View allAll Photos Tagged Nagesh
At the end of a night of shooting with my friend Nagesh we ended up at Stonehenge at Maryhill so we thought that we would brighten the place up a bit. :)
am so sorry I am been behind on posting images on Facebook and other social media but I needed to take a step back as things kind of got crazy and needed to take a little break. I apologize for that and I am looking forward again to touching base with friends on Facebook.
This is an image from the Yukon during the month of September to hit the fall colors .. . I had some some amazing images from here especially images from Nagesh Mahadev and Chris Moore and of course Marc Adamus. It was an amazing experience and a big thank you to Marc who generously showed us some amazing locations and some amazing tips.. I learned a whole bunch and it really emphases the fact you can always learn new tricks when it comes to photography
I have posted more images from this trip would love any opinions ..
One of my eagerly awaited and anxious places to visit was The Panther Creek Falls on the Washington state side of the Columbia River Gorge.
I have seen great pictures of this "Tiered Horsetail" type waterfalls taken by thousands of photographers. However, no two images are alike due to varying factors like water flow, vegetation, foliage color and light making them different. One of the factors that caused anxiety was the fact the falls are not easily accessible and I was told requires off-trail scrambling, rappelling, scooting down on your rear end, or any other way possible and the same time take care not to end up in the icy cold waters of Panther Creek.
Marc Adamus sometimes called me "Ragesh" perhaps mixing up my name with my friend Nagesh Mahadev who has known Marc for many years and is a photographer extraordinaire himself. As we were walking after parking our vehicles, Marc turned to me and said "Ragesh, you will see what I am talking about when we get to the bottom of the falls, it is like Avatar down there".
Despite wearing hiking boots, and dressed in layers I was cold and I found the trail slippery and treacherous. I wished that I had brought hiking poles with me so I improvised my 3 Legged Thing Winston Tripod with metal boots called claws that can grip the ground and fashioned out a hiking pole albeit with three legs. Some kind soul had left a rope tied to one of the trees that we used to gingerly climb down the slippery path. It is not advisable to visit this place alone. I know at least one person (whom I shall not embarrass :-)) that was here all alone, slipped and fell. He apparently cursed himself in language he would never use in polite company and was very lucky to get out on his own strength without too much damage to self.
Once we got down to the base of the waterfalls, I did feel like I had been teleported to a different world. The fine spray from the waterfall was everywhere explaining the glowing mosses and glistening ferns that covered the pristine location. The sound of the falls while not thundering was roaring enough to make the place come alive.
There was very little space to set up our tripods and shoot pictures so we took turns and soaked in the awe inspiring energy. When my turn came, Marc told me, âRemember, do not fall in the creekâ, which I was not going to test. Obviously the water is very cold and it would only take a few minutes to get hypothermia. I asked my friend Steve Kendall to keep an eye on me as I shot some pictures which he kindly did. The routine was, set focus in manual, wipe the lens, keep it covered until you press the shutter, repeat until you got what you wanted and move over so the next person can shoot. And also, remember not to fall in the cold waters.
We were one of the first people at the falls that morning having left at 5 am from the hotel. A few people began to arrive at this time as daylight grew. What was impressive was the amount of water flow that morning. The volume of water was a lot more powerful than I have chosen to show here. I preferred to depict what was behind that curtain of water on the right hence chose a relatively faster 1 second exposure. Marc told me later that in all the years that he had been coming there, this was the most water flow he had seen at anytime other than during the winters. I was mighty pleased that I got to witness it. He also remarked that it was good that the small tree that is growing out the mossy log at the bottom of the falls had not leafed out yet covering up the prominent part of the waterfalls which pleased me even more.
As the rest of my group started to leave, I noticed the first rays of the sun coming though the trees. So I moved to a different spot and shot this composition which I think is nothing to crow about and is fairly straight forward. At the same time it provided the full panorama of the falls, up close and personal.
As I soaked in the spray of the Panther Creek Falls, I did not see any 10 feet tall blue skinned people with tails or hear anyone speaking Naâvi but my 4.4 light-years trip to Pandora felt complete.
So I took Udayan's (http://www.flickr.com/photos/udayankapur/) and Nagesh's (http://www.flickr.com/photos/howard_roark/) advice and quickly made the changes they suggested.. not entirely happy with it, but hope its not too bad.. may do some more work when I find time.. Thanks guys..
It was a beautiful evening capped by a picture perfect sunset.
Softened the clouds a little bit.. changed the color curves a bit.. don't think it took more than 5 minutes to process this one.. I like it!!!!
As always, thanks for your visit.. Keep those constructive criticisms coming, I really appreciate it.
Have a great weekend.
Late night. Knee deep in a stream. Overwhelmed by Frog calls.
I was having a great time photographing Malabar Tree toads in amplexus, Night frogs and bush frogs...
A sheen of green among the leaves caught my attention. Immediately knew what it was and approached it for a picture. It started moving slowly into the thicket.
My friend Nagesh was heping me with the remote flash.
He had aready held the flash near the snake while it was moving and I fired 3 shots.
After the snake disappeared into the bushes I reviewed the pictures.
I must say I simply loved the result...
Thanks a lot Nagesh for this. :-)
This picture is specially dedicated to the Glimmer of Gold in my life :-)
Looks better when its B I G and is on B L A C K
Train journeys, since my childhood I have been on train, those moments are the ones I enjoy the most. The unknown people who discuss about international politics, people who often borrow books to read, a husband who carries his baby around trying to calm it down, some vacant stations where nothing happens, some very busy cities and once its dark the calmness which prevails, the rhythm with which it crosses the bridges, dried up rivers in moonlight and the list goes on and on. Similar is life, its just that we don't enjoy all the moments that makes it boring, lets enjoy every moment, wish you all a happy Diwali, also I would dedicate this to my friend Nagesh who celebrates his birthday tomorrow. Thanks for all your comments and favs
என் இரயில் பயணத்தின் நொடிகள் ஒவ்வொன்றும் ஒரு ஆனந்தம்,
முன்பின் தெரியாவிட்டாலும் புத்தகம் இரவல் கேட்கும் அருகில் இருப்பவர்,
உலக அரசியலை நினைத்து வருத்தப்படும் எதிர் இருக்கைக்காரர்,
எங்கோ வேலை செய்யும் மகனையோ மகளையோ சந்திக்கச் செல்லும் பெற்றோர்,
கடந்து செல்லும் காட்சிகளை வியந்து பார்க்கும் அந்தச் சிறுவன்,
தேனீர் விற்றுக்கொண்டு குறுக்கும் நெடுக்கும் நடந்து செல்பவன்,
கழிப்பறை வாசலில் துண்டை விரித்து அமர்ந்திருக்கும் முதியவர்,
தடதடவென தாண்டிப் போகும் ஆள் அரவமில்லாத ரயில் நிலையங்கள்,
இரவில் பரவிக் கிடக்கும் அந்த நிசப்தம்,
எங்கோ மூலையில் தூக்கத்தில் எழுந்து விட்ட தன் குழந்தையை தூங்க வைக்கும் தந்தை,
ரயில் பாலங்களைக் கடக்கையில் உண்டாக்கும் தாளங்கள்,
நிலவொளியில் மௌனமாய்க் கடந்து போகும் நீர் வற்றிப்போன ஆறுகள்,
இப்படி ஏதோ ஒரு ரயில் பயணத்தின் போதுதான் என்னைக் கடந்து போனாள் அவள்,
ஒற்றை சடை போட்டு, கன்னத்தில் குழி விழச்சிரித்துக்கொண்டு,
ஏதோ ஒரு கவிதைப்புத்தகத்தை படித்துக்கொண்டு,
அவள் இறங்கும் இடம் வந்ததும் மெதுவாய் கலைந்து சென்றாள்,
அந்த கவிதைப் புத்தகத்தின் ஏதோ ஒரு பக்கத்தில் என்னையும் சேர்த்து கடத்திக்கொண்டு,
அன்று என் பயணக்குறிப்புகளெல்லாம் கவிதை,
இன்று வரை என் எல்லா ரயில் பயணங்களிலும் தேடிக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்,
என்றோ கண் விழித்துப் பார்க்கையிலோ, சட்டென திரும்பையிலோ,
அவள் என் எதிரே இருக்கமாட்டாளா என்று,
தொடர்கின்றன என் ரயில் பயணங்களும் தேடல்களும்.
©Karthik photography
This one goes out to my childhood friend & now photography colleague Matt Chapman!
I risked my life to get this photo... But I'd do it 100 times over for similar results!
On the way to Christchurch a few weeks ago, I made a stop at Lake Tekapo, seeking to indulge my creative side before driving another few hours to make it to my destination. After I got out of the car and saw this location, I was instantly sold. I knew I had to get down there and shoot this. The only difficulty was the potential for the flood gates to open while I was in the firing line... I figured I would have some time to run if that were to happen, but how much time was completely unknown to me. Alas, I took the risk.
Climbing down the slippery rocks on either side of the river was difficult enough, and at that stage the reality hit me that if the canal were to be flooded, getting up these rocks in time was gonna be the hard part!
But that was about all the thought I gave to the danger, I was 100% focused on what I wanted from the shot. It was one of those rare occasions that you can visualize what you expect out of Photomatix before even taking the photo.
I found myself a spot on a conveniently positioned concrete slab that was almost dead center in the river. Bracketing from -3 to +3 was essential in this situation, shooting directly into the sun. The position of the sun is actually another happy coincidence, centered perfectly on the railing... I initially thought it would be a problem, but have come to see it as helping to balance the scene out a little.
In terms of post processing this one, I actually did very little to it. The original 'normal' exposure has the same beautiful water, and the same awesome perspective looking up at this splendid dam. It's one of those situations where HDR enhances the scene and gives you a real feel for what it was like being there. I applied a slight crop to remove a bit of the sky that was distracting.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Matt for his input on naming this scene, he's always been the king of finding crazy words ands phrases to describe something, and I think he has out-done himself here — "Hazardous Serendipity" is spot on... For this was indeed a dangerous risk that resulted in a fortunate coincidence! Had I never taken the chance to venture into that chasm of doom, I'd have never taken this photo, which is , in my opinion, one of my best photos to date.
On the topic... I'd like to thank you guys, the people who take the time to comment and share feedback on the photos I make available to the public. For those of you who get in touch to share thoughts personally via email, it means a great deal. Will, Nagesh, Simon — You guys especially!
Thats it from me tonight, I'm dead tired and about to fall asleep at my desk....
If you like this photo, please let me know in the comments section below!
Alternatively, if you'd like to get in touch, you can find me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter!
This photo, and all my other works, are covered under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND — For full details, click here...
Thanks for visiting!
At last this is ME, due to public safety the "Watch it in black" link hasn't been given so better don't search for it :) Yeah I have been tagged by my friends Shilpa and Sandhya. Now the toughest part I have to list 10 things about me
1. I was born brought up in Tamil nadu, India. Yeah I have stayed in almost all districts, that's a blessing you get when both your parents are govt employees. As a result I haven't continued in a single school for more than two years, so no wonderful and great friends from my schooling.
2. Some of my best friends are from my higher secondary and college, the interesting part of college friendship was it started the first day of the college, all of us (7 including me) stayed in a single room till the last day of my college and its been 8 years and we still are together, we named ourselves "YoungFriends"
3. I have a huge gang of relatives, nearly 100. I love to be in a place where all those are available, its a blessing in disguise, it allowed me to be in the middle of women always, may be that's the reason for me being a Feminist.
4. Ever since childhood I have no problems being alone, I can spend hours and days alone without getting bored. I have learn to live life with the most interesting companion, loneliness. The not so explored feeling by most people. Believe me its the most interesting thing, more simply you need not worry about anything or anyone :)
5. I am an Atheist, don't know why but I never had any great belief in all the religious beliefs and customs, but I never get into a debate with anyone to prove that I am right. I may not be right but I believe I am not wrong, that does not mean others are wrong, 'belief' to me is something similar to fingerprints they are so unique and I don't want to force mine on someone else and vice versa.
6. I am a hardcore movie buff, mad to be precised. I have a huge collection of movies. They teach me about this world more than the books I read, the culture, people and emotions. But I love movies only which connect with me. So close to world cinema and keep following movie news. My friends call me a movie database, I don't know how true it is, but I know a little about movies.
7. I am Software engg by profession, shortly Ctrl C + Ctrl V. Yeah I wanted to be a film maker and I still want to be a cinematographer and make at least one movie which will speak about my culture and my country and people. Its a dream I am still chasing.
8. I don't hate too many things, I belief in the words "No one can stop loving you, unless you stop loving them" and "In this unknown world all unknown faces are your friends". But there are somethings I hate too, the one that tops that list is Violence against women, global warming, people who refuse to work just because they believe they are cursed.
