My World: July 2013

29 July 2013

My World Monday - July 29, 2013

My World Monday is the weekly photo meme to share your World. Come share your World with us, as seen through your camera.

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Here is my photograph for the week, of 40feet golden status of Buddha at Golden Temple, Bylakuppa. Bylakuppa, is the Tibetan Refugee resettlement, location of “Lugsum amdupling”(established in 1961) and “Dickyi Larsoe”(established in 1969). More about this place here.

40feet golden status of Buddha at Golden Temple, Bylakuppa

26 July 2013

Rediscovering the Portugal Dynasty at Daman - Part 2

Part 1: Rediscovering Portugal Dynasty at Daman- Part 1
Pargola Garden in Moti Daman fort, is a commemorative monument built as a symbol of tribute in the revers memory of Portuguese soldiers who laid their lives during the liberation struggle in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Dadra and Nagar Haveli was a Portuguese colony who unschakled themselves in the year 1954 from the Portuguese Union and merged into Indian Union in 1961.

The structure in Greek architecture, bears resemblance to the Pantheon at Athens.

The garden is very well maintained with lush green grass and colourful blossoms.

Part 3 Rediscovering Portugal Dynasty At Daman - Part 3

Linked to 52 Photos Project

24 July 2013

Rediscovering the Portugal Dynasty at Daman - Part 1

Recently i was offered a Guest article exchange by Glad2baWoman. Their article Varanasi Vingyors was published on my blog. I had written an article on my last trip to Silvassa for them which is yet to be published. Meanwhile will continue with my other posts of that trip.
After our first days trip at Silvassa, we stayed at Woodland Inn a good budget accommodation with adjacent hotel Amanthran, which serves just a perfect veggie food. Next morning we started for Daman which is around 30kms from Silavassa.
History:
The first Portugese encounter with India was by Vasco da Gama who reached Calicat in 1498. In 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral arrived to trade for pepper and other spices. In 1505 Francisco de Almeida, in 1509 Afonso de Albuquerque. By then they had control over Anjediva Island, Cannanore, Cochin, Quilon. In 1510, Albuquerque defeated Sultan of Bijapur and establishes permanent settlement in Velha Goa(Old Goa). Later they acquired Madras, and by 1531 several territories from Gujarat Daman, Salsette, Bombay and Bacaim and Diu were under their control. Since then, Daman was under Portugal rule. In 1947 after India’s independence from British, Portugal refused to leave their control of their Indian possessions. In December 1961, Indian militarily invaded Goa, Daman and Diu. Where they were faced with insufficient Portugese resistance and on 19 December 1961 the Governor of Portuguese India signed the Instrument of Surrender, ending 450 years of Portuguese rule in India. The new territories became Union Territories within the Indian Union, and later on 30 May 1987 Goa became the 25^th state of Indian Union and Daman and Diu was separated from Goa and continued to be administered as a Union territory.
450 years of Portuguese rule had left a remarkable impact on the culture and heritage of these places. Comparatively Daman is less explored by tourists as compared to Goa. Daman nestles near the mouth of the Damanganga river as it embraces the Arabian Sea. Moti(Big) Daman and Nani Daman the twin towns of Daman district lie on the either banks of the river.

We reached Daman by 11 in the morning, we headed to the fort at Moti Daman.

Unlike most of the forts, this is part of the city. Dating back to 1559AD, features two imposing Gateways and houses most of the administrative offices.

The fort area has few churches, and Garden(separate posts on these). Other gate of the fort heads to the river bank.

New bridge which connects Moti Daman and Nani Daman

Old Bridge

There is an old light house within the Fort which was constructed to provide guidance to all the inbound and outbound sea traffic.

The old lighthouse is not in use now and the road next to the outer wall of the fort leads to the New Light House.

View of the New LightHouse from the fort

There is lot more to explore in Daman, following posts coming up on the other tourist attractions in Daman.

Travel tips:

How to reach

By Train: Nearest railway station is Vapi, which is 7km from Daman and well connected to major cities.
By Road: Buses from Mumbai to Ahmadabad and Saurashtra pass through Vapi. Number of Gujarat State Transport buses operate daily from Vapi to Daman. Cabs ply between Vapi and Daman. Driving from Mumbai, on NH8 take deviation at Karambelli village, between Bhilad and Vapi.
By Air: Nearest airport is Mumbai, which is around 3hours drive.

Accommodation: There are government and private accommodations ranging from Rs.150 to Rs.2000.
Best time to visit September to May

Part 2 Rediscovering Portugal Dynasty at Daman Part 2

Linked to Skywatch Friday, Travel Photo Mondays, Our World Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday

21 July 2013

MY WORLD MONDAY- July 22, 2013

My World Monday is the weekly photo meme to share your World. Come share your World with us, as seen through your camera.

