November 20, 2011

Serene PONDICHERRY


LOCATION: PONDICHERRY, TAMILNADU, INDIA
YEAR OF VISIT: 2011
If there ever is a place of ‘liberation’, a place of ‘soul’, a place of 'originality', a place where natural and supernatural entities ‘co-exist’, and a place that is yet ‘grounded’, then it has to be Pondicherry.
Personally, I enjoy traveling and experiencing the city alone. Here I bring you the ‘feel’ of the city through my work. If by viewing the pictures, you are 'urged' to visit the city, nothing else can be more 'honorable' to me. I wish you a great journey and stay here.

 THE MOTHER ASHRAM 
The very source of inspiration for the city.
A place to where you lose yourselves in the fragrance of exotic flowers, surrender at the 'samaadhi' of Shri Aurobindo and The Mother, and find yourself within you.

VILLA BLANCHE - The 'White' town
Being the base of French quarters during the French and British rule in India, a remarkable influence of French rule can be witnessed in 'a' part of the city. Racial discrimination was expressed in terms of architecture by demarcating the city into 'White' town and 'Black town'.
The White town encompassed the typical French principles of designing; well zoned streets for parking, pedestrians and structures.

The amalgamation of French and Indian elements of architecture is vivid in this picture.


 GOLCONDE: A dormitary for The Ashram
This structure is a living example of The Ashram's principles.
Relish its quality interiors via the link I have attached to the name.
My eyes do not miss the details. They form the most trivial and exhilarating part of any world. 
The brilliant simplicity of this wooden door framed contrastingly with the rugged grey RCC column and beam with a blank white wall serving as the perfect background  swept me off my feet.

 

          
     
The Indian sentiment is to be noticed in the picture on the left. The mask of a 'rakshasa' (the devil) is displayed on the exterior walls of many houses to ward off the evil eye.

 

 
 The vibrant colors and the artistically carved details speak Indianess in every respect. It seems to be a habitat of a French person from the name plate.

And now I take you to the 'breezy' side of Pondicherry.











 This woman was bewitching. I saw myself in her. She was enjoying her lone moment the way I do. It looked as if she was listening to the waves and smiled back with absolutely no inhibitions.
She was one with the city. She made my day.



21 comments:

Apeetha Ravi said...

Love love love this collection! It is absolutely fabulous! I was there yesterday, and loved it! I wish I could live there- like forever!

Saru Singhal said...

As always you rock. You have a great talent for photography. Thanks for a wonderful journey.

I am your fan...I don't know how many times I will say that:)

Confused Soul said...

Oh yes Pondicherry is truly a mesmerising place.. serene, calm and so inviting.. I've been there and I so wanna go again.. The pictures as always are brilliant.. But yes, I must say, they are getting better!

Yes you did give me a real life picture and I absolutely love the picture with the 2 ppl and the tree :)

Kitty said...

Beautiful pictures ! Amazing colloection...Thank you so much for sharing. :)

Shweta said...

Ekdam Jhakaas !! :)

Unknown said...

@apeetha: i gess we shal complete the city together! :)
@Saru: keep telling that as many times as you please! :D
@confused soul : aaah! I am sooo glad for ur last lines! :)
@kitty: my ABSOLUTE pleasure!!!
@Shwetu : hahaha! shukriya! :D

Mayank said...

Good work there. Some photographs a re a bit too over processed (for my taste) but your compositions are lovely.

Arti said...

Amazing, I thoroughly enjoyed my tour and visit here... Many thanks for sharing this :)

Teamgsquare said...

Agree Pondy is serene and your captures only add more serenity to the place.

Zach George said...

Its beem a long time since I've been to Pondi. Your post broughr back some pretty good memories. Thank-you for that. :-)

S.R.Ayyangar said...

Lovely photographs but another landmark of Pondy is missing-Auroville Matrimandir.

Unknown said...

@arti
@Team G Square
@Zach George
@S.R.Ayyanar
FIRSTLY, Welcome to my blog! :)

@Arti- My absolute pleasure Arti! I am going to continue bringing places from different parts of the world to my blog and make it easier for you to enjoy them! So do keep visiting!

@Team G Square: That was such a fine compliment! :)

@Zach George: You should visit Pondi at least once a year. I am planning to make it a ritual! :)

@S.R.Ayyanar: I totally agree sir! Auroville is a heaven on Earth! I did not have enough time to cover Auroville. I am planning to tour the place sometime next year. You can count on me for some worthwhile pictures from the place! :)

D.Mohan kumar said...
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D.Mohan kumar said...
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Maliny said...

mesmerising journey that was ! kudos to ur skill as well as to ur inquisitiveness ! keep up the good work :)

Unknown said...

Great pictures, I guess they are from the European quarter

Abu said...

Amazing clicks... very very interesting and giving a different 'view' of the place...

Anshul Dutt said...

You just gave me a reason to visit Pondicherry. Brilliant photographs. I like the composition and framing (eg. 2nd photograph). The processing looks a bit HDR-ish but I like it. If I were you, I would have tried monochrome tone as well.

Unknown said...

visiting pondicherry sometime is on my wishlist. your post was a lovely insight to the place.

the candid shots have come off well thou the landscape ones a a bit tilted. towards the end of the post the photos have vignetting, dono if its intentional, but it seems to work with most.

cheers,
My Third Eye

Anonymous said...

A beautiful collection of city "poems"

joshi daniel said...

nice!

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