Birla Mandir @ Jaipur

      This is the Birla Mandir or Birla Temple of Jaipur. There are seven such temples in India built by the Birla family. It is located at the base of the Moti Dungri fort. It looks stunning when lit up at night. This work was done plein air sitting on the footpath next to a busy square. Am sure I must have inhaled smoke emanating from vehicles worth 20 cigarettes while painting this. In the end it was worthwhile. What do you think?

@ Matheran III

     Well this is another painting of Matheran. It is an amazing place for long walks specially in the monsoons. Just put on your raincoats and walk off in any direction. It is paradise all around. Small road side stalls sell hot cups of tea and small eats. Just sit down there, chit chat, relax and start walking again when refreshed.

      Hope you all like this work. 

@Matheran II

     Well Matheran is one of the closest weekend getaways from Mumbai. It is also one of my favourite. It also happens to be one of the smallest hill stations in India. Its USP is that it is a vehicle free zone. The only vehicles permitted in this place are the ambulance and fire brigade. The only means of transportation are horses and hand pulled rickshaws. It is a paradise for trekkers. This painting was done from a picture clicked in my last visit there. Hope you all like it.

         Have a great week ahead.

Suvali Beach

     This is the Suvali beach, about 20km from Surat. Its claim to fame- the Parsees on fleeing from Iran landed here. It is also the gateway from which the British made inroads to India. In 1612 Capt Thomas Best defeated the Portuguese in the battle of Swally. 

     It is one of the cleanest beaches in India. However it is still not very popular as it is considered hazardous, specially during high tide. There are a few shacks which sell tea and small eats. When I landed up there, only a few students could be seen around. Probably they were bunking classes and spending some quality time there. Painting was a pleasure as there was nobody to disturb. Hope you like the work. Have a great week friends.

Mid summer's Dream

     Ladakh is the jewel in India's crown. A region so beautiful and mesmerising. It is a plateau with the elevation starting 10,000 feet upwards. Traversed by numerous mountain ranges, interspersed with rivers like Indus, Shyok and Nubra and dotted with with beautiful lakes. In winters the region is a barren snow covered desert with many areas becoming non reachable. Come summers and there is a magical transformation. The frozen rivers start flowing and the leafless trees provide relief to the barren landscape. Apples and apricot orchards can be found next to the rivers. People are simple and the culture is a mix of Aryans and Tibetans. It is a tourists and the adventure travellers' paradise. Have tried to capture the atmosphere, this time in oils. Hope you like it. Have a great week ahead.

Ujjayanta Palace @ Agartala, Tripura

     This palace was constructed in 1901 by the king of Tripura, Radha Kishore Manikya next to a lake surrounded by gardens. It was the royal palace till the accession of Tripura to the Indian union in 1939. It was then purchased by the Govt of India from the maharaja and converted into the state legislature. In 2011 it was finally converted into a state museum. It houses artefacts depicting the life, culture and craft of the people of north eastern India. In the evening it converts from a serene white building to a colourful one with the help of artificial lights.

     I had seen this palace from the outside long back when it was housing the legislature. This picture of the building in the new avatar took me by surprise and I could not resist the temptation of painting it. Hope you all also like it. Have a great week ahead.

Surat Shipyard

     Well I am in Surat again. This coastal town has many industries including a shipyard which is located where the Tapti river meets the Bay of Bengal. Used to see the shipyard everyday from a close by bridge while crossing the river. The massive cranes and the under construction ships looked so daunting. Wanted to see them up close but was not allowed to enter the shipyard. Finally decided to do the next best thing, paint it from a vantage point on the bridge. In the blistering summer heat, it was a tough task. Started the work plein air but finished it in the cool confines of my room.

     Hope you all like it. Have a great week ahead.      

@ Tawang

     During my IAF days I used to frequently fly to this beautiful town located at about 10000 feet in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in North Eastern India. It was a sleepy town then with a few monasteries which no one knew about. With the boom of tourism it became a tourist hub. It is a trekkers paradise. Infrastructure is inadequate but people wanting to visit offbeat destinations still love to visit. It is often in the news because of China laying claim to the area. The controversy is a legacy of the british days which is yet to be resolved. All this not withstanding, it is a peaceful place and worth visiting in any season.

     I hope this watercolor conveys the atmosphere I am talking about. Have a great week ahead friends.

Golf @ Pahalgam

       Golf on a bright sunny day is a pure ecstasy. That too if the course is located in the heaven on earth ie The Kashmir valley. Pahalgam is a beautiful resort town in the Kashmir valley. It has a beautiful course. Have never played on it but it is in my wish list. Right now contended with painting it in a quick minimalistic watercolor. Hope you all love it.

Dumas revisited.

     Since I came to know that Dumas beach was listed in the top haunted sites in the country, my curiosity forced me to revisit the place. The beach looked very normal inspite of all the stories doing the rounds. I finally decided to take a stroll around the village. The very normal looking village had some surprises in store. In one of the by lanes I came across this bungalow. It was very old and very dark. The rear looked as if about to collapse. The woodwork was actually falling apart. Thick trees and an unkempt garden surrounded it. No body seemed to be living there. But the gates were all locked. It was really spooky. All the stories suddenly came back like a flash. Really wanted to explore the property but decided to do with a quick photograph. The photograph looked interesting enough to paint. So here it is. Hope you find it spooky enough!!

Dariya Ganesh

     This is the Dariya Ganesh temple (Dariya meaning 'The Sea") on Dumas beach at Surat, a coastal city in western India. Surat is also known as the Diamond city as it is famous for diamond cutting and polishing industry. During low tide the temple is as seen in this painting but during the high tide the approach to the temple gets submerged. Lot of rocks have been piled all around probably to protect it from the rough seas. Well what I did come to know that this place is listed in the top Haunted places in the country! Thank God I did not know about this when I was sitting and painting there. But I think I need to go back there and look at it from a different perspective.

     Have a great weekend friends.

Just Do It.

     As usual the excuse for missing from the blogosphere is the same. But painting does relieve stress. Decided to squeeze in something. This one was done in vengeance. No reference, blank mind. Just a decision to paint anything. A quick fire village scene. Done in a record time. But it gave me a lot of relief and a lot of satisfaction. Hope you all like it. Have a great week ahead.