Artefact close up

A close up of the artefact I had posted earlier which is displayed in the lawns of the Museum in Mumbai.

ABC Wednesday - M for Museum!

Barely a stone's throw from the Gateway of India is the CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ VASTU SANGRAHALAYA (Formerly known as: THE PRINCE OF WALES MUSEUM OF WESTERN INDIA), a magnificent structure, built in a confluence of Gothic and Moorish styles, and crowned by