There, in a meadow, by the river’s side, A flock of nymphs I chanced to espy, All lovely daughters of the flood thereby, With goodly greenish locks, all loose untied ̴ Edmund Spenser Mother Ganga and the wilderness There were no meadows by the side of the majestic Ganges. There was divinity and a heavenly … More Nature, Spirituality & Emancipation: Fascinating Lakshman Jhula
Through the window pane, between the curling orchid spaces twinning all the way up along the bark of the gigantic deodar, I could see the Sun enchanting the first lights of the day over the green mountains that lay in front of me. There was an aura of the chilled morning breeze and the … More Landour Unplugged
Prologue “The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops….” My trance of the horror was cut short by the doorbell and it was none … More A Night in Castle Naggar
Prologue Rabindranath Tagore had once quoted “We live in a world when we love it.” Perhaps my perception towards his views would have remained incomplete, if I would not have spent those valuable four hours at the 31st International Crafts Mela 2017, at Surajkund, Haryana. 34th Surajkund International Crafts Mela, 2020 31st International Craft Mela … More Artfully Mesmerizing Surajkund Mela
Prologue We were on our downhill journey from the perpetual snow-land of the monumental Chang La. The severe cold inspite of the car heater and the tough road trip through the scary avalanche zones was already beginning to have toll on our near to be fatigued bodies. A Picture Post Card from Chemrey We were … More Memorable Moments at Thiksey Monastery
Prologue We were mesmerized by the sheer brilliance of the great red sandstone mausoleum. The aura of the sunset was amazing. The cacophony of the parrots, the chants of the evening prayers from a nearby mosque and the cool breeze dancing around the tomb garden were soothing our spirits after a days’ tour in and around … More An evening in Humayun’s Tomb
Bhagsunag Temple Bhagsunag Temple is located on the upper ridges of Mcleodganj. It took us hardly fifteen minutes from the monastery parking space to reach our destination. We were surprised to see the parking space allotted for tourists to be already full. Bhagsunag Temple entrance, Mcleodganj The place was buzzing with tourists, guides, vendors, and … More Spiritually Delightful Dharamshala II
Prologue It was the wedding night of Ram Kumar Negi and Jyothi. Ram’s green Kinnauri topi was hanging beside the closed wooden dwarang (door) of their humble two storied hut in the village of Rakchham in Kinnaur. Their beautiful wooden hut was today neatly decorated with Bijli lamps. It was also the wedding day of Ram’s … More Polyandry, Alienation, Religion and Land: Many Shades of Kinnaur
Prologue Melancholy was grabbing our spirits very fast while we were on our way back from Chitkul, passing the Godly valleys looking so ever mysterious in the growing cloud cover. The sun rays were playing hide and seek with the clouds, the mountain tops were looking darker and shaded than before and there was growing … More A memorable evening at Fort Kamru
Prologue We were excited like anything when Mr. Mukesh Negi our tour guide explained us the details of the Sangla-Chitkul trip at the lawn of the Hotel Kinnaur Kailash Kalpa (Altitude: 2960m i.e. 9710 ft) . We were literally amazed by the depth of his information and knowledge about the place. There was hardly a … More Sangla Unplugged: A Paradise in Kinnaur
Prologue We had been excited like anything from the moment we had read about the Kinnaur village Chitkul last winter. As our trip to Kinnaur shaped out during this year’s summer vacation, we could hardly hide our elation and excitement about this amazing place. Our journey from Kalpa to Chitkul We had already booked a … More Chitkul the last Inhabited Himachali village near Indo-Tibet Border
THE AMAZING SHAH JAHANI MAHALS, AGRA FORT Emperor Shah Jahan was one of the finest admirers of white marble architecture. It is said that he might have had demolished many of the Akbari mahals to modify them into his white marble palaces. While moving out of the Akbari mahals, our guide directed us towards the … More Amazing Shah Jahani Mahals, Agra Fort
THE MAJESTIC AKBARI MAHALS The Akbari Mahals are perhaps one of the oldest mansions in the Agra fort lying in the South-eastern part of the fort complex. These mansions are in ruins and very few could be seen in their original form. Yet we did have a nice time around them. As indicated by our guide, … More Exploring the Akbari Mahals, Red Fort, Agra
PROLOGUE The Red Fort Agra: Symbol of the Mughal Grandeur and Pride The morning chill of Agra was literally shaking our roots. It was misty and cold at 6 am in the morning. Although it was 6am, but believe us it looked as if it was 4am in the morning. Hardly could we find anybody … More Exploring the Jahangir Mahals, Red Fort, Agra
PROLOGUE Agra had been known for ages for the Taj, Fatehpur Sikri, the Red Fort and Akbar’s Tomb at Sikandra. How many of us are aware of some of the other monuments in and around Agra forgotten by people. Inspite of restoration initiatives taken by the ASI, these monuments had remained away from the focus … More Forgotten Monuments in Agra
PROLOGUE In earlier issues of mytravelnama, we had presented you some amazing facts and figures including pictures of Fatehpur Sikri depicting the pinnacle of administrative and spiritual glory of the Mughal empire during the reign of Akbar the Great. Well, in the new year, let us have a long journey to the great emperor’s Royal … More Fatehpur Sikri: Exploring the Royal Court
Prologue The ship was miserably carried away by the furious tornado and the sailors knew well they were well away from their route to Rangoon. Captain James Stewart was not dejected like the others who had lost all the hope. Suddenly one of the crew came running in to his cabin, shouting that a huge … More The Amazing Sun Temple of Konark
Prologue …..The brave teenager with dark complexion was beating a furious multi headed gigantic venomous serpent to its doom. His parents and neighbours were crying for help and God’s mercy on the banks of the Yamuna. The water and the air around the river were bitterly poisoned by the venom spitted by the evil serpent … More Incredible Vrindavan
Prologue We had a long cherished dream of having a rendezvous with Akbar’s Tomb…one of our country’s precious architectural marvels. The opportunity came during our prized winter vacation in Agra. We were returning from the Mariam’s Tomb towards Agra city taking the Agra Delhi Highway (NH2). Our journey was fairly quick, we had to turn around and … More Akbar’s Tomb: One among India’s prized Architectural Marvels
Prologue The shadows of the tall pine woods loom large, The mists keep caressing the distant hills, With their tender softness, The breeze howls loudly across the vale so serene, The brooks rush down to meet their destiny- The green meadows keep waiting, To haunt many a soul, With the wilderness blooming all over you … More The Paradise Vale: Khajiyyar
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