Salutation

Is she greeting us ? - a bird at Van Vihar, Bhopal

Spotted dove

The spotted dove is pigeon which has black and white chequered patch on the neck sides and buff scaling on the upper parts. Spotted Doves eat grass seeds, grains and other vegetation. They are fairly terrestrial, foraging on the ground in grasslands and cultivation. It breed all year round with nests commonly found in trees, edge of buildings or even on the ground. This photograph has been taken at jeevan vatika alongside upper lake of Bhopal

Sunrise at Bhopal

Sunrise over city of Bhopal - photograph has been clicked from kaliasoot dam.
As people do their daily (weekly walk - like me !) on the undulating lanes of kaliasoot and as Bhopal marks its second day of its carnival, sunrises over Bhopal at 5.55 am to bring a wakeful hope for its people. Sun calculator points out that Sun rise will be at 5.54 am, a minute earlier tommorrow and then it goes in accordance a minute earlier every day till April 26, 2008, except on 22nd and 23rd April wherein it will rise at 5.53 am on both the days.
blogathonindia, blogathonindia1

Hey wait - let me cross !

Peacock crossing the road in the van vihar on a Saturday morning

The Indian peacock,Pavo cristatus (Linnaeus) is national bird of India. It is most recognizable colourful, swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck. Normally they do most of their foraging in the early morning and shortly before sunset and retreat to the shade and security of the Van Vihar for the hottest portion of the day.

The straw cap !

A man wears a straw umbrella cap which is homemade, eco friendly and offers protection from sun and the rain while he works at his job of grazing cattle in Umaria District, Madhya Pradesh, India. While as we in cities move towards Reeboks and Nike's of the world... traditional caps do retain their charm and use at least in rural India.

Sun bird ?

Am not sure probably it is a purple sun bird ? on a tree at bhopal's upper lake...enjoying the afternoon. In case you can help identify the same or share more on it, do contribute by email or add the same in comments column.. ..will duly acknowledge your support.

Virat temple at Shahdol, a specimen of Kalchuri architecture

Virateshwar temple of Lord Shiv in Sohagpur Vanganga, Shahdol. It is said that Kalchuri King Maharaja Yuvraj Deva had got it built between 950 A.D. and 1050 A.D. to present it to the Acharya of Golkaki Math. Many Archaeologists consider this temple as the temple of Karn Deva. Temple has height of about 125 feet and provides a glimpse of Kalchuri Age architecture. The temple is place to visit when one goes to Shahdol a district with richness of natural wealth of coal and minerals.

Baiga, some photographs

Photographs are of baiga's tribes in their usual traditional dress at an event in Bhopal. They had performed their traditional dance 'Saila - Reena'. Baiga is one of the primitive tribes of Madhya Pradesh anFarmers here (on Indore – Bhopal highway) shared that wheat acreage had suffered this year due to sudden rainfall and drop in temperatures in last two months. Water crisis also had impacted on the crop in other districts. Framers from Astha on Indore Bhopal highway are already harvesting and collecting the wheat to sell it further. They share that acreage per biga is down this year. Though figures stated in official releases state that wheat acreage may be able to achieve the target while what farmers in Astha shared was different – may be case in MP will be different due to the impact of weather on the crops this year. They even shared that price what they are fetching is quite lower as the damaged crop gets almost half of the fixed price. d reside mainly in mandla, dindori, shahdol, anuppur and balaghat districts of MP. They live in forest areas and prefer jhoom cultivation.

Contributed by Prashant Kumar Dubey

Gharials at van vihar

Van Vihar is situated in the heart of Bhopal City. 445.21 hectare degraded hillock along with private Village land was initiated in 1980 and finally notified as a National Park in 1983. It has seven gharials and about 15 crocodiles as shared on its web site. According to the lUCN's Red list, the gharial is the most threatened of all crocodilian species. Recently this species has moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered.

