Shri Veni Madhav Mandir
| | |

Shri Veni Madhav Mandir – The Nagar Devata of Prayagraj and his protective circle

It could well be possible that the first ever temple to be constructed in Prayagraj could be that of Veni Madhav at Daraganj. All the clues are right there. As per legend, the great Maharishi Bharadwaj who had an ashram in Prayagraj used to visit the Sangam area during the Kumbh period. After the holy…

triveni sangam point and shoot 200
|

Monsoon, Triveni Sangam and the Fujifilm Point and Shoot 200 Film Recipe

This monsoon season at Prayagraj it was mostly overcast. Also this season there was a lot of rainfall and as of end of August 2024 the sun is not out yet. Last time we checked how the Point and Shoot 200 Film Recipe worked on greens and sunlight. This time it will be clouds, low…

Paranu Baba Mandir
| |

Paranu Baba Mandir and Kund – A place of delight and surprise in the wilderness near Prayagraj

If Prayagraj is considered to be at the heart of North India, there are roads radially moving out in all directions. The one which heads south goes to Jabalpur and Chitrakoot. Both are fascinating places which are both tourist attractions as well as historically significant. This region is UP and MP border which has very…

Monolithic Ashokan Pillar, Kaushambi – History and Significance
|

Monolithic Ashokan Pillar, Kaushambi – History and Significance

Ashoka was among the greatest ruler of India. His grandfather Chandragupta Maurya founded the Maurya Dynasty after defeating the ruling king of Nanda Dynasty. The Mauryan Empire with Pataliputra (near present day Patna) as the capital controlled vasts portions of land covering the Gangetic plains right up to Afghanistan. During the peak of his power,…

boat art
|

Boat Art at Triveni Sangam Prayagraj

Daily hundreds of visitors arrive at Triveni Sangam Prayagraj, most of them for performing Asthi Visarjan. Perhaps after Kashi, Triveni Sangam is the most visited place for this important Hindu ritual. Other places where Asthi Visarjan is performed are Gaya, Puri, Pushkar, Rameswaram and Haridwar. Nashik, Ujjain and Mathura are a few other places. Triveni…

Chhawani
|

A tragedy and British brutality at Chhawani and the resilience of Bharatvarsha

In retaliation of the first battle of Independence in 1857, which the British termed as an uprising, the East India Company carried out massive and brutal retaliations against the participants of the mutiny. Most of the action was concentrated in Uttar Pradesh where entire villages were decimated. Once place called Basti Chhawani witnessed the most…

Minto Park Prayagraj
| | |

Minto Park, Prayagraj – A reminder of a fake apology by the British

Many historians believe that the proclamation read by Lord Canning, the Viceroy of India at Prayagraj was an apology to the people of India for the atrocities committed by the East India Company. But in reality it was a transition to allow even greater atrocities in the name of the Queen. Minto Park is the…

Prayagraj Magh Mela
|

Amazing JPEGs right out of the box Fujifilm X S-20 – Prayagraj Magh Mela at night

Fujifilm Mirrorless Cameras are known to give JPEGs which are ready to share on messengers and social media. X S-10 was a game changer for the street photographer and content creator. Fujifilm followed it up with the X S-20 which comes with a greater punch. I have paired this camera with another great street photography…

Panchayati Akhara Shri Niranjani
| | |

Panchayati Akhara Shri Niranjani, Prayagraj – Worshippers of the God of War, Kartikeya

In one of the by-lanes of Daraganj, Prayagraj the ashram of Panchayati Akhara Shri Niranjani is located. It is a second largest Akhara in India and they set up 52 – foot high holy flag in their camp which represents the 52 houses of the saints. Let us explore their primary deity, Kartikeya also popularly…

Shiv Kachari Mahadev Temple
| |

Shiv Kachari Mahadev Temple, Prayagraj – The court of Lord Shiva

In 1865, the King of Nepal Rana General Padmajang Bahadur established each form of Shiva linga to create this temple in Shivkuti on the banks of river Ganga. Does the name sound intriguing. Yes, because kachari translates to a court of justice. It is believed that Lord Shiva sets up court here where devotees can…

