Lake Pichola, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
The hand prints of women about to commit sati; an off-duty Naga Sadhu; a dish inspired by the last dinner on the Titanic … just three of my 7 Super Shots. I’m highlighting seven photographs in a game of blog tag. Thanks to Kit Whelan of Seek New Travel for tagging me to participate in 7 Super Shots from HostelBookers. I have never met Kit, but I am convinced we are related as my grandmother’s maiden name was Whelan … and because I would WANT to be related to Kit!
So, without further ado here are my seven super shots. I hope you enjoy viewing them even just a seventh as much as I enjoyed taking them! (more…)
I met photographer Jean-Pierre Muller during the Kumbh Mela in India April 2010, and loved his enthusiasm both for India and for photography. This photo is a part of a series, called JODHPUR the Blue, which was shot in the famous Blue City of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. I am just learning travel photography, so I really admire talented photographers.
From the series JODHPUR the Blue by photographer Jean-Pierre Muller
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Canadian photographer Bruce Granofsky’s joyous love of India, and playful spirit, shine through in his photographs. Like this one — which expresses so much about both the indomitable human spirit and the colour and joyfulness amidst simple conditions in India.
Photo courtesy Bruce Granofsky
Get updates and read additional stories on the Breathedreamgo Facebook page.
Buy Song of India, a collection of 10 feature stories about my travels in India. E-book version is now only $1.99.
Subscribe to the free — and inspiring! — e-newsletter, Travel That Changes You.
Photograph of Mariellen Ward by Andrew Adams of Katha Images
It all started with the clothes. I knew I needed a really fabulous sari or lehnga, so I went to visit my friend Manish Mahtani at Nucreation, a large clothing store on Gerrard Street, in the India Bazaar, in Toronto. Nucreation has an entire upstairs floor devoted to wedding and party clothes — and the selection is dazzling. It’s a bit like walking into a fantasy land; a gorgeous room filled with flowing, glittering, colourful clothes fit for a princess from an oriental fairy tale. I will be writing another blog all about this store, and the family behind it, soon — with photos of a model wearing some of the fabulous creations.
Read on to find out how I was transformed – with the help of three talented people and of course a gorgeous sari.
Detail from a wedding in Lucknow. Bride and groom exchange beautiful floral garlands. Photograph by Andrew Adams.
“I grew up in a small Canadian town,” Andrew told me. “Indian weddings, and all the rich cultural traditions, were completely new to me, and very exciting.”
The band plays during the Baraat in Delhi. Photo by Andrew Adams
Andrew studied photography at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, and apprenticed with a fashion photographer who shot weddings on the weekend. He learned to shoot weddings from her and soon branched out on his own. He loves the creative freedom wedding photography affords, and also the freedom of running his own business. After about three years of shooting weddings, he started to specialize in Indian weddings. That was 12 years ago, and he’s very excited about where this specialty has taken him.
He has shot Indian weddings in Delhi, Goa, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bangalore, Kerala, and Udaipur amongst other places. “Shooting Indian weddings gives me the opportunity for travel, to go to new locations and meet new people; that’s part of the passion for me,” he said. “I feel full of life and energy when I’m in India.”
Indian culture, as exhibited in Indian weddings, is an endless source of fascination. “They are very colourful, very vibrant,” Andrew said. “There’s lots happening, lots of energy, lots of emotion. I love the beauty of the rituals and the close family bonds.” (more…)
Jaisalmer by Andrew Adams
This sublime photo by Canadian photographer Andrew Adams is of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan — a former trading outpost in the Thar Desert now known chiefly for tourism and camel safaris. This photo is of Gadi Sagar, the lovely water tank that was once the main water supply for Jaisalmer. Water in the desert takes on a mythical stature, especially in rain-starved western Rajasthan.
Jaisalmer is one of my favourite places in India. The fairy-tale fort in the centre of town rises like a mirage from the baked earth, and the power of the desert can fling open your eyes and your heart. It is a powerfully enchanting place. I have written about Jaisalmer several times. Once, in this post To Jaisalmer, and also in a feature article that is one of the 10 stories presented in my book, which you can read about here in Song of India.
photograph of people playing Holi in India by Dave Bouskill, PicturethePlanet.com
I love this photo by Dave Bouskill of Picture the Planet. It’s of Holi, of course, the festival of colour, a celebration that everyone in India loves and plays with unabashed gusto. Holi ushers in Spring, which is probably why it is such an energetic, even frenzied, celebration. I’ve been in India for Holi three times: I played once with my fellow ashramites in Rishikesh and twice with my family in Delhi. Like many of the holidays in India, Holi is a family-oriented celebration, and includes other rituals like eating sweets and — as always in India — just spending lots of time with each other, drinking tea and being together.
Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai, India
Ganesh Chaturthi takes place every year in late August or early September. It is the birthday of the popular Hindu elephant-headed god, son of Shiva and Parvati. This festival is celebrated all over India, but especially so in Mumbai where grand processions bear huge idols to the sea for immersion. Ganesh is the bestower of luck, the remover of obstacles and the god of safe travels. I always carry a small Ganesh charm with me while I travel in India.
BreatheDreamGo is thrilled to welcome photographer Dave Bouskill and his glorious photograph of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, India as Photo of the Week. The Golden Temple is the centre of the Sikh religion and one of the most sacred places in India.
Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab, India
Dave is one half of The Planet D – the other half being his wife Deb. Together they are Canada’s Adventure Couple and their travel blog is one of the best on the ‘net, if you ask me. Dave also has his own photography site, Picture the Planet, which you really have to see. The photos are truly gorgeous. It’s an honour to have one of Dave’s photos on BreatheDreamGo — thanks Dave!
Photo from India by Andrew Adams, Katha Images
On the morning of April 14 approximately 10 million people streamed into the sacred town of Haridwar in north India to bathe in the Ganga on the most auspicious day during the 2010 Kumbh Mela. I was one of them. Find out how I found myself alone, and at home, at the world’s largest spiritual gathering.
In Varanasi, where the veil between life and death seems very thin, a boat ride on the river can become a journey to the other side. Come along with me on a boat ride on the Ganges River in India’s oldest, holiest city and pierce the veil.
The Ganges / Ganga River is the Mother of India. The River speaks in many voices as she travels from the high Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. At the source, her song is joyous, full of the the jubilance of youth, the rush of fresh mountain streams, the sincere chanting of pilgrims and the excitement of the onward journey.
