tree3 says that although she cannot post videos from India she will be posting journal entries in her announcement section below.

Hindustan is the longest surviving ancient civilization and Hindus have to their credit so many unaccountable and such astonishing achievements of architecture and painting, music and dance, poetry and   more...drama, epics and narratives, intellectual systems and philosophical doctrines, healing systems and mind-body disciplines, Hindus of every caste and class today should have possessed a well-informed and well-developed, intense and, fully conscious cultural pride.
A lot of people do not know the story behind the Taj Mahal. Prince Khurram, met his future wife when he was 14 and she was 15. Five years later they were married. She died giving birth to their 14th child, and he spent the next 20 years building a monument to their love. The architect who designed the Taj Mahal was rewarded by the Prince by having his hands cut off so he could never create another building.  less

The first installment of my Indian journal, 2007-08

great_istanbul.You must see.

Turning Meditation, Fan and Banyan tree

How I travel. I usually go for at least 2 months and confine myself to few locations. (i.e. 2 states in India, one European country, etc.)

<B>Khajuraho, the temple city of central India, is famous throughout the world for its exquisitely carved temples in stones. Thousands of visitors and tourists from all over the world flock together   more...to envisage this immortal saga of Hindu art and culture engraved in stone by shilpies (stone craftsmen) a millenia ago.
Today, apart from the temples, Khajuraho is a small village but a thousand years ago it was a large city of the Chandelas, medieval Rajput kings who ruled over Central India. Khajuraho is 595 km (370 miles) south-east of Delhi and can be visited by air, rail or road. An overnight train journey from Delhi takes the visitor to Jhansi, from where another morning train takes him to Harpalpur 85 km (53 miles) to the east.
The Ancient dynasties are often covered in a veil of mystery, largely because written records are rare and, as is often the case in India, myth and legend weave their way over time into the history of their origin and their reign. And when the dynasty leaves a legacy as contradictory as the Khajuraho temples, with their mix of the religious and the sensuous, the web is woven of brighter threads, the accompanying legends more colourful. Khajuraho or 'Khajur-vahika' (bearer of date palms), also known as 'Khajjurpura' in ancient times, evidently
derives its name from the golden date palms (khajur) that adorned its city gates and, if the different legendary versions are to be believed, it owes its existence to an enchanting maiden named Hemvati.
According to the account of the medieval court poet, Chandbardai, in the Mahoba-khand of his Prithviraj Raso, Hemvati was the beautiful daughter of Hemraj, the royal priest of Kashi (Varanasi). One summer night, while she was bathing in the sparkling waters of
a lotus-filled pond, the Moon god was so awestruck by her beauty that he descended to earth in human form and ravished her. The distressed Hemvati, who was unfortunately a child widow, threatened to curse the god for ruining her life and reputation. To make amends for his folly the Moon god promised that she would become the mother of a valiant son. 'Take him to Khajjurpura', he is believed to have said. 'He will be a great king and build numerous temples surrounded by lakes and gardens. He will also perform a yagya (religious ceremony) through which your sin will be washed away.' Following his instructions, Hemvati left her home to give birth to her son in a tiny village. The child, Chandravarman, was as lustrous as his father, brave and strong. By the time he was 16 years old he could kill tigers or lions with his bare hands. Delighted by his feats, Hemvati invoked the Moon god, who presented their son with a touchstone which could turn iron into gold, and installed him as king at Khajuraho.
Chandravarman achieved a series of brilliant victories and built a mighty fortress at Kalinjar. At his mother's request he began the building of 85 glorious temples with lakes and gardens at Khajuraho and performed the bhandya-yagya which expunged her of her guilt. A variation of the same legend introduces Hemvati as the widowed daughter of Mani Ram, the royal priest of Kalinjar. As a result of a mistake in his calculations the priest informed his king that a particular night was Puranmasi (full moon night) and not the dark night that it actually turned out to be. In her concern for her father's reputation the beautiful Hemvati prayed to the Moon god, who was gracious enough to uphold the word of the priest but, inreturn for his favour, ravished the daughter. The grieving father was so shame-stricken that he cursed himself and turned into a stone, which was later worshipped by the Chandelas as Maniya Dev. Hemvati gave birth to a son, the sage Chandrateya, who was later at the helm of the Chandela clan. Historically speaking, the area and aura around Khajuraho has always been renowned for its cultural achievements.
The Erotic Sculptures
The visitor to Khajuraho cannot but be attracted to the vivid er  less

Wondering if I am on a downhill path, having a new kind of travel experience

Meeting Sangeetha, named after the goddess of music. She is a dance student of Mohiniyattam.

Noonday siren in Irinjalakuda

Part 1

looking at life and death

palawan philippines

He was smart to use a permanent marker!

SRI BUDDHA
MUSIC:"OM PURNAM" BY YAMUNA DEVI AND GEORGE HARRISON FROM "RADHA KRISHNA TEMPLE" ALBUM.

BUDDHA

club noah, palawan philippines

I play Surbahar with some impressions from my home at Kolkata / India.

MUSIC:"BLOSSOM" BY PARIJAT "http://www.parijatmusic.com"

BUDDHA
MUSIC:"HARI OM" BY RAVI SHANKAR

CNN's Adrian Finighan spoke with theoretical physicist Ronald Mallett about the possiblity of building a real time machine.

MUSIC: REFLECTIONS BY KRISHNA PREMA DAS http://www.krsnavision.com

BUDDHA MESSAGE

My main house, the 'houselet'. It is 8 feet by 15 ft.