And one from Ahmedabad

 

A painting gifted

 

Chokhi Dhaani, Indore

 

The logo of

 

Dubai - Swarovski Shop

 

Bali, the loveliest island

 

Bangkok Temple Tour

 

Cambodia again

In Siem Reap, there are many ancient temples including the famous Angkor Wat complex. You can do the whole (and very long) temple tour on the elephant back also. It would be costly, slow, and tiring but well, you can.

And the ornate elephants are so friendly and curious, they often come too close to moving cars. Many a time, they take away the food items too. Like the one above came very close and looked inside the car but luckily, no food was visibly around.

 

One more from Bangalore before we go international again

 

Was that easy? Now spot the elephant in this one

From a temple in Mahalakshmi Layout, Bangalore.

Spot the elephant

This is from a wedding ceremony decoration in Chennai, the only Tam-Brahm wedding I ever attended 

(I loved the ceremony then and more later because it brought what a lovely person)

 

More from Southern India

I love the level and sanctity of detailing in South Indian temples.

Some more from the South coming soon. 

Track change

A herd from Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore. 

 

Naathdwara

And this is a special one. 

This is from the outer wall of the temple of Shreenath Ji from NathDwara. The temple is special because it houses the original Moorty of Shreenath Ji from Vrindavan from ancient times. The priests took the Moorty from Vrindavan to Mewar to save the destruction ordered by aurangzeb the rascal. 

Out of Jaipur but still in Rajasthan

 

The most well-known face and the story from Rajasthan - Maharana Pratap and Chetak. Did you notice - Chetak has a pseudo-trunk on his face? This was to trick the elephants into thinking of the horse as a young elephant and therefore, not attacking it. This is a scene from the battle of Haldi Ghati, which ended in a stalemate, and soon after, Maharana Pratap regained the whole of Mewar. Interestingly, Mewar was the only region in the whole of Rajputana, which never submitted to the mughal invaders. If you visit Udaipur and Chittor, the opulence is less than Jaipur but the valor and pride are a million times more (and deservingly so). 

Last one from Jaipur

This is from the Ambergarh fort. There are three ways of climbing the hill - on foot, by car, and on an elephant. I had the car but walked on foot so as to capture the elephants. 

Two more of two each from Jaipur

The upper carving is from the Amber Garh Fort of Jaipur. These are the welcoming auspicious elephants. 

The lower carving is from the Patrika Gate of Jaipur. These are the fighting war elephants. 

 

And a modern one from Jaipur

 Jaipur is full of elephants in various forms and roles. This one is at Patrika Gate, Jaipur - the four elephants are worshipping Vaibhav-Lakshmi in the middle.

Question - can you guess who are those at the top, riding on a horse and a chariot pulled by twin blackbucks? 

From a Jaipur Museum

 Notice the variety of sizes, postures, and purposes. 

Is he laughing?

 The expression on this elephant is so vivid as if he is laughing. This is from a painting inside a cave in Ajanta. While only few paintings remain in a good shape, the sample is good enough to imagine the evolved senses of ancient Indians. 

Ancient Elephants

 These are from the caves of Ajanta - the real poetry in stone. 

Cutie from Pattaya

In the middle of the hotel, these cuties were found playing

 

Lovely Cambodia

And this cutie towel elephant was in the hotel room in Cambodia. 

Please visit that super sweet and beautiful country with a great Hindu past and a heart-wrecking history of human evil since Hinduism diminished in that place (guess that is everywhere). 

 

Outside Philadelphia Zoo

 Although there were no elephatns in the zoo, there were these outside the Phily Zoo. 

यम द्वितीया माने भाई दूज

Fifth and the final day of Deepawali. Yamuna and Yam became brother and sister today, so all the brothers and sisters today celebrate today and in turn, Yam does not harm any of the celebrating ones today.  

 

अन्नकूट जमघट नववर्ष - आज और भी बहुत कुछ है!!

 This is a special Ganesh Ji for today. Why? Because.... !!!💖

Shubh Deepawali

This is from my small puja place at home. 

May this year bring peace, prosperity, and progress for all devotees! 

नरका चतुर्दशी

Krishna Ji defeated Narakasur today and liberated 16000 captive queens from him. That is why Ganesh Ji is playing the flute today, like Krishna Ji. 

धनत्रयोदशी

This is from the home in Lucknow. Each year, a fresh set of Murtis would be brought in. With that, the last year's set reached the ledge.

Back to home

You would ask why back to home when we just started? Well, it's Deepawali's 5 days from tomorrow and I think those will go to Ganesh ji only. So I returned to this one sitting at my home, next to my computer table.

This is a heavy bronze elephant, gifted by Masoom and Pradyun on my birthday. Crazy kids <3