These are some assorted photographs from an all-too-short India vacation. They roughly cover the regions of Hyderabad, the Pune area and of Southern Tamil Nadu.
Southern Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is famous for its temples. These photographs are of the Abhirami temple in Thirkadayur which is fast gaining popularity for Sashtabdipoorti celebrations - a tradition in India, South India in particular, where a couple get remarried on the man's 60th birthday as a form of celebration of their longevity as well as a prayer for a long and healthy life. Temples in Tamil Nadu almost always have a resident elephant which blesses the devotees. The mahout gets a small payment, of course. The color and architecture of these temples is very typical of Tamil Nadu. Seeing such architecture is rare even after going one state north: Andhra Pradesh.
The strong anti-Hindi stance is now largely political with many Tamilians, atleast in the cities, learning Hindi to be able to expand their job seeking skills outside of their own state. Enthusiasm leads skill : I saw a board outside a hotel that said, in English, "Meals Ready" and was translated to Hindi as "Khan tayaar hain"!
The Pune area, Maharashtra
Mumbai is not only the capital of the state of Maharashtra but also the financial capital of India. Small-town Pune - less than 90kms inland from Mumbai as the crow flies - is hower the undisputed cultural capital of Maharashtra. The road from Mumbai into Pune is through the western ghats. These 180 kms took anywhere from 4 to 8 hours to drive because of the often treacherous hilly route. The construction of the new expressway has sliced this time by a factor of two or even three. This is a beautiful drive and Lonavla is a tourist favourite with its near constant rain and fog and waterfalls. Rajmachi Point in Lonavla is what would in the US be converted to a 'Vista Point' and has beautiful views of the valley and plentiful monkeys. On a cool morning in August, with the rains feeding the waterfalls, the entire drive, otherwise a gritty daily commute for hundreds of thousands, was as easily beautiful as a drive through Yosemite.
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Many Indians talk in sweeping terms of 'North' and 'South' India as though they were two separate countries. Well, Hyderabad is the border checkpoint. It is as southern as a northern city can get and as northern as a southern city can get. The capital of a large state that is 95% Hindu, it shows a very strong Muslim influence. Barring the communal riots that plague the city every 5 years or so, Hyderabad is otherwise a peaceful admixture of people from all over the country.
Which is interesting because, Hyderabad itself was for the longest time, a separate country. After the decline of the rule of the Mughals, the local rulers, the Nizams, declared themselves an independent country complete with an independent currency and postage stamps. They sucked up to the British who okayed the arrangement. When the British were kicked out by the freedom movement in 1947, and all the princely states coalesced into India, the Nizam who was a Muslim, entertained notions of joining with Pakistan which was a muslim majority state. Sardar Vallabhai Patel sent the Indian Army into Hyderabad and 'annexed' or more correctly 're-took' it. Hyderabad's individuality was subsumed into a larger Andhra Pradesh state in 1953. Today Hyderabad is known for its cuisine, its particularly laid-back (PC for lazy-as-hell) people and most recently, its rise as a hi-tech center, known less charitably among those losing jobs to India as a 'code factory'.
Charminar is the symbol of Hyderabad very much like the Golden Gate Bridge is of San Francisco or the Statue of Liberty is of New York City. One of the more recent attractions of Hyderabad is a statue of Buddha which is the world's largest granite monolith. It was erected by Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao, NTR, with a fond hope of attracting Japanese tourists. While sightings of Japanese tourists hasn't increased, the statue itself had added a focal point to the city's travel industry. NTR also beautified Tank Bund itself with 33 statues of prominent Andhraites from kings to scholars to poets and freedom fighters.
Comments from others who've read this article
1. on Saturday, 06-Oct-2007 anand said:
something extraordinary
2. on Tuesday, 18-Sep-2007 Shriya said:
Beautiful pictures. India is nice. Another set of india pictures which are lovely are in this site of http://amitkulkarni.info/pics/
3. on Thursday, 13-Sep-2007 Balkar singh said:
Respect your country, Respect its beauty.
4. on Thursday, 09-Aug-2007 kishore said:
beautiful
5. on Wednesday, 18-Jul-2007 prabhakaran said:
it's very usefullfor know about our country have verynice place.
6. on Thursday, 12-Jul-2007 Murad Ali Shah said:
I m very keen to see Hyderabad.as lerge number of muslims live here.
7. on Wednesday, 16-May-2007 harleen kaur said:
this article s very bad
8. on Monday, 14-May-2007 jessica said:
these are beautiful pictures of india you helped alot with our projects on india
14. on Saturday, 07-Oct-2006 Capt. Anand Dubey said:
I admire these pictures, India is having great historical and natural view.
15. on Sunday, 17-Sep-2006 Jill said:
The pictures are quite wonderful. I am planning a trip to Tamil Nadu (November 2006). Would you put some notes about yourself on the Web site? I enjoyed the US national park pictures too. Thank you.
16. on Saturday, 09-Sep-2006 madhu said:
Excellent pictures!! Proud to be INDIAN
17. on Saturday, 05-Aug-2006 Prashant Tapre said:
Proud to be a "INDIAN"
18. on Friday, 19-May-2006 Priya Velumani said:
Amazing pictures
19. on Friday, 19-May-2006 Prakash Coimbatore said:
Proud to be in this beautifull Nation.
20. on Sunday, 14-May-2006 Nagaraju said:
Put more Hyderabad beautiful pictures
21. on Wednesday, 15-Feb-2006 Prashant Teegala said:
I am Missing Hyderabad, I like every Hyderabadi & every place in Hydrabad.
22. on Saturday, 11-Feb-2006 Rajeshwar Reddy Teegala said:
I love my city which celebrates every festivals and events of all religions and cultures (This city is only the symbol of National Integration which shows) Respects all its toursits and migrants from all other states. SMILE FOREVER IS THE THEME OF ALL HYDERABADI'S.
23. on Friday, 23-Dec-2005 reshma said:
i am really honoured my city has been put up on the internet.
24. on Monday, 19-Dec-2005 Tang said:
The pictures are beautiful. Good job!!! Why don't you do North India next?
25. on Friday, 16-Sep-2005 saim asad abbasi said:
this is not so much beutiful pics as pakistan have
26. on Wednesday, 13-Jul-2005 anjaline said:
faboulous pictures
27. on Tuesday, 05-Jul-2005 Dona said:
SO INTERSTING & SO BEAUTIFUL
28. on Saturday, 21-May-2005 Sundar Raj said:
I'm very proud to say I'm from HYDERABAD
29. on Wednesday, 04-May-2005 amy baker said:
Theses pictures are so breath taking, I would love to visit this place one day. I have friends from the area.
30. on Saturday, 26-Mar-2005 chandrababu said:
excellent
31. on Saturday, 26-Mar-2005 Surya said:
Wonderful documentry related to South India. Beautiful compositions, colours and lighting.
'Surya'
Friend from 'Himachal Pradesh', India
