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Soumen Basu, Executive Adviser, ManpowerGroup, India at the World Economic Forum on India 2012. Copyright World Economic Forum / Photo by Benedikt von Loebell
An Indian girl enjoys the rain during a heavy downpour in Mumbai on June 6, 2008. Mumbaikars breathed a sigh of relief as the weather became cool and pleasant after spells of showers and pre-dawn rain. The monsoon season, which runs from June to September, accounts for about 80 percent of India's annual rainfall. AFP PHOTO/ Sajjad HUSSAIN
Ladakhi women from Korzok village spinning wool.
Korzok village is one of the highest villages in the World: situated at 4,595 metres (15,075 ft) on the bank of Lake Tsomoriri.
Tsomomiri is the largest of the high altitude lakes to be situated entirely within India. The remote high plateau of Changthang stretches from western Tibet into eastern Ladakh.
Voters line up to cast their votes as a security guard looks on at Municipal Inter College Taj Ganj, Agra, Uttar Pradesh. [Photo: Prashanth Vishwanathan/UNDP India]
It has been two years since my last visit to India. Such trips were always for business. Yet, I tried to find time to visit the countryside around Bangalore. The Indian state of Karnataka is home to a large collection of Hoysala Dynasty temples.
My favorite temples were built by kings, queens, and a military general. The 12th century temple at Helibidu is my favorite. The stone carvings are so beautiful that if you squint your eyes, you would swear they are alive and breathing.
The large temple of Belur is nice, but too spread out for my tastes. Beautiful things are certainly there, so if you are in the Hassan region of Karnataka, it's worth paying it a visit.
Which leads me to these series of images. They are from the 13th century Hoysala temple of Somanathapura. It is a small temple that is overflowing with incredible stone carvings.
My many and continued thanks to Prakash Murthy for taking me to so many wonderful places in southern India. It was he who introduced me to the temples and sacred places of Karnataka.
Ambling out of Jaisalmer train station in late morning, we were immediately accosted by the throngs of drivers – mostly working for specific hotels – who were trying to pick us up. Since I’d booked a room at the Roop Mahal, this wasn’t an issue. It took a minute to find the guy, but he was there to drive us the whole 1-2 km to the hotel, which was at the base of the fort on the west side.
The biggest reason to come to Jaisalmer, the Golden City (since most places are primarily built of sandstone) is to see the fort, which is on a bit of a hill overlooking an otherwise flat desert. As it’s in the desert, the temperatures in the day, even in late September, were close to 40 degrees Celsius (a little over 100F).
According to Lonely Planet India, the fort was built in 1156 by the Rajput ruler Jaisal and reinforced by subsequent rulers. It “was the focus of a number of battles between the Bhatis, the Mughals of Delhi and the Rathores of Jodhpur.”
Nowadays, it’s a living fort. Jaisalmer Fort has plenty of residents, restaurants, souvenir stands, havelis (old-style housing with ornate architecture: carved stone doorways, lattice screens, balconies, and turrets). The havelis are often hotels now, and almost every hotel here has a rooftop restaurant to enjoy the surrounding view. Our hotel, the Roop Mahal, also had a rooftop restaurant where I ate a few times. The food was…not great, but certainly not bad.
In addition to the havelis, there are also quite a few temples. Specifically, there are seven Jain temples (that you can tour for 150 rupees/15 RMB/$2.50USD). These temples were visually quite attractive inside – some more than others – and also had plenty of worshippers coming in and out. I was impressed by the intricacy of the details and sandstone carving, the intimacy of the art, and the way natural light was used in the temples. I don’t believe tripods were allowed inside the temple, which made a lot of shooting quite difficult, but not impossible. The only other rule is that you have to take your shoes off outside and pay someone (usually about 100 rupee) to “watch” your shoes.
After having a meal in the fort (and, excitedly, finding a spice shop where I bought the first of many Indian spices to bring back to China with me), my travel partner arranged for us to go out to the desert and ride camels. (The hotelier also offered something similar, but was a bit expensive.)
Later in the day, around 5:00, if I recall correctly, a guy came to pick us up at the hotel in a jeep and four of us – me, my travel partner, and two Israeli women – started our drive out to Sam, about 50 km west of Jaisalmer (and less than 100 km – maybe less than 50 – from the Pakistani border to the west).
En route, we had to make a few required stops (per our drivers). The first place was so forgettable that I can’t even recall the name of it or what it was. The second place was just to see a small village (really, two buildings) and a whole lot of kids running up to you begging for money in exchange for pictures.
After that, we finally made it out to the desert, where we rode camels for about half an hour and then stopped at a rather random place where we were eventually given a home-cooked Indian meal, vegetarian, that consisted of dal, naan, and a few curries. It was delicious, and had to be eaten completely in Indian style (no utensils of any kind).
