Another beautiful Friday afternoon lead me to Greenwich is internationally recognised as the home of time. This is where to find the Prime Meridian of the World - every place on Earth is measured from here. Not only that, but its where the hemispheres meet and home to a World Heritage Site and London's oldest Royal Park (Visit Greenwich).
My wonder started at Cutty Sark - built in the late 19th century, it is the only surviving tea clipper; the fastest and greatest of her time. "The National Maritime Museum is the world's largest maritime museum, revealing inspirational stories and breathtaking accounts of discovery and adventure connecting Britain's maritime past with our lives today" (ibid). But perhaps the greatest gems of all was the Old Royal Navy College - a riverside designed by Sit Christopher Wren (perhaps one of England's most highly acclaimed architects in history, also creating St Paul's Cathedral). I had to give in and switch the film simulation (colour) mode on the camera to capture the outstanding majesty of the Painted Hall as well as the exquisitely decorated Chapel. Hours later than planned, I headed towards the Royal Observatory through Greenwich Park, offering fine dusk views over the City of London. The clock pictured in the last photo is one of the earliest electrics clocks to ever be produced and was installed in 1852. Wikipedia states: "The network of master and slave clocks was constructed and installed by Charles Shepherd in 1852. The clock by the gate was probably the first to display Greenwich Mean Time to the public, and is unusual in using the 24-hour analogue dial."
Technical details: Fuji X-M1 with Fujinon 16-50mm lens.
Winter is officially over and the crocuses are in spring bloom! In an attempt to escape the flooded plains of the countryside, Dan and I joined a guided walk (highly informative with quirky anecdotal tales, run by London Walks) in St Albans, AKA Verulamium - that's the Roman name of the old town. Yes, its about two millennia old! Here's an extract of their blurb: "The most fascinating small city in England... St. Albans is an essence of England. You can stand on the bank of its little river, the Ver, and suddenly feel yourself touched, saddened by the great passage of time – Romans, and Saxons, and Normans, and Lancastrians rode across this stream, galloped up that hill, and disappeared into the centuries. And the same goes for the little town itself (little town, hell, long, long ago this was the most important city in Roman Britain!) – here you see it all – from the Legions of Julius Caesar to the dynasty of the Churchills. These streets are corridors in the vale of time. Here's the only Roman theatre in Britain; here's the oldest street market in this sceptered isle – it dates back to the Saxons; round this corner there's a 600-year-old Moot hall; round that one a clutch of mediaeval and Tudor coaching inns; hard by, a rare curfew clock tower; up these lanes a sprinkling of half-timbered Elizabethan houses; over there, streets and buildings that are essays in Georgian England; here, a Victorian prison. Let alone all sorts of hidden, curious places and things – and a skein of enthralling history. Not to put too fine a point on it, St. Albans is England in miniature and London's best kept secret!"
The photos below were mostly taken around the centre of the historic market town, the clock tower and the St Albans Abbey.
Technical details: Fuji X-M1 with Olympus OM 28mm lens.
Photos taken during a visit to the magnificent yet serene Norwich Cathedral.
Adapted from Wikipedia: "Norwich Cathedral was completed over 850 years ago in 1145 with the Norman tower still seen today topped with a wooden spire covered with lead. Several episodes of damage necessitated rebuilding of the east end and spire but since the final erection of the stone spire in 1480 there have been few fundamental alterations to the fabric. The large cloister has over 1,000 bosses including several hundred carved and ornately painted ones. Norwich Cathedral has the second largest cloisters, only outsized by Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral close is the largest in England and one of the largest in Europe and has more people living within it than any other close. The cathedral spire, measuring at 96 m, is the second tallest in England despite being partly rebuilt after being struck by lightning in 1169, just 23 months after its completion, which led to the building being set on fire. Measuring 140.5 m long and, with the transepts, 54 m wide at completion, Norwich Cathedral was the largest building in East Anglia."
Photos taken during the spiritual festivities and celebrations of Guru Purnima (AKA Guru Poonam) in the presence of Param Pujya Bhaishree. "That holy day has finally dawned for which seekers around the world have waited with bated breath. Few are those fortunate souls who's hearts have experienced the magical love for an enlightened master, and only they can speak of its mesmerising, soul churning effect upon them. And what better day to express their gratitude for their Guru, that this full moon day of the month of Ashad, better known as 'Guru Purnima'. " (Extract from Live with Bhaishree).
Technical details: Sony a850 with Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 and Minolta 70-210mm f4 lenses.
Photos taken during three trip with Param Pujya Bhaishree to celebrate the 25th anniversary year of the Shrimad Rajchandra Gnaan Mandir in Rajkot.
Here's the second cave post - the Ajanta Caves differ from the Ellora Caves (60 miles apart) for a few main reasons... the Ajanta series is much older (dating back to about 100BC), and many of the caves are richly decorated and painted, although perhaps most are on a smaller scale than those in Ellora.
