Ghumakkad Is Eleven!

Eleventh birthday! Not mine but of our blog, your blog! (www.ghumakkadhb.blogspot.com)

As Ghumakkad's blog completes 11 years, it is a moment of joy, thrill and excitement. Like the Baya Weavers in the picture below who go about building their nests from scratch. Patiently but steadily. Suspended up in the air but held firmly with a branch of the tree. Our blog is also somewhere up in the 'cloud' but bonded securely with you, the readers!

Thanks for being there to support Ghumakkad all these years.

The Journey

Ghumakkad started as a travel blog. Our inaugural story was a set of eight posts on picturesque Bhutan. Initially the blog was by invitation . Naturally it had very limited page views in the first three years. Once opened to public, more readers enjoyed browsing it. See the graph below which shows the current page views at 291,000 with more than 3900 comments. This is the 582nd Post of our blog.

The Content

Our blog has a variety of content with pictures. Some of the themes are listed below with links to connected stories:

• Travelogues like A Train journey in USA, Scuba diving at 65, Hiking up the Tiger's Nest in Bhutan, Toddler on a Hike

• Wildlife including The Big Five of Africa, Tigers of Tadoba, Birds of Ranganathittu, Rescuing a Black Winged Stilt

• Environment including Trees (White Jamun?, Neem Trees Under Attack), plants (Friendship With Plants), insects and flowers (Brahma Kamal)

• Online Contest called Kaun Banega Ghumakkad which has completed 80 editions so far!
• Lesser-known India series Hindola Toran, Devarakonda Fort and more

• Entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship stories like Dreams to Reality, Young Entrepreneurs Bootcamp, Startup Fever Grips VVISM

• Teaching and learning (Ghumakkad is a teacher!) including real-life case studies and Innovations in A Convocation

• Obituaries of leaders like Dr Abdul Kalam and martyrs like Capt Ravi Shankar

• Motivational posts specially during Covid

• Guest stories including those written by the children (Coyote Gulch Hiking in Stream), Covid survivors (I Got A New Life) and Animal Lovers like Rohini

• Picturesque Quotes having one of our pictures with a famous quote like Claude Monet on Nature and another one by a KBG winner.

• Adventure and Endurance like An Ironman in the Family, Women Hiking in Water

The Readership

Thanks to the wider reach of internet, our blog is read globally. Readers from India account for only 55%, balance coming from across the globe. See the colour coded world map below.

Most Viewed Posts

Capt Ravi Shankar's life story has been read more than 7000 times. We salute his supreme sacrifice.

Another story on 'Brahma Kamal The Queen of Night' has been read by more than 4000 readers. It shows the readers' interest in environment and Nature related posts.

Acknowledgements

There are numerous people who have helped us grow. We place on record our appreciation to the following for their unstinted support.

Trixie Asirvatham our content advisor

Chitra Shanker our advisor on plants, trees, insects and birds

Ramya Sriram logo designer of our KBG Contest

We also thank each one of you for your continued support without which Ghumakkad wouldn't have been here! Do give us your feedback to help us improve.

Onwards to the 12th Anniversary of Ghumakkad next year!

Thanks for browsing. Stay connected

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 24th May 2023/ Secunderabad

Postscript:

26th May 2023. Commander GR Sreenivasan, a reader from Bangalore wrote: "Fabulous compilation of unique and interesting  information mostly related to nature and wild life, meticulously  compiled and recorded for the benefit of present and future generations when many things will either become extinct or degraded due to climate change. What a way to celebrate, worship and express gratitude to the creator of this universe." (We hope that mankind doesn't degrade the environment to that extent- Eds.)

#GhumakkadHarsh #GhumakkadHB #11thAnniversary #BlogAnniversary #HarshBhargava #ThrillOfWriting #JourneyOfLife #BringingSmiles #makingadifference #kbgcontest #kaunbanegaghumakkad #wellness #motivation #inspiration #positivity #nature #environment #teachers #learning #india #mysteriesofnature #travelforfun #beatthelockdown #wildlife #keepgoing #blogger #pictures #photowalks #powerofobservation #students #adventure #lesserknownindia #PQs #picturesquequotes #learningtogether #bayaweaver

Hindola Toran - Lesser Known India Series

Ever heard of 'Hindola Toran' हिंडोला तोरण ?

Even we hadn't! 

What does it mean?

Is it a monument?

Where is it located?

What is the significance?

This story answers all the above questions. To begin with, here is a present day picture of Hindola Toran.

Compare it with a picture dating back to 1871 taken by Joseph D Beglar and preserved in the British Library, UK. 

We visited Hindola Toran recently and were awed by its beauty. Even though in ruins, the sandstone sculpted structure is a marvel of 9th century AD in Gyaraspur tehsil of Vidisha district Madhya Pradesh India. The above picture taken in 1871 shows a higher ground level compared to the present day. It may be because of later excavation and soil run off over the years.

