Black-backed dwarf kingfisher (Raigad)

 

Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca)

Karnala Bird Sanctuary, Raigad District, Maharashtra, Aug 2025

PC - Prashant Kumar

#Nature :)

"Somewhere in Kasol Hills"...Kasol is a village in Himachal Pradesh, northern India. It is situated in Parvati Valley. PC - Abhinav Singh

Indorei Fort, Aravali Hills (Haryana)

Trirund, HP (PC - Himanshu Patel)

Chandra Tal Lake (PC - Pradip H.)

Orchha

Chhatris located near the Kanchan Ghat on River Betwa. Orchha is a town in Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh state, India. The town was established by Rudra Pratap Singh some time after 1501, as the seat of an eponymous former princely state of central India, in the Bundelkhand region.

#‎india‬ ‪#‎bharat‬ ‪#‎nature‬ ‪#‎palace #history‬ ‪#‎hindustan‬ ‪#‎travel‬

#Odisha

Barehipani, the most beautiful ‪#‎waterfalls‬ is one of main attractions inside Simlipal National Park.

#‎Taptapani‬ is famous for its ‪#‎hotspring‬ and adorned with beautiful sceneries.

‪#‎nature‬ ‪#‎greenery‬ ‪#‎odisha‬ ‪#‎travel‬ ‪#‎hindustan‬ ‪#‎bharat‬ ‪#‎india‬

Malana Village & Ellora cave temple

Malana Village, Himachal Pradesh

#india #bharat #hindustan #nature #tourism#himachal #malana #village

-------------------------------------

Ellora cave temple is located in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. It is famous throughout the world for prehistoric temples, portraying the rich traditions of India and the excellent work of art.

‪#‎caves‬ ‪#‎ellora‬ ‪#‎india‬ ‪#‎bharat‬ ‪#‎hindustan‬ ‪#‎nature‬ ‪#‎tourism‬

#facts

*) - Indians made significant contributions to calculus, trigonometry, and algebra. The decimal system was invented in India in 100 B.C. The concept of zero as a number is also attributed to India.

------------------------------------------------

*) - Hindi and English are the official languages of India. The government also recognizes 17 other languages (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Nepali, Manipuri, Konkani, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu). Apart from these languages, about 1,652 dialects are spoken in the country.

‪#‎india‬ ‪#‎archives‬ ‪#‎hindustan‬ ‪#‎bharat‬ ‪#‎language‬ ‪#‎hindi‬ ‪#‎english‬ ‪#‎official‬‪#‎history‬

Chess

India is the birthplace of chess. The original word for “chess” is the Sanskrit chaturanga, meaning “four members of an army”—which were mostly likely elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers.

‪#‎chess‬ ‪#‎india‬ ‪#‎bharat‬ ‪#‎fact‬ ‪#‎history‬ ‪#‎hindustan‬ ‪#‎chaturanga‬

Sandakphu

Located at an altitude of 3,636 metres, Sandakphu is the highest peak located in Darjeeling district in the eastern part of India.The name Sandakphu means ‘Height of the Poison Plant’ because of the poisonous aconite plants that grow near the peak. The patronizing peak of the Singalila Range, Sandakphu is the most audacious point of many trekking routes in the Darjeeling-Sikkim region.

Diveagar, Maharashtra

Gentle wind, sun kissed sands, calm and clean waters make the place appealing. The beach is a pleasant and clear water beach with the option of multiple water sports. The coconut cultivation that runs across the beach line makes it a lovely place to spent time around sunset with your partner. Bagmandala Beach is a clean and secluded beach near Srivardhan and one shall enjoy playing in the white sands of this beach. One can also visit the adjacent Bankot Fort via a boat ride.

Vanxim

Vanxim or Vanusim is an island of Goa situated in the Ilhas region. One can reach here by taking a ferry from Divar. The colonial name for Vanxim was Capão. One may see a lot of houses with few villagers many of whom are fisher-folk in the area.

Parumala Island

Parumala is a small village and island on the Pampa River in Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, India.

Parumala is renowned for the presence of the Tomb of St. Gregorios (Parumala Thirumeni), belonging to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Syriac Orthodox Church, so it is a pilgrimage site.The annual feast Ormapperunnal is held at the Parumala Church annually on the first and second of November.

Quibble Island

Quibble Island is a river island in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is formed by the Adyar River and one of its tributaries. It is situated between the Chennai neighbourhoods of Mylapore and Adyar. During British rule, a European cemetery was located here.

