The steps leading to the river next to Kodandarama Temple in Hampi are usually empty, except for occasional tourists and families of pilgrims arriving and leaving. But we got lucky when I was leading a photography tour last winter. We found a large group of pilgrims stationed at the location, adding a splash of colours to the landscape. During most of this tour, I had kept my camera silent, simply keeping an eye on new perspectives that I may not have seen in my many visits to Hampi. But in the ten minutes of arriving here, my memory card was full!
This article was originally published in payaniga.com
I get a puzzled look from most people – especially those who are not regularly on the road – when I talk about Orchha. “Where is this place? How do you spell it? Tell me again, what is it called?”. The questions go on. It is the first time they would have heard this name. The obscure sounding pronunciation adds to the complexities. But in most occasions, they are interested in the place because they saw some pictures that I showed them.
My introduction to Orchha happened just that way. It was not a place I had heard about in text books, glossy tourist brochures or magazine covers. But if you are trolling the web long enough looking for places to go to, and to see where others are going, it won’t be long before you stumble upon Orchha. I would have missed the name like everyone does, except that some pictures from the place made me pause and take a second look. It appeared so attractive, it remained on the back of my head since the day I first saw the photographs.
At the monasteries across Bhutan, there is usually a monk assigned on rotation to take care of the temple and let the visitors in. Here is one such monk at a temple in Punakha.
