• TravelWithaCouple
    Arts & Culture - Cityscapes - People - Places

    A Slice From A Weekend Break in Delhi

    April 10, 2016 - By 

    “So will you relocate to Delhi?” Our friend asked before seeing us off after our three-day stay and attempt to explore the Delhi urban sprawl. The trip was no means a recce of Delhi, though we were relatively open to re-look at Delhi with a fresh pair of eyes. (But relocation is not in cards for sure.) The Delhi versus Mumbai question has been a good fodder for profound debates and bar sprawls. From as profound as ‘Delhi has History, Mumbai has Civilisation’ to as mundane as ‘the size of my toilet in Delhi is same as the total size…

  • TravelWithaCouple Bindhu Unny Kommune
    Arts & Culture

    Travel Tales with Kommune

    May 26, 2015 - By 

    A young man enthusiastically makes a day trip to Pisa from Rome, only to be told on reaching Pisa station that the last train back to Rome starts in 15 minutes. A bush pilot flies a plane loaded with arms over Lake Victoria in Africa, trying to skirt active volcanoes and stay above the clouds, and safely lands in a middle-of-nowhere runway, right in the thick jungle of Goma in DR Congo; but loses his documents as the arms are unloaded. A solo young girl exploring the world gets lost in a red-light area in Spain, and later realizes her…

  • TravelwithaCouple Jain Temple Sulthan Battery
    Arts & Culture - Heritage - History - Places

    The Jain Temple at Sultan Battery, Wayanad

    April 7, 2015 - By 

    We had earlier written about the Jain temples in Kerala and Wayanad in particular and also about the connection with the Hindu temples. So, this time when we heard about the Jain temple in Sultan Battery, we decided to have a quick look. The Sultan Battery Jain temple is right at the middle of the town and is maintained by the ASI. After many Jains and Buddhists left Kerala between 800 and 1000 AD, some families seem to have stayed back in Wayanad. Also, it is said that in the 15th century, many businessmen and merchants in the region were of…

  • Arts & Culture - Culture - Fun

    Kala Ghoda 2013 Diaries – #3: The Auto Show

    March 7, 2013 - By 

    Decorated or redesigned vehicles are part of KGAF every year. Of all the vehicle installations at this year’s KGAF, “Birth Story of Vespa” stood apart. This installation represents the famous Vespa scooter. It brings out the similarity in form that the Vespa shares with wasp. Vespa is Italian for wasp. A good option to reduce pollution and consumption of natural resources but cycling on Mumbai roads can be suicidal Artist Hetal Shukhla says the “poor artist syndrome is oudated, boring and uncool. The new artist wants CHANGE.” Eleven-year old Dev Mehta reflects the ever-changing colours of Mumbai on this car…

  • Arts & Culture - Fun

    Indikaleido: A Cultural Kaleidoscope

    February 27, 2013 - By 

    This year’s Kala Ghoda Arts Festival got over recently. While blogging on that, we realised that we forgot to write about Indikaleido, another cultural festival that delighted Mumbai’s music and dance lovers in November 2012. This 3-day festival, an initiative by Horniman Circle Garden Trust, featured a few really good performances. We could attend only the ones on the last day. One part of the Horniman Circle Garden was dedicated to stalls of NGOs. Stall of Trishul, an NGO involved in slum sanitation, teaching less-privileged kids, and women empowerment. A colourful collection of bags at one of the stalls Pottery…

  • Arts & Culture - Heritage - History - People - Places

    Mummy: The Inside Story

    February 20, 2013 - By 

    Nesperennub, a priest at the temple of Amun-Ra, had severe dental abscesses, which would have given him terrible pain when he was alive. He had a small cavity on his skull, above his left eye. He was a man of high status and belonged to an influential clan at Thebes, a city in ancient Egypt. Nesperennub lived in ancient Egypt, around 1550–1069 BC. He passed away when he was middle-aged. But he has come to India and will be here for one more month. The mummy of Nesperennub in its cartonnage case The mystery of Egyptian mummies has always puzzled…

  • Arts & Culture - Fun - Places

    Kala Ghoda 2013 Diaries – #2 Danger Art

    February 15, 2013 - By 

    Skulls, skulls, and more skulls. This year’s KGAF  was dotted with skulls, most of them made of electronic waste.   This is one of the seven Kapala’s totems installed at KGAF 2013. These totems by Sukant Panigrahy invoke awareness of the dangers of electronic waste. Of the seven, six were made using electronic waste. One totem was made of organic materials or natural waste.  