‪#‎quibbleisland‬ ‪#‎india‬ ‪#‎bharat‬ ‪#‎travel‬ ‪ ‪#‎hindustan‬ ‪#‎island‬‪#‎riverisland‬

The Sericulture Centre

The centre is located at a distance of 8 kilometers from Premnagar. It’s a research centre, which conducts researches on silk, clothes, fishes and other marine creatures.

Valley of flowers National Park, Uttrakhand

Valley of flowers National Park, Uttrakhand, India is part of the Nanda Devi Bio-reserve.

Dhole

The most endangered Indian top predator of 2010, the dhole is on edge of extinction. Less than 2500 members of the species remain in the world.

Nicobar pigeon

The Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica) is a pigeon found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands, east through the Malay Archipelago, to the Solomons and Palau. It is the only living member of the genus Caloenas and the closest living relative of the extinct dodo.

Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, Chandigarh

Zakir Hussain Rose Garden Asia's largest Rose Garden and is spreaded over 30 acres of land having over 1600 different species or roses. These have been planted beautifully carved out lawns and flowers beds. Like the cultural zone which is just across the road in sector 10,this was also planned by Dr. M.S. Randhawa as his interest in horticulture and fondness for flowers was profuse. Every year, either at the end of February or beginning of March, a big festival known as Rose Festival, is celebrated at this garden. Over 20,000 people visit this festival. It’s one of the great celebrations in the city. There are lots of competitions, cultural celebrations and many other events.

Leh Palace

Leh Palace was built during the 17th century by the ruler King Sengge Namgyal. Its construction is on the same lines as the construction of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. This palace had to be deserted by the royal family in the middle of the 19th century, because of the taking over of Ladakh by Dogra forces. After this the royal family is living in-exile in the popular Stok Palace. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is restoring some of the ruined portions of this nine-storey palace. While the store rooms were on the lower floors, the royalty resided on the upper floors. The roof of this palace offers an excellent view of the valley. ‪#‎leh‬ ‪#‎ladakh‬‪#‎india‬ ‪#‎bharat‬ ‪#‎travel‬ ‪#‎tradition‬ ‪#‎tourism‬ ‪#‎archive‬

Patna Museum

Patna Museum, also known as 'Jadu Ghar' in Hindi, is one of well preserved museum in the country which connect the glorious past with the modern age. Set up in the center of the city, the museum building houses splendid and large collection of artifacts of the periods belonging to Mauryan, Gupta, Sunga, Kushan, Mughals and British era. The museum boasts of few collection which are unmatched elsewhere.

The museum came into present form in 1917 AD in a architecturally beautiful building, built specially for it. Sir Edward Gait, Lieutenant Governor of Bihar and Odisha (1915-1920) was the founder of this museum. His bust stands inside the museum, near the entrance gate.  The museum is surrounded by a beautiful scenery park. A number of statues, such as of Lord Hardinge, Viceroy of India dots the campus. The museum has a collection of over 45,000 exhibits, out of which only a small percentage of it are on display due to space constraint. The Relic casket, containing the mortal remains of Lord Buddha is one of its rare possessions. However the most famous collection of the museum is 'Didarganj Yakshi', the statue from 3rd Century BC. A brick sculpture of lord Buddha and stupas, named as Satabdi Smarak is situated in one of the corner of the museum. A cafeteria (Sangrahalaya Vihar) managed by Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation and a souvenir shop managed by HHEC (Ministry of Textile, GoI) is present in one corner of the museum. The museum building also houses few government offices like office of the National Mission for Manuscripts, Govt. of India and Bihar Research Society. The museum also houses an auditorium, named as Jan Nayak Karpuri Thakur Auditorium at the back side. It was inaugurated in 2000.

The museum building consist of two floor, with each floor having dedicated Galleries to display the artifacts in a proper way. The galleries are:

Natural History Gallery

Stone Sculpture Gallery

Orissan Stone Sculpture

Indian Stone Art Tradition

Terracota Gallery

Budda Relic Gallery

Bronze Galley

Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayana Gallery

Art Gallery & war-weapon Gallery

Painting Gallery

Patliputra Gallery

Rajendra Gallery

The Attractions :

Didarganj Yakshi : It is a life-size tall statue of a Chauri-Bearer, some 2300 years old. It is so called because it was found on the bank of river Ganga near a place called Didarganj in Patna in 1917. It is a masterpiece from that era, most probably from Ashoka's period. The upper part has been given finesse touch whereas the lower half is not as beautiful.The women is holding a Chauri (Fly whisk) in her right hand, where as her left hand is missing.

The statue is mesmerizing thing to look at. Built with great finesse , it has been acknowledged world wide during its exhibition & a superb example of the period that flourished on this land.

