Janski Beeeats !

So i was at Phoenix Market City (Velachery, Chennai) waiting for 2 of my friends to grab dinner. Outside the mall, an electronic music concert was taking place where the musician was belting out some funky tunes while wearing a mask that looked like a Xenomorph! (Think Alien/Predator bla bla)

Thankfully, i had my camera with me and started clicking some snaps! Later i googled to find out that the musician is French (i think) and calls himself Janski Beeeats (No clue what that means). But his music was definitely good! (i am no electronic music expert!) And oh yes, the percussionist wore a bear suit (?!?)

Click on images to enlarge –

Concert photography is definitely an enjoyable experience! 🙂

Chennai – Bharatanatyam!

Bharatanatyam performance by artistes from Kaladiksha School, Chennai!

(Click on image to enlarge)

Artistes:

• Padmashri Meenakshi Chittaranjan
• Aparna Chittaranjan
• Krithika Ramachandran
• Preethi Nedumaran

Chennai is definitely one of India’s top cultural spots right 🙂

Ancient TamilNadu – Alamparai Fort

I am back after a satisfying 235 Km road trip to Alamparai Fort in Kadapakkam village, almost 100 Km from Chennai (via East Coast Road). I simply loved the fort ruins and the lovely backwaters!

From what i gathered, this brick and limestone fort was built by Nawab Dost Ali Khan (Nawab of the Carnatic from 1732 – 1740). It was then gifted to the French who subsequently lost to the British (think Battle of Plassey – 1759), post which the British captured and destroyed the fort. The fort by itself was used a primary trading port by the Arcots of Nawabs and recently state archaeologists found a copper mint beneath the fort ruins along with arms and ammunition in the soldiers quarters!

The coins minted at the fort were used as official tender from Mughal era till the 19th century (apparently had great monetary value at that time) Each coin was called as an Alamparai Varagai (equal to 3 rupees) and the fort exported ghee, zari (cloth) and salt to Rome, France and other European countries. There is evidence of trade with certain South East Asian countries such as China as well.

This place is a history buff’s delight and i was certainly awe-struck imagining the soldiers and traders walking/guarding the fort in front of my eyes! This place is on the very popular ECR stretch, but is not well-known among the locals – i for one am quite happy i stumbled on this marvelous location! Each brick has a story to tell, but sadly the fort is in terrible shape – thanks to the British and the 2004 Indian Tsunami. I came to know about the copper mint only after i visited the fort, else i would have done some 200+ year old alamparai varagai hunting myself!

If you folks ever take a drive down ECR, do not miss this gem of a fort – the backwaters is amazing!

Lighthouse, Chennai – Part II

So i was able to visit the now-open viewing gallery in the Lighthouse (see my previous post here) and my-my, the view of the city, beach and the sea was fantastic! See for yourself – (Click on image)

Next post is on a couple of old forts in and around Chennai ! Watch this space 🙂

Ancient TamilNadu – Parthasarathy Temple

As promised in my previous post, here is one of (hopefully) several photo posts on the historical temples/places in and around Tamil Nadu. I don’t know if i can cover one place every week, but i hope to cover as much as possible in the coming months!

The temple in the pictures above is the Parthasarathy Temple in the Triplicane area in Chennai. The temple is a Hindu Vaishnavite temple and was built-in the 8th century (!!) by the Pallavas especially the Pallava King Narasimhavarman I (630 AD – 668 AD), who also completed the work in Mahabalipuram started by his father Mahendravarman. The temple was later developed/expanded by the Chola kings and Vijayanagara kings over the next 700 years.

Fun facts about the King:

• Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram is named after Narasimhavarman who was also called as Mamallan (great wrestler)
• Narasimhavarman was a devotee of Shiva! (how about that huh? Shiva devotee building a Vishnu temple, hehe)
• Hieun Tsang, the Chinese traveller visited Kanchipuram (Pallava capital) during his reign.

Coming back to the temple, the name Parthasarathy means ‘Charioteer of Arjuna’, which is not surprising as the main deity of the temple is shown to have battle scars, but sans weapons (as Krishna was the Charioteer of Arjuna during Mahabharatha and did not take up arms in the war). The other interesting aspect is that the temple houses 5 forms of Vishnu – Narasimhar, Ramar, Ranganathar, Varadarajar and ofcourse Krishna. Though the temple has been preserved using modern techniques, it still possesses the old world charm with its detailed carvings, many inscriptions of Pallava/Chola Kings and the overall architecture in itself. (Oh the temple is also ISO 9001:2008 certified!)

It is in the heart of my city, close to the Marina Beach and has stood the test of time since the foundation stone was laid. To walk in the corridors as many great Kings did, to pray in the sanctum sanctorum as many great saints did… that is just something else!

Lighthouse, Chennai!

Couldn’t get the light beams on long exposure!

No coastal city without a lighthouse!

We all know that current day Chennai, erstwhile Madras was  a strategic location for the East India Company. But there is a rich maritime history to this charming city as well! The lighthouse you see in the pictures was commissioned in 1977 and is the 4th lighthouse this city has seen since the first lighthouse was constructed roughly before 1796 AD. The previous three were in different locations along the stretch of the Marina Beach (World’s 2nd longest beach). Interestingly the previous lighthouse was in the tallest dome of the Madras High Court!

Oh here’s another fun fact – This lighthouse is one of the very few lighthouses in the World to have an elevator 🙂 The Government reopened the lighthouse to the public after a span of more than 20 years (because of cases of suicides in the past) in November and i am certainly waiting to get a view of the city from the viewing gallery, which has now been secured with grills and CCTV cameras.

Until next time! Cheers

Diwali – A Visual Spectacle!

To all my followers and casual visitors, here’s wishing you a very happy and prosperous Diwali ! Once again for my non-Indian friends, Diwali is an Indian festival celebrated with extravagance every year where we buy new clothes, burst crackers all day long and eat tons of home-made sweets. But the real fun begins in the night when people start bursting their fancy fireworks for hours together (poor Ozone!) . And THAT is my favorite part of the day!

This time i decided to try my hand at long exposure with fireworks and the results were pretty interesting! See for yourself!

Madras War Cemetery

So here’s a bit of history from my fantastic city! The images above (taken with a 5 MP phone camera) are from the Madras War Cemetery. A surprisingly beautiful cemetery in a place away from the hustle and bustle of city traffic!

From the CWGC website –

The MADRAS WAR CEMETERY was created to receive Second World War graves from many civil and cantonment cemeteries in the south and east of India where their permanent maintenance could not be assured.

The cemetery contains 856 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.

The MADRAS 1914-1918 MEMORIAL is situated at the rear of the cemetery. It bears the names of more than 1,000 servicemen who died during the First World War who lie in many civil and cantonment cemeteries in various parts of India where it is not possible to maintain their graves in perpetuity.

So dear readers, if by some amazing turn of events, you see the names of your ancestors fly into Chennai to pay your respects!