9. On a lighter note I feel sad about people who have their ear phones on always telling they love music, they don't realize there is music in every sound in this world. If you like something share it with someone, it always doubles.
10. I am the most laziest person you will ever meet in this world, on a lighter note even if I am dying and if I can save myself by moving an inch, I would prefer to die :) Just kidding. But photography has kept that laziness away these days, yeah you see the Mr. Sun never waits for me instead I have to be there to get him.
I know it will be too boring and the the next 10 to be tagged by me, keep guessing. I will do it before I post my next photo.
These are the guys I am tagging, they can continue the same if they are interested,
This pic was clicked by my friend Gana, thanks Gana for this wonderful capture :)
"The spirit of the best of men
is spotless,
like the lotus in the muddy water
which does not adhere to it."
---Lalitavistara
"In esoteric Buddhism, the heart of the beings is like an unopened lotus: when the virtues of the Buddha develop therein, the lotus blossoms; that is why the Buddha sits on a lotus bloom."
I passed out of Mr Shreekant Malushte s classes in 2001 ,, I had dabbled a lot in photography before I met him , but it was senseless without any method or direction..I got my first camera from Jaikishen Bros Nikon ,,
Its been over 15 years and with what Mr Malushte taught me I taught Marziya my granddaughter and she began shooting with Nikon ,, now she is 7 year old more confident and at ease with both the Canon 60D or Canon 7D .
So Mr Malushte has been a blessing in disguise for me through him I got enrolled as a life member at PSI Mumbai met my two other Gurus there Late BW Jatkar and late Mr KG Maheshwariji ,. I met others too they all guided me Vinay Parelkar@ Chitra Gokhale Vilas Gholse Nagesh Sakpal Milind More Kishore Jothady Narayan Panje Shashank Ranjit to name a few .. there were many and whatever I am as a photographer I owe to them but in 2004 I moved out from anlalogue photography , camera clubs and salons and hitched my pictorial soul to the Photo Blog ,,its been a long journey and it changed my so called vision , my perspective and the way I see pictures before I shoot them as a story..
Mr Shreekant Malushte is a nice humble teacher , simple words simple language and teaches practical photography at ground root level.. and I endorse him to those who want to learn the basics and enter the third eye of Shiva..
update 21 September 2016
Now I am not blogger anymore I call myself a storyteller .. and I tell my stories at You Tube ,,,
Watch Romantic Clip of The Day - Amala Most Romantic Video Song - Andaala Jaabili Song | Ilayaraja Andaala Jaabili Video Song from Lawyer The Great Movie starring Mammootty, Amala, Sarathkumar, Nagesh among others. Directed by K. Madhu and produced by A. Venu. Music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Welcome to Hi TV Viewers, it is a Entertainment destination for all genre content like comedy, action, music, classic, old, romantic, horror and other. Latest movies, movies scenes, short films... For more Updates and Videos Subscribe to us : goo.gl/qeEvzI
On our way to Bet Dwarka (Dwarka is the holy city of Lord Krishna and
its divided in 3 parts - Main Dwarka, Bet Dwarka, and one more dwarka
I forgot), we came across this Shiv temple made by deceased audio
industries tycoon - Gulshan Kumar. This shiv stature/sculpture is 80
feet tall and sits next to and is a part of Nagesh Dwarka temple also
build by Gulshan kumar.
To get the colors good I shot this photo from inside our bus window
which had some insulation over it. This worked much like a polarizer
filter. Which also made me realize how dearly I need one! Soon… soon…
And oh by the way, this temple was camera friendly… I was allowed to
go in with my camera…
A bird's eye view of Salzburg, Austria. Well not really... this is as one sees Salzburg from the fortress (Festung Hohensalzburg) which overlooks the modern day Salzburg!
Today I am singing (Mozart was born in Salzburg :)) and celebrating my first Explore! Though the explore happened in July, I just found about it today! :) What a gift for Deepavali/Diwali - the Indian festival of lights!! Super! Couldn't ask for more! :)
This one is after dusk had set in on a day when clouds and rain were the order of the day! Taken without a tripod... was using the wall at the fortress instead :)
You must View this LARGE!! Pardon the ISO noise - I was on auto ISO without knowing it :(
Voronezh is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects western Russia with the Urals and Siberia, the Caucasus and Ukraine, and the M4 highway (Moscow–Voronezh–Rostov-on-Don–Novorossiysk). In recent years the city has experienced rapid population growth, rising in 2021 to 1,057,681, up from 889,680 recorded in the 2010 Census, making it the 14th-most populous city in the country.
From 10 to 17 September 2011, Voronezh celebrated its 425th anniversary. The anniversary of the city was given the status of a federal scale celebration that helped attract large investments from the federal and regional budgets for development.
On December 17, 2012, Voronezh became the fifteenth city in Russia with a population of over one million people.
Today Voronezh is the economic, industrial, cultural, and scientific center of the Central Black Earth Region. As part of the annual tradition in the Russian city of Voronezh, every winter the main city square is thematically drawn around a classic literature. In 2020, the city was decorated using the motifs from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. In the year of 2021, the architects drew inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen as well as the animation classic The Snow Queen from the Soviet Union. The fairy tale replica city will feature the houses of Kai and Gerda, the palace of the snow queen, an ice rink, and illumination.
eXplored!!!!!! #365 on 2008-10-18. Highest position 365 on Sunday, November 9, 2008
The sails may be tattered, but they do just fine! They will get me and my passengers from the coast to the Murud Janjira (Jazeera) fort and back just fine!
Snap info - Taken on the sailboat from the coastal village of Rajpuri village to the island fort of Murud Janjira (really Jazeera is the right word!). The fort itself is just about visible behind the boatman. This guy was one of the men "guiding" the boat. He was in charge of the steering upfront. Born and brought up at Rajpuri, he supposedly has been doing this work since childhood!!
The fort of Murud Janjira was never conquered in its history - all of 900 glorious years! Not by the Mughals, not the Marathas and not even the mighty English! That's something isn't it?! Intrigued? Read more here.
A snap of the fort itself is here.
The break from Austria continues! More coming from Austria soon!
Watch Mayavi (1985) Tamil Full Length Movie Online | Tamil Socio Fantasy Adventures Movie Mayaavi / Mayavi tamil full movie starring Narasimha Raju, Sudharsan, Ananthan, Nagesh, Jayamalini, Anuradha, Silk Smitha and others. Directed by B.V. Sreenivasan. Produced by B. Hirudhayanath, R. Arumugam. Hi Thaliva TV Viewers, a entertainment channel you can watch latest Tamil Movies, latest Tamil songs, latest Official trailers, and all genre like funny & comedy scenes, romantic scenes, love scenes, action scenes And More. For more Updates Subscribe to us: goo.gl/JXT9cg
This is Rishi - son of Vikram and Divya. Vikram is a friend and colleague. This is a candid taken at a slightly "dreamy" moment. Taken at Barbeque Nation in J P Nagar, Bangalore. We were at lunch and Rishi was dreaming of the ice cream that was coming next I guess ;)
And you have to see this LARGE!!
Processing info - A little bit of highlighting of the eyes. My first attempt at "photoshopping" the eyes in a portrait! :)
Watch Maanavan (1970) Tamil Full Length Movie Online | Kamal Haasan, Jaishankar, Lakshmi, Sowcar Janaki Maanavan tamil full movie starring Jaishankar, R. Muthuraman, Lakshmi, Nagesh, S.A. Ashokan, Sowkar Janaki, Kamal Haasan, Kutty Padmini, Major Sundararajan, V. S. Raghavan, O. A. K. Thevar, Sachu, Master Prabhakar, Master Krishnakumar, Jayakumari, Radha Bai and others. Directed by M. A. Thirumugam. Produced by Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar. Music composed by Shankar - Ganesh. Hi Thaliva TV Viewers, a entertainment channel you can watch latest Tamil Movies, latest Tamil songs, latest Official trailers, and all genre like funny & comedy scenes, romantic scenes, love scenes, action scenes And More. For more Updates Subscribe to us: goo.gl/JXT9cg
Chitra was nice enough to tag me... and the epidemic (tagging) that seems to be going around has consumed me too :) Have been thinking what to write and can't think beyond 3 points! let's see.. here goes...
1. Born and brought up in Mangalore. Finished my Engineering from Surathkal - what used to be called KREC then and is now NITK. Been a Bangalorean since.
2. Have travelled to every continent of the world except Australia/Oceania (and Antarctica!) - see my profile for the countries.
3. Photography, reading and flickr... three things that get me going currently... in no particular order really! if i have to choose would put photography and flickr a li'l ahead of reading just now I guess! By the way I hope u can see that the snap is an attempt to merge the three into one!!! :D Sports (on TV) used to be/is another one I guess... I tried putting that into the snap too... but botched that job a li'l :( (see below)
4. The big issues don't worry me as much as the small irregularities do! A small thing out of place... a silly mistake etc... and you should see me react! Have been trying to change that... not much happening yet!
5. Have an amazing memory of my early childhood. I can recall with photographic clarity quite a few incidents that occurred when I was 2 or younger! Not so much so of things after that though! Have always wondered why!!
6. I get lost pretty easily in things that interest me... a trait (advantage?) I carry from childhood. I get really really absent-minded when that happens! My wife and parents both get ticked off by that habit of mine! While my interest is evoked by a myriad number of things, my interest retention span in most is not very high... :) A few things do make it through tho! Like photography!
7. I just can't seem to keep my legs still when sitting in a place!!!!! Especially when I am doing something which requires me to think!! The joke going around in my family is that my legs are my "generators"! :D Can get real irritating to people who share a seat with me at those times! :) Just realized... I am doing that right now!
8. Can be a real lazy slob many times! Can spend days together sleeping and/or doing absolutely nothing! A reason could be that I just cannot do without my 8 hours of sleep daily and many a time, my work (and hobbies too sometimes!) ensure I don't get it. I think that spills over onto the free time and makes me lazy...
9. When really tired/worked up, have this ability to just blank out my mind for a few minutes. And I mean really blank out. Absolutely zero thoughts. Helps me relax.
10. I am very much a "inquisitive child" when it comes to new devices/gizmos. Having got my hands onto one, I will try to see how it works in a matter of minutes! Have spoilt many a thing as a child due to this. Still do sometimes! :D
11. I work in the Indian software industry... but am part of a select few who have had only 1 job so far... and thats 10 years and counting now! Not many of these in our industry! :D (But our company has a lot of such!!)... Not sure how much of that is due to 8 above ;)
12. Like driving on good roads! Can do that for hours and hours... especially on my beloved Skoda Octavia! It's a good thing that I have a wife who is really into going to places in and around B'lore on weekends... just that I need to get past my initial inertia... :D
13. Don't find it very easy to make friends. But those I make are for life and usually very strong bonds!
14. I remember faces... but seem to misplace the names.... increasingly so lately. May be it's age! ;)
15. Used to be a avid quizzer but not very active now... have this ability for remembering unusual information which otherwise have no bearing on me. But I make quizzes a knife's edge ride for me more often than not as the exact phrase / word sits on the tip of my tongue and takes it time to topple out many a time! :D
16. Would like to play most sports. Badminton, table tennis, bowling are a few favorites. Generally reach a decent level in most... but that's it... never crossed that invisible line differentiating the good from the terribly good!
Phew... that was long... now the fun portion. I get to choose some of you! :) Have tagged quite a few by mail. If you want to be tagged too, pls take up! It's fun. Believe me!
Oh, I remember this day like it was just yesterday. I saw a dragonfly perched on a stick, and at that exact moment, I had my fish-eye lens mounted on the camera, and was carrying the 100-400. I laid down the 100-400, set the fish-eye to manual focus, set it to the minimum distance, and shot a few pictures of the dragon fly at the minimum focussing distance of the lens (around 15 cms). The dragonfly flew away a few times, but would always return to its perch. All I had to do was wait for it to settle down, and I got my shot.
The original above, is uncropped. And to show you the sharpness of the lens, a very heavy crop is in a comment below.
This is one of the reasons why I love the fisheye. Using a fisheye is a joy that can not be expressed.
Nagesh has a photograph of me getting this shot, which he hasn't uploaded or sent to me yet :)
Gorukana, BR Hills.
Song of the day - Opeth - Windowpane. Now Opeth is a band that makes music that's rather on the 'heavier' side, but do lsiten to this one to understand how diverse their skills are.
