There are two rules while doing research for any new camera gear. First rule is never believe what photographers say on social media. They are paid influencers. Second rule is “never lose focus from the first rule”. I recently discovered this while deciding or not deciding to buy the Tamron 18-300mm for APS-C mirrorless cameras….
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…
While photographing the railway station at night, two people walked up to me and asked me whether I am a reporter. Now here is a problem with street photography in UP, especially Prayagraj. Everyone thinks you are a reporter. They also ask you, as if to confirm the same. I, on the other hand get…
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…
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…
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 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…
Fans of Kodak Professional Portra 400 Film are trying to replicate the warm and grainy look captured by a film. The Delhi streets offer an opportunity at capturing yellow hues. What is Kodak Portra 400? Released in 1998, Kodak Portra was a professional grade film meant specially for wedding, fashion and portrait photography. Soon photographers…
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…
When Brahma created the universe, he also created seven human races to rule the Earth. One of his favourite race was the Kuru clan. The great epic Mahabharat is the story of different generations of the Kuru Dynasty. After the death of Krishna, the Pandavas left their massive kingdom in the hands of Parikshit, son…
It was 1890 and a group of revolutionaries decide to come up with a unique way to protest, they organised a religious fair. Any kind of gathering was prohibited under the British rule. But these revolutionaries were confident that a religious mela will not be objected to by the British. They also calculated that once…
On the outskirts of Prayagraj straddling the banks of river Yamuna is an intriguing temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is visual delight unlike anywhere seen on earth. It is also relatively away from the tourist circuit. Every year during the peak of monsoon, the hill becomes an island and the temple is accessible only…
No one really knows but this fort might have been built to secure the ancient temples within the complex. The fort was built in the year 1750 but the temples within the fort complex could be more than 1000 years old before the fort was constructed. A fascinating part of history recently restored by the…
What makes something holy or divine? Some faith worship symbols, others worship the elements. Sometimes there are objects like a holy book and for most of Indians, there are idols and pictures. There is an old saying “Faith can move mountains”. Here in Sultanpur, the Paarijaat Tree is the focus of devotion. While visiting such…
With introduction of “Vehicle Lights” mode, GoPro literally has made light trails a cakewalk. But today capturing light trails has been made easy on almost every mobile. Settings for night trails GoPro Hero 11 has three main modes – Video (main mode which opens in centre as default), Photo and Time Lapse mode. Once you…
Just around half an hour drive from Ayodhya is the quiet suburb of Darshan Nagar. After reaching there out of no where pops out a pond recently renovated into a spectacular visual delight. This is Suraj Kund where locals believed the Sun God resides when he comes to earth. Last time Surya Dev did that…
If you see a slender but long grey bird rigorously flapping wings but yet gliding gracefully from tree to tree, you have seen the majestic Indian Grey Hornbill. But wait a minute, what is so beautiful about this bird which is so characteristic lack of colours. Well adapted to urban life This is one bird…
To understand the grandeur of this temple you have to take help of a little bit of imagination. Only then you will appreciate that what was the importance of this massive complex which now takes the form of a temple. But many many years ago when the rulers of the solar dynasty had their palaces…
Shringi Rishi or Rishyasringa preformed the yajna for King Dashrath at Ram ki Paidi which led to the king being blessed with four sons. Later Shringi Rishi married Shanta, the sister of Dashrath. Shringi Rishi had an ashram on the banks of Saryu river which was also the place where both he and Shanta have…
I was in Ayodhya on 23 May 2023 and I saw the city come alive in a rather unexpectedly way. All over the city were these make shift stalls serving food to passersby. Both the serving and the ones eating were participating in this activity with great religious fervour. I never knew about this and…