The historical write up held in the British library reads, "The building called Hindola is an ornamental entrance, or toran, leading to a Brahmanical temple. Hindola means simply a ''swing'', and the toran with its two upright pillars and cross-beams has sufficient resemblance to the common Indian swing to justify the people in calling it by this name. The pillars of the toran are carved on all four faces. In the lower panels are represented the ten incarnations of Vishnu, the tortoise and fish being placed together on one pillar, and Buddha, standing with the right shoulder bare, with a small Kalki Avatar on his horse beside him, on the other pillar. The ends of the bracket capitals are fashioned as lions' and elephants' heads, the former facing outwards and the latter inwards. All the figures which once stood on the brackets are now gone; but there are two projecting stones on each face of the architrave with round holes on the under side, showing how far the figures must have leaned inwards. On the south face of the central pinnacle, which represents a small temple, there is a figure of the boar incarnation of Vishnu in the lower panel."

Let the pictures speak. You may corelate the above historical write up with the pictures below.

Talking about pillars, we have the famous thousand pillar temple in Hanamkonda village near Warangal in Telangana state. We had featured another story of eight pillars also in Gyaraspur called 'Aath Khmba' earlier. 

Over the centuries, the village settlements have moved closer to the monument. See the picture below.

We met a daily wage earner employed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for keeping the area clean. He readily shared his knowledge about the 9th century structure. See the video below or click the YouTube link here.

After the hectic hike, it was time for all three generations of the hikers to have a bite. What better place than the dried up lawn in the compound of Hindola Toran!

Hindola Toran and its beauty have attracted many feature film makers. A recent Punjabi film has a song sequence shot around Hindola Toran and Mala Devi Temple (story to follow), both in Gyaraspur. Readers may enjoy the film song by either clicking the thumbnail below or the YouTube link here.

Gyaraspur has numerous monuments dating back to the 9th century AD. We had earlier featured the Aath Khamba Temple in a picture story. More of these lesser-known treasures of India will follow in our future posts.

Location

Hindola Toran is located about 37 kms north-east of Vidisha town. See the maps below courtesy Google Maps.

 

Some of our other stories featuring the lesser-known architectural marvels or tourist spots of India are listed below. Just click to browse the picture story of your choice.

Ruins of Jahazpur Fort in Rajasthan

Devarakonda Fort in Telangana Needs your Support

Gooty Fort in Andhra Pradesh

Kuntala Water Falls in Telangana

There are many more such hidden spots in India. We will share one by one in subsequent stories.
Stay connected and thanks for browsing.

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Bharat Ladha/ 22nd March 2023

#vidisha #MPTourism #incredibleindia #lesserknownindia #hindolatoran #athkhamba #gyaraspur #9thcenturyAD #redsandstone #sculptures #carvings #lordvishnu #tenavatars #archway #swing #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #fourpillars

Ath Khamba - Lesser Known India Series

Ath-khamba – meaning eight pillars - are the remains of once a magnificent temple in Gyaraspur, near Vidisha in MP India. It is locally known as Ath-khambha because of the eight surviving pillars standing since 9th Century AD. Rest of the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva has not survived the ravages of the invaders and natural erosion. In Warangal Telangana State, we have the famous 1000-pillar temple. But eight-pillar temple has its own beauty as you will shortly see.

A stone plaque erected by the MP Tourism department describes Ath Khamba thus "The Ath-Khamba or a group of eight pillars of the mandapa and the antarala leading to the sanctum doorway constitute the remains of an ornate Saiva temple. The doorway and the pillars bear a pilgrim record of AD 982."

The red sandstone structure has withered 1200 years of weather and destruction by the invaders. The sculptures and carvings are stunning to say the least. The pictures below will convince you. The next time you are planning a trip to Madhya Pradesh, do include Ath Khamba.

Location: Ath Khmba is located near the bus stand in Gyaraspur in Vidisha district, Madhya Pradesh. See the two maps below courtesy Google Maps.

Gyaraspur is 36 kms north-east of Vidisha.

Ghumakkad was not aware of the lesser known treasures like Ath Khmaba but for Bharat Ladha who lives in Vidisha. He is a living encyclopedia of the region including wheat farming. My engineering batch mate from BITS Pilani and a buddy, Bharat Bhai is a farmer. More on his farming pursuits in another story. Thanks Bharat Bhai and family for three wonderful days of discovery in MP.

More in the series 'Lesser Known India' will follow.

We end with a quotation by Carl Sagan who said 'You have to know the past to understand the present'.

Stay connected and thanks for browsing.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Bharat Ladha/ 16th March 2023

Postscript: Our reader Kishor Thakre commented:

"अब तुम भी ज़रा हुस्न-ए-जहाँ-सोज़ को रोको 

हम तो दिल-ए-बेताब को समझाए हुए हैं 

 - कैफ़ी चिरययाकोटी 

हुस्न-ए-जहाँ-सोज़ - beauty which singes the world."

#vidisha #MPTourism #incredibleindia #lesserknownindia #athkhamba #gyaraspur #9thcenturyAD #redsandstone #sculptures #carvings #khajuraho #shivatemple #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #eightpillars