The style of Ajanta has exerted a considerable influence in India and elsewhere, extending, in particular, to Java. With its two groups of monuments corresponding to two important moments in Indian history, the Ajanta cave ensemble bears exceptional testimony to the evolution of Indian art, as well as to the determining role of the Buddhist community, intellectual and religious foyers, schools and reception centres in the India of the Gupta and their immediate successors.
The caves are cut into the volcanic lava of the Deccan in the forest ravines of the Sahyadri Hills and are set in beautiful sylvan surroundings. These magnificent caves containing carvings that depict the life of Buddha, and their carvings and sculptures are considered to be the beginning of classical Indian art.
The 29 caves were excavated beginning around 200 BC, but they were abandoned in AD 650 in favour of Ellora. Five of the caves were temples and 24 were monasteries, thought to have been occupied by some 200 monks and artisans. The Ajanta Caves were gradually forgotten until their 'rediscovery' by a British tiger-hunting party in 1819.
Some photos have captions - click or hover over to read.
Technical details: Sony a850 with Tokina 19-35mm lens.
This is the first of two cave posts, the Ajanta Caves tomorrow!
The Ellora Caves are the remains of what was a collection of 34 monasteries and temples, extending over more than 2 km, were dug side by side in the wall of a high basalt cliff. Ellora, with its uninterrupted sequence of monuments dating from A.D. 600 to 1000, brings the civilization of ancient India to life. Not only is the Ellora complex a unique artistic creation and a technological exploit but, with its sanctuaries devoted to Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, it illustrates the spirit of tolerance that was characteristic of ancient India.
Progressing from south to north along the cliff [as do the photos below], one discovers successively the twelve caves of the Buddhist group, which appear to be the oldest (between c. 600 and 800) and comprise monasteries and a single large temple; then the caves of the Brahmin group (c. 600 to 900) which are no doubt the best known of Ellora with the 'Cavern of the Ten Avatars' and especially the Kailasha Temple, an enormous complex; and, finally, the Jain group whose sanctuaries were created by the sect of the Digambara towards AD 800-1000.
The Kailasha temple (photos 7-11 below) " is the unrivalled centerpiece of Ellora. This is designed to recall Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva – looks like a freestanding, multi-storeyed temple complex, but it was carved out of one single rock, and covers an area double the size of Parthenon in Athens. Initially the temple was covered with white plaster thus even more increasing the similarity to snow-covered Mount Kailash... The construction of this cave, claimed to be the world's largest monolithic structure, was a feat of human genius – it entailed the removal of 400,000 tonnes of rock, and took over 100 years to complete." (Wikipedia).
Photos taken during visits to the buttermilk distribution centres in and around Sayla. Write-up adapted from a post on the Raj Saubhag humanitarian facebook site.
Raj Saubhag has been running a buttermilk distribution service, during the harsh summer months, since the last 37 years. Free buttermilk is distributed for approximately three months (depending on the climate and monsoon rains) to help provide relief for local people from the intense temperatures, regularly reaching a scorching 45 degrees.
"Indian tradition instils compassion in every human heart for the less fortunate. Even a small portion of food given in charity is highly valued. Every child is encouraged by his elders to imbibe the qualities of selfless giving and philanthropy, such that even a visit to a temple requires him to offer something to the deity. However, times are changing and values are declining. Inspite of this, towns and villages still have their places of worship either in the form of a Krishna or Mahavir temple. The faithful people with qualities like benevolence, generosity and goodwill towards fellowmen, often observe that the Lord favours them, even if they are not blessed with wealth and material superiority. Such human beings are blessed with peace of mind and contentment. Even if a person owns one rupee, he should posses a heart, kind enough to give away 2 paise (cents). The contentment that comes from a good deed is unparalleled.
In places where the elders observe receding values, every effort must be taken to encourage generosity in the young. Increased kindness and thoughtfulness towards one another will add to peace and goodwill in every village, town and city of India.
This year Raj Saubhag has been providing the buttermilk powder to 17 centres in 13 villages. The poor people living in these hot regions are grateful to receive free buttermilk. Very often volunteers willingly take the responsibility of adding water, arranging for the required vessels and distributing the prepared buttermilk to people in their villages in an organised way. Raj Saubhag acknowledges and applauds the efforts put in by all these volunteers and appeals for more volunteers in every village to come forward and offer this selfless service.
Those, who put the suffering of others before their own needs are always blessed."
Further details of Raj Saubhag's humanitarian activities can be found here.
Technical details: Sony a850 with Tamron 28-75mm and Tokina 19-35mm lenses.
Eight centuries old and rich in both architectural and spiritual splendour, Wells Cathedral provided a beautiful setting for testing out the Sony a900.
Some photos have detailed captions - click on or hover over to read.
Technical details: Tamron 28-75mm lens, all unedited and straight from the camera.