Watch Thaayillamal Naan Illai (1979) Tamil Full Length Movie Online | Kamal Haasan, Sridevi, Rajnikanth Thaayillamal Naan Illai tamil full movie starring Kamal Haasan, Sridevi, Rajnikanth, Major Sundarrajan, Jaiganesh, Thengai Srinivasan, Sukumari, Madhumalini, Surulirajan, Nagesh and others. Directed by R. Thyagarajan. Produced by C. Thandayuthapani. Music composed by Shankar-Ganesh. Hi Thaliva TV Viewers, a entertainment channel you can watch latest Tamil Movies, latest Tamil songs, latest Official trailers, and all genre like funny & comedy scenes, romantic scenes, love scenes, action scenes And More. For more Updates Subscribe to us: goo.gl/JXT9cg
Photographer: My wife
Photographed: Yours Truly! ;-)
Editing: The same 'Yours Truly'
This is the place in Poovar where streak of light was pouring in through the trees and giving us some amazing pictures. The sun had just started coming up and it was pure delight to walk with a camera around this place.
The peacefulness of a morning walk with your loving one is probably the best thing to soothe your mind. And when that loved one is your young one, there is double the happiness.
An early morning scene from the Marina beach.
*********************************************************************************************************
Use of my Photographs
Creative Commons License
The Photographs by Nagesh Jayaraman are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 India License.
You may use my photographs provided that:
-you take prior permission before use. You can write to me through flickr and I will be able to honor your requests
- give me credit as the photographer and following the guidlelines as laid by the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 India License.
*********************************************************************************************************
A tree at Hoskote Lake.
Just under it are five Wood Sandpipers. For the cynical, my friend has an excellent close-up of one of the birds. And behind, somewhere at the right side middle is a perched Great Cormorant.
Kochadaiiyaan (English: The king with a long, curly mane[5]) is an upcoming 2014 Indian Tamil motion capture 3D computer-animated period film directed by Soundarya R. Ashwin and written by K. S. Ravikumar. The film will feature Rajinikanth enacting and voicing three lead roles, whilst R. Sarathkumar, Aadhi, Deepika Padukone, Shobana, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Jackie Shroff, and Nassar enact and voice supporting characters. The film has cinematography handled by Rajiv Menon whilst background score and soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman.
Shooting for the film was completed by the end of February 2013 while post-production work took place in the United Kingdom, the United States, Hong Kong, and China.[3][6][7] The film is set to release worldwide on 9 May 2014 simultaneously in other languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Japanese, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, and English.[2][8]
Contents
1 Cast
2 Production
2.1 Development
2.2 Casting
2.3 Design
2.4 Filming
3 Music
3.1 Original soundtrack
3.2 Sound design
4 Marketing
5 Release
6 Sequel
7 References
8 External links
Cast
Rajinikanth as Kochadaiiyaan, Rana and Sena[9]
R. Sarathkumar as Sengodagan
Deepika Padukone as Princess Vadhana[10]
Shobana as Yaahavi
Aadhi as Veera Mahendra
Jackie Shroff as Raja Mahendra
Nassar as Rishikodagan
Rukmini Vijayakumar as Yamuna
Late actor Nagesh's likeness was also used in the film, by means of a 3D model, created using high-resolution images of him. Actors who sound like him were hired to voice his character while those who had a similar appearance to his, performed the character's performance capture scenes.[3]
Production
Development
"Animation is a word, a process. In India, people think animation is cartoon. Avatar was animation, but is not a cartoon. Tintin is completely cartoonistic. I am creating Rajinikanth, where he has actually performed, it's captured on a camera and then put into a 3D version. Avatar took seven years and so much budget and a James Cameron. There was always the insecurity of the unknown, but we have taken a road never taken in India and broken rules and have completed the film in just a year and a half."
— Soundarya on Kochadaiiyaan, in an interview with The Times of India[11]
After the release of Enthiran (2010), Rajinikanth approached K. S. Ravikumar to help complete an animation feature that Soundarya Rajinikanth had begun in 2007. The project titled Sultan: The Warrior had run into problems with it's production and Rajinikanth hoped that they could salvage the project by adding a historical back plot which would make the film partially animation and partially live action. K. S. Ravikumar then developed a story for fifteen days with his team of assistants and after being impressed by the script, Rajinikanth felt that Ravikumar's story should be a entirely separate film. Thus the team launched a venture titled Rana, to be dually-produced by Soundarya's Ocher Picture Productions and Eros Entertainment.[12] However, Rajinikanth became ill and was treated for dehydration and exhaustion at a hospital, resulting in postponement of Rana's filming.[13] On 23 November 2011, for her maiden directorial project, Soundarya tweeted through her Twitter account, notifying followers to watch out for an official announcement.[14] Following the delay, the team considered making Rana as an animation film but Rajinikanth was insistent that the film would be a live action film and prevented Ravikumar potentially discussing the script with Telugu actor Chiranjeevi. Film producer Murali Manohar then suggested that an animation film could potentially be a sequel to Rana and thus the team began work on Kochadaiiyaan. A tentatively scheduled release period of August 2012 was also announced.[15] The film was finalised to be a co-production of Eros Entertainment and Media One Global.[16] Soundarya further stated that Ravikumar had worked with her father and herself on the script of the film.[17] With regards to the film's title, Ravikumar claimed that it drew reference to an alternate name of Hindu deity Shiva, while also being partly inspired by the name of the Pandya Dynasty king Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran, and that the plot would be a fictional account with small references to Indian history.[18] The director clarified that Kochadaiiyaan was not related to the same-titled history series being published by the Tamil magazine Kumudam.[19] When rumors circulated that the temporarily shelved feature Rana was being remade as Kochadaiiyaan, Ravikumar denied theses rumors saying, "Kochadaiyaan has nothing to do with Ranadheeran or Rana." Latha Rajinikanth also clarified that the film would serve as a prequel to Rana.[20] In October 2013, the name of the film was changed from Kochadaiyaan to Kochadaiiyaan on Rajinikanth's request citing numerological reasons.[21]
Casting
For the female lead role, Anushka Shetty was initially approached,[22] but sources confirmed later that she was not part of the film.[23] It was then rumoured that Asin Thottumkal and Vidya Balan were being considered for the role, since producers preferred a Bollywood actress.[24] Soundarya approached Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif in January 2012,[25] who was not able to clear her schedule for the film and the team reapproached Balan.[26] Despite reports that Kaif was finalised,[27] Deepika Padukone, who was slated to pair with Rajinikanth in Rana, took up the offer in February 2012, marking her debut in Tamil cinema.[28] Padukone was paid a salary of INR3 crore (US$500,000) for shooting only for two days in the film.[29] According to Soundarya, she was "quite relieved to not be wearing make-up for a film for the first time in her career."[30] Although reports of November 2012 suggested that lead actress Deepika Padukone would dub her own voice for the Tamil version,[31] it was later announced that she would dub only for the Hindi version[32] as the dialogues required authentic Tamil pronunciations.[33] Hence, Savitha Reddy dubbed the voice for Padukone in the Tamil version.[34] In January 2014, it was revealed that dubbing artiste Mona Ghosh Shetty had dubbed Padukone's voice for the Hindi version,[35] because the actress was unavailable during the dubbing schedules.[33] Shetty had earlier dubbed for Padukone's debut in Om Shanti Om (2007).[35]
The film began to increase its casting profile after Malayalam actor Prithviraj was rumoured to have been signed to play an important role in the film.[36] The rumour was falsified following the inclusion of Aadhi, who was known for his lead-role performances in Mirugam and Eeram, in the cast; when he confirmed his presence in the project, he remarked that working with Rajinikanth was "a realisation of a dream that he has had since childhood".[37] Sneha was reported to be finalised for a supporting role,[38] with the actress confirming her presence in the film in December 2011.[39] She, however, opted-out a couple of months later citing conflicts in her schedule and Rukmini Vijayakumar was signed in her place.[40] R. Sarathkumar accepted Soundarya's offer for an important role in the film while veteran actor Nassar was recruited in the film as well for a supporting role.[27][41]
Furthermore, Shobana and Lakshmi Manchu were said to be considered for a role in the film.[42] Soundarya confirmed that the former was added to the cast saying that she was the "only choice for the role" as the character was written keeping her in mind.[43][44] Soundarya disclaimed the rumour that Aishwarya Rai was chosen to do a guest appearance in the film.[45] Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff was also approached for an antagonistic role.[46] Shroff immediately gave his consent, when the cast and the technical scope of Kochadaiiyaan were revealed to him.[47] Reports claimed that the film would feature late actors like Nagesh, P. S. Veerappa, M. N. Nambiar, S. A. Ashokan, and R. S. Manohar recreated through sophisticated animation techniques,[48] although it was later revealed that only Nagesh was recreated for the film. According to Soundarya, "The biggest triumph for Kochadaiiyaan was bringing back late comedy actor Nagesh to the screen."[3]
Peter Hein was chosen as the film's action choreographer,[49] while A. R. Rahman agreed to compose the film's background score and soundtrack.[50][51] Rajiv Menon was recruited as the film's cinematographer,[52] while Resul Pookutty was recruited as the sound engineer.[53] Soundarya chose Saroj Khan, Raju Sundaram, Chinni Prakash and his wife, and Shobi to choreograph the songs.[54] Soundarya invited art professionals to send their work as she was forming an art department for Kochadaiiyaan.[55] She chose 42 students from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai for the task, besides 50 experienced persons from the Jacob College of Fine Arts. 60 concept artistes were already reportedly working for the film.[56]
Design
National Award winning fashion designer Neeta Lulla worked on the looks of each character, including the lead role portrayed by Rajinikanth. According to Lulla, the project required a lot of research. Around 150 costumes per character were designed on paper and out of those, 25 costumes were selected and detailed. She also created a range of 20 to 30 looks especially for Rajinikanth's suit of armour as well as the supporting cast of Kochadaiiyaan. Lulla, along with the team working on the costumes, created the looks of all characters on sketch. They had worked for about eight months on the various characterisations of Rajinikanth and the supporting cast. According to her, "It was a different kind of design experience altogether"[57]
On Rajinikanth's looks, Soundarya quoted: "First, we scanned his face and made a 3D model to get the exact precision of his features, such as the scar on his nose. And then we corrected the 3D model by tightening his skin to make him look 25 years younger. They used that technology in the film Tron." The youthfulness of the look was compared to the looks that Rajinikanth carried in his film Muthu.[3] Soundarya also claimed that Rajinikanth's hairstyle in the film was inspired by his appearance in his earlier film, Thalapathi.[58]
Filming
Kochadaiiyaan (English: The king with a long, curly mane[5]) is an upcoming 2014 Indian Tamil motion capture 3D computer-animated period film directed by Soundarya R. Ashwin and written by K. S. Ravikumar. The film will feature Rajinikanth enacting and voicing three lead roles, whilst R. Sarathkumar, Aadhi, Deepika Padukone, Shobana, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Jackie Shroff, and Nassar enact and voice supporting characters. The film has cinematography handled by Rajiv Menon whilst background score and soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman.
Shooting for the film was completed by the end of February 2013 while post-production work took place in the United Kingdom, the United States, Hong Kong, and China.[3][6][7] The film is set to release worldwide on 9 May 2014 simultaneously in other languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Japanese, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, and English.[2][8]
Contents
1 Cast
2 Production
2.1 Development
2.2 Casting
2.3 Design
2.4 Filming
3 Music
3.1 Original soundtrack
3.2 Sound design
4 Marketing
5 Release
6 Sequel
7 References
8 External links
Cast
Rajinikanth as Kochadaiiyaan, Rana and Sena[9]
R. Sarathkumar as Sengodagan
Deepika Padukone as Princess Vadhana[10]
Shobana as Yaahavi
Aadhi as Veera Mahendra
Jackie Shroff as Raja Mahendra
Nassar as Rishikodagan
Rukmini Vijayakumar as Yamuna
Late actor Nagesh's likeness was also used in the film, by means of a 3D model, created using high-resolution images of him. Actors who sound like him were hired to voice his character while those who had a similar appearance to his, performed the character's performance capture scenes.[3]
Production
Development
"Animation is a word, a process. In India, people think animation is cartoon. Avatar was animation, but is not a cartoon. Tintin is completely cartoonistic. I am creating Rajinikanth, where he has actually performed, it's captured on a camera and then put into a 3D version. Avatar took seven years and so much budget and a James Cameron. There was always the insecurity of the unknown, but we have taken a road never taken in India and broken rules and have completed the film in just a year and a half."
