ಕ್ಷಣಪ್ರಭಾ - Kshanaprabhaa

My Hoysala expedition hit the road running a week ago, with a visit to Doddagaddavalli. Doddagaddavalli, a small village in the district of Hassan, Karnataka, is home to the little known architectural marvel, a Lakshmi Devi temple of the Hoysala period. Inscriptions prove that the temple was constructed under the reign of King Vishnuvardhana, in the year 1114 AD, thus making the temple one of the oldest in the country. Vaishnavite, Shaivite and Jain influences are all in full display, and the temple houses shrines of Lakshmi, Bhoothanatha Linga, Kali and Vishnu. Also in display are rare and intricate carvings of Astadikpalakas (gods of eight directions), fiery Betalas (demons), and multiple inscriptions from the periods of different Hoysala kings. Here is a compilation of some of the pictures I could take on a rather gloomy day. The "almost-about-to-rain" weather added to the countryside look and feel, complete with cool breeze throughout the time spent in the village. ...

I had been to the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens last month a couple of times, primarily to capture on my camera, the blooming flowers of spring time and the re-energized little birds and animals there, and this is what I could manage (click on each of them for enlarged versions) :

After years of gap, I had the honour of talking to one of the most wonderful human beings I have ever come across till date, Shri. L. S. Raman (LSR). A well known Hindi Lecturer who taught at the Navodaya Composite College at Channarayapatna, has been for a long time, one of the best authorities on Hindi language and literature in Karnataka. After retiring in 1993, he kept himself among little kids, something that he enjoyed, by joining as an advisor and teacher at the Chaitanya Vidya Shala primary school. He was very deeply involved with the school till 2006, after which he moved to Chennai, where he is settled now, with his family. What was striking with the conversations I had with him this week was that, although nearing 80, he still has the same levels of affection, memory, clarity of thoughts and expression, which made him the favorite among his students. I still remember him teaching Hindi, English and sometimes even Social Sciences to us at Chaitanya Vidya Shala. I don...

Arnoldous Mauritius Blignaut, the superstar all-round genius, has returned to the Zimbabwe national cricket team after a gap of almost 5 years, and looks in great shape. If he can reproduce the brutal blitzkrieg he brought out a couple of months ago in the Zimbabwean national T20 league for Tuskers against the Mountaineers, then international teams beware! Here's what he did that day: Andy Blignaut turns it on for Tuskers from hmvprasanna on Vimeo . Hoping for a couple of such sterling performances from him in the upcoming World T20 Championships in the West Indies...

Photography from high adrenaline sports action sometimes brings out some of the most wonderful moments ever captured, thus immortalizing those moments for eternity. I stumbled upon one such photograph recently, from an IPL cricket match of 2009, when Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer R Vinay Kumar took the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar , the iconic skipper of Mumbai Indians. Here is the photograph: What you see here, is a single frame that captures deep dejection on one face, and pinnacle of ecstasy on the other. Pure magic. This brought to mind a Kagga verse from Dr. DVG , which is haunting me for a couple of weeks now, the one where he presumably describes a moment of deep meditation. What these photographs capture is nothing less than that, obviously if you just keep all other things involved in IPL - politics, money, power, etc. - aside. Here is the verse: ಹಿಂದಣದರುಳಿವಿರದು ಮುಂದಣದರುಸಿರಿರದು ಒಂದರೆಕ್ಷಣ ತುಂಬಿ ತೋರುವುದನಂತ | ಒಂದೆ ಕಣ್ಣೊಂದೆ ಗುರಿಯೊಂದೆ ಮೈಮನಮರೆತ ಸುಂದರದ ಲೋಕವದು - ಮಂಕುತಿ...

I Could not help but get these thoughts last week... (Click on the image to enlarge)

Here are the links to all 8 parts of the alphabetical review of Zimbabwean Cricket in the year 2009: A - Alistair and Co. Back in Business B - Business as Usual for "Boom Boom" Chigumbura C - Charles Coventry's Coveted Innings Part 1 (A, B, C) D - Dylon's Dream Domestic Debut E - England's Ashes Win has Zimbabwean Flavour, Again F - Franchise Cricket Brightens Future Part 2 (D, E, F) G - Graeme Cremer creams Kenya H - Hamilton's Merry I - Injury woes of Utseya and Co. Part 3 (G, H, I) J - Jarvis Junior Jumps in from Nowhere! K - Kenya Marauded - Not Once, But Twice L- Lock Locked Out Part 4 (J, K, L) M - Maruma Stakes Claim N - No Sight, but Great Vision - du Plessis Continues to Impress and Inspire O - Ozias Bvute becomes the Face of ZC Part 5 (M, N, O) P - Priceless Price Scales New Heights Q - Queens Sports Club Roars Back to Life R - Ripped Apart in Chittagong Part 6 (P, Q, R) S - Sibanda's Bradmanesque First Class Season T - Tatenda Taibu's Troubl...