National Charkha Museum
| |

National Charkha Museum, Palika Bazar Garden, Connaught Place – A humble tool that challenged the British Empire

The British came to India to colonize us. They used the East India Company as means to brutally subjugate us. After that came the factories, the first one setup in Surat in 1613. While the East India Company dealt in lots of good, their main revenue came from textiles. So this is what was taught…

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
|

The empty canopy being India Gate – a reminder of the British Raj

8th September 2002 marks the day in history of India when Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 30 feet grand statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose under the empty canopy along with inauguration of “Kartavya Path”. Before this lakhs of visitors to India Gate used to ask the question, why an empty canopy. Let us…

shaheedi park
| |

Shaheedi Park – India’s first outdoor museum park, New Delhi (Photographer friendly and open late night)

You would be amazed how much amount of scrap is collected by the city authorities in Delhi NCR. But you will not be amused to find out what the authorities do with it. Nothing! Sometimes the scrap keeps lying around for years, wasting precious warehouse space. So when in 2019 when someone came up with…

pran pratishtha
|

A 350 year old connection of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with Pandit Laxmikant Dixit performing Pran Pratishtha of Ram Mandir Ayodhya

22nd January 2024 will witness the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, a ritual performed by Pandit Laxmikant Dixit as a head priest and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the mukhya yajman or the main host. Laxmikant Dixit is the direct descendant of Gaga Bhatt who performed the coronation of Shivaji Maharaj on 6…

Sai Nagar
| |

Sai Nagar & Tulsi Nagar Ayodhya – Pin Code 224123 will become the most visited address in 2024

Shaheed Marg is a small road moving from east to west joining Kanak Bhawan Road. This road splits the locality in two parts, Tulsi Nagar (towards North) and Sai Nagar (towards South). Together these two localities house the holiest of temples of Ayodhya including the Shree Ramjanmbhumi Temple which will be consecrated on 22 Jan…

Ayodhya
|

The history of Ayodhya

Note from the author :- If you search for Ayodhya on Google, the first ten pages will only talk about Ram Mandir. Even the next ten pages will not say anything about the history of Ayodhya. This detailed article will be an attempt to collect the different fragments of history at one place. This article…

Triveni Sangam

What do people buy while visiting Triveni Sangam Prayagraj

Baring the odd sweet shop or a couple of tea stalls, most of the shops in Triveni Sangam, Prayagraj are selling articles religious in nature. There is a huge ecosystem and parallel economy for this. People come in large number to visit Sangam and perform the religious rituals. If Maag Mela is jam packed, then…

Guptar Ghat Garden
|

Guptar Ghat Garden, Ayodhya Cantt – A world class recreational garden in the spiritual capital of the world

Note from the Author – The name of this place as marked on Google Maps is “New Company Garden” where the word ‘company’ represents “East India Company”. There are many parks in the major cities of Uttar Pradesh which are named either company parks or company bagh and that nomenclature continues. In fact in Prayagraj,…

Dev Diwali or Dev Deepawali – Diwali of the Gods Triveni Sangam Prayagraj

Dev Diwali or Dev Deepawali – Diwali of the Gods Triveni Sangam Prayagraj

Dev Deepawali is celebrated 15 days after Diwali. The festival of lights as we all know began with the return of Lord Rama from his exile to Ayodhya. Dev Diwali marks the culmination of the Diwali celebrations which is considered to be the grand finale when Gods descend on earth. It is celebrated in a…

Kanwar Yatra
|

Kanwar Yatra at Prayagraj – Shiv Shakti at an ancient city

Prayagraj is known as the Sangam city, more specifically Triveni Sangam or the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna & Saraswati. Prayagraj is home to the Magh Mela also known as Kumbh/Maha Kumbh. So any reference to this city is mostly connected to the largest in attendance and scale of preparation. People have used tech like satellite…