'Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, Pune, India' - by K.J.S.Chatrath

When in Pune, India, do visit this small but very rich museum.It is a museum of everyday traditional art.
 

Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum is in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It contains the collection of Dr. Dinkar G. Kelkar, dedicated to the memory of his only son, Raja. The three-storey building houses various sculptures dating back to the 14th century.

Address: 1377/78, Kamal Kunj, Natu Baag, Off. Bajirao Road, Shukrawar Peth, Pune, Maharashtra 411002

Hours:

Closes 5:30PM

	Phone: 020 2448 2101 Collection size: 15000 objects Established: 1920

Drone photo of Lord Jagannath Temple, Puri, India by unknown photographer' - K.J.S.Chatrath

Grateful thanks to my friend Pratip Mohanty for sharing this amazing photo- Jai Jagannath!

'Visit to Chattushringi Temple, Pune, India' - by K.J.S.Chatrath

During my last visit to Pune, I had the privilege of visiting Chattushringi Temple. It is a Hindu temple in the city of Pune in Maharashtra state of India. The temple is located on the slope of a hill on Senapati Bapat Road. It is said to have been built during the reign of the Maratha king Shivaji.

Chattushringi (Chattu means four) is a mountain with four peaks. The Chattushringi temple is 90 feet high and 125 feet wide and is a symbol of power and faith. One has to climb more than 100 steps to reach the shrine of Goddess Chattushringi. In the temple premises there are also temples of Goddess Durga and Lord Ganesh. This includes eight miniature idols of Ashtavinayaka. These small temples are located on the four separate hillocks.Also includes the temple of Vetal Maharaj at the baner pashan end.

 

 The legend associated with the temple is that, once there was a rich and prosperous merchant named Durlabhsheth Pitambardas Mahajan who was an ardent believer of Goddess Saptashrungi devi and visited all Her temples everywhere. But as he grew older, he could no longer travel and this hindered him from visiting the temples. Then one night the Goddess Saptashrungi devi appeared in his dream and told him, "if you can not come to me, I will come to you & stay near you." She told him to come to a mountain situated in the North-West of Pune & dig there. The place as described by the goddess was traced out and miracle happened as he found a natural statue of goddess (swayambhu devi). He constructed the temple at that place and this is the same temple which was renovated time to time, which is the present temple.

 

The presiding deity of the temple is Goddess Chattushringi, also known as Goddess Ambareshwari. She is also considered as the presiding deity of the city of Pune. The temple is maintained by the Chattushringi Devasthan Trust. Every year a fair is held at the foothills on the eve of Navratri. Thousands of people gather to worship the Goddess Chattushringi.

(Text source: Wikipedia)

'Ratha construction at Suchindram Temple, Tamil Nadu, India' - by K.J.S.Chatrath

Suchindram is a temple town situated in the southernmost district of Kanya Kumari in Tamil Nadu State, India. It is 11 km from Kanyakumari city and 7 km from Nagarcoil town and approximately 81 km from Trivandrum city. The town of Suchindrum is renowned for the Thanumalayan  temple in Suchindram.

This temple  is unique in the whole of India in that it is dedicated to three different deities represented by one image in the sanctum and is called Sthanumalayan (Sthanu-Shiva; Maal-Vishnu and Ayan-Brahma) kovil. The temple is rich in sculpture and architecture.

When I visited this town in January 2018, work on construction of Rathas or chariots of the temple was under way. I just stood spell bound there watching it all.

Take a look: 

 

 

'Crowd on Pongal Day at Bhrideswara Temple, Thanjavur, India, Part-II' - by K.J.S.Chatrath

Oh, how colourful is my India!

Please see the earlier post on this topic: 'Crowd on Pongal Day at Bhrideswara Temple, Thanjavur, India' - by K.J.S.Chatrath; http://indianheritagephotos.blogspot.in/2018/02/crowd-on-onam-day-at-bhrideswara-temple.html

Hemkund Sahib- by K.J.S.Chatrath

I went to Hemkund Sahib last in 2012. That was my fourth and the last visit to Hemkund Sahib.  Now I am too old to take that strenuous journey especially when I do not have the backing of inner faith- I am an atheist. However that does not stop me from respectfully visiting the religious places of various religions.

Hemkund Sahib is a Sikh place of worship and pilgrimage site in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India. It is devoted to Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), the tenth Sikh Guru, and finds mention in Dasam Granth, a work dictated by the Tenth Guru himself. Hemkund is the breathtaking Lokpal lake located at an altitude of 4329 m or 14,200 feet above sea level.

The lake or kund or the sarovar. There are seven mountains around it. They all get snow and then the snow melts and water comes in to this sarovar. The reflection of those seven snow clad mountains in the sarovar is a memorable sight. On the day of my visit there was no snow left on this mountain.

On reaching the top one is greeted with hot cups of tea, biscuits and parshada of khichri.

 
There is a Lakshman Temple on one side. Surprisingly there are very, very few temples dedicated to Lakshman in India. This is one of the rare ones.

The pony stand quite near the top. Believe you me, it is easier to climb up on foot rather than take a pony. A pony ride to Hemkund Sahib is painful and risky. The elevation one has to reach is 14,200 feet, the climb is very steep, narrow and the same for pilgrims and the horses.

 

Please take a closer look after enlarging the photo. I saw the rare sight of a field full of 'Bramh Kamals'

 

A 'Bramh Kamal'.

 

Close up of a Bramh Kamal. Source of this photo only is internet.