View allAll Photos Tagged ajithkumar
Taken during the photographic workshop by prabodhini on 20th July 08 at Lalbagh , Bangalore
This is the website :- prabodhini.110mb.com/
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love - Saint Basil
Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה, Yehudah, "Judah"; in Hebrew: יַהֲדוּת, Yahedut, the distinctive characteristics of the Judean eáqnov) is a set of beliefs and practices originating from the saga of the ancient Israelites, as embodied and codified in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts. Judaism presents itself as the covenental relationship between the Children of Israel (later, the Jewish nation) and God. As such, many consider it the first monotheistic religion although many aspects of Judaism correspond to Western concepts of ethics and civil law. Judaism is among the oldest religious traditions still being practised today, and many of its texts and traditions are central to other Abrahamic religions. As such, Jewish history and the principles and ethics of Judaism have influenced various other religions, including Christianity and Islam.
Some sources say that the earliest Jews were those who settled in the Malabar coast during the times of King Solomon of Israel, and after the Kingdom of Israel split into two . They are sometimes referred to as the "black Jews". The Paradesi Jews, also called "White Jews", settled later, coming to India from European and Middle Eastern nations such as Holland and Spain, and bringing with them the Ladino language. Spanish and Portuguese Jews (Sephardim) settled in Goa in the 15th century, but this settlement eventually disappeared. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Cochin had an influx of Jewish settlers from the Middle East, North Africa and Spain.
Jews came to Kerala and settled as early as 700 BC for trade. An old, but not particularly reliable, tradition says that Jews of Cochin came in mass to Cranganore (an ancient port, near Cochin ,now known as Kodungallur) after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. A chieftain by the name of Joseph Rabban, according to local tradition, was granted a principality over the Jews of Cochin by the Chera Emperor of Kerala, Bhaskara Ravivarman II . His descendents had, in effect, their own principality (called Anjuvannam in Indian sources) for many centuries until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers (one of them named Joseph Azar) in the 15th century. The dispute led neighboring princes to dispossess them. In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode), attacked the Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they were tampering with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. He granted them a site for their own town that later acquired the name "Jew Town" (by which it is still known).
Unfortunately for the Jews of Cochin, the Portuguese occupied Cochin in this same period and indulged in persecution of the Jews until the Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch Protestants were tolerant, and the Jews prospered. In 1795 Cochin was occupied by and came under the control of the British Empire. In the 19th century, Cochin Jews lived in the towns of Cochin, Ernakulam, Aluva and North Paravur.
For an insight to Cochin Jewish life in eighteenth Century. read Volume VIII (page 336 to 354) of The Land of the Permauls, Or, Cochin, Its Past and Its Present By Dr Francis Day, a British Civil Surgeon of 1863 AD .
The Jews of Cochin did not adhere to the Talmudic prohibition, followed by other Orthodox Jews, against public singing by women, and therefore have a rich tradition of Jewish prayers and narrative songs performed by women in Judeo-Malayalam.
This shot is taken from Jew Street , Mattancheri, Cochin. I visited the Jewish Synagogue also , unfortunately photography was not allowed there.
[EXPLORED]
Taken from a riverside, Kerala, India
മധുവിന് മത്താല് പാറി മൂളുന്നൂ മധുപങ്ങള്..
മധുരമിജ്ജീവിതം ചെറുതാണെന്നാകിലും .
and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us " . ~ Voltaire
[Explored]
The Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon) is a predominantly green and black tropical butterfly that belongs to the swallowtail family. The butterfly is also called Green Spotted Triangle, Tailed Green Jay or the Green Triangle. It is a common, non-threatened species native to India, Sri Lanka through Southeast Asia and into Australia. Several geographic races are recognized.
Range
Southern India to Saurashtra, Northern India (Kumaon to Assam), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Andamans, Nicobars, Bangladesh, Brunei, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Kampuchea, southern China (including Hainan), Taiwan, South East Asia to New Guinea, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, and Australia (northern Queensland).
Underside: fuliginous brown or brownish-black, more or less suffused with pink along the costal margin, on apical area and along the outer margin of the discal markings on the fore wing, broadly along the dorsal and terminal margins and at base on interspaces 6 and 7 on the hind wing; markings similar to those on the upperside but less clearly defined and somewhat more grey in tint. Hind wing black, inwardly red-margined spots superposed on the pink area in interspaces 6 and 7. cilia very narrow, pale pink. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen black, thorax above and the abdomen on the sides streaked with greenish grey; beneath: ochreous grey touched on the thorax with pink.
Female similar, but with a streak of greenish white along the dorsal margin on both upper and under sides.[1]
Race decoratus is found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is very similar to the typical form, from which it can be distinguished as follows : Upperside green spots smaller, especially the discal series on the fore wing. Underside hind wing : the red postcostal spot is relatively small but the red part has much increased against the black part; besides the large red anal mark and the mark before the first disco-cellular veinlet, there is a large red spot in the lower median cellule [interspace 2], a smaller red spot in each of the three preceding cellules [interspaces 3, 4, 5] and a streak-like spot at the base of the lower median cellule.
Habitat
Once found primarily close to wooded country where there is a fairly heavy rainfall, the Tailed Jay is now very common at low elevations and regularly seen in gardens and urban areas due to its foodplant, Polyalthia longifolia (False Ashoka or Mast Tree), being widely used as an ornamental tree.
Taken from Bangalore, India
[explored]
ചന്തമേറിയ പൂവിലും ശബളാഭമാം ശലഭത്തിലും
സന്തതം കരതാരിയന്നൊരു ചിത്രചാതുരി കാട്ടിയും
ഹന്ത ചാരു കടാക്ഷമാലകളര്ക്കരശ്മിയില് നീട്ടിയും
ചിന്തയാം മണിമന്ദിരത്തില് വിളങ്ങുമീശനെ വാഴ്ത്തുവിന്
This is the younger one..The swallow tail is seen. Below is the older butterfly. As it grows older, it looses the colors and swallow tails . More details about this butterfly is given for the below picture.
[Explored]
The Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Merops philippinus is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It breeds in southeastern Asia. It is strongly migratory.
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly-coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green; its face has a narrow blue patch with a black eye stripe, and a yellow and brown throat; the tail is blue and the beak is black. It can reach a length of 23-26 cm, including the two elongated central tail feathers. Sexes are alike.
This is a bird which breeds in sub-tropical open country, such as farmland, parks or ricefields. It is most often seen near large waterbodies. Like other bee-eaters it predominantly eats insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch.This species probably takes bees and dragonflies in roughly equal numbers. The insect that are caught are beaten on the perch to kill and break the exoskeleton. This habit is seen in many other members of the coraciiformes order.
Blue-tailed Bee-eaters usually forage in open habitats near freshwater as well as coasts. Blue-tailed Bee-eaters roost together and a roost may include huge numbers (roosts of hundreds have been observed). They prefer to roost in tall trees inland, as well as in mangroves.
Breeding: Like other Bee-eaters, the Blue-tailed Bee-eaters nest in small colonies. They tunnel out a nest and prefer light sandy soil that allows good drainage. They chose a bare sandy flat ground covered with low vegetation in scrubs and tufts. On level ground, the tunnel slopes down sharply, levels off and may then rise slightly upwards again.
Family: Meropidae
Genus: Merops
Species: M. philippinus
Taken From a River side , Kerala, India
Thanks to Sash jose for the caption !!