon. At the end of every trekking post, I usually get a question - 'Is there any connecting road to Serolsar'. And the answer is no. That's why this place so peaceful, clean and worth doing a trek of 1.5 hrs. So if you are around Jalori Pass, do plan to visit Serolsar lake. You would enjoy the beautiful trek through the forest. Regarding the image above. - Everything you see in this photograph is reflection in water. This photograph is cropped in such a way that it doesn't have other part and then rotated at 180 degree. Now just go above and look again. The water in the lake was so clear to have almost same view in reflection.

Serolsar is a beautiful lake situated in middle of dense forest around Jalori Pass of Kullu District. I have been to this lake twice and have seen 2 different colors of the lake, but I still want to visit it again. And probably during winters. This Photo Journey shares more about this trek from Jalori Pass to Serolsar Lake, along with some tips & other things to do around this place.I visited Jalori Pass 6 years back and then planned again in 2012. Both the times, we planned this small trek from Jalori Pass market to Serolsar Lake. Jalori Pass market has hardly 10 shops. The roads goes beyond Jalori pass and it hits another beautiful place Banjar. The trek to Serolsar lake is through dense forest. These multi-layered mountains look awesome from Jalori Pass. To reach Serolsar lake from Jalori pass, there are 2 treks. One is to take Banjar road and get into the forest and then reach Serolsar lake. Other starts from the temple, which is located near Jalori Pass market. We took the one which starts from Jalori Pass market. Before starting the trek, make sure that you have enough water to drink and some snacks. There is only one shop near lake and there is no fixed schedule of this shop. You may find it closed as well. So prepare yourself by assuming that there is no shop on the same. This trek takes 1.5 hrs from Jalori Pass to Serolsar lake, so it can be planned in a day. If you want to do camping around this place, you need to carry everything with you. Apart from this lake, we couldn't find any other source of water. The forest was quite vibrant during the time we visited Serolsar Lake. The dry leaves were giving nice color contrast to green forest around us. Throughout this trek you get shade of these huge trees, except few smaller stretches. As we crossed the half part of the trek, we hit this place where we saw lot of abandoned houses. It looked like a small village, which is left behind by a community. Some of these houses were built under huge rocks. I had seen similar houses in Spiti, but these were very old. Some of the houses were having locks on the doors, while others were open with no windows and doors. We asked about these houses at Jalori but now I don't clearly remember the information. Because on our way, all of us had varied theories, so I can end up writing my own theory if I plan to write :). There are moderate ups and downs on the way. It's recommended to have trekking shoes, because of the kind of terrain. Although one of the pahadi trekker with was in sleepers. After an enjoyable trek through forest, you reach the place where Serolsar lake is located in middle of forest and surrounded by colorful hills all around. This trek goes beyond the lake and you can experience some of the brilliant views of stone mountains. This lake is circular in shape and most of the time shining with clear reflection of sky. There is a belief that you would not notice any leaf floating in the middle of the lake. It seems that birds around the lake ensure that lake looks beautiful without any distraction in form of leaf or anything else of that sort. Can you guess what's unusual about above photograph? I would let you think about it and would share the inputs in the end of this post. Do comment back what you had guessed and did that match the reality? There is this beautiful temple on one of the sides of the lake. We spent some time around this temple and our gang had few performances along with other trekkers at Serolsar lake. Check out the video below. Rohit and Saurabh singing & dancing on a Himachali folk song from Shimla. There is small shop at a distance of 100 meters from lake. This shop offers nice maggie, tea and some variety of munchies. We had tea with biscuits at the lake. This man told us various stories about the lake and suggested us to visit the lake again in winters, when water gets frozen and you can play on the frozen Serolsar. It sounds scary, but true. I checked some of the images of frozen lake and it looks awesome. Hope to visit Serolsar lake during winters soon. At the end of every trekking post, I usually get a question - 'Is there any connecting road to Serolsar'. And the answer is no. That's why this place so peaceful, clean and worth doing a trek of 1.5 hrs. So if you are around Jalori Pass, do plan to visit Serolsar lake. You would enjoy the beautiful trek through the forest. Regarding the image above. - Everything you see in this photograph is reflection in water. This photograph is cropped in such a way that it doesn't have other part and then rotated at 180 degree. Now just go above and look again. The water in the lake was so clear to have almost same view in reflection.




