The Terracotta Temples of Bishnupur, Bengal

In Bengal art sometimes was expressed mainly through the medium of temples. Brick temples of Bengal were built between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. These temples form one of the most distinctive groups of sacred monuments in India. Due to  the multiple artistic influences acting upon the region, Bengali temples show a wide range of forms and techniques. “The Bengali temples nevertheless constitute a coherent series in both their architecture and sculpture, characteristically expressed in brick and terracotta. The geographical distribution of the temples is majorly confined to the alluvial delta of Ganges River, which explains the popularity of clay as material for all conceivable purposes. “Hence, Bengali temples can be viewed as important manifestation of this region’s culture, closely associated with contemporary movements  in religion, literature, arts as well as political, social and economic development

Vintage photographs of the temples of Kerala

Photograph of the Vishnu Temple at Govindapuram in the Kozhikode district of Kerala, taken by a photographer of the Archaeological Survey of India on the 1st February 1902. 

Photograph of the Bhagavati Temple at Tiruvalathur in the Palakkad (Palghat) district of Kerala, taken by a photographer of the Archaeological Survey of India on the 1st February 1901

Lakshmi Devi Temple, Doddagaddavalli

Doddagaddavalli is about 16 KM from Hassan on the Hassan - Belur highway,The temple build in 1114 C E commissioned by a merchant called Kullahana Rahuta and his wife Sahaja Devi,a gold merchant from Kolhapur ,The Lakshmi Devi temple found here is a small and modest monument, placed in the centre of a walled courtyard, This temple is  unique because its a mix of Hoysala, Kadamba and Chalukya artitecture , The temple is a chaturkuta model , and this is the only chaturkuta Hoysala temple I have seen , 

Hoysala Paintings

Though the sculptural wealth of the Hoysalas is very well known through the magnificent examples of architecture and sculpture all over their realm, no example of the painter's art has been discovered so far. though  no murals have been noticed in any of the temples, fortunately there are specimens of painting of the Hoysala period from their territory preserver for us in Moodbidri. These are painted palm leaf manuscripts at the Jain pontifical seat at Moodbidri and are objects of worship

These manuscripts, fortunately have been well taken care of in the ancient library at Moodbidri. By their paleography , clearly of the Hoysala period, and closely resembling the lithic as well as the copper-plate inscriptions of Vishnuvardana's time, they have survived , with their paintings of quality in bright colour, to give an idea of the art of Hoysala painter. it is interesting to compare the writing in these manuscript , with the letters composing the flowery lines in the metal plates from Belur temple. These paintings must be attributed to the time of Vishnuvardhana and his wife  Santala , who was so devoted to Jainism

Vintage Photos of Kolhapur

H.H. Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj seated with palace servants

Courtyard of the old Rajwada Palace 

Bucheshwara Temple Koravangala Hassan

Its was very nice trip to Koravangala from Hassan , Koravangala is 10 Km from Hassan, The Bucheshwara temple found here is a well preserved monument under archaeological survey of India. The Temple has been build in 1173 AD by Buchiraja , an officer of Hoysala king Narasimha I, The temple is a 'dvikuta ' with two shrines facing each other .These shrines are connected by a succession of a closed hall and an open hall , There is a separate shrine for Bhairava . The western shrine facing east containing an image of Surya the sun god , and the eastern shrine contain a Shiva Linga, Near to the temple you can see the ruins of Sri , Govindeshwara temple .

Chennakesava Temple Somnathpur

The Prasanna Chennakesava Temple at Somnathpur is one of the best preserved monuments from Hoysala period. It was built in 1268 by Somanatha, a General of Narasimha III the Hoysala king.The temple stands in the middle of a rectangular court, approached from the east through a gateway with an open portico. An inscribed slab set up here records Somanatha's benefaction.The temple is made of soap stone which lends itself easily to detailed sculpture.

Archaeological Museum Old Goa

Archaeological Museum is one of the most significant site museum of Archaeological Survey of India which has been functioning since 1964,in the abandoned convent of St Francis Assisi. Old Goa also Known as Velha Goa

Tower of the Church of St. Augustine Goa

This tower, also on the Holy Hill, has four storeys with an arch in each.It is built of laterite and evidence of lime plaster is visible.Colossal in size, nearly 46 m high, this tower was meant to serve as a belfry and formed part of the facede of the Church of St.Augustine, which was facing west. The church is now in ruins. There were eight richly adorned chapels and four althars, and a convent with numerous  cells and artistic columns attached to the church.

Padmanabhapuram Palace

Padmanabhapuram Palace is located in kalkulam on the way to Kanyakumari from Thiruvananthapuram.It was the seat of the Venad dynasty that became the rulers of travancore state through the efforts of the King Martanda Varma in the eighteenth century.

The Palace is also famous for murals and wood works in the interior.Located within a fortified are,roughly square in outline,the buildings inside the palace-complex do not show any well-knit ground-plan. Perhaps its growth was spread over diffrent periods of time, The Thai-kottaram " Mothers palace" being the earliest of the building here.It follows practically the plan of the nalukettus with a courtyard in the centre.Of the several edifices with gabled tiles roofs,the mote noteworthy are the entrance-hall,the council-chambers,the theatre,the puja-mandapa and the stone temple of saravathi with a navarathri-mandapam in front.The paintings are found in a single chamber of the palace on the top floor referred to as Upparikka-malika "Chamber of Chieftain". It is in fact, the family shrine of the king.Since marthanda Varma dedicated his state to Lord Vishnu and rules as his regent,the chief here is none other than the family deity Shri Padmanabhasvami himself who is supposed to be residing in this room.Even though well publicised and rated highly,these paintings are in fact of inferior quality when comapred to the vast of body of mural paintings found elsewhere in Kerala.

The Mattancheri Palace

The Mattancheri palace at Kochi has an excellent location with the panorama of the backwaters on the east and the tall synagogue of the Jews on the south.It was built by the Portuguese in AD 1557 for the use of the Raja of Cochin. A century later, it underwent extensive renovation in the hands of the Dutch.That was why the building was also known as the Dutch palace.

The double-storeyed building with a quadrangular  plan aligned around the palayannur Bhagavati temple in the centre, follows mainly the plan of nalukettus ('four buildings') with a courtyard in the centre, a plan common in the domestic architechure of Kerala. Besides the Bhagavati temple in the centre, there is another temple-complex dedicated to Vishnu and siva to  the South of the palace can also be seen.The entire structural complex is enclosed by a height wall pierced on the east and the west by an entrance

Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary

Located near the coast of Jamnagar at a distance of 12 Km lies a spectacular bird santuary Khijadiya.It is the largest bird sanctuary of Gujarat.Khijadia Bird Sanctuary has an amazingly large number of resident and migratory birds in a relatively small area- particularly during winters. Declared a sanctuary in May 1981, the sanctuary is spread over just 6.05 sq. Km extending on two fresh water lakes

The Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary is divided in two parts,one part is known as Dhunvan and another part is Jambuda,named after two nearby villages.Both the fresh water lakes are separated from each other having no link in between them.The Khijadiya lakes were formed by reclamation bunds which were built during the erstwhile princely  state regime. on one side of the bund fresh water lakes are formed by water which drains from Ruparel and Kalinri rivers. on the other side of the bund, large creeks flowing from the gulf of kutch are located. as the sanctuary is located near narara island, therefore it also has a beautiful coral reef