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GapFiller 2023

This trip is called "GapFiller 2023" and has been designed to visit sites which we hadn't been able to see on previous trips, either because we didn't have the time or because they were too difficult to reach.

We covered a lot of ground, starting in Delhi and making a big loop to finish in Mumbai.

Check our GapFiller 2023 pages for our itinerary, a few stories and many pictures.

Full map of all GapFiller 2023 pages

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Thinking of our next trip: what about Iceland, Kyrgyzstan or Nepal (again) ? So much to chose from...

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Path: Photos > Seen in India 2023
Tags: India GapFiller 2023 News

Seen in India 2023

(vero;2024-Feb-29)

There is always something to see and experience in India, you never know beforehand what to expect and there are many things to wonder at. That's why we love India.

India is a country of festivals, there is always something going on somewhere. And brass bands are an essential part of it, particularly in religious processions. Those guys were on their way to one of them.

New Delhi - seen at the Zoo. Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have done a lot of progress in terms of (free) public conveniences. This cannot be said of the South though.

New Delhi - wedding in the gardens of the Birla temple. This interesting article goes through the "mechanics" of an Indian wedding, a worthwhile read.

Firozabad (Uttar Pradesh) - we saw those strange money decorations hanging from shops in the town. They are made of notes tacked together to form a kind of breast plate. People buy them as a wedding present to the married couple: they are hung over the neck of the groom and it is free for the couple to spend the money on whatever they want/need. Having and giving money is a symbol of good fortune and at weddings it is a way to shower the couple with blessings. The amount of cash given varies and is personal to each guest and whereas one would expect round sums like 5,000 Rs 7,500 Rs or 10,000 Rs, those amounts rather end with a 1, a kind of psychological trick to bring the couple to accumulate to their next 10,000 Rs for example.

Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh) - display of a shop selling wedding outfits. Different styles, different designs for the groom-to-be.

Agra (Uttar Pradesh) - Thomas discussing with a sweet seller. The pale yellow cubes are a speciality of Agra. It is called petha, a translucent soft candy made from wax gourd or white pumpkin.

Cows are sacred in India, nothing new. We spotted this magnificent specimen in Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh). Although they seem to have disappeared from the centre of the really big cities, they still roam free through some other (specially pilgrimage destinations or near temples), often malnourished and gaunt. Hindus caress them in passing for a blessing, but they are not loved by all: they shit everywhere, disturb traffic and can be a nuisance as shown in our next picture.

Puri (Odisha) - a very opportunist cow taking advantage of the inattention of a shop keeper…Needless to say the man was not happy, he beat the cow with a stick but that did not seem to impress the animal, it simply ambled away.

Shop keepers sometimes give the roaming cows something to eat, a chapati or some vegetable as an offering to the gods. Dogs are not so lucky however ;-)

A cow suckling a lion cub? This is a common theme in Jain temples to illustrate the peaceful and tolerant aspect of this religion. Similarly, a lioness will be shown suckling a calf with both representations next to each other.

A cow on the ghats of Varanasi eating the flower garland left by a devotee.

Not sure what it means. Maybe some monkeys of Hanuman's army flying to Lanka on a goose to deliver Sita? Whatever, we saw this sculpture in Puri and liked it. We thought it would make a great advert for an airline…

Candy floss sellers in Hyderabad (Telangana).

Seen in Tirupati (Andra Pradesh). Such billboards can often be found in South Indian cities and they feature nearly always men. They are put up by friends or family (and sometimes by the person concerned itself) to celebrate any event, like a birthday, the purchase of a new car, the birth of a baby, the success to an exam, a wedding, you name it. And it is good for everyone: you do not only picture the person you want to congratulate, but also yourself. On this picture, for example, eight men (employees?), each featured with his own photo, congratulate their boss for his birthday… Very weird!

Mysuru (Karnataka) - we came across a line of public writers by chance. We were in Kolkata at the beginning of the year and had been disappointed to see that the public writers of Writers Building had all disappeared. Well, we found some in Mysuru! This man was a translator and was translating an English text into Kannada (100 Rs for a DINA4 page).

Mysuru (Karnataka) - another of the public writers. This shows a writing machine with Kannada keyboard. The man behind it was typing a document hand written by a solicitor in Kannada script (see the official letter head). An other writer (whom we did not photograph) was formulating and typing what his customer standing next to him was asking him to write.

Rural banking near Somnathpur (Karnataka): a sign for an ULTRA SMALL Branch of the Indian Overseas Branch.

Sri Rangapatnam (Karnataka) - shy plastic flower seller on his way to town.

No plastic carry bag allowed to carry all those plastic packed snacks. Quite self-defeating but a nice try…

Kozhikode (Kerala) - blocks of halwa, the sweet speciality of the town. It is a buttery-soft sweet made with just a few ingredients: rice flour, water, sugar, coconut oil, cardamom and plenty of chopped up cashews. It is sold in blocks of various tastes and colours like red, yellow, green and brown. This article tells you all you need to know about halwa.

Vero wadding back to our hotel in Kozhikode (Kerala): it took 15 minutes of torrential rain to flood the streets. Monsoon must be hell!

Pune (Maharashtra) - a collage of cinema posters showing scenes spanning the career of the Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan on the facade of a house in Pune. The people living in this house must be dedicated fans! Amitabh is a megastar, the King of Indian cinema, the darling of all and we like him as well. He is omnipresent, in films of course but also on TV and on the streets, advertising all kinds of products, from steel to thermal underwear; click here for some of the brands he has been endorsing in those last years. He is also socially engaged and for example championed the "Defecation Free" campaign of the government. A small bonus: here are a few video spots featuring Amithab and Shah Rukh Khan, the other Darling of the nation.

Pune (Maharashtra) - Pune is the city of Ganesh, there are shrines, sculptures and posters of the Elephant God everywhere. The Ganesh on this picture was in a street-side shrine, I loved the bright and cheerful colours and found Ganesh quite smashing.

Pune (Maharashtra) - we stumbled into the mail sorting centre of Pune while searching for the old palace of Vishrambaug Wada. We were surprised to see that it is still done manually. The bags shown here are for letters destined to towns all over India.

Pune (Maharashtra) - I just liked this small brass cooking set on sale in the courtyard of the Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple. I would have loved to have it as a child.

Pune (Maharashtra) - inside a shop in an alley leading to the Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple. These dolls are made of plastic fibre; people buy them and transform them into the god or goddess of their choice. They can sew or buy fitting outfits, paint their face or cover it with a mask or simply buy a purpose-built head. There are also models with multiple arms, everything is possible.

Go back to Murals and Rangolis or go on to Uttar Pradesh 2023 or go up to Photos

$updated from: Photos.htxt Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:04:40 trvl2 (By Vero and Thomas Lauer)$