Reflections, and a wash in the river

Place - At Chalakudy river in Annanad, Kerala, India
Enjoy many more camera critters

Summer showers - the dance of the clothes-lines

Sorry 'bout the rather amateur video clip.

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Yellow blossoms - Laburnum flowers

Delhi's roads are lined yellow this May with the eye-catching Indian laburnum (Amaltas/golder Shower/Cassia fistula) inflorescence.





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Chug - chug - koo!

The Rail Museum, New Delhi

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Naggar - a delightful hamlet

Perhaps it was because we happened to visit the place on a Monday. One of the attractions, an art gallery, is closed Mondays. So it seemed to us that we had the whole hillside village to ourselves.
At 17 km from Manali, Naggar is just a short drive away, and the Himachal Pradesh tourism department includes it in its regular circuits.
The Naggar palace (castle), with a very interesting history from pre-colonial and colonial times. The palace is now a heritage hotel with a restaurant, an outlet for woollen things, a museum and the Jagatipatt (Shiva) temple within the palace.
(The courtyard was the venue of a popular number of the likeable Hindi film 'Jab We Met').

The Shiva temple within the palace. The wooden pieces that hang ornately make the most soothingly delightful sounds when there is a breeze around.
An ancient Vishnu temple adjacent to the palace.



An even older Gauri Sankar temple a short walk away.
(If you wish to see and buy purses, caps, shawls and coatees made of rabbit wool, just visit the second shop from the palace gates. We were very impressed with the presentable young owner, who was evidently proud of his produce).

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More posts on Manali
Seeing is believing - hot springs of Manali
Interesting local items
Yak's hair
Manali snow in February

Shelf-hopping, window-shopping

Accompanied a neighbour to a function at our children's school, and we stopped on our way back for her to look for purposeful gift items. You'll be glad I had my camera by me, won't you?Lord Krishna in brass
A brass conch used during puja (worship) (You can guess how over-zealous my camera was!)
A low chair...
...that can easily be folded to stow away. (noted the hooks at the sides in the previous image?)
Typical musician set
Complete living room needs!

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When in Manali...

When in Manali - get familiar with local stuff.
Angoora (rabbit wool) shawls. It's possible to see busy looms weaving away if you visit on week-days.
The finest of these shawls can easily pass through a finger-ring, and cost upwards of Rs 80,000.
One of the older factories at KulluThe shop at Naggar palace, where Subhash cheerfully shared secrets of the different varieties of shawls and cautioned "Take care to look for genuine local produce, not bulk items shipped up from factories in the nearest cities"
Another showroom on the way to Manikaran
The traditional headgear Manali native - of late, the sunglasses are part of the costume. Several ladies like Bimla carry a set of costumes including traditional jewellery for couples to try out. (Be wary - rates vary from Rs 10 in the late evenings to Rs 250 to the gullible non-native)We are dismal shoppers, but very happy to watch the items on offer, and gave in to some fascinating palate-ticklers at a cooperative outlet on the main street at Manali.Sun-dried apple - can be used along with other vegetable preparations, we were told.
Apple pickle - once I got over the taste of mustard oil that is a favourite in North India, I didn't mind the mildly sweet flavour.
Lingri pickle - Lingri is a fern variety and is a popular local vegetable. We initially saw only 1/2 kg bottles; at our third visit, the lad finally consented to part with smaller packs.
Handmade jute-and-wool footwear (Rs 60 a pair) Take a leisurely world tour here