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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in the wetlands at Anahuac National Wildlife Preserve during the golden hour before sunset.
OK, so Sunday might have found me messing about with a raspberry and a torch, along with some dark material :D
Chalk Creek takes its name from the famous Chalk Cliffs on the south side of Mount Princeton (14,196), and the area is also known for its hot springs. The creek feeds a healthy stand of cottonwoods that show off well in fall.
This is an image I have wanted to attempt for a number of years now. It is strangely adjacent to a major highway and a challenge to achieve. However, this time it appeared possible to go for it. In the past we have always been busily racing home from an outing and the timing was always wrong with a car full of family.
Now, I was on my own and the highway was not too busy. Part of the challenge is just stopping because the highway shoulder is barely wide enough. Cars are whizzing by at 120K. However, the conditions were right to grab this shot and this is the result.
In Utah I came along this gorgeous formation. Not sure of its name or if it is part of the Cedar Breaks National Monument or not, but it sure is pretty! Found on Utah SR 14
The coast of South Iceland where the river, in the foreground, meets the sea along the edge of sand with the stack and black sand dividing the two. I took this shot because I liked the line starting in the lower rights and leading the eye along the shore and around to the sea stacks in the distance. 20200115DyrholaeyDXOLr20v2
The skytrain is the most speedy and efficient way of getting around places. There are two lines which run from Mo Chit to On Nut along Sukhumvit line and the Silom line which runs from National Stadium to Saphan Thaksin. The lines intersect at SIam Square.
Continuing on in our Yellowstone Loop, the first mile or two is through green countryside and meanders among the rocks and trees along Specimen Creek.
Beautiful Sunday to you.
The lands along the Badlands National Park are excellent for raising cattle and horses. A couple grazing up against the edge of the park - the rock formations are a natural fence border.
Struggling along toward their end terminal in Channing, this 4 unit set of Milwaukee Road F's is going to make it one way or another having left Iron Mountain, Michigan not long ago - November 9, 1978.
In 1990, Archaeological Survey of India discovered a sunken apsidal stepped well along with few sculptures inside it. This stepped well is located immediately to the north of the Shore Temple, its south edge abutting the northern wall of the Shore Temple. On the extreme south of this newly discovered shrine is placed a monolith statue of Varaha (Boar)in its zoomorphic form. This image is carved in round from a single boulder. The statue was found severely damaged, however, with efforts from ASI restorers, we now see this image in its near original glory. The other element of this stepped well is a slender cylindrical shrine constructed partly in rock and partly in stone. Beyond this cylindrical shrine, further northward, is a circular cistern or mini-well. This is cut downwards with a circular rim-like stone placed at the ground level.
ASI report mentions that this well provides potable water though situated near the ocean. Though Rabe accepts these sockets for the capstones of a well, however, he suggests that these might be constructed to hold the ‘pillar of victory’ taken by Narasimhavarman I from Vatapi (Badami) which probably was installed here.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Rabe2 tries to explain political reason behind the systematic destruction of this Varaha image. Rabe suggests that this Varaha monolith was severely and systematically butchered when the Chalukya king Vikramaditya I invaded the Pallava kingdom. The rationale behind this destruction was the submissive and prostrated attitude of the Varaha (Boar) Varaha was the dynastic crest of the Chalukyas. This specific posture of Varaha might be taken as a reference to the subjugation of the Chalukyas by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I. And to take revenge, the Chalukyan army destroyed this Varaha image while marching forward into the Pallava kingdom.
Inscriptions On the Varaha (boar) monolith –
The Varaha sculpture is carved out of the mother rock like the three other animal sculptures in the Five Rathas nearby. It has four birudas (titles) of Rajasimha Pallava, some of his favorites, inscribed upon the base, in Sanskrit in the Pallava Grantha script. The birudas on the side are “Sri RajasimhaH” “Sri RanajayaH” and “Sri BharaH”. The biruda on the rear, under the varaha’s tail, is “Sri Citra KaarmukaH”. Between the legs of the boar on both the and under its tail, leaves of acquatic plants are sculpted. These are similar to those at the base of the Varaha and Gajalakshmi panels in the Varaha Mandapam. These indicate that the boar which represents Vishnu, is diving under water, not merely digging.
However, how to explain the engraved titles of Rajasimha, as the Chalukyan attacked the Pallava kingdom before the reign of Rajasimha. To explain it, Rabe tells that it was most possible that like other monoliths, this Varaha was also executed during the period of Narasimhavarman I(630–668 AD). Therefore, when the Chalukyas attacked the Pallavas, during the reign of Narasimhavarman I and Parameshvaravarman I, this monolith was present in the temple complex. As the Varaha was destroyed before the reign of Rajasimha (695 to 722 AD), it was Rajasimha who restored it and that’s how we find his titles engraved on it. (Above description source Internet). Location - Mada Koil St, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu 603104, India