— Soundarya on Kochadaiiyaan, in an interview with The Times of India[11]
After the release of Enthiran (2010), Rajinikanth approached K. S. Ravikumar to help complete an animation feature that Soundarya Rajinikanth had begun in 2007. The project titled Sultan: The Warrior had run into problems with it's production and Rajinikanth hoped that they could salvage the project by adding a historical back plot which would make the film partially animation and partially live action. K. S. Ravikumar then developed a story for fifteen days with his team of assistants and after being impressed by the script, Rajinikanth felt that Ravikumar's story should be a entirely separate film. Thus the team launched a venture titled Rana, to be dually-produced by Soundarya's Ocher Picture Productions and Eros Entertainment.[12] However, Rajinikanth became ill and was treated for dehydration and exhaustion at a hospital, resulting in postponement of Rana's filming.[13] On 23 November 2011, for her maiden directorial project, Soundarya tweeted through her Twitter account, notifying followers to watch out for an official announcement.[14] Following the delay, the team considered making Rana as an animation film but Rajinikanth was insistent that the film would be a live action film and prevented Ravikumar potentially discussing the script with Telugu actor Chiranjeevi. Film producer Murali Manohar then suggested that an animation film could potentially be a sequel to Rana and thus the team began work on Kochadaiiyaan. A tentatively scheduled release period of August 2012 was also announced.[15] The film was finalised to be a co-production of Eros Entertainment and Media One Global.[16] Soundarya further stated that Ravikumar had worked with her father and herself on the script of the film.[17] With regards to the film's title, Ravikumar claimed that it drew reference to an alternate name of Hindu deity Shiva, while also being partly inspired by the name of the Pandya Dynasty king Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran, and that the plot would be a fictional account with small references to Indian history.[18] The director clarified that Kochadaiiyaan was not related to the same-titled history series being published by the Tamil magazine Kumudam.[19] When rumors circulated that the temporarily shelved feature Rana was being remade as Kochadaiiyaan, Ravikumar denied theses rumors saying, "Kochadaiyaan has nothing to do with Ranadheeran or Rana." Latha Rajinikanth also clarified that the film would serve as a prequel to Rana.[20] In October 2013, the name of the film was changed from Kochadaiyaan to Kochadaiiyaan on Rajinikanth's request citing numerological reasons.[21]
Casting
For the female lead role, Anushka Shetty was initially approached,[22] but sources confirmed later that she was not part of the film.[23] It was then rumoured that Asin Thottumkal and Vidya Balan were being considered for the role, since producers preferred a Bollywood actress.[24] Soundarya approached Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif in January 2012,[25] who was not able to clear her schedule for the film and the team reapproached Balan.[26] Despite reports that Kaif was finalised,[27] Deepika Padukone, who was slated to pair with Rajinikanth in Rana, took up the offer in February 2012, marking her debut in Tamil cinema.[28] Padukone was paid a salary of INR3 crore (US$500,000) for shooting only for two days in the film.[29] According to Soundarya, she was "quite relieved to not be wearing make-up for a film for the first time in her career."[30] Although reports of November 2012 suggested that lead actress Deepika Padukone would dub her own voice for the Tamil version,[31] it was later announced that she would dub only for the Hindi version[32] as the dialogues required authentic Tamil pronunciations.[33] Hence, Savitha Reddy dubbed the voice for Padukone in the Tamil version.[34] In January 2014, it was revealed that dubbing artiste Mona Ghosh Shetty had dubbed Padukone's voice for the Hindi version,[35] because the actress was unavailable during the dubbing schedules.[33] Shetty had earlier dubbed for Padukone's debut in Om Shanti Om (2007).[35]
The film began to increase its casting profile after Malayalam actor Prithviraj was rumoured to have been signed to play an important role in the film.[36] The rumour was falsified following the inclusion of Aadhi, who was known for his lead-role performances in Mirugam and Eeram, in the cast; when he confirmed his presence in the project, he remarked that working with Rajinikanth was "a realisation of a dream that he has had since childhood".[37] Sneha was reported to be finalised for a supporting role,[38] with the actress confirming her presence in the film in December 2011.[39] She, however, opted-out a couple of months later citing conflicts in her schedule and Rukmini Vijayakumar was signed in her place.[40] R. Sarathkumar accepted Soundarya's offer for an important role in the film while veteran actor Nassar was recruited in the film as well for a supporting role.[27][41]
Furthermore, Shobana and Lakshmi Manchu were said to be considered for a role in the film.[42] Soundarya confirmed that the former was added to the cast saying that she was the "only choice for the role" as the character was written keeping her in mind.[43][44] Soundarya disclaimed the rumour that Aishwarya Rai was chosen to do a guest appearance in the film.[45] Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff was also approached for an antagonistic role.[46] Shroff immediately gave his consent, when the cast and the technical scope of Kochadaiiyaan were revealed to him.[47] Reports claimed that the film would feature late actors like Nagesh, P. S. Veerappa, M. N. Nambiar, S. A. Ashokan, and R. S. Manohar recreated through sophisticated animation techniques,[48] although it was later revealed that only Nagesh was recreated for the film. According to Soundarya, "The biggest triumph for Kochadaiiyaan was bringing back late comedy actor Nagesh to the screen."[3]
Peter Hein was chosen as the film's action choreographer,[49] while A. R. Rahman agreed to compose the film's background score and soundtrack.[50][51] Rajiv Menon was recruited as the film's cinematographer,[52] while Resul Pookutty was recruited as the sound engineer.[53] Soundarya chose Saroj Khan, Raju Sundaram, Chinni Prakash and his wife, and Shobi to choreograph the songs.[54] Soundarya invited art professionals to send their work as she was forming an art department for Kochadaiiyaan.[55] She chose 42 students from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai for the task, besides 50 experienced persons from the Jacob College of Fine Arts. 60 concept artistes were already reportedly working for the film.[56]
Design
National Award winning fashion designer Neeta Lulla worked on the looks of each character, including the lead role portrayed by Rajinikanth. According to Lulla, the project required a lot of research. Around 150 costumes per character were designed on paper and out of those, 25 costumes were selected and detailed. She also created a range of 20 to 30 looks especially for Rajinikanth's suit of armour as well as the supporting cast of Kochadaiiyaan. Lulla, along with the team working on the costumes, created the looks of all characters on sketch. They had worked for about eight months on the various characterisations of Rajinikanth and the supporting cast. According to her, "It was a different kind of design experience altogether"[57]
On Rajinikanth's looks, Soundarya quoted: "First, we scanned his face and made a 3D model to get the exact precision of his features, such as the scar on his nose. And then we corrected the 3D model by tightening his skin to make him look 25 years younger. They used that technology in the film Tron." The youthfulness of the look was compared to the looks that Rajinikanth carried in his film Muthu.[3] Soundarya also claimed that Rajinikanth's hairstyle in the film was inspired by his appearance in his earlier film, Thalapathi.[58]
Filming
A chemical engineer by profession, Nagesh Kukunoor gave up his lucrative career as an environmental consultant in Atlanta for a career in filmmaking. But unlike most, Nagesh didn’t wait for someone to give him the big break. He used his savings, wrote his first script, produced it, directed it and even acted in it. The film opened to a roaring response and was called ‘Hyderabad Blues’. Made at a shoe-string budget, the film with its back-to-reality theme became the largest grossing low budget Indian film in English. Some of its box office successes were astounding. It ran full houses for 31 weeks in Mumbai, 28 weeks in Hyderabad and 28 weeks in Bangalore. In addition, the film was nominated for several international festivals too. It won the audience award at the Peachtree International Film Festival in Atlanta and the Rhode Island Film Festival. But most importantly, the film success introduced a new genre in India. It became the film that broke the barrier separating art film from commercial.
Nagesh’s next was ‘Rockford’. A coming of age story of a boarding school kid, this film too was written and directed by Nagesh and followed the same style of filmmaking—that of telling empathetic stories that are real and inspired by everyday life. The film was showcased at many international film festivals, including the Austin Film Festival in 1999. In India, ‘Rockford’ did over 16 weeks of healthy business.
‘Bollywood Calling’ was his third film. Though the style of direction didn’t change, the film saw bigger names like Om Puri and Naveen Nischol playing the lead. Inspite of a different subject and comical treatment, the film did brisk business and was well-received by the audience.
However, it was Nagesh’s ‘3 Deewarein’ that became the true ‘genre bender’. With actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff and Juhi Chawla playing the lead roles, the film was appreciated by serious cinegoers and critics alike. It also won the writer-director the Filmfare Award for the Best Original Story. It was around this time that Nagesh tried making a sequel to his debut film. ‘Hyderabad Blues-2: Rearranged Marriage’, his fifth film but first sequel was in true sense a sequel with the story line starting where the original ended. But despite the equally good story, the film wasn’t that well-received.
That for some time seemed to be Nagesh’s last film till ‘Iqbal’ promos hit the screen. Known to be one of the best sports film made in this decade, the film brought together legends like Naseeruddin Shah and Girish Karnad on screen, and introduced a new name, Shreyas Talpade. The film was an inspiring story of a deaf, mute boy from a small town in rural India who dreams of making it to the Indian cricket team. Released in 2005, the film was a huge box office success and since then has been included as mandatory reading in many schools across India. Needless to say, the film turned to be an award magnet that year.
Loosely based on a true incident, Nagesh’s next film ‘Dor’, starring Shreyas Talpade and Ayesha Takia was another success. A women centric film that charts the story of two women of two different worlds, the film was a runaway success at box office, and was hugely appreciated at various international festivals it screened in.
And while ‘Dor’ proved Nagesh’s forte in making films on hard hitting films, his comic caper ‘Bombay to Bangkok’, once again starring Shreyas Talpade, failed a box office disaster.
In 2009, Nagesh shifted his genre once again by making an action thriller called ‘8 X 10 Tasveer’ starring Akshay Kumar. The film was about this blessed individual who could see the future of the person by looking at his picture. While the story was truly ‘hatke’, the film unfortunately didn’t cut the grade. Post ‘8 X 10 Tasveer’, Nagesh returned to his genre of films with ‘Aashayein’. Starring John Abraham the 2010 release though received some great reviews from industry know hows and critics, was an average performer in theatres. The film narrated a story of a man who learns to live life all over again when he realises he has just 90 days of life left.
Nagesh’s last release was ‘Mod’. An emotional love story of two completely mismatched people, the film had Ayesha Takia and Rannvijay Singh play the lead. The film though was missed by many, did mark Nagesh return as the king of real stories once again.
Filmography:
1.Hyderbad Blues (1998)
2.Rockford (1999)
3.Bollywood Calling (2001)
4.3 Deewarein (2003)
5.Hyderabad Blues-2 (2004)
6.Iqbal (2005)
7.Dor (2006)
8.Bombay to Bangkok (2008)
9.8x10 Tasveer (2009)
10.Aashayein (2010)
11.Mod (2011)
Visit the contest site: innovationjockeys.yahoo.net to register now!
Kochadaiiyaan (English: The king with a long, curly mane[5]) is an upcoming 2014 Indian Tamil motion capture 3D computer-animated period film directed by Soundarya R. Ashwin and written by K. S. Ravikumar. The film will feature Rajinikanth enacting and voicing three lead roles, whilst R. Sarathkumar, Aadhi, Deepika Padukone, Shobana, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Jackie Shroff, and Nassar enact and voice supporting characters. The film has cinematography handled by Rajiv Menon whilst background score and soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman.
Shooting for the film was completed by the end of February 2013 while post-production work took place in the United Kingdom, the United States, Hong Kong, and China.[3][6][7] The film is set to release worldwide on 9 May 2014 simultaneously in other languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Japanese, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, and English.[2][8]
Contents
1 Cast
2 Production
2.1 Development
2.2 Casting
2.3 Design
2.4 Filming
3 Music
3.1 Original soundtrack
3.2 Sound design
4 Marketing
5 Release
6 Sequel
7 References
8 External links
Cast
Rajinikanth as Kochadaiiyaan, Rana and Sena[9]
R. Sarathkumar as Sengodagan
Deepika Padukone as Princess Vadhana[10]
Shobana as Yaahavi
Aadhi as Veera Mahendra
Jackie Shroff as Raja Mahendra
Nassar as Rishikodagan
Rukmini Vijayakumar as Yamuna
Late actor Nagesh's likeness was also used in the film, by means of a 3D model, created using high-resolution images of him. Actors who sound like him were hired to voice his character while those who had a similar appearance to his, performed the character's performance capture scenes.[3]
Production
Development
"Animation is a word, a process. In India, people think animation is cartoon. Avatar was animation, but is not a cartoon. Tintin is completely cartoonistic. I am creating Rajinikanth, where he has actually performed, it's captured on a camera and then put into a 3D version. Avatar took seven years and so much budget and a James Cameron. There was always the insecurity of the unknown, but we have taken a road never taken in India and broken rules and have completed the film in just a year and a half."