  • Arts & Culture

    Kala Ghoda 2013 Diaries – #1 Cardboard Creations

    February 7, 2013 - By 

    We haven’t missed one Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) ever since we came to Mumbai. This time around too, we were there, braving the crowd and enjoying the artistic side of maximum city. KGAF, in a way, symbolizes Mumbai’s motley crowd. It offers so much variety–be it music, dance, literature, drama, street plays, workshops, artful installations, movies, heritage walks, or stalls offering a great potpourri of products–that we really get lost. Literally too, as the Art Plaza where the installations, stalls, puppetry, and surprise shows attracts a lot of crowd, especially in the evenings. It is not possible to attend…

  • Arts & Culture - Food - Fun - History - Places

    Goa Carnaval 2013: Fun, food, and Much More

    January 30, 2013 - By 

    Goa Carnaval 2013 is almost here! The 4 days of fun, frolic and, feast is set to open on February 9 and will last until February 12. But for foodies and cultural buffs, celebrations begin a day earlier. Food & Cultural Festival, to be held parallelly with the Carnaval (Portuguese for carnival), is slated to be from February 8. Goa is known mostly for its beaches. All these years, tourism as well as all celebrations happened in and around beaches. But this time, there is going to be a conscious effort by the department of tourism to remove the focus from the beaches and…

  • Arts & Culture - Heritage - History - Places - Publications - the great driving challenge

    Pick Your Escape Route (Mid-Dday Feb 02, 2012)

    February 11, 2012 - By 

    If you choose to do one trip a month for the whole year, that is 12 short trips in an year. When Mid-day asked us to give us an all-year itinerary in Maharashtra for travel lovers to explore, we were only happy to do so. It was late January and so we came up with a 11 month schedule. Here it goes. The full text February: Koyna Valley (Koyna Nagar) Why should be here: Far away from the maddening crowd. Without the trappings of any hill station. Spend a quite weekend in the MTDC resort or a couple of other…

  • Arts & Culture - Heritage - History - Places

    The Red Town of Karnataka – Pattadakkal

    January 15, 2012 - By 

    In the middle of nowhere in rural Karnataka is the remains of (perhaps) a glorious past. Where nicely chiseled stones and beautiful sculptures tell you million stories. Hundreds of unnamed craftsmen with their skillful hands and genius minds lived and died for their kings and queens, while building and leaving behind stupendous architectural marvels that will remind us not of their glories, but of their rulers. As we wander through the wonder that is Pattadakkal, we imagined the scene where hundreds of workers in the rumble and tumble creating poetry out of shapeless rocks. Pattadakkal (Pattadakalu in Kannada), also known…

  • Arts & Culture - Heritage - History - Places

    In Search of the Hidden Kadamba Gods

    December 31, 2011 - By 

    What excites us most in our trips is the last-minute additions or diversions in the plan. At Belgaum, through a common friend, we met a businessman who has interests in history and architecture. And he suggested that we check out Halashi and gave the directions to reach there. Obviously, not many people have heard about the place. Halashi is a small village about 42 km from Belgaum. At 27 km from Belgaum city, on the Belguam-Dandeli road is Khanapur town. Halashi is about 15 km from Khanapur. With the western ghats as backdrop, the road to Halashi is scenic. Halashi…

  • Mahakuta, Badami, TWaC
    Arts & Culture - Heritage - History - Places

    Mahakuta, Badami

    September 25, 2011 - By 

    An ancient temple complex at about 15 km from Badami, Mahakuta is part of the travel circuit of Badami–Aihole–Pattadakkal. Surrounded by hills with bushy forests, the complex was built by the Chalukyas and is the seat of Shaivite faith. The complex has a large number of small- and medium-sized temples scattered around a pond (or a small lake – Vishnu Pushkarni). Only one of the temples has daily poojas. Since we visited the place around mid-morning and not during any festivals, there was hardly anyone and was very peaceful. Some of the temple ruins were on the hill in the…

  • Araku Valley, TravelWithacouple
    Arts & Culture - Places

    More on Araku Valley and the Friday Market

    January 9, 2011 - By 

    The sprawling fields of oilseed plants form a carpet of yellow flowers in the valley. Making it the more exquisite are the sunlight and the shadows cast by the clouds. Araku Valley is indeed about simple beauties and timeless pleasures. The Friday Market The Araku town comes alive on Fridays as the tribal men and women come to the town to sell their produce and buy their grocery and other stuff for the week. From salt, rice, vegetables, sweets and savouries to bangles, cloths, bags, soaps, seeds, knives and vessels, this weekly market is one-stop shop for all your needs…

