Skip to main content

Featured Post

2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Trees




On our recent journey to Chandigarh, we were the only passengers in our coach after most disembarked at Delhi. 


After  24 hours of listening to the chatter of our fellow travellers, the sudden peace and quiet was strange, to say the least! With just us to serve, even the vendors gave our coach a miss, leaving us practically alone for the remainder of our journey. Never have I enjoyed a journey more, the window wide open, feeling the wind in my hair. We passed by yellow and green fields... the shades too numerous to count.... and trees of all shapes and sizes, and colours too...








And back came the memory of a poem I learnt at school, so long back....



Trees 
I think that I shall never see 
A poem lovely as a tree. 
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest 
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast; 
A tree that looks at God all day, 
And lifts her leafy arms to pray; 
A tree that may in summer wear 
A nest of robins in her hair; 
Upon whose bosom snow has lain; 
Who intimately lives with rain. 
Poems are made by fools like me, 
But only God can make a tree.  
-          Joyce Kilmer (1913)



No, I didn't remember the whole poem. That was thanks to Google and Wikipedia! And it was only then that I learnt that the poem was written in 1913 ... exactly a 100 years ago!




All photos were taken from a train running at top speed... Please excuse the quality of the pics.... The trees had so much variety that I just had to post all of them! 

Comments

  1. Thanks Anuradha! What a lovely post. I love Chandigarh too, it is truly, planned and beautiful, laid back and organised, although our best friends Sardarjis seem to be the largest population.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Julia! Chandigarh is a beautiful town any day! sad there arent more cities like that!

      Delete
  2. Nice tree pictures, Anu! Didn't know they can make a lovely post with their colors like this. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Nisha!! Sitting in the train looking at all those trees with colours was so wonderful! and we think we dont have fall in India! clicked so many pics couldnt resist posting!

      Delete
  3. Great Clicks...and lovely poem...its one of my favorite cities in India.
    http://journeyintrance.blogspot.in/2012/12/tryst-with-destiny.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great blog Anuradha.. I had stumbled across your blog while searching for some spiritual place and since than I am hooked.... Had a quick question - what kind of camera and lens are you using for taking these beautiful panoramic photos which you have posted above?. Would appreciate if you can provide some details/tips etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot... and i use a high zoom nikon camera, not a dslr... and it is not really panorama but a usual photo just cropped.

      Delete
  5. All were Great Pictures Anu jee and beautiful log with a new variety . I am learning from you how to blog.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gorgeous green! Awesome captures.

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2013/01/old-goa-of-cathedrals-churches-chapels.html

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw

Rama Temple, Gokarna

To my right , the waves rush to the shore, eager to merge with the sand. To my left, the same waves crash against the rocks, their spray diverting my reverie as I ponder over the beauty of nature, and wonder what first brought people here. Was it this beauty that encouraged them to build a temple here, or was it the fresh, sweet spring water flowing from the hill here that made this place special? No matter what the reason, I am glad my auto driver brought me here. We are at the Rama temple in Gokarna, just a few minutes away from the Mahabaleshwara Temple, yet offering so different a perspective.

Pandharpur Yatra 2023

The first time I visited Pandharpur was back in 2007 . The names Vitthal and Pandharpur, were just names to me. I had heard of them, but that was about it. Seeing the lord standing on the brick, hands on his hips, was memorable, but more memorable was the sight that greeted us as we walked out of the main sanctum of the temple. In the mandap just outside were a group of devotees singing abhangs , and dancing. This was the first time I had heard abhangs , and even almost 15 years later, I can remember the welling of feeling within me, listening to the songs, and how fascinated I was by the sight of the devotees dancing, lost in their love of the Lord. Over the years, as I have read more about Vitthal, and participated in Ashadi Ekadashi programmes at Puttaparthi, that first experience has stayed clear in my mind and heart. Every time I tell my Balvikas students of the saints who sang of Vitthala, it is that experience that I re-live. I visited Pandharpur again, in 2010, but that experie