— Soundarya on Kochadaiiyaan, in an interview with The Times of India[11]
After the release of Enthiran (2010), Rajinikanth approached K. S. Ravikumar to help complete an animation feature that Soundarya Rajinikanth had begun in 2007. The project titled Sultan: The Warrior had run into problems with it's production and Rajinikanth hoped that they could salvage the project by adding a historical back plot which would make the film partially animation and partially live action. K. S. Ravikumar then developed a story for fifteen days with his team of assistants and after being impressed by the script, Rajinikanth felt that Ravikumar's story should be a entirely separate film. Thus the team launched a venture titled Rana, to be dually-produced by Soundarya's Ocher Picture Productions and Eros Entertainment.[12] However, Rajinikanth became ill and was treated for dehydration and exhaustion at a hospital, resulting in postponement of Rana's filming.[13] On 23 November 2011, for her maiden directorial project, Soundarya tweeted through her Twitter account, notifying followers to watch out for an official announcement.[14] Following the delay, the team considered making Rana as an animation film but Rajinikanth was insistent that the film would be a live action film and prevented Ravikumar potentially discussing the script with Telugu actor Chiranjeevi. Film producer Murali Manohar then suggested that an animation film could potentially be a sequel to Rana and thus the team began work on Kochadaiiyaan. A tentatively scheduled release period of August 2012 was also announced.[15] The film was finalised to be a co-production of Eros Entertainment and Media One Global.[16] Soundarya further stated that Ravikumar had worked with her father and herself on the script of the film.[17] With regards to the film's title, Ravikumar claimed that it drew reference to an alternate name of Hindu deity Shiva, while also being partly inspired by the name of the Pandya Dynasty king Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran, and that the plot would be a fictional account with small references to Indian history.[18] The director clarified that Kochadaiiyaan was not related to the same-titled history series being published by the Tamil magazine Kumudam.[19] When rumors circulated that the temporarily shelved feature Rana was being remade as Kochadaiiyaan, Ravikumar denied theses rumors saying, "Kochadaiyaan has nothing to do with Ranadheeran or Rana." Latha Rajinikanth also clarified that the film would serve as a prequel to Rana.[20] In October 2013, the name of the film was changed from Kochadaiyaan to Kochadaiiyaan on Rajinikanth's request citing numerological reasons.[21]
Casting
For the female lead role, Anushka Shetty was initially approached,[22] but sources confirmed later that she was not part of the film.[23] It was then rumoured that Asin Thottumkal and Vidya Balan were being considered for the role, since producers preferred a Bollywood actress.[24] Soundarya approached Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif in January 2012,[25] who was not able to clear her schedule for the film and the team reapproached Balan.[26] Despite reports that Kaif was finalised,[27] Deepika Padukone, who was slated to pair with Rajinikanth in Rana, took up the offer in February 2012, marking her debut in Tamil cinema.[28] Padukone was paid a salary of INR3 crore (US$500,000) for shooting only for two days in the film.[29] According to Soundarya, she was "quite relieved to not be wearing make-up for a film for the first time in her career."[30] Although reports of November 2012 suggested that lead actress Deepika Padukone would dub her own voice for the Tamil version,[31] it was later announced that she would dub only for the Hindi version[32] as the dialogues required authentic Tamil pronunciations.[33] Hence, Savitha Reddy dubbed the voice for Padukone in the Tamil version.[34] In January 2014, it was revealed that dubbing artiste Mona Ghosh Shetty had dubbed Padukone's voice for the Hindi version,[35] because the actress was unavailable during the dubbing schedules.[33] Shetty had earlier dubbed for Padukone's debut in Om Shanti Om (2007).[35]
The film began to increase its casting profile after Malayalam actor Prithviraj was rumoured to have been signed to play an important role in the film.[36] The rumour was falsified following the inclusion of Aadhi, who was known for his lead-role performances in Mirugam and Eeram, in the cast; when he confirmed his presence in the project, he remarked that working with Rajinikanth was "a realisation of a dream that he has had since childhood".[37] Sneha was reported to be finalised for a supporting role,[38] with the actress confirming her presence in the film in December 2011.[39] She, however, opted-out a couple of months later citing conflicts in her schedule and Rukmini Vijayakumar was signed in her place.[40] R. Sarathkumar accepted Soundarya's offer for an important role in the film while veteran actor Nassar was recruited in the film as well for a supporting role.[27][41]
Furthermore, Shobana and Lakshmi Manchu were said to be considered for a role in the film.[42] Soundarya confirmed that the former was added to the cast saying that she was the "only choice for the role" as the character was written keeping her in mind.[43][44] Soundarya disclaimed the rumour that Aishwarya Rai was chosen to do a guest appearance in the film.[45] Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff was also approached for an antagonistic role.[46] Shroff immediately gave his consent, when the cast and the technical scope of Kochadaiiyaan were revealed to him.[47] Reports claimed that the film would feature late actors like Nagesh, P. S. Veerappa, M. N. Nambiar, S. A. Ashokan, and R. S. Manohar recreated through sophisticated animation techniques,[48] although it was later revealed that only Nagesh was recreated for the film. According to Soundarya, "The biggest triumph for Kochadaiiyaan was bringing back late comedy actor Nagesh to the screen."[3]
Peter Hein was chosen as the film's action choreographer,[49] while A. R. Rahman agreed to compose the film's background score and soundtrack.[50][51] Rajiv Menon was recruited as the film's cinematographer,[52] while Resul Pookutty was recruited as the sound engineer.[53] Soundarya chose Saroj Khan, Raju Sundaram, Chinni Prakash and his wife, and Shobi to choreograph the songs.[54] Soundarya invited art professionals to send their work as she was forming an art department for Kochadaiiyaan.[55] She chose 42 students from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai for the task, besides 50 experienced persons from the Jacob College of Fine Arts. 60 concept artistes were already reportedly working for the film.[56]
Design
National Award winning fashion designer Neeta Lulla worked on the looks of each character, including the lead role portrayed by Rajinikanth. According to Lulla, the project required a lot of research. Around 150 costumes per character were designed on paper and out of those, 25 costumes were selected and detailed. She also created a range of 20 to 30 looks especially for Rajinikanth's suit of armour as well as the supporting cast of Kochadaiiyaan. Lulla, along with the team working on the costumes, created the looks of all characters on sketch. They had worked for about eight months on the various characterisations of Rajinikanth and the supporting cast. According to her, "It was a different kind of design experience altogether"[57]
On Rajinikanth's looks, Soundarya quoted: "First, we scanned his face and made a 3D model to get the exact precision of his features, such as the scar on his nose. And then we corrected the 3D model by tightening his skin to make him look 25 years younger. They used that technology in the film Tron." The youthfulness of the look was compared to the looks that Rajinikanth carried in his film Muthu.[3] Soundarya also claimed that Rajinikanth's hairstyle in the film was inspired by his appearance in his earlier film, Thalapathi.[58]
Making Of Kabootar- A Peace Anthem
Shooting a short film with one red scarlet dragon 6K camera and one helicam dji phantom 3 professional drone with a 4K camera. Love Doshi
Colors and Project Equal Rights Music celebrate wings of freedom with Kabootar, a Peace Anthem
Colors will also air the 67th Republic Day celebrations for its viewers across the globe for the second year in a row
an initiative by colors viacom18
Equal Rights Music Project
Kabootar- A Peace Anthem
Concept Lyrics - Manish Bhatt
Music Director - Eddie T Avil
Visualised by - Manish Bhatt & Lalit Sakurkar
Director - Beeswaranjan Pradhan
Director of Photography - Riju Samanta
Singers - Jigardan Gadhvi & Kunal Bhadra
Instrument Players - Omkar Patil | Harmonium, Vijay Jadhav | Tabla, Dholak, Daf,
Vaibhav Panch | Bass Guitar, Tapas Roy | Mandolin, Saz, Oud
Sound Engineer - Kunal Dabholkar
Offline Editor - Dev Jadav | Pixion Studio
Online Editor - Augustine Noronha | Splice Studio
Colour Correction - Tony Ford | Pixion Studio
Editing Studio - Pixion Studio & Splice Studio
Recording Studio - Sounds Good
production house - Bhumisha Soni
Special Thanks to - Colors Viacom 18, Raj Nayak, Sapangeet Rajwant, Tony Pratap
Scarecrow Communications Ltd.
Ashley, Hitesh Patel, Badal Patel, Monark Patel, Maulana (Jumma Masjid)
Archeological Survey of India, Ranchhodraiji Temple Committee, Dakor
Jaipur Pulice, Bhargav Purohit, Gomtidasji Maharaj, Junagarh Pulice
Dharmaj Village Panchayat, Antonio D'Souza High School, Byculla, Father Michael
Sana Ahmad, Kamlesh Soni, Shraddha Sangvi, Pooja Chakraborty, Vishal Sharma
Anita Keelor, Pixion Studio
Cast -
Sadhu 1 - Govind
Buddhist Monk - Dhamraj Singh
Nun - Monica
Jew - Md. Umar
Maulana 2 - Sayied Amin Miya Qadri
Maulana 3 - Yogesh
Sadhu 2 - Gomtidasji Maharaj
Sadhu 3 - Sadhu Premjivan Das Swami
Burkha Girl - Sonail Sharma
Qawal - Haslam Faheem Qawal Group, Jaipur
Prince - Ankit Raj
Princess - Divina
Solider - Rajiv
Shayar - Inder Singh Rathore
Rajasthani Kid - Harsh
Dadi - Jamila
Lama Kid - Devraaj
1st Asst. Director - Dikshant Kala
1st Asst. Director - Yogesh Pawar
Casting - Global Casting
Line Producer - Sadanand Ankali
Stylist - Prachi Dhamnaskar
Makeup Artist - Narendra Pande
Hair Stylist - Sadhna Pande
Art Director - Satyajeet Roy
Settings Boy - Feroz
Dress Man - Tukuna Kuldip
Jaipur / Sambhar Lake -
Local Line Producer: Sanjay Chaturvedi (Amer Fort)
Location: Anurag Biswal (Amer Fort)
Location: Raju Pandit (Sambhar Salt Lake)
Lighting Equipment Rental: Bollywood Helpline
Light Man in-Chsrge: Shankarlal Sharma
Light Man: Rajesh Sharma, Gopalji, Kanhaiya
Tailor: Kamal
Jimmy jib Operator: Nagesh Budania
Jimmy Jib Assistant: Rahul, Jitu
Camera Rental: Java Motion Pictures
Camera in-Charge: Pradeep Kumar
Attendant: Shiv Kumar, Bhim
Junagadh -
Local Line Producer: Vikram Singh Rathore
Location: Abbas
Drone: Love Doshi Attendant: Rajesh
Camera Rental: Bollywood Video
Camera in-charge: Jagdish Shelar
Attendant: Rahul Jadhav, Sunil Kumar
Dakor / Dharmaj -
Drone: Rakesh
Camera Rental: Bollywood Video
Camera In-charge: Jagdish Shelar
Atlendant: Rahul Jadhav, Sunil Kumar
Mumbai -
DOP: Chetan Shinde
Camera: Camera Plus Pvt. Ltd.
Camera Atlendant: Santosh Singh and Ganesh
Locations -
Ranchhodraiji Temple: Dakor
Swami Narayan Temple: Dakor
Amer Fort: Jaipur
Jumma Masjid: Junagadh
Mahabat Maqbara: Junagadh
Sambhar Lake: Jaipur
Gloria Church: Byculla
Dharmaj Village
Junagarh Clock Tower
Lunch with running friends, new and old, the day before the 125th Boston Marathon. It was Nagesh's 35th marathon and his first Boston and Rob's 100th marathon and his 10th Boston. I've met the most amazing people running.
It was a wonderful experience to click pictures during the Nilam cyclone. Even though I didn't get a chance to go to Marina, luck was in my favor when a tree adjacent to our house came crashing down. No one was hurt in that melee and it offered me the chance to click some interesting candid shots. The whole transformed into an impromptu fair like celebration.
*********************************************************************************************************
Use of my Photographs
Creative Commons License
The Photographs by Nagesh Jayaraman are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 India License.
You may use my photographs provided that:
-you take prior permission before use. You can write to me through flickr and I will be able to honor your requests
- give me credit as the photographer and following the guidlelines as laid by the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 India License.
*********************************************************************************************************
Making Of Kabootar- A Peace Anthem
Shooting a short film with one red scarlet dragon 6K camera and one helicam dji phantom 3 professional drone with a 4K camera. Love Doshi
Colors and Project Equal Rights Music celebrate wings of freedom with Kabootar, a Peace Anthem
Colors will also air the 67th Republic Day celebrations for its viewers across the globe for the second year in a row
an initiative by colors viacom18
Equal Rights Music Project
Kabootar- A Peace Anthem
Concept Lyrics - Manish Bhatt
Music Director - Eddie T Avil
Visualised by - Manish Bhatt & Lalit Sakurkar
Director - Beeswaranjan Pradhan
Director of Photography - Riju Samanta
Singers - Jigardan Gadhvi & Kunal Bhadra
Instrument Players - Omkar Patil | Harmonium, Vijay Jadhav | Tabla, Dholak, Daf,
Vaibhav Panch | Bass Guitar, Tapas Roy | Mandolin, Saz, Oud
Sound Engineer - Kunal Dabholkar
Offline Editor - Dev Jadav | Pixion Studio
Online Editor - Augustine Noronha | Splice Studio
Colour Correction - Tony Ford | Pixion Studio
Editing Studio - Pixion Studio & Splice Studio
Recording Studio - Sounds Good
production house - Bhumisha Soni
Special Thanks to - Colors Viacom 18, Raj Nayak, Sapangeet Rajwant, Tony Pratap
Scarecrow Communications Ltd.