Gharial or Indian gharial, is one of two surviving members of the fanily Gavialidae, a long-established group of crocodiles like reptiles with long, narrow jaws. Wikipedia says that Gharial is not a man-eater. (I dont have any experience, neither did I try ?) Despite its immense size, its thin, fragile jaws make it physically incapable of devouring any large animal, including a human being.

Sunset at Dhupgarh, Pachmari

Sun sets at Dhupgarh - The Dhupgarh Peak is at 4,429 feet [1,350 metres]), in Pachmarhi and is the Madhya Pradesh's highest point. If one is in Pachmarhi, a visit to Dhupgarh is must. This is a place to witness the morning sunrise and a spectacular sunset. I could see the sunset and it was fascinating...

I failed !

This is a photograph of Indian Purple moorhen at Sirpur lake, Indore. Though I tried but could not get the better shot........ it is a shy bird and flies away. I failed ! may be have better luck next time till then thought let me share this at the blog...

Purple moorhen is of size of a village hen. It looks beautiful purple-blue in colour with long red legs and toes. The bill is also red and the head is bald. Both the males and the females look alike. It is also called Purple Swamp-hen. Large flocks can be seen near wetlands. It’s food consists primarily of shoot and vegetable matter, but also eats insects and mollusks. It is a little unpopular with the farmers as it affects the young paddy crops...

This deer barks...

Muntjac deer or barking deer as it is commonly called can be sighted in the Kanha and Bandhavgarh national parks of Madhya Pradesh. (in pic at Kanha national park) They are called ‘barking deer’ due to their alarm call, which seems very much similar to the barking of a dog. They are also called by some as 'Kakad deer'. They can be easily distinguished from the other deer. The deer have two raised dark ridges on their forehead, which extend till their antlers. One of their unique features is that they have both, a pair of antlers as well as overgrown canines (tushes). They make use of the tushes mainly as weapons in a fight.

They are shy and prefer to live in isolation. One rarely finds them moving around in groups. The Barking deer are mostly seen inhabiting dense forests of India. Muntjac are the oldest known deer and are of great interest in evolutionary studies because of their dramatic chromosome variations and the recent discovery of several new species.

A shattered heritage

This is a photograph of Benazir gate at Bhopal. It is on the backside of Benazeer palace, a palace built by Shahajehan Beghum as the summer rest house in 1877 . Local people here share that this was a three storey building and now only has one storey, rest all has gone in debris. The one story left out too is lying in devastated condition with no one to care...

Had this been in another state or country it could have been renovated and made an important landmark of the city, but in Bhopal it lies shattered...

let's see bhopal !

In picture 'White throated kingfisher' bird at bhopal's upper lake ready to fly

White throated kingfisher, a bird with beautiful bright plummage is a breeding resident of Bhopal. It can be easily sited near upper lake, kalisoot and shahpura lake. Their flight is fast, direct and often very low over the water, hence one can see a bright blue flash as they fly by. One can sometimes hear their shrill whistle "chi-keeeee" if one is strolling around the place where they are.

Scientifically speaking it is a member of the genus 'Halcyon'. There are approximately 210 species and subspecies in this genus. As per birdlife international this species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km² which means it has a large global population. Despite this water pollution still remains a threat, including at bhopal wetlands.

Rahat, an old water drawing heritage in Bhopal

Rahat is an example of old technique of drawing water. The artificial water way was constructed in Bhopal (now next to lake at police officer mess, Bhopal) to carry water from lower lake to the Noorbagh which was the garden of Nawab Jehangir Mohammed Khan Palace. There was a 20 meter high wall along the bank of lake with an open drain in the upper portion to carry water to Noorbagh. Water was carried to upto 2.5 kilometers by the force of gravitation. Water was drawn by persian wheel which is no more, but Rahat which was worked with help of oxen still exists here. This is an example how in earlier times one used to transport water using gravitational force to an advantage. 'Rahat' as it is called is a heritage where garden exists but the water in the lake nearby stinks. If you happen to climb the stairs, you will feel hurt to see the way lake is getting polluted, but probbaly authorities dont care. May be call to all of us to speak out.