Antix at the feet of #Arunachala 🐜

Magnificent #MahaKumbhAbhishekam ritual re-consecration of ancient #Adiannamalai Temple at the feet of sacred Mt #Arunachala today.

#Dawn #cloudscape, #Arunachala 🙏🏼

#EarlyBird over #Arunachala

#Arunachala #dusk On the edges of #Tiruvannamalai, streetlighting meets darkening sky and rapid #urbanisation encroaches upon tenacious #paddyfields, flooded and ready for planting, all in the silent shadow of a sacred mountain.

#Arunachala #dawn

#Arunachala #sunset

#Arunachala #sunrise #clouds

Subtle hues of sky and lake, #Arunachala and #SamudramEri.

Late afternoon sunlight slants across the #SamudramEri #lake, where livestock leisurely graze and distant thunder echoes behind rain-bearing clouds over #Arunachala 🌦️

#Arunachala, #grey with a smidgen of #rain.

#Arunachala, a patch of #blue ☁️

#Arunachala #Still #Raw

#Arunachala #Still #Blue

#Arunachala #RealFeel 🔥 #Sapphire #Blue 💎

#Arunachala #RealFeel 🔥 #IntenseBlue

#Arunachala RealFeel 🔥°C

To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour. ~ William Blake

Connecting is everything 📱 📳

"I may not have the uniform, but I have the spirit!" ~ Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan

#ParaGliding off #KasarDevi #Almora

Spry as teens but wiser, Kumaoni grandmoms stride along the forest path atop the #KasarDevi ridge, fleet and sure of foot, supported by bendy sticks and lit by the fading light of the setting sun, within sight of #Almora.

Waxing moon, gathering clouds.

Tinder-dry forest floor leaf litter, fanned by brisk breezes, fuels a forest fire that steadily climbs the western slopes of the ridge between #Almora and #KasarDevi. Fire tenders responded, and tourist traffic was momentarily disrupted but no casualties were reported. May 26th 🔥

Along the busy, narrow-laned, pedestrianised Thana Bazaar, an elderly porter puts his feet up, head resting upon his headband, creating an island of serenity amidst the hustle and bustle of the crowded marketplace. #Almora

THIS IS A GYM DROP THIS: 📱 AND PICK UP THESE: 🏋🏼

Pre-monsoon clouds and a waxing moon rise above towering pines and #Almora city lights at dusk, seen from #KasarDevi Temple.

Inside, looking out. Thana Bazaar, #Almora

Walkabout at dusk amongst the pines, a bracing nip in the brisk breeze, waxing half moon overhead, when unexpectedly one chances upon a line of lungta, Tibetan prayer flags, sanctifying the environs and the world.

The Way of the White Cloud: ceiling of the Tibetan Buddhist temple belonging to the Drikung Kagyu Order, in the former estate of German-born Lama Anagarika Govinda, which he inherited from the scholar E Y Evans-Wentz. A beautiful long-retreat center located just below #KasarDevi Temple. #Almora

Barry Long (1926 ~ 2003), Australian spiritual teacher, lived in this Old Chilkapeta House for six months in 1965, where he had his "mystic death" experience, in #Almora #Himalaya #Uttarakhand. His teachings flowed from his own realization of God and immortality, not from any religion or lineage.

Connectivity is everything, as a fibre optic cable festoons the treetops of a steep forested hillside. #Almora #Kumaon #Uttarakhand

Forest fires are endemic throughout the #Kumaon #Uttarakhand #Himalaya. Monoculture plantations of Pinus roxburghii, the Chir pine, a legacy from colonial policies, instead of native oak and rhododendron forests, are problematic.

An ancient, exuberant bouganvillea overwhelms signage that expresses a sentiment which is shared not only by visitors but also residents. #Almora #Kumaon #Uttarakhand

In the golden light of sunset, as day fades into night, a family of pilgrims at the #KasarDevi Temple are happily busy in taking photos of each other, three generations enjoying the joys of photography, making memories while living in the moment. #Almora #Kumaon #Uttarakhand

Thronged with pilgrims, the #KasarDevi Temple remains a refreshingly natural, family friendly space, where the underlying silence and peace needs no externally imposed enforcement, and all are equally welcomed. #Almora #Kumaon #Uttarakhand

The monkeys here are quite peaceful and mind their own business, except for any carry bags of fruits and edibles that humans may be carrying, which are legitimate targets of swift seizure, and are best relinquished by the latter in favour of the former 🐵 #KasarDevi #Almora

#Almora #vistas

#EagleRock #Almora #vistas

#Almora #vistas

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, "But I have promises to keep, "And miles to go before I sleep, "And miles to go before I sleep." ~ Robert Frost Among the pines, #Almora

Among the pines, #Almora

Among the pines, #Almora

On #CranksRidge, at the site of #ShunyataBaba's hut, and ashes. Sandy, slippery path. These rocks that now form the #Himalayas were at the bottom of the Tethys Ocean from roughly 225 million years ago until about 50–40 million years ago. #KasarDevi #Almora #Kumaon #Uttarakhand

At the top end of #CranksRidge, #KasarDevi Temple, spaciousness overflowing, silences sublime. #Kumaon #Uttarakhand #Almora

At ease, upon #CranksRidge, above #Almora. #Kumaon #Uttarakhand

Not just fun but deeply satisfying to easily build these flatstone mini-cairns in the cool waters of the #JataGanga river that gently flows past the more than thousand-year-old #Dandeshwar and #Jageshwar Temples in the #Uttarakhand #Kumaon, vibrant harmonies.

🗿 Aztec? Inca? Khmer? Mayan? The power of the inward gaze witnessing more than a thousand years and into eternity, deep in the #Kumaon foothills of the #Himalaya, in #Uttarakhand, at the 9th/10th century #Dandeshwar Temple near #Almora 🗿

Under an overarching rock overhang, fading traces of abstract, minimalist, ochre pigment #rockpainting from the ₹Neolithic and #Mesolithic eras at #Lakhudiyar, 13 km from #Almora.

Govind Singh, pujari, on lunch break from #Dandeshwar Temple, #Kumaon, #Uttarakhand