While watching the sunset and the subsequent moonrise, we eventually bade our Israeli friends farewell (as they were spending the night in the desert) and headed back to town. Along the way, I caught a glimpse of a late night cricket match, and it was the only time during this trip I’d see that. When we got back to the hotel, we just needed to wait there for an hour or two before they were kind enough to drive us to the train station around 11:00 p.m. so we could catch our midnight train to Jodhpur…the Blue City.
HAPPY CHHATH PUJA 🌞❤️ Rajeesh invited me to celebrate Chhath Puja along with his family. In the Indian state of Bihar, these 4 days are among the oldest and most important Hindu festivals. The prayers are dedicated to the sun goddess SURYA. This includes bathing rituals, fasting and at sunset millions of colorfully dressed people stand in the water and symbolically sacrifice their harvest and thank Surya. In the afternoon, before going to the river together, everyone dressed up and decorated the offering baskets. What an honor, dear Rajeesh, to be part of this magnificent celebration, thank you very much 🙏❤️
Bhils are a tribal people of Central India. They speak Bhil languages, a group of Indic languages. Bhils are also settled in Tharparkar district of Sindh in Pakistan.
Bhils are a scheduled tribe in the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan in western and central India, as well as in Tripura in far-eastern India, on the border with Bangladesh.
The Ghoomar dance is one well-known aspect of Bhil culture.
Historically, Bhil community were tribals, who used to reside in deep forest area and were expert in hunting and fearsome tribe. In feudal and colonial times, many Bhils were employed by the ruling Rajputs in various capacities, e.g. as Shikaris because of their knowledge of the terrain. Many had even become warriors in armies. They were in the Mewar army of Maharana Pratap Singh and like Chhatrapati Shivaji, were experts in guerilla warfare which the Mughals had so much trouble handling. Today, there is a Mewar Bhil Corps.'
In Hindu Mythology, popular Bhil figures are Shabari, who offered Rama and Laxmana half-eaten Ber (berries) fruit when they were searching for Sita Devi in the forest. Maharishi Matanga was another Hindu Bhil sage who became a Brahmana.
In Mahabharata also there is a popular story of Eklavya, a Bhil, who developed his archery skill as equal to Arjun. So Guru Dronacharya, asked his thumb in Guru-Dakshina
It is noteworthy that Lord Rama appears in a Bhil myth where there has been a flood that wiped out humanity and Rama suggests how it can be repopulated.
Hundreds of activists staged a protest over pressure by Western nations on India to strengthen intellectual property rights, which has the potential to limit the production of life-saving generic medication.
AHF activists demanded at a rally at Jantar Mantar that India should not sign the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Protesters argue stricter IPR could limit the production of life-saving generic medication.
Rights-plus (TRIPS-plus), which can cut off the potential supply of cheaper generic medicines that can save lives, especially when the original branded products are priced so high that very few can afford them.
Nederlandse bedrijven zien steeds meer kansen in Zuid-India. Daarom investeert Nederland in de opening van een nieuw Consulaat/NBSO in Bangalore om BV Nederland bij te staan bij het realiseren van deze marktkansen. En organiseert van 18 - 23 juni 2017 een economische missie naar Zuid-India (New Delhi, Bangalore en Hyderabad) in aanwezigheid van Marten van den Berg, directeur-generaal Buitenlandse Economische Betrekkingen van het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken.
India
India biedt met een bevolking van 1,3 miljard mensen en een sterk groeiende goed opgeleide middenklasse een grote potentiële afzetmarkt voor het Nederlandse bedrijfsleven. De Indiase economische groei loopt naar verwachting in 2016-2017 verder op tot 7,8%, de consumentengoederenmarkt groeit met 15% en het investeringsklimaat is aantrekkelijk. Het is dan ook geen wonder dat IMF de Indiase economie aanmerkt als een bright spot.
Tijdens deze missie ligt de focus op de volgende thema’s:
•Smart cities
•High Tech
Deze thema’s zullen naar verwachting interessant zijn voor bedrijven en kennisinstellingen uit de HTSM-sectoren: IT (cyber security, serious gaming, e-health); Medtech (medical devices, hospital infrastructure, e-health); space/aerospace; precision engineering; smart manufacturing/talent of Indian engineers. Ook voor bedrijven en kennisinstellingen uit de sectoren Life Science & Health, fintech, water en logistiek en infrastructuur is deze missie interessant.
Tijdens de missie komen onderwerpen aan de orde als: duurzame stedelijke ontwikkeling, stedelijke mobiliteit, watermanagement, een goede gezondheidszorg, wetenschappelijke samenwerking, robotica.