Bandipur twilight safari

No sooner than when we arrived at our hotel in Bandipur called 'The Serai' we had to dash off to the National park office to join a twilight safari in an old bus like vehicle.  We saw a number of animals but no actual tigers.

Tiger country outside of the hotel looking towards the National Park.

There were quite a number of peacocks and peahens in the scrub land.

We saw a very big Indian Bison or 'Gaur' and several wild boar.

We saw an elephant in the distance hiding in the scrub and some monkeys.

There were large numbers of spotted deer and the closet we got to seeing a tiger was a pug (paw) print in the mud by a pool of water.

Mahabalipuram extract from cine film taken in 1962

Extract from a cine film taken in 1962.  This shows my father and I looking at the rock carvings at Mahabalipuram in Madras.  Not sure I have managed to upload a movie before.  Please note there is no sound.

I recently visited India and tried to take some photos in the same locations I will be posting these in the next few weeks.  Some 52 years apart a lot of time and very much busier as well.

G D Thyagaraj - Market Scene and Temple

I came across this painting earlier in 2013 by Thyagaraj showing a market with a temple in the background.  The colours are a little faded but still plenty of activity within the painting.

In the top left hand corner you can see an elephant decorating the top of the temple.

Movie - Meeting an elephant on the way to Agra.

I am having a go at adding a small video file to my blog.  Last time I tried I failed, either it was too large a file size or of the wrong format.  It was taken around 1968 and is only of a very low quality.  That is me on the elephant. My family was driving to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and we came across a man riding his elephant on the way to a wedding.  You can see a lorry go thundering past me at one point.  Eventually we get to see the Taj Mahal. Hope you like it.

Photos from 1962 - Taken from a Cine Film

I have managed to capture several frames from an 8mm cine film.  Unfortunately the quality is low with the film size being so small, but they might be interesting.

Riding on an Elephant on the Road to Agra 1967

Managed to grab a frame from a cine film from 1967 it shows me riding on an elephant on the road to Agra taken around 1967.  We were driving from Delhi (I think) to Agra and we passed a man taking his elephant to a wedding and we stopped and asked if I could have a ride.  On the cine you can see lorries driving past as I am sitting on the elephant.  Hope you like it.

Elephants and Coins

I thought I would go off in a different direction today and post a photograph of a fantastic carved wooden elephant I have.  I think it might have come from the Madras region but was not present when my parents purchased it many, many years ago.

It is a large elephant approximately 12 inches in height by 12 inches in length and beautifully carved.  My mother always said it had to stand facing the door of the room, but I cannot recall why?

Also in my profile I mentioned that i have collected Indian silver coins between 1835 and 1945.  I started with silver rupees and of course progressed to half and then quarter rupees eventually collecting the tiny 2 anna coins as well.  Today I am listing an unusual one due to the fact it is stamped PM.  I have been told it was used in an African country, I think it was Mozambique due to a shortage of coinage at the time.

This coin is dated 1884 and was minted in Bombay.  It has a very small mint mark in the base of the lotus flower on the side of the coin with the date at the 12 o'clock position.

Small picture of the mint mark follows but it is hard to see.