Ashley, Hitesh Patel, Badal Patel, Monark Patel, Maulana (Jumma Masjid)
Archeological Survey of India, Ranchhodraiji Temple Committee, Dakor
Jaipur Pulice, Bhargav Purohit, Gomtidasji Maharaj, Junagarh Pulice
Dharmaj Village Panchayat, Antonio D'Souza High School, Byculla, Father Michael
Sana Ahmad, Kamlesh Soni, Shraddha Sangvi, Pooja Chakraborty, Vishal Sharma
Anita Keelor, Pixion Studio
Cast -
Sadhu 1 - Govind
Buddhist Monk - Dhamraj Singh
Nun - Monica
Jew - Md. Umar
Maulana 2 - Sayied Amin Miya Qadri
Maulana 3 - Yogesh
Sadhu 2 - Gomtidasji Maharaj
Sadhu 3 - Sadhu Premjivan Das Swami
Burkha Girl - Sonail Sharma
Qawal - Haslam Faheem Qawal Group, Jaipur
Prince - Ankit Raj
Princess - Divina
Solider - Rajiv
Shayar - Inder Singh Rathore
Rajasthani Kid - Harsh
Dadi - Jamila
Lama Kid - Devraaj
1st Asst. Director - Dikshant Kala
1st Asst. Director - Yogesh Pawar
Casting - Global Casting
Line Producer - Sadanand Ankali
Stylist - Prachi Dhamnaskar
Makeup Artist - Narendra Pande
Hair Stylist - Sadhna Pande
Art Director - Satyajeet Roy
Settings Boy - Feroz
Dress Man - Tukuna Kuldip
Jaipur / Sambhar Lake -
Local Line Producer: Sanjay Chaturvedi (Amer Fort)
Location: Anurag Biswal (Amer Fort)
Location: Raju Pandit (Sambhar Salt Lake)
Lighting Equipment Rental: Bollywood Helpline
Light Man in-Chsrge: Shankarlal Sharma
Light Man: Rajesh Sharma, Gopalji, Kanhaiya
Tailor: Kamal
Jimmy jib Operator: Nagesh Budania
Jimmy Jib Assistant: Rahul, Jitu
Camera Rental: Java Motion Pictures
Camera in-Charge: Pradeep Kumar
Attendant: Shiv Kumar, Bhim
Junagadh -
Local Line Producer: Vikram Singh Rathore
Location: Abbas
Drone: Love Doshi Attendant: Rajesh
Camera Rental: Bollywood Video
Camera in-charge: Jagdish Shelar
Attendant: Rahul Jadhav, Sunil Kumar
Dakor / Dharmaj -
Drone: Rakesh
Camera Rental: Bollywood Video
Camera In-charge: Jagdish Shelar
Atlendant: Rahul Jadhav, Sunil Kumar
Mumbai -
DOP: Chetan Shinde
Camera: Camera Plus Pvt. Ltd.
Camera Atlendant: Santosh Singh and Ganesh
Locations -
Ranchhodraiji Temple: Dakor
Swami Narayan Temple: Dakor
Amer Fort: Jaipur
Jumma Masjid: Junagadh
Mahabat Maqbara: Junagadh
Sambhar Lake: Jaipur
Gloria Church: Byculla
Dharmaj Village
Junagarh Clock Tower
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_Baba_of_Shirdi
Sai Baba of Shirdi (1838 – October 15, 1918), also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian guru and yogi, regarded by his followers as an incarnation of God. Some of his Hindu devotees believe that he was an incarnation of Shiva or Dattatreya. Many devotees believe that he was a Sadguru. There are many stories and eyewitness accounts of miracles he performed. He is a well-known figure in many parts of the world, but especially in India, where he is much revered.
The name 'Sai Baba' is a combination of Persian and Indian origin; Sāī (Sa'ih) is the Persian term for "holy one" or "saint", usually attributed to Islamic ascetics, whereas Baba (honorific) is a word meaning "father; grandfather; old man; sir" used in Indo-Aryan languages. The appellative thus refers to Sai Baba as being a "holy father" or "saintly father".[1] His parentage, birth details, and life before the age of sixteen are obscure, which has led to a variety of speculations and theories attempting to explain Sai Baba's origins. In his life and teachings he tried to reconcile Hinduism and Islam: Sai Baba lived in a mosque which he called Dwarakamayi, practised Hindu and Muslim rituals, taught using words and figures that drew from both traditions and was buried in a Hindu temple in Shirdi. One of his well known epigrams says of God: "Sabka Malik Ek" ("One God governs all") which traces its root to Islam in general and sufism in particular. He always uttered "Allah Malik" - Lord is the sole protector. He had no love for perishable things, and was always engrossed in self-realization, which was his sole concern.
Sai Baba taught a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace, devotion to God and guru. His teachings combined elements of Hinduism and Islam and tried to achieve communal harmony between these religions.
Sai Baba remains a very popular saint[2] and is worshiped by people around the world. Debate over his Hindu or Muslim origins continues to take place.[3] He is also revered by several notable Hindu and Sufi religious leaders.[who?] Some of his disciples received fame as spiritual figures and saints such as Upasni Maharaj and Meher Baba.
Sai Baba's origin is completely unknown to this day. He did not disclose to anyone where he was born nor where he grew up. Because of his unknown past, various communities have claimed that he belongs to them. Nothing has been substantiated, however. It is known that he spent considerable period with fakirs. His attire resembled that of a Muslim fakir. There is mosque at Shirdi which he visited regularly.
Baba reportedly arrived at the village of Shirdi in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, India, when he was about 16 years old. Although there is no agreement among biographers on the date of this event, it is generally accepted that Baba stayed in Shirdi for three years, disappeared for a year and returned permanently around 1858, which posits a possible birth year of 1838.[4] Some claim Baba was born on 28 September, 1835, with no apparent reason on how the date was arrived at. In any case, the only agreement amongst historians and his devotees is that there is no conclusive evidence of his birthday and place. He led an ascetic life, sitting motionless under a neem tree and meditating while sitting in an asana. The Sai Satcharita recounts the reaction of the villagers
The people of the village were wonder-struck to see such a young lad practicing hard penance, not minding heat or cold. By day he associated with no one, by night he was afraid of nobody.[5]
His presence attracted the curiosity of the villagers and the religiously-inclined such as Mhalsapati, Appa Jogle and Kashinatha regularly visited him, while others such as the village children considered him mad and threw stones at him.[6] After some time he left the village, and it is unknown where he stayed at that time or what happened to him. However, there are some indications that he met with many saints and fakirs, and worked as a weaver; he claimed to have fought with the army of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.[7]
[edit] Shirdi and teaching
In 1858 Sai Baba returned to Shirdi with Chand Patil's wedding procession. After alighting near the Khandoba temple he was greeted with the words "Ya Sai" (welcome saint) by the temple priest Mhalsapati. The name Sai stuck to him and some time later he started being known as Sai Baba.[8] It was around this time that Baba adopted his famous style of dress, consisting of a knee-length one-piece robe (kafni) and a cloth cap. Ramgir Bua, a devotee, testified that Baba was dressed like an athlete and sported 'long hair flowing down to his buttocks' when he arrived in Shirdi, and that he never had his head shaved. It was only after Baba forfeited a wrestling match with one Mohdin Tamboli that he took up the kafni and cloth cap, articles of typically Sufi clothing.[9] This attire contributed to Baba's identification as a Muslim fakir, and was a reason for initial indifference and hostility against him in a predominantly Hindu village.[10] According to B.V. Narasimhaswami, a posthumous follower who was widely praised as Sai Baba's "apostle", this attitude was prevalent even among some of his devotees in Shirdi, even up to 1954.[11]
For four to five years Baba lived under a neem tree, and often wandered for long periods in the jungle in and around Shirdi. His manner was said to be withdrawn and uncommunicative as he undertook long periods of meditation.[12] He was eventually persuaded to take up residence in an old and dilapidated mosque and lived a solitary life there, surviving by begging for alms and receiving itinerant Hindu or Muslim visitors. In the mosque he maintained a sacred fire which is referred to as a dhuni, from which he had the custom of giving sacred ash ('Udhi') to his guests before they left and which was believed to have healing powers and protection from dangerous situations. At first he performed the function of a local hakim and treated the sick by application of Udhi. Baba also delivered spiritual teachings to his visitors, recommending the reading of sacred Hindu texts along with the Qur'an, especially insisting on the indispensability of the unbroken remembrance of God's name (dhikr, japa). He often expressed himself in a cryptic manner with the use of parables, symbols and allegories.[13] He participated in religious festivals and was also in the habit of preparing food for his visitors, which he distributed to them as prasad. Sai Baba's entertainment was dancing and singing religious songs (he enjoyed the songs of Kabir most). His behaviour was sometimes uncouth and violent.[14][15]
After 1910 Sai Baba's fame began to spread in Mumbai. Numerous people started visiting him, because they regarded him as a saint (or even an avatar) with the power of performing miracles.[16] and they built his first ever temple at Bhivpuri, Karjat as desired by Sai Baba.[17][18]
[edit] Mahasamadhi
Sai Baba took Mahasamadhi on October 15, 1918 at 2.30pm. He took samadhi on the lap of one of his devotees with hardly any belongings, and was buried in the "Buty Wada" according to his wish. Later a mandir was built there known as the "Samadhi Mandir".[19]
This day was a very holy day for Hindus as well as for Muslims as Hindu's festival 'dassera' and Muslim's festival 'muharram' had come on the same day. Sai Baba is a symbol of unity of religions, especially Hindu and islam and he left his body on this very holy day when 'dassera' and 'muharram' came simultaneously. This is also a great sign of his greatness as people believe that great soul leaves the earth on some holy day.
In his personal practice, Sai Baba observed worship procedures belonging to Hinduism and Islam; he shunned any kind of regular rituals but allowed the practice of namaz, chanting of Al-Fatiha, and Qur'an readings at Muslim festival times.[20] Occasionally reciting the Al-Fatiha himself, Baba also enjoyed listening to moulu and qawwali accompanied with the tabla and sarangi twice daily.[21] He also wore clothing reminiscent of a Sufi fakir. Sai Baba also opposed all sorts of persecutions on religious or caste background.
Sai Baba of Shirdi was also an opponent of religious orthodoxy - both Hindu and Muslim.[22] Although Sai Baba himself led the life of an ascetic, he advised his followers to lead an ordinary family life.
Sai Baba encouraged his devotees to pray, chant God's name and read holy scriptures - he told Muslims to study the Qur'an, and Hindus, texts like the Ramayana, Vishnu Sahasranam, Bhagavad Gita (and commentaries to it), Yoga Vasistha.[23] He was impressed by the philosophy of Bhagvad Gita and want people should follow the facts of life written in Bhagvad Gita in their life to make life more meaningful and beautiful.He advised his devotees and followers to lead a moral life, help others,love every living being without any discrimination, treat them with love and develop two important features of character: faith (Shraddha) and patience (Saburi). He also criticized atheism.[24] In his teachings Sai Baba emphasised the importance of performing one's duties without attachment to earthly matters and being ever content regardless of the situation.
Sai Baba also interpreted the religious texts of both faiths. According to what the people who stayed with him said and wrote he had a profound knowledge of them. He explained the meaning of the Hindu scriptures in the spirit of Advaita Vedanta. This was the character of his philosophy. It also had numerous elements of bhakti. The three main Hindu spiritual paths - Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga - were visible in the teachings of Sai Baba.[25] Another example of the way he combined both faiths is the Hindu name he gave to his mosque, Dwarakamai.[26]
Sai Baba said that God penetrates everything and lives in every being, and as well that God is the essence of each of them. He emphasised the complete oneness of God which was very close to the Islamic tawhid and the Hindu doctrine, e.g. of the Upanishads. Sai Baba said that the world and all that the human may give is transient and only God and his gifts are eternal. Sai Baba also emphasised the importance of devotion to God - bhakti - and surrender to his will. He also talked about the need of faith and devotion to one's spiritual preceptor (guru). He said that everyone was the soul and not the body. He advised his disciples and followers to overcome the negative features of character and develop the good ones. He taught them that all fate was determined by karma.
