The Road that never ends .....

 If I had an option, I would have been on the road always ...... But there are other responsibilities that needs to be fulfilled.

Travel brings change. We see different people, places and culture. This brings in a change in us. The feeling of being alien to others vanishes. We have created boundaries by defining countries, states, cities ..... so what ..... we can still travel and know about each other. Its a road that never ends..... beyond boundaries.

When we ask ourselves about WHY do we travel ... we have different answers to it.....

............We like it. 

...............We feel at peace. 

............We love Nature. 

.............For a change. 

...................To get away from routine etc etc. 

We are all self described travelers. But is this the real reason or is Travel a basic human desire. We human beings were a wanderer and with evolution we formed societies and started to settle in areas which we called cities, townships, countries etc. We were a migratory specie and that instinct is still hidden inside us. Ask anyone and he will you same answer... I would like to travel but... We all want to move out of the place where we spent maximum of our time to faraway places. Our migratory gene starts dominating us and forces us to move out.

Travel is not only for pleasure. Pleasure can be derived from many other activities while sitting at home. It is more like a compulsion for us. We get bored of same place. It starts making a impact on our thoughts and reasoning power. Travel opens our mind to whole new ideas. Imagination keeps on flowing and brain is at its best. When we escape from the place where we spend maximum time, we feel innovative ideas and imagination flowing in our mind.

Living at same place makes our brain think on same lines. We fail to think on options. Travel makes us realize that a single thing could have multiple options and meanings. We come across different culture, beliefs and human beings, who perceive things differently. Thus our brain comes across a totally different perspective of seeing and dealing with things an problems. These observations makes us more creative. It becomes a secret tonic for our creativity.

Our routine, our job teaches us efficiency but kills our creativity. We are so much engrossed in our activities that our brain forgets to be creative. We never give it a chance to explore itself and be innovative. That routine starts killing us. Travel opens our brain. It gives it a option to analyse and see different cultures, practices, beliefs and ideas and gives it a whole lot of space to explore and be creative.

The home is same when we return. but we feel rejuvenated and filled with energy and we know that inside us has changed .............

The beautiful Sun

While I was visiting Shivpuri (read my earlier post http://sudhir-chauhan.blogspot.com/2011/02/shivpuri-madhya-pradesh.html), I came across some beautiful scene created by Sun which was going down and giving way to darkness and we call this Sunset.

I could not resist my temptation of sharing those pics with you all. these pictures were taken from while boating in Sakya Sagar lake, (courtesy Madhya Pradesh Tourism) .

Nature is marvelous, its poetry in itself. The golden water of Sakya Sagar Lake created by Life Giver SUN is magical. This is a scene which can be enjoyed countless times............ The more I see nature the more I get mystical about it ..... Love for Nature keeps on increasing......

Sun Bird in Various Mood

Once you start loving the nature, it becomes a habit and you are tempted to see it more and more and we start enjoying and admiring all its creation. And if you have a camera in hand ...

...then it becomes more tempting to capture those moments and share with others...

So that they can also see the beauty that this lovely nature provides. I was observing few small Sunbirds in a park and one day thought of capturing this small but beautiful bird.

But first some details about Sunbird. These are small birds less than 10 cms in length and mainly feed on Nectar, but at times can feed on insects as well. They resemble a lot with Hummingbirds found in America, and some sunbird species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed. They belong to Nectariniidae family.

Wiki Page on Sunbird
Wiki page on Purple Rumped Sunbird

Survaya Garhi - Shivpuri - Old Heritage

I had not traveled for long this year and this gap was killing me. Nature keeps on inviting and we keep on dreaming in office or home. I was satisfying myself by reading travel stories of other people. And then suddenly planned an outing. Family was ready and on 30th September 2011, we drove to Shivpuri. I have already written about Shivpuri in my earlier post (Shivpuri - Madhya Pradesh). Our objective this time was to visit places which we missed last time. The place is beautiful, Nature at its best and wild life started to flourish now.

In this beautiful place, in between the lap of nature lies a Historical Monument - Survaya Garhi. This  was one place which we missed last time. Garhi in English means Fort. But the place is a 10th Century Hindu Monastery. A fort like structure was created around it for protection. It is maintained by Archaeological Survey of India and whole place was dug out in an excavation.

Survaya Fort

Survaya Garhi is about 20 kms from main Shivpuri Town on Jhansi Road and lies in between Survaya Village. From outside the place looks like a fortress. The place has 3 temples and a huge Auditorium. It is said that this place was a boarding school and was also used by saints for meditation. The Hostel (few call it Auditorium) is a double story complex with a underground water source. Two temples now do not have and deity or idol in it, but one temple still has Shivling in it. The architecture in the temples is very beautiful as can be seen in the photos below.

Main Gate (Entrance) 

                                             

Old Well

                                                         

Internal Wall

 An View of the Main Compound. Two Temples are visible here.

                               

  Auditorium or Hostel

                                                               

Temple Number two

                                                                   

An view of the Entrance from inside the compound

     Temple Number 3

                                                       

  Inside the Auditorium

                                                               

  Inside the Auditorium

                                                                 

 Inside the Auditorium

The archaeological survey have done a splendid job to restore and maintain the place. It is clean and restoration work has been very minutely. The architecture on the temple walls can be seen in pictures below:

A Big Grinding Stone

      

Remains of Pillar

                                                               

Close up of Pillars

                                                     

Another View

                                                       

                                                     

Though these temples are small, but the grandeur of Ancient Indian Architecture can be easily seen below:

An Image on the Pillar 

Design on Roof

    Temple with Shivlingam in it

                                             

   Ancient Engineering Marvel

                                           

Pillar with Beautiful Architecture