Picture of the moment:- Ramayana on walls of a temple in Kumbakonam:
Picture of the moment is a weekly series exhibiting pictures from around the world.
When I was backpacking to interiors of Tamil Nadu, this was one of the temples I really wanted to visit. I was told that the whole epic of Ramayana is painted on interior walls of the temple.

If only you can read Tamil….
The multi-color painting was detailed and beautiful indeed.
By the time I clicked 2-3 shots, one of the junior priests came running, asking me to stop. …

Warning: This is a colorful post.
Before I start writing about my recent trip of Philippines and Malaysia, I thought it better to recollect how was the year 2010 for me in terms of travel.
I think I will skip some of domestic travels since a few of them happened in a jiffy and I do not remember the details now. Also, I am not counting the local exploration of lesser known places of my town such as watching Flamingos at Sewri fort.

Flamingos enjoying their meals.
The year started with a …

Here is a video I shot on making of wedding garland in south India. You can read the details here.
There is a street called Big Bazar street in the heart of the town Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu. Surrounded by temples this street is famous for flowers, garlands and such likes. When I saw this skilled man making some wedding garlands, I requested for a video. Language was a problem but I managed to get his permission before he finished off his work on this stump.

Note:- I had to …

These thick & heavy special wedding garlands are called Kalyana Malai ( कल्याण माला ) in Tamil and are made of mainly rose petals and chopped leaves. To keep them together in this conical shape and to prevent the petals from falling off, they are ‘wrapped’ in threads. You can watch this video how it is done.

After wrapping up with thread some decorative pieces are being inserted.
There are two such pieces of each garland. Mostly, only one piece