Buddha Relic casket: It is one of the most aspired thing for the Buddhist Tourists. The Holy Relic Casket, containing the ashes of lord Buddha was found in 1958-59 at a mud stupa site in Vaishali, which was built by the Lichchavis in the first half of the 5th Century BC.The casket is made up of soap-stone. the ashes were found just below the lowest layer & at the center of the casket. A leaf , a silver piece and a glass bead was also found in the casket.

The casket is situated in the Buddha Relic Gallery on the first floor of the building. It is closed for the normal visitors. However, if any one wishes to view the casket , then he need to buy a separate ticket for the same.

Silicified tree Trunk: It is a 53-feet tree fossil, the estimated age of which is 200 million years. It was found near Asansol (W.Bengal) by the Eastern Railways in 1927, during a track laying and later gifted to the museum. The tree is allied to the family of pines. It is formed as a result of Petrification, due to which the wooden tree got converted into solid rock. Its amazing to see such a long tree in fossil.

It is situated in a corridor of Natural History Gallery on the right side of the Ground floor.

The Galleries:

Natural History Gallery : It is situated on the right side of the ground floor. It contains the variety of preserved animals, which can amaze the children. The life size Bison stands in the middle of the hall.Beside it contains tiger, dear,crocodile,panthers,birds & butterflies and many more. The fossiled tree turn is also here.

Stone Sculpture Gallery: It is situated on the left side of the ground floor. It welcome visitors by the mesmerizing site of the Didarganj Yakshi, place in the from middle of the hall. The hall also contain some other beautiful artifacts, like Gargoyle (12th Cent AD , in black stone), Rectangular slab depicting birth of Buddha etc. The halls opens into other small hall which the statues of Lord Buddha in different posture belonging to the Pala Period(800-1200 AD). Finest specimens of Pala arts are housed in the museum. Orissan Stone Sculpture & Indian art tradition contains the artifacts from the Gupta period.

Terracotta Gallery: It is situated on the midway to first floor. It houses terracotta from the Mauryan period, Sunga period, Kushan period ,Gupta period and so on. The Dancing Girl, Laughing Boy and Smiling Girl terracotta from the Mauryan period are worth viewing. It also houses terracotta from Mohen-Jo-Daro and Taxila.

The other galleries on the first floor includes Bronze Gallery, Rahul Sanskritayayana's  Gallery, Weapon Gallery, Painting Gallery, Patliputra Gallery & Rajendra Gallery. All galleries are unique in there own way.

The Patna Museum is of national importance, because of its possession of some of the very rare artifacts. It is  a must visit place for any visitor visiting the city.

How to Reach: It is situated on Buddha Marg, opposite to the Indira Gandhi Planetarium. Autos are easily available. It is easily accessible from all areas. For people coming on shared autos from Danapur side, one needs to get down at Income Tax roundabout (Golamber), walk towards Dak Bunglow Chowk and turn left at Kotwali Police Station. It is roughly 500 meter from It Golamber.  For people coming from Gandhi Maidan or Kankarbagh side, needs to get down at Dak Bunglow and walk towards IT Golamber.

Ghatshila (Jharkhand)

Ghatshila on the bank of Subarnarekha River in Jharkhand is known for its refreshing natural beauty. Regarded as one of the famed tourist spot of Jharkhand, Ghatshila attracts quite a large number of tourists for its scenic beauty. The beauty of the undulating forested slopes and the leisurely flowing waters of Subarnarekha River make Ghatshila tour a memorable experience. 

Ghatshila was formerly the headquarters of the kingdom of Dhalbhum. They established themselves by conquering the western part of Bengal, the area commonly known as Jungle Mahals. The sweet water of Ghatshila with natural mineral content needs special mention. The water is said to have medicinal values. A glass of water is enough to fill-up your empty stomach. At several points in Ghatshila will you find a public tube well or Chaapaakal where you can taste fresh water. And probably because of this reason people of Bengal has been flocking at Ghatshila, even before independence.

However no description of Ghatshila would be complete without the mentioning of the famous Bengali writer Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. This noted Bengali writer of Pather Panchali fame was a resident of the city.

Being placed between two mountain ranges with the Subarnarekha River separating them from kissing each other, Ghastshila has an irresistible beauty that can be felt on a walk around the town. Though smoking chimneys of factories suggests inroads of industrialization at Ghatshila, yet a walk down the Aam Bagan or the Raj Estate will take you close to lively village life with tribals engaged in their daily rituals. Apart from enjoying the awesome scenic beauty of the place you can also visit several places in and around Ghatshila that are unique in their very own way. (Hills, Lakes, Dams, Reserves etc).