Here is my photograph for the week, of Dhamma Giri. Dhamma giri is one of the World's largest meditation centers, dedicated to the teaching of Vipassana Meditation as taught my S.N Goenka. More about the place here..

Awesome Drive, Camp Fire, BBQ, Dolphins and More

I have written more than a dozen posts on Dubai, but each time i come across my Dubai pics I have a new story to narrate. Dubai has always been very near to my heart... This post is on our trip to Khasab, Oman from Dubai...

It was somewhere in the holy month of Ramadan few years back, did we and my hubby's friends planned this trip. As the end of Ramadan, Eid-Al-Fitr was linked with weekend, we had almost 4 days off. This trip was a much awaited relaxing trip, as we were about to spend most of the time on beach, away from the fancy and luxurious shopping malls and busy metro life of Dubai.

Khasab is the capital city of Musandam Peninsula, Sultanate of Oman and is almost 185km from Dubai.
As per schedule we left at 5 in the morning. Almost by 6:30 we were at Al Dhara Border Crossing. For me the first thought which comes to mind when I hear of border crossing, is the Waghah Board with gunned men on both sides of the gate... But in gulf, with good relationships with neighboring countries, boarder crossing is as simple as crossing a toll gate in India... You get your passport stamped(from your car itself) at the counter and drive ahead.

Aqua Life

A drive through Ram Maruthi Road near my place, ends up in one or the other exhibitions... There are many banquet halls and open spaces here, which host exhibitions. Few days back we attended this show Aqua Life by Laukik Creations. Laukik Creations are dealers of a variety of Tropical fishes with marine and planted aquariums... A photo essay of the show..

MY WORLD MONDAY- July 15, 2013

My World Monday is the weekly photo meme to share your World. Come share your World with us, as seen through your camera.

Here is my photograph for the week.. Haji Ali Dargah, Mumbai is a Mosque and tomb built on a tiny island located 500mtrs from coast, in the middle of Worli Bay. More about the place here..

Haji Ali Dargah, Mumbai

11 July 2013

Ovalekar Wadi Butterfly Garden

Few weeks back on a lazy Sunday morning we planned a visit to Ovalekar Wadi Butterfly Garden. Managed by Ovalekar brothers this garden is set up in a private farm, at the foot hills of Sanjay Gandhi National Park(Thane) and is home for 132 spices of butterflies. This is an open air garden, that is, you find butterfly in natural surrounding and not in enclosure. The plantation of larval host plants, help in butterfly breeding..

As we reached, we were asked to register with names and contact details and were briefed about the life cycle of butterfly, with live samples. And introduced to different species of butterflies..

Image credit ASU

Mount Mary Church, Bandra

While returning from Red Bull Soapbox race, we visited Mount Mary Church... Situated on hillock in suburban Bandra, Mount Mary is Mumbai's best known church. This is dedicated to Mother of Christ and in September, the festival of the virgin Mother culminates in a week-long fair, popularly known as Bandra Fair. Stalls sell sticky Goan sweets and wax idols of Virgin along with assortment of candles of various parts of the body. Sufferers choose one that corresponds to their ailment and light it in the church, with the hope that Mother Mary will consider their appeals for help.. Also light candles of house, factory, shop or baby appealing for their wishes to be fulfilled.

India's 1st Red Bull Soapbox Race

Soapbox or gravity racer is the race where homemade cars powered by gravity, race each other down the twists and turns... The car doesn't have engines, gas, batteries and uses only human power.. The construction can be of any shape and material, provided they weigh less than 80kg and compile with the dimension limits. That's, less than 6ft wide, 7ft tall, less than 20ft in length and 7in or more from ground. They will be given a push to get off the ramp. The teams will be evaluated based on speed, creativity and showmanship.

After watching so many promos on TV for more than 3 months, we planned to attend this event... The race was last Dec, at Mount Mary Road, Bandra. One of my cousins joined us this time.. Wondering if we would get parking at the venue, we parked our car near Leelavathi Hospital and my cousin took us through those narrow lanes of Bandra, which would reach us directly to Mount Mary church. Its almost a km walk and we somehow managed to reach on time dragging our legs...

As we entered from back stage, we got to checkout the participants busy with their preparations... The event started off with the carnival...

Jugdges Cricketer BS Sandhu, Malini of MissMalini.com and Kunal Vijaykar

Host Cyrus Broacha, started the guest soapboxes of HT, History channel, Red FM and few more

Then drew in Ramona Arena, in her Redbull mini cooper

Followed by Imran Khan and Vishal Bharadwaj to promote their movie Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola with their Gulabo soapbox

Finally here come the contestant soapboxes... Each team were given a min to perform before they start off with the race. Then, they were given a push to get off the ramp, the contestant would reach the final goal crossing the twists, turns and hassles. The best and funniest part of the race is, due to their low weight they tend to roll down at the first ramp itself..