In the month of march, we visited this beautiful hill station in Himachal – Dalhousie. During the visit we stayed in Rashmi Villa which is clearly visible from surrounding hills of Dalhousie. When you are driving from Pathankot, you start seeing this place when you are 20 kilometers away from Dalhousie town. The huge flag installed in front of it an indicator. It’s a beautifully located place around Dalhousie hills and near to famous Dalhousie Public School. This Photo Journey shares some of the views we experienced during our 3 days stay at Rashmi Villa.Here is the photograph of flag installed at Rashmi Villa. Dalhousie came in national news because of this flag. Dalhousie Public school also has a MIG-21 and soon they will be having a battle tank T-54.There is a nice ground around this flag and kids love playing around it. Rashmi Villa is a very old building in the campus of Dalhousie Public School and maintained by school authorities.It was continuously raining when we were in Dalhousie and we really enjoyed the hide-n-seek of clouds around us. Many times these clouds visited us at Rashmi Villa to welcome in Dalhousie. Just on the left hand side, there are multiple layers of hills. These hills were having snow where we visited Dalhouise. More than snow, I really liked these beautiful houses having similar architecture and aligned symmetrically on this mountain. We were wondering about the people living on this hill. They must be getting far better views of surrounding and probably they would have an opportunity to look at other side of the hill from top. Khajjiar, Chamba and Bharmour are on the other side this hill. These portions are not visible from Rashmi Villa. Rashmi Villa is facing towards hills leading towards Pathankot and Ravi riverYou can see numerous villages on surrounding hills and I love these roofs of Himachali houses. Most of these houses have vibrant and multicolored shades in a unique way.Rashmi Villa is mainly surrounded by hills which have various sub-campuses of Dalhousie Public School. The MIG-21 is directly visible on the right side and river Ravi offers various shades during different time of the day. Dalhousie had got snowfall a week back, when we visited the town. There were some remains of the snow around Rashmi Villa as well. But most of the surrounding hills were white. Pir Pnajal mountain range in above photograph looks amazing. And the view of these hills from Gandhi Chowk is brilliant.The view of Ravi River from Rashmi Villa is my favorite. Every morning and evening I used to stand near the national flag to experience the colors of Ravi River. I wanted to see the river during sunset or sunrise, but hazy weather didn’t allow me to even see the river during that time. I am sure that river must be looking stunning during clear days. Hope to be there soon and enjoy those brilliant landscapes again.

In the month of march, we visited this beautiful hill station in Himachal – Dalhousie. During the visit we stayed in Rashmi Villa which is clearly visible from surrounding hills of Dalhousie. When you are driving from Pathankot, you start seeing this place when you are 20 kilometers away from Dalhousie town. The huge flag installed in front of it an indicator. It’s a beautifully located place around Dalhousie hills and near to famous Dalhousie Public School. This Photo Journey shares some of the views we experienced during our 3 days stay at Rashmi Villa.Here is the photograph of flag installed at Rashmi Villa. Dalhousie came in national news because of this flag. Dalhousie Public school also has a MIG-21 and soon they will be having a battle tank T-54.There is a nice ground around this flag and kids love playing around it. Rashmi Villa is a very old building in the campus of Dalhousie Public School and maintained by school authorities.It was continuously raining when we were in Dalhousie and we really enjoyed the hide-n-seek of clouds around us. Many times these clouds visited us at Rashmi Villa to welcome in Dalhousie. Just on the left hand side, there are multiple layers of hills. These hills were having snow where we visited Dalhouise. More than snow, I really liked these beautiful houses having similar architecture and aligned symmetrically on this mountain. We were wondering about the people living on this hill. They must be getting far better views of surrounding and probably they would have an opportunity to look at other side of the hill from top. Khajjiar, Chamba and Bharmour are on the other side this hill. These portions are not visible from Rashmi Villa. Rashmi Villa is facing towards hills leading towards Pathankot and Ravi riverYou can see numerous villages on surrounding hills and I love these roofs of Himachali houses. Most of these houses have vibrant and multicolored shades in a unique way.Rashmi Villa is mainly surrounded by hills which have various sub-campuses of Dalhousie Public School. The MIG-21 is directly visible on the right side and river Ravi offers various shades during different time of the day. Dalhousie had got snowfall a week back, when we visited the town. There were some remains of the snow around Rashmi Villa as well. But most of the surrounding hills were white. Pir Pnajal mountain range in above photograph looks amazing. And the view of these hills from Gandhi Chowk is brilliant.The view of Ravi River from Rashmi Villa is my favorite. Every morning and evening I used to stand near the national flag to experience the colors of Ravi River. I wanted to see the river during sunset or sunrise, but hazy weather didn’t allow me to even see the river during that time. I am sure that river must be looking stunning during clear days. Hope to be there soon and enjoy those brilliant landscapes again.

