Tag: Postpandemic

  • Loktak lake: Freshwater Paradise of Manipur

    Loktak lake: Freshwater Paradise of Manipur

    Today, we are visiting a very gorgeous place in one of our North Eastern states, Manipur. No, we are not visiting another jungle. Neither we are climbing a hill or a mountain even though Manipur is blessed with all of these fascinating natural beauties. From a wide variety of geography of India, I present to you Loktak Lake – the largest freshwater lake of North-Eastern India.

    Specialities of Loktak

    Loktak, which literally means ‘end of streams’ derives its name as it’s end of many streams and rivers from a huge catchment of 980 sq. km. Lake itself is spread over an area of 236.21 sq. km. Majority of the population of Manipur directly or indirectly depends on Loktak Lake. It is a crucial source of livelihood in the form of fishing, foraging etc. Most unique feature of this marvelous lake is floating islands called ‘phumdis’. Largest of these phumdis is spread over an area of 40 sq. km. It houses the world’s only floating national park. Keibul Lamjao National Park is the house of the state animal of Manipur, Sagai. Sangai is one of three endangered subspecies of Eld’s deer.

    In and around Loktak

    Loktak is just 39 km from the capital city Imphal and offers a wonderful experience to tourists with a wide range of attractions. First of all, the lake itself is a beautiful site and completely instagram worthy. View of phumdis of different shapes floating on the lake is gorgeous in itself. There are about 55 hamlets and settlements in and around the lake with a population of about 100,000. There are few floating islands which attract tourists. An important attraction as I mentioned earlier is Keibul Lamjao National Park. One of its kind. Moirang city on the banks of this lake has a historical significance.

    History around Loktak

    At Moirang, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose unfurled the Indian flag on Indian soil in 1944. Later, a INA memorial was created at Moirang in honour of valour exhibited by Indian National Army which exhibits badges, letters, uniforms and several other items used by the INA.

    There’s also a memorial made by Japan in honour of fallen Japanese soilders not far from here in town of Nambol. Site of Maibam Lokpa Ching which popularly known as Red Hills is a small hillock where British and Japanese soilders fought eachother. There’s a small Japanese cemetery of Japanese soilders who fell in the war.

    There are many more things to know about this place, but they are best to be kept for your visit for this amazing Lake Loktak

    This brings to the I am participating in A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on ‘L‘ challenge. “L is for the Loktak Lake, Moirang, Manipur”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.

  • Hampi: Ruins of Glorious History

    Hampi: Ruins of Glorious History

    Our Incredible India witnessed some glorious empires in history though ruled by various dynasties, they maintained the form of an Empire. In the north, we had an Empire of Magadh, and Delhi Sultanate.

    Central India witnessed the rise and fall of the Maratha Empire while the South saw the rise and fall of Yadavas of Devgiri. But, today’s story is about another Empire from South India and our destination is their capital city. Hampi of Vijayanagara Empire.

    Story time:

    In 14th century India, an empire rose to power in the Deccan plateau. Brothers, Harihar and Bukka Raya from Sangama Dynasty, put the foundation of this empire which rose to the pinnacle of glory in the time of Krishna Deva Raya of Tulava Dynasty. But before that, the empire witnessed two coups and power changed hands from Sangamas to Sulavas and subsequently to Tulava Dynasty.

    Krisha Deva Raya during the reign commissioned many of the important monuments of Hampi. It was the world’s second biggest city of mediaeval era following Beijing. It was prosperous and wealthy attracting travellers and traders. We can find the descriptions of Hampi and the empire in chronicles of Persian and European travellers (especially Portuguese)

    • Garuda Chariot at Vitthala Temple, Photo by Sriharsha
    • Beauty of Hampi
    • Ugra-Narasimha Photo by Dnyaneshwar Vaidya
    • Virupaksha temple
    • Matanga Hill photo by fraboof
    • Ruins of Hemakuta hills, Hampi by Siri Iyer
    • Elephants stable

    Never miss these at Hampi:

    Ruins of Hampi cover around 4100 hectares. It is near modern day city of Hospet. There are hundreds of spots you can visit and enjoy the glorious carvings, architecture and sculpting from the golden days of Vijayanagara. However, there are few of them which you can’t afford to miss. There are main temples like Virupaksha temple, Achyutaraya Temple, Krishna Temple, Vitthala Temple etc. You can see the ruined market area adjacent to all these temples. In Krishna temple, the shrine of Ugra Nrusinha or Laxmi Nrusinha is one you should definitely check out. Shrine or temple of Nrusinha is a rare thing in India. Garuda Chariot from Vitthala Temple complex is donned with intricate ornate carvings.

    Along with these, there are several hill temple complexes. At some spots, you can reach only if you take a ride on famous Coracles, the circular boat. The Archaeological Museum of Hampi is also a good documentation center. It provides us an idea about the glorious past of the VIjayanagara Empire.

    Today, let’s roam in these ruins and try to imagine the golden days of Hampi when its street used to be bustling with crowded markets.

    This brings to the I am participating in A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on day 8 challenge. “H is for the Ruins of Hampi, VIjayanagara District”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.