Sai Baba left no written works. His teachings were oral, typically short, pithy sayings rather than elaborate discourses. Sai would ask his followers for money (dakshina), which he would give away to the poor and other devotees the same day and spend the rest on buying wood to maintain Dhuni. According to his followers he did it in order to rid them of greed and material attachment.
Sai encouraged charity and the importance of sharing with others. He said: "Unless there is some relationship or connection, nobody goes anywhere. If any men or creatures come to you, do not discourteously drive them away, but receive them well and treat them with due respect. Shri Hari (God) will be certainly pleased if you give water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry, clothes to the naked and your verandah to strangers for sitting and resting. If anybody wants any money from you and you are not inclined to give, do not give, but do not bark at him like a dog."[27] Other favourite sayings of his were: "Why do you fear when I am here",[28] "He has no beginning... He has no end."[28] Sai Baba made eleven assurances to his devotees:
Sai Baba of Shirdi (took samadhi in 1918)
1. Whosoever puts their feet on Shirdi soil, their sufferings will come to an end.
2. The wretched and miserable will rise to joy and happiness as soon as they climb the steps of My Samadhi.
3. I shall be ever active and vigorous even after leaving this earthly body.
4. My tomb shall bless and speak to the needs of my devotees.
5. I shall be active and vigorous even from my tomb.
6. My mortal remains will speak from My tomb.
7. I am ever living to help and guide all who come to Me, who surrender to Me and who seek refuge in Me.
8. If you look at Me, I look at you.
9. If you cast your burden on Me, I shall surely bear it.
10. If you seek My advice and help, it shall be given to you at once.
11. There shall be no want in the house of My devotee.
[edit] Worship and devotees
Main article: Shirdi Sai Baba movement
The Shirdi Sai Baba movement began in the 19th century, during his life, while he was staying in Shirdi. A local Khandoba priest - Mhalsapathy - is believed to have been his first devotee. However, in the 19th century Sai Baba's followers were only a small group of Shirdi inhabitants and a few people from other parts of India. It started developing in the 20th century and even faster in 1910 with the Sankirtans of Das Ganu (one of Sai's devotees) who spread Sai Baba's fame to the whole of India. Since 1910 numerous Hindus and Muslims from all parts of India started coming to Shirdi. During his life Hindus worshipped him with Hindu rituals and Muslims revered him greatly, considering him to be a saint. Later (in the last years of Sai Baba's life) Christians and Zoroastrians started joining the Shirdi Sai movement.[2]
The Sai Baba mandir in Shirdi is active and every day worship of Sai is conducted in it. Pilgrims visit Shirdi every day. Shirdi Baba is especially revered and worshipped in the state of Maharashtra and in Gujarat. A religious organisation of Sai Baba's devotees called the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust is based there. The first ever Sai Baba temple is situated at Bhivpuri,Karjat.
The devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba have spread all over India.[2] According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Religion there is at least one Sai Baba mandir in nearly every Indian city.[2] His image is quite popular in India.[2] Some ordinary non-religious publishing houses (such as Sterling Publishers) publish books about Shirdi Sai written by his devotees.[29] Shirdi is among the major Hindu places of pilgrimage.[30] The Shirdi Sai Baba movement is partially organised. Only a part of his followers and devotees belong to the Shri Saibaba Sansthan or to other religious organisations that worship him.
Beyond India the Shirdi Sai movement has spread to other countries such as the U.S. or the Caribbean. Sai Baba mandirs and organisations of his devotees have been built in countries including Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and the USA. The Shirdi Sai Baba movement is one of the main Hindu religious movements in English-speaking countries.[31]
According to estimates the Sai mandir in Shirdi is visited by around twenty thousand pilgrims a day and during religious festivals this number amounts to a hundred thousand.[32]
Sai Baba had many notable disciples:
1. Nana Chandorkar: Deputy Collector – legend has it that Baba saved his daughter from labor complications).
2. Mhasalapathi: Priest of Khandoba Temple in Shirdi. He is the first one to have addressed Baba as Sai Baba.
3. Ganapathi Rao: Popularly known as Das Ganu, police Constable, later resigned to become an ascetic.
4. Tatya Patil: Ganapathi Rao's son had immense faith in Sai Baba and served him until Sai Baba died.
5. Madhava Rao Deshpande later known as Shama, one of the staunch devotees of Sai Baba
6. Hemadpant: Baba allowed him to keep memos and write Sai Sat Charitra
Sai Baba's millions of disciples, followers and devotees believe that he had performed many miracles. Some of them were: bilocation, exorcisms, curing the incurably sick, helping his devotees in need in a miraculous way, reading the minds of others. Numerous inhabitants of Shirdi talked about these miracles. Some of them even wrote about them in books. They talked and wrote about how they (and others) were the witnesses of his unusual Yogic powers: levitation, entering a state of Samādhi at wish, even removing his limbs and sticking them back to his body (Khanda Yoga) or doing the same with his intestines.
According to his followers he appeared to them after his death, in dreams, visions and even in bodily form, whence he often gave them advice. His devotees have many stories and experiences to tell.[33] Many books have been written on these events.
[edit] Historical sources
Biographers of Sai Baba of Shirdi (e.g. Govindrao Raghunath Dabholkar, Acharya Ekkirala Bharadwaja, Smriti Srinivas, Antonio Rigopolous) when writing about him base it on what people who knew Sai Baba said and wrote. Another source they use is the Shirdi Diary written by Ganesh Shrikrishna Khaparde, which describes every day of the author's stay at Shirdi. When speculating about the unknown episodes of Sai Baba's life, they mainly base their conclusions on his own words.
The most important source about Sai's life is the Shri Sai Satcharita written in Marathi, in 1916 by Govindrao Raghunath Dabholkar (translated into English by Nagesh Vasudevanand Gunaji with English title: Shri Sai Satcharitra) whom Sai Baba nicknamed Hemadpant, which is an account of his life, teachings and miracles. Other important sources about Sai Baba are books by B. V. Narasimhaswamiji such as Sri Sai Baba's Charters and Sayings or Devotee's Experiences of Sai Baba. Sri Sai Baba and His Teachings by Acharya Ekkirala Bharadwaja is an indepth study of Sai's life's routine and activities.
[edit] In various religions
Sai Baba depicted on a tapestry
[edit] Hinduism
During Sai Baba's life, the Hindu saint Anandanath of Yewala declared Sai Baba a spiritual "diamond".[34] Another saint, Gangagir, called him a "jewel".[34] Sri Beedkar Maharaj greatly revered Sai Baba, and in 1873, when he met him he bestowed the title Jagadguru upon him.[35][36] Sai Baba was also greatly respected by Vasudevananda Saraswati (known as Tembye Swami).[37] Sai of Shirdi was also revered by a group of Shaivic yogis, to which he belonged, known as the Nath-Panchayat.[38] Swami Kaleshwar publicly worships Sai Baba, and treats him as a great saint and his own guru.[39]
[edit] Other religions
Sai Baba is considered a Pir by some Sufi groups. Meher Baba declared Baba to be a Qutub-e-Irshad - the highest of the five Qutubs.[40] Baba is also worshipped by prominent Zoroastrians such as Nanabhoy Palkhivala and Homi Bhabha, and has been cited as the most popular non-Zoroastrian religious figure attracting the attention of Zoroastrians.[41]
Most of the roadside temples are dedicated to him, we have several in my area at Bandra.
One person who is a staunch devotee of Sai Baba is actor Mohan Babu ,and my dear friend and patron Ram Manghnani of East West Travels..
sourced from wikipedia
Sai Baba of Shirdi (d. October 15, 1918), also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian guru, yogi and fakir who is regarded by his Hindu and Muslim followers as a saint. Some of his Hindu devotees believe that he was an incarnation of Shiva or Dattatreya, and he was regarded as a satguru and an incarnation of Kabir.
The name 'Sai Baba' is a combination of Persian and Indian origin; Sāī (Sa'ih) is the Persian term for "holy one" or "saint", usually attributed to Islamic ascetics, whereas Bābā is a word meaning "father" used in Indian languages. The appellative thus refers to Sai Baba as being a "holy father" or "saintly father".[1] His parentage, birth details, and life before the age of sixteen are obscure, which has led to a variety of speculations and theories attempting to explain Sai Baba's origins. In his life and teachings he tried to reconcile Hinduism and Islam: Sai Baba lived in a mosque, was buried in a Hindu temple, practised Hindu and Muslim rituals, and taught using words and figures that drew from both traditions. One of his well known epigrams says of God: "Allah Malik" ("God is Master").
Sai Baba taught a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace, devotion to God and guru. His philosophy was Advaita Vedanta and his teachings consisted of elements both of this school as well as of bhakti and Islam.
Sai Baba remains a popular saint[2] and is worshipped mainly in Maharashtra, southern Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Debate on his Hindu or Muslim origins continues to take place.[3] He is also revered by several notable Hindu and Sufi religious leaders. Some of his disciples received fame as spiritual figures and saints.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Biography
o 1.1 Background
o 1.2 Residence in Shirdi
* 2 Notable disciples
* 3 Teachings and practices
* 4 Worship and devotees
* 5 Miracles
* 6 Historical sources
* 7 In various religions
o 7.1 Hinduism
o 7.2 Other religions
* 8 In culture
o 8.1 Sacral art and architecture
o 8.2 Film and television
* 9 References and footnotes
* 10 Further reading
* 11 See also
* 12 External links
[edit] Biography
[edit] Background
Although Sai Baba's origins are unknown, some indications exist that suggest that he was born not far from Shirdi. Historical researches into genealogies in Shirdi give support to the theory that Baba could have been born with the name Haribhau Bhusari.[4] Baba was notorious for giving vague, misleading and contradictory replies to questions concerning his parentage and origins, brusquely stating the information was unimportant. He had reportedly stated to a close follower, Mhalsapati, that he has been born of Brahmin parents in the village of Pathri and had been entrusted into the care of a fakir in his infancy.[5] On another occasion, Baba reportedly said that the fakir's wife had left him in the care of a Hindu guru, Venkusa of Selu, and that he had stayed with Venkusa for twelve years as his disciple.[6] This dichotomy has given rise to two major theories regarding Baba's background, with the majority of writers supporting the Hindu background over the Islamic, while others combine both the theories (that Sai Baba was first brought up by a fakir and then by a guru).[7]
Baba reportedly arrived at the village of Shirdi in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, India, when he was about sixteen years old. Although there is no agreement among biographers about the date of this event, it is generally accepted that Baba stayed in Shirdi for three years, disappeared for a year and returned permanently around 1858, which posits a possible birthyear of 1838.[8] He led an ascetic life, sitting motionless under a neem tree and meditating while sitting in an asana. The Sai Satcharita recounts the reaction of the villagers: "The people of the village were wonder-struck to see such a young lad practicing hard penance, not minding heat or cold. By day he associated with no one, by night he was afraid of nobody."[9] His presence attracted the curiosity of the villagers and the religiously-inclined such as Mhalsapati, Appa Jogle and Kashinatha regularly visited him, while others such as the village children considered him mad and threw stones at him.[10] After some time he left the village, and it is unknown where he stayed at that time or what happened to him. However, there are some indications that he met with many saints and fakirs, and worked as a weaver; he claimed to have fought with the army of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.[11]
Shirdi Sai Baba sitting in front of his mosque
Shirdi Sai Baba sitting in front of his mosque
[edit] Residence in Shirdi
In 1858 Sai Baba returned to Shirdi with Chand Patil's wedding procession. After alighting near the Khandoba temple he was greeted with the words "Ya Sai" (welcome saint) by the temple priest Mhalsapati. The name Sai stuck to him and some time later he started being known as Sai Baba.[12] It was around this time that Baba adopted his famous style of dress, consisting of a knee-length one-piece robe (kafni) and a cloth cap. Ramgir Bua, a devotee, testified that Baba was dressed like an athlete and sported 'long hair flowing down to his buttocks' when he arrived in Shirdi, and that he never had his head shaved. It was only after Baba forfeited a wrestling match with one Mohdin Tamboli that he took up the kafni and cloth cap, articles of typically Sufi clothing.[13] This attire contributed to Baba's identification as a Muslim fakir, and was a reason for initial indifference and hostility against him in a predominantly Hindu village.[14] According to B V Narasimhaswami, a posthumous follower who was widely praised as Sai Baba's "apostle", this attitude was prevalent even among some of his devotees in Shirdi, even up to 1954.[15]
For four to five years Baba lived under a neem tree, and often wandered for long periods in the jungle in and around Shirdi. His manner was said to be withdrawn and uncommunicative as he undertook long periods of meditation.[16] He was eventually persuaded to take up residence in an old and dilapidated mosque and lived a solitary life there, surviving by begging for alms and receiving itinerant Hindu or Muslim visitors. In the mosque he maintained a sacred fire which is referred to as a dhuni, from which he had the custom of giving sacred ash ('Udhi') to his guests before they left and which was believed to have healing powers and protection from dangerous situations. At first he performed the function of a local hakim and treated the sick by application of Udhi. Baba also delivered spiritual teachings to his visitors, recommending the reading of sacred Hindu texts along with the Qur'an, especially insisting on the indispensability of the unbroken remembrance of God's name (dhikr, japa). He often expressed himself in a cryptic manner with the use of parables, symbols and allegories.[17] He participated in religious festivals and was also in the habit of preparing food for his visitors, which he distributed to them as prasad. Sai Baba's entertainment was dancing and singing religious songs (he enjoyed the songs of Kabir most). His behaviour was sometimes uncouth and violent.[18][19]
After 1910 Sai Baba's fame began to spread in Mumbai. Numerous people started visiting him, because they regarded him as a saint (or even an avatar) with the power of performing miracles.[20] and they built his first ever temple at Bhivpuri, Karjat as desired by Sai Baba.[21][22]Sai Baba took Mahasamadhi on October 15, 1918 at 2.30pm. He died on the lap of one of his devotees with hardly any belongings, and was buried in the "Buty Wada" according to his wish. Later a mandir was built there known as the "Samadhi Mandir".[23]
[edit] Notable disciples
Sai Baba left behind no spiritual heirs and appointed no disciples. In fact, he did not even provide formal initiation. Some disciples of Sai Baba achieved fame as spiritual figures like Upasni Maharaj of Sakori and Meher Baba of Ahmednagar. After Sai Baba passed away, his devotees offered the daily Aarti to Upasani Maharaj when he paid a visit to Shirdi, two times with an interval of 10 years.