In the month of march, we visited this beautiful hill station in Himachal – Dalhousie. During the visit we stayed in Rashmi Villa which is clearly visible from surrounding hills of Dalhousie. When you are driving from Pathankot, you start seeing this place when you are 20 kilometers away from Dalhousie town. The huge flag installed in front of it an indicator. It’s a beautifully located place around Dalhousie hills and near to famous Dalhousie Public School. This Photo Journey shares some of the views we experienced during our 3 days stay at Rashmi Villa.Here is the photograph of flag installed at Rashmi Villa. Dalhousie came in national news because of this flag. Dalhousie Public school also has a MIG-21 and soon they will be having a battle tank T-54.There is a nice ground around this flag and kids love playing around it. Rashmi Villa is a very old building in the campus of Dalhousie Public School and maintained by school authorities.It was continuously raining when we were in Dalhousie and we really enjoyed the hide-n-seek of clouds around us. Many times these clouds visited us at Rashmi Villa to welcome in Dalhousie. Just on the left hand side, there are multiple layers of hills. These hills were having snow where we visited Dalhouise. More than snow, I really liked these beautiful houses having similar architecture and aligned symmetrically on this mountain. We were wondering about the people living on this hill. They must be getting far better views of surrounding and probably they would have an opportunity to look at other side of the hill from top. Khajjiar, Chamba and Bharmour are on the other side this hill. These portions are not visible from Rashmi Villa. Rashmi Villa is facing towards hills leading towards Pathankot and Ravi riverYou can see numerous villages on surrounding hills and I love these roofs of Himachali houses. Most of these houses have vibrant and multicolored shades in a unique way.Rashmi Villa is mainly surrounded by hills which have various sub-campuses of Dalhousie Public School. The MIG-21 is directly visible on the right side and river Ravi offers various shades during different time of the day. Dalhousie had got snowfall a week back, when we visited the town. There were some remains of the snow around Rashmi Villa as well. But most of the surrounding hills were white. Pir Pnajal mountain range in above photograph looks amazing. And the view of these hills from Gandhi Chowk is brilliant.The view of Ravi River from Rashmi Villa is my favorite. Every morning and evening I used to stand near the national flag to experience the colors of Ravi River. I wanted to see the river during sunset or sunrise, but hazy weather didn’t allow me to even see the river during that time. I am sure that river must be looking stunning during clear days. Hope to be there soon and enjoy those brilliant landscapes again.











During May,14 I was on by sabbatical and was out on road trip in different parts of Himachal. The journey started from Shimla and we spent an evening at Shimla for planning things. All that happened in this beautiful cafe on Mall road. This Photo Journey shares some facts about the cafe and why it's so special. The cafe is just in front of the famous Town Hall building on Mall Road in Shimla. It's on 2nd floor, so offers a great view of the mall road. The other side of the cafe has a terrace which offers amazing view of whole Shimla town. This terrace is a perfect place to sit if weather is good in the town. Lot of creative folks can be seen around this cafe. Folks reading books, enjoying music, doing some interesting discussions can be seen at Bake & Wake. Good food and drinks is served at Bake & Wake cafe. I expect to have improved menu during my future visit there. Aneesh is also a huge fan of the cafe and he introduced me to this cool place in Shimla. Walls of this cafe are very well painted with florescent colors and they look beautiful as time passes.If you also have visited Bake & Wake cafe in Shimla, please do share your experience through comments to this post.



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How to reach Kasol/Malana and top things to do around this stunning hill-station of Himalayan State of India

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Main places to see & Top things to do around Dalhousie : Stunning Hill Station in Himalayan State of India

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