<a href="http://www.parrikar.com/blog" title="Photo Blog by Rajan Parrikar" rel="home">Photo Blog by Rajan Parrikar

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Bridge to the Heavens

Monday, January 23, 2012

A Northern Lights display on a cold night at the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river in north Iceland. See an earlier post for another assay.

Colourful skies at Jökulsá á Fjöllum in north Iceland

Northern Lights at Jökulsá á Fjöllum in north Iceland
5D Mark II, 14L II

Tag: 14L II, Aurora, Bridge, Canon 5D Mark II, Jökulsá á Fjöllum, North Iceland, Northern Lights

3 comments

ArunJanuary 23, 2012 - 4:27 pm

There has to be a song that goes with the photograph.

Thomas PindelskiJanuary 23, 2012 - 5:40 pm

The lighting on the bridge is magic.

BorkurJanuary 23, 2012 - 7:19 pm

The ,,great Northern lights Emperor” gives you his blessings !

Saptakoteshwar of Naroa

Friday, January 20, 2012

Legend has it that a group of sages on the island of Divar in Goa undertook penance to propitiate Shiva. It took seven crore (sapta-kot) years for the Great Yogi to take notice of their exertions. When He finally showed up, the sages petitioned Him to take up residence in the village of Naroa (also called Narve). Thus came about the great temple of Saptakoteshwar in Naroa-Divar, one that enjoys a special place in the Goan psyche for its singular role in our land’s turbulent history.

Saptakoteshwar weathered intrusions first by the Bahmani sultans, and later by the Portuguese who destroyed it. The first mass conversion of Goan Hindus to Christianity took place here on August 15, 1560, cleverly engineered by the Portuguese on the day of Gokulashtami, traditionally the most important celebration at the temple. The provenance of one of Goa‘s popular folk tunes, Hanv Saiba poltodi vaita, can be traced to this event.

At the original temple site in Naroa-Divar today stands the Chapel of Our Lady of Candelaria, and nearby lie the remains of the temple tank. The ancient linga has its own tale of woes to tell, even serving as a pulley for a nearby well. Finally it made its way across the river to be reinstalled at a new site which came to be known as New Naroa, today’s Narve in Bicholim taluka. The temple was restored by Shivaji in 1668.

Saptakoteshwar Temple at Narve, Goa
5D, 24-105L

Saptakoteshwar
5D, 24-105L

Saptakoteshwar Temple by Mario Miranda
(Reproduced with permission of the Mario Gallery)

Temple musician Dattaram Ramkrishna Narvekar
5D, 24-105L

Tag: 24-105L, Bahmani Sultans, Bicholim, Canon 5D, Christianity, Conversion, Divar, Heritage, Hindu, Hinduism, Linga, Lingam, Mario Miranda, Naroa, Narve, Portuguese, Saptakoteshwar, Shiva, Shivaji, Temple

3 comments

venantius j pintoJanuary 20, 2012 - 10:48 pm

Splendid color scheme, and like the florescence in the chrome orange. A thought on color: It would be a vision if they could manage to keep the tiles pretty consistently Indian red, or a dark laterite brown.

jcJanuary 21, 2012 - 8:43 am

Once again RP, Thank you for sharing this with us. Pic 2 is really brilliant (to me at least) as it brings out the nostalgic emotions of one who is utterly disgusted by the monstrous concretization which is now taking place in Goa.

ArunJanuary 21, 2012 - 9:24 am

I thought Shiva was easier to propitiate than that!

Death Valley – A Study in Texture

Thursday, January 19, 2012

These photographs were taken in a single session along Badwater Road in the Death Valley National Park in California. An impending storm had given rise to conditions atypical in Death Valley – soft, diffused afternoon light that accentuated the colours on the Black Mountains.

Colours
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Black Mountains
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Palette
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

Folds
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Rugged
5D Mark II, 70-200L f/2.8 IS II

Black Mountains
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Glow
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Tag: 24-105L, 70-200L f/2.8 IS II, Badwater, Black Mountains, Canon 5D Mark II, Color, Death Valley, Storm, Texture, TS-E 17L

1 comment