[edit] Teachings and practices
Shirdi Sai Baba, leaning against the wall of his masjid, with devotees
Shirdi Sai Baba, leaning against the wall of his masjid, with devotees
In his personal practice, Sai Baba observed worship procedures belonging to Hinduism and Islam; he shunned any kind of regular rituals but allowed the practice of namaz, chanting of Al-Fatiha, and Qur'an readings at Muslim festival times.[24] Occasionally reciting the Al-Fatiha himself, Baba also enjoyed listening to moulu and qawwali accompanied with the tabla and sarangi twice daily.[25] He also wore clothing reminiscent of a Sufi fakir. Sai Baba also opposed all sorts of persecutions on religious or caste background.
Sai Baba of Shirdi was also an opponent of religious orthodoxy - both Hindu and Muslim.[26] Although Sai Baba himself led the life of an ascetic, he advised his followers to lead an ordinary family life.
Sai Baba encouraged his devotees to pray, chant God's name and read holy scriptures - he told Muslims to study the Qur'an and Hindus texts like the Ramayana, Vishnu Sahasranam, Bhagavad Gita (and commentaries to it), Yoga Vasistha.[27] He advised his devotees and followers to lead a moral life, help others, treat them with love and develop two important features of character: faith (Shraddha) and patience (Saburi). He also criticized atheism.[28] In his teachings Sai Baba emphasised the importance of performing one's duties without attachment to earthly matters and being ever content regardless of the situation.
Sai Baba also interpreted the religious texts of both faiths. According to what the people who stayed with him said and wrote he had a profound knowledge of them. He explained the meaning of the Hindu scriptures in the spirit of Advaita Vedanta. This was the character of his philosophy. It also had numerous elements of bhakti. The three main Hindu spiritual paths - Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga - were visible in the teachings of Sai Baba.[29] Another example of the way he combined both faiths is the Hindu name he gave to his mosque, Dwarakamai.[7]
Sai Baba said that God penetrates everything and lives in every being, and as well that God is the essence of each of them. He emphasised the complete oneness of God which was very close to the Islamic tawhid and the Hindu doctrine, e.g. of the Upanishads. Sai Baba said that the world and all that the human may give is transient and only God and his gifts are eternal. Sai Baba also emphasised the importance of devotion to God - bhakti - and surrender to his will. He also talked about the need of faith and devotion to one's spiritual preceptor (guru). He said that everyone was the soul and not the body. He advised his disciples and followers to overcome the negative features of character and develop the good ones. He taught them that all fate was determined by karma.
Sai Baba left no written works. His teachings were oral, typically short, pithy sayings rather than elaborate discourses. Sai would ask his followers for money (dakshina), which he would give away to the poor and other devotees the same day and spend the rest on matches. According to his followers he did it in order to rid them of greed and material attachment.
Sai encouraged charity and the importance of sharing with others. He said: "Unless there is some relationship or connection, nobody goes anywhere. If any men or creatures come to you, do not discourteously drive them away, but receive them well and treat them with due respect. Shri Hari (God) will be certainly pleased if you give water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry, clothes to the naked and your verandah to strangers for sitting and resting. If anybody wants any money from you and you are not inclined to give, do not give, but do not bark at him like a dog."[30] Other favourite sayings of his were: "Why do you fear when I am here",[31] "He has no beginning... He has no end."[31] Sai Baba made eleven assurances to his devotees:
1. Whosoever puts their feet on Shirdi soil, their sufferings will come to an end.
2. The wretched and miserable will rise to joy and happiness as soon as they climb the steps of My Samadhi.
3. I shall be ever active and vigorous even after leaving this earthly body.
4. My tomb shall bless and speak to the needs of my devotees.
5. I shall be active and vigorous even from my tomb.
6. My mortal remains will speak from My tomb.
7. I am ever living to help and guide all who come to Me, who surrender to Me and who seek refuge in Me.
8. If you look to Me, I look to you.
9. If you cast your burden on Me, I shall surely bear it.
10. If you seek My advice and help, it shall be given to you at once.
11. There shall be no want in the house of My devotee.
[edit] Worship and devotees
Main article: Shirdi Sai Baba movement
The Shirdi Sai Baba movement began in the nineteenth century, during his life, while he was staying in Shirdi. A local Khandoba priest - Mhalsapathy - is believed to have been his first devotee. However, in the nineteenth century Sai Baba's followers were only a small group of Shirdi inhabitants and a few people from other parts of India. It started developing in the twentieth century and even faster in 1910 with the Sankirtans of Das Ganu (one of Sai's devotees) who spread Sai Baba's fame to the whole of India. Since 1910 numerous Hindus and Muslims from all parts of India started coming to Shirdi. During his life Hindus worshipped him with Hindu rituals and Muslims revered him greatly, considering him to be a saint. Later (in the last years of Sai Baba's life) Christians and Zoroastrians started joining the Shirdi Sai movement.[2]
The Sai Baba mandir in Shirdi is active and every day worship of Sai is conducted in it. Pilgrims visit Shirdi every day. Shirdi Baba is especially revered and worshipped in the state of Maharashtra. A religious organisation of Sai Baba's devotees called the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust is based there. The first ever Sai Baba temple is situated at Bhivpuri,Karjat.
The devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba have spread all over India.[2] According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Religion there is at least one Sai Baba mandir in nearly every Indian city.[2] His image is quite popular in India.[2] Some ordinary non-religious publishing houses (such as Sterling Publishers) publish books about Shirdi Sai written by his devotees.[32] Shirdi is among the major Hindu places of pilgrimage.[33] The Shirdi Sai Baba movement is partially organised. Only a part of his followers and devotees belong to the Shri Saibaba Sansthan or to other religious organisations that worship him.
Beyond India the Shirdi Sai movement has spread to other countries such as the U.S. or the Caribbean. Sai Baba mandirs and organisations of his devotees have been built in countries including Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and the USA. The Shirdi Sai Baba movement is one of the main Hindu religious movements in English speaking countries.[34] According to estimates the Sai mandir in Shirdi is visited by around twenty thousand pilgrims a day and during religious festivals this number amounts to a hundred thousand.[35]
Sai Baba had many notable disciples:
1. Nana Chandorkar: Deputy Collector (Legend has it that Baba saved his daughter from Labor complications)
2. Mhasalapathi: Priest of Khandoba Temple in Shirdi ( He is the one to have addressed Baba as Sai Baba)
3. Ganapathi Rao popularly known as Das Ganu: Police Constable later resigned and became ascetic
4. Tatya Patil: Ganapathi Rao's Son had immense faith on Sai Baba and served him until his death (Sai's Death)
5. Madhava Rao Deshpande later known as Shama: One of the staunch devotee of Sai Baba
[edit] Miracles
Sai Baba's millions of disciples, followers and devotees believe that he had performed many miracles. Some of them were: bilocation, exorcisms, curing the incurably sick, helping his devotees in need in a miraculous way, reading the minds of others. Numerous inhabitants of Shirdi talked about these miracles. Some of them even wrote about them in books. They talked and wrote about how they (and others) were the witnesses of his unusual Yogic powers: levitation, entering a state of Samādhi at wish, even removing his limbs and sticking them back to his body (Khanda Yoga) or doing the same with his intestines.
According to his followers he appeared to them after his death, in dreams, visions and even in bodily form, whence he often gave them advice. His devotees have many stories and experiences to tell.[36] Many books have been written on the same.
[edit] Historical sources
Biographers of Sai Baba of Shirdi (e.g. Govindrao Ragulnath Dabholkar, Acharya Ekkirala Bharadwaja, Smriti Srinivas, Antonio Rigopolous) when writing about him base it on what people who knew Sai Baba said and wrote. Another source they use is the Shirdi Diary written by Ganesh Shrikrishna Khaparde, which describes every day of the author's stay at Shirdi. When speculating about the unknown episode's of Sai Baba's life, they mainly base their conclusions on his own words.
The most important source about Sai's life is the Shri Sai Satcharita written in Marathi, in 1916 by Govindrao Ragulnath Dabholkar (translated into English by Nagesh Vasudevanand Gunaji with English title: Shri Sai Satcharitra) whom Sai Baba nicknamed Hemadpant, which is an account of his life, teachings and miracles. Other important sources about Sai Baba are books by B. V. Narasimhaswamiji such as Sri Sai Baba's Charters and Sayings or Devotee's Experiences of Sai Baba. Sri Sai Baba and His Teachings by Acharya Ekkirala Bharadwaja is an indepth study of Sai's life routine and activities.
[edit] In various religions
Sai Baba depicted on a tapestry
Sai Baba depicted on a tapestry
[edit] Hinduism
During Sai Baba's life the Hindu saint Anandanath of Yewala declared Sai Baba a spiritual "diamond".[37] Another saint, Gangagir, called him a "jewel".[37] Sri Beedkar Maharaj greatly revered Sai Baba, and in 1873, when he met him he bestowed the title Jagadguru upon him.[38][39] Sai Baba was also greatly respected by Vasudevananda Saraswati (known as Tembye Swami).[40] Sai of Shirdi was also revered by a group of Shaivic yogis, to which he belonged, known as the Nath-Panchayat.[41] Swami Kaleshwar publicly worships Sai Baba, and treats him as a great saint and his own guru.[42]
[edit] Other religions
In Islamic culture Sai Baba appears mainly in Sufism and is considered a Pir of a very high order. Meher Baba declared Baba to be a Qutub-e-Irshad - the highest of the five Qutubs.[43] Baba is also worshipped by prominent Zoroastrians such as Nanabhoy Palkhivala and Homi Bhabha, and has been cited as the most popular non-Zoroastrian religious figure attracting the attention of Zoroastrians.[44]
[edit] In culture
[edit] Sacral art and architecture
In India in nearly every larger city there is at least one temple dedicated to Sai Baba.[2] There are even some in towns and cities outside India. In the mosque in Shirdi in which Sai Baba lived there is a life-size portrait of him by Shama Rao Jaykar, an artist from Mumbai. Numerous monuments and statues depicting Sai Baba, which serve a religious function, have also been made. One of them, made of marble by a sculptor named Balaji Vasant Talim, is in the Samadhi Mandir in Shirdi where Sai Baba was buried.[45] In Sai Baba mandirs, his devotees play various kinds of devotional religious music, such as aarti.[46]
(A must watch in Black!!)
For people who are wondering about the tamil title, it is in reference to a recent tamil movie called 'Naan E' (Translation: I am a Fly)
This mosquito was shot long long ago at CBE. I am not sure about what species this guy/gal belongs to but he usually comes and sits on leaves of a particular plant (Under the sun). The moment you go near for a click, he vanishes away only to return within 10 secs to the adjacent leaf. Watching these guys under the Raynox is an experience in itself. The Raynox beautifully enlarges their features and their compound eyes are a treat to watch. There will also be times when they shake one of their legs as though to shoo me away......
*********************************************************************************************************
Use of my Photographs
Creative Commons License
The Photographs by Nagesh Jayaraman are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 India License.
You may use my photographs provided that:
-you take prior permission before use. You can write to me through flickr and I will be able to honor your requests
- give me credit as the photographer and following the guidlelines as laid by the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 India License.
*********************************************************************************************************