Glimpses of India

As promised, here are some pictures taken from my India trip. There was not much scope to move around, so here's a little bit of what I have.

Let me start with, what else, a picture from sunset at a beach (regular readers might know of my weakness for the sea and particularly, its shores) Here's a little slice of heaven from India: Alibaug to be precise (a few hours drive from Mumbai).

I made a trip to Ahmedabad to visit family and spent a day going around. The first stop was Sabarmati Ashram, a beautifully maintained sanctum sanctorum of the Father of the nation. Particularly soothing was the wind blowing through at the bank of the river Sabarmati where the ashram is located.

This is R.K. Laxman's tribute to Gandhi, a series of cartoons drawn in his trademark style

Gandhi's working quarters during his stay at the ashram

Next up is Adalaj ni Vav a step well very close to Ahmedabad. The architecture of this place is marvelous. Enjoy the effect of what seems like a series of never ending arches.

Beauty rising out of ruins

Next stop was at the Sun Temple in Modhera, the only second one of its kind (the other more famous one is in Konark, Orissa). The highlight was the massive stepped tank in front of the temple called Surya Kund. There are 108 miniature shrines carved in between the steps. I didn't know this before the speciality of a sun temple is that the first rays of the sun fell on the image of the Sun God during equinoxes.

A section of the aforementioned tank.

Intricate carvings

The Sabha Mandap

Here's an odd picture to complete this post. Spic and span, the new shining (pun intended) India. A mall in New Bombay on a weekday.