  • Arts & Culture

    Your Moment Is Waiting

    September 25, 2010 - By 

    Kerala Tourism’s new three-minute advertisement movie, Your Moment is Waiting, has already become talk of the town. The film was recently featured at Saatchi Gallery in London. Among those who attended include soccer star Didier Drogba, former England striker Gary Linekar, Olympian Christine Ohuruogu, Swaraj Paul, Rolling Stone’s lead singer Mick Jagger’s daughter and former model Jade Jagger, and other celebrities (report in Economic Times and The Hindu). The film will also be shown in all movie halls in London. The film, directed by Prakash Varma of the ZooZoo fame, is quite different from the typical destination advertising movies. It…

  • Jadhav Ghad Pune, TravelWithaCouple
    Arts & Culture - History - Places

    Jadhav Gadh. Exuding Old World Charm

    May 9, 2010 - By 

    As we approach the entrance, the doorman ceremoniously lifts the bugle and plays. A little embarrassed, we enter the fort. More welcome ceremonies follow. A lady applies sandal paste on our foreheads while a gentleman waits with perfumed towels. Located at about 20-odd km from Pune, off the Pune-Saswad road, this fort-converted-hotel is run by the Orchid Group. An eighteenth century fort built by Pilaji Jadhavrao (a famous general of in the army of Chatrapathi Shahuji, grandson of Chatrapathi Shivaji), Jadhavgad is small and less splendorous compared to other Maratha forts. But it has a quaint charm and the redevelopment…

  • TravelWithacouple Unny Radhakrishnan Bindhu Unny Matheran
    Arts & Culture - Fun - Places

    Of Faith & Creativity – Part II

    May 6, 2010 - By 

    Most of us have grown up with the philosophy of seeing God in everything – in every stone, every tree, every human being, every animal and what not. Roadside temples are not anything new in India. We have earlier written about a tree with a slight resemblance to an elephant’s trunk turning into Ganpathi idol and a street side temple. (Of Faith & Creativity). This is another interesting version. A huge rock in the Matheran hills turning into another massive Ganpathi. Clever use of colours and artistic rendering have converted this huge rock into a divine statue complete with a…

  • Mahabalipuram, Mamallapuram, TravelWithaCouple
    Arts & Culture - History - Places

    Year-End Trips (2) – Mamallapuram

    February 17, 2010 - By 

    Kanchipuram – Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) is barely 70 kms and is connected by good roads. Not a wise idea to combine both these places on the same day as you are unlikely to do justice to both the places. Mamallapuram is a 7th century port city built by Pallavas and is supposeed to be named after the Pallava King, Mamalla. Mamallapuram is classified as UNESCO World Heritage site. With some of the rock cut temples resembling the Buddhist/Jain architecture, it is believed that the Pallava kings bought artisans and sulptors from central India after they won over the Chalukyas. We unfortunately…

  • Kancheepuram Temple, TravelWithaCouple
    Arts & Culture - History - Places

    Year-End (2009) Trips – Kanchipuram

    February 15, 2010 - By 

    The year 2009 ended on a good note with a packed weekend. We were back to Chennai after 5 years for a family get together. But we did manage to plug-in an active one-day travel. It is a matter of shame that we lived in Chennai for 7 years and not even once we visited Kanchipuram or Mahabalipuram. We were not in our elements then for sure. So it was Kanchipuram and Mahabalipuram. We planned the timings so that we will be at Kanchipuram Saravana Bhavan for breakfast. Kanchipuram is known as the city of temples and is one of…

  • Arts & Culture - Places

    Solapur, Chadder, and Fashion Ramps

    November 28, 2009 - By 

    Solapur was once a bustling textile town. The Solapur chadder is famous even now, though the number of mills has dwindled and many of the looms have moved out of the town. We wanted to visit one of those looms and speak to a few people and made our enquries, but only to realise that there are only show rooms and not any mills/looms around the town. So we were directed to the largest and the most popular one – Pulgam Textiles. We were not disappointed for there were some unique cotton bedsheets. The chadder certainly has its charm, going…

  • Arts & Culture - Food - Fun

    Christmas Cake: A Heady Mix of Dry Fruits, Innocence, Wonder, and Laughter

    November 17, 2009 - By 

    It’s already jingle bells time at the ITC Grand Central! Last week was the ‘cake mixing ceremony’ – mixing loads of dry fruits with spices, honey, and fruit extracts. The mix is let to ferment for a month or so, for baking those delicious plum cakes for Christmas. This year, the students of Akanksha Lower Parel Centre were invited for the cake mixing ceremony at the ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai. Saroj maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons were the celebrity guests for the event.The kids were so thrilled and charged up that they managed to convince their…

  • Thrikkodithanam Temple, Jain Temples in Kerala, TravelWithacouple
    Arts & Culture - History - Places - the great driving challenge

    The Aftereffects of Searching for Jain Temples

    August 29, 2009 - By 

    One of the stories from our TGDC trail was about our search for old Jain temples in Wayanad in Kerala. There are a few of them, either taken over by ASI or left to crumble, like the one we managed to visit. After visiting the place and reading a little more about Jain temples in Kerala, a realisation dawned on us – Most temples in Kerala were earlier Jain or Buddhist temples. We had earlier read that the famous Sabarimala temple (with close to 5 crore visitors a year, it is supposed to be the second biggest annual pilgrimage after…

  • TravelWithacouple Unny Bindhu Bordi Ganapathy
    Arts & Culture

    Of Faith & Creativity (the Divine Tree)

    May 3, 2009 - By 

    With countless number of Gods & Goddesses (83 million by someone’s estimates or 830 million?), roadside stones and trees turning to temples is not new in India. There is no rural-urban divide in these phenomena. All that matters is faith. This interesting tree apparently has a mild resemblance to Lord Ganesha’s trunk. It is clear that the clever and creative painting is what brings it live. Nevertheless, the Ganesha tree has already started attracting attention of travellers and is listed in the ‘must-see’ places in and around Bordi. We saw this in the Bordi-Asavali road, about 2 km from the…

  • Arts & Culture

    Kalaghoda Diaries: Part 5 – Magic with light @ Asiatic Steps

    March 8, 2009 - By 

    While Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy weaved magic with their vocal chords, guitar strings and drums, the façade of Asiatic library had its own way of being the part of the magic. Two smart guys (they were introduced at the podium, but we forgot their names) behind the stage (in fact perched at the top) were managing this extraordinary show. Various colourful patterns were projected on the wall. Our national flag and flags of other countries,  heart symbol  saluting the Valentine’s Day,  and a variety of images were simply beautiful.

  • Arts & Culture

    Kalaghoda Diaries: Part 4 – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy magic & Farhan Akthar surprise

    March 4, 2009 - By 

    Someone wrote in a travel note recently that “as you climb the curving stone steps towards the reception of the Asiatic Society library you feel you are ascending into loftier, ethereal regions”. We have not been to the inside of the library. But ascending to another world – yes, sometimes it is possible. Especially when the steps turn into an amphitheatre to watch the captivating performance by some of the best talents from the world of music. This time it was Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio. We wonder if the Asiatic steps ever acted host to so many people. When the steps could…

  • Arts & Culture

    Kalaghoda Diaries: Part 3 – The Studio Potters’ Market

    February 26, 2009 - By 

    A new addition this year is the Studio Potter’s market. Studio Pottery is about modern artists working as individuals or groups. Typical studio pottery is mostly table ware or cook ware, but artists explore many non-functional or sculptural items. The potter’s market threw a variety of artifacts. Vinayaka seemed to be the flavor of all times. (and perhaps all artists). He came in various postures and various sizes, limited only by the sculptors imagination. Crawling, lying supine… Playful pottery by someone was about funny cartoon characters moulded into puppets and clay animals. Studio potters work with various clays – terracotta,…

  • Arts & Culture

    Kalaghoda Diaries: Part 2 – Altamash Gaziyani’s Clay Magic

    February 15, 2009 - By 

    At 13, Altamash Gaziyani is just like any other neibhourhood boys. Except that he does a few things more than an average 13 year old. He loves reading Tintin and Shakespeare at the same time. And its not just cooking that he loves to do with his hands. It is also about some magical poetry in clay. That’s why he was there at Kalaghoda 2009. Clay Magic was where Altamash preseted his creations in clay. Altamash was excited to be there in the festival. The twinkle in his eyes while demonstrating, making his wares and selling it says it all.…

  • Arts & Culture

    Kalaghoda Diaries: Part 1 – The Heritage Bus Ride

    February 15, 2009 - By 

    This year Kalaghoda Festival started literally on a high for us. Perched on the open upper deck of a double-decker bus, we went on a heritage ride through the city (the southern part of Mumbai and the original city). And we enjoyed every moment of the ride. Starting from the Regal circle, near Prince of Wales Museum, the ride covered some of the best-loved landmarks – the Gateway of India, Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai University, Marine Drive, Asiatic Society… The trip was organised (as part of Kalaghoda Festival) by The Bombay Heritage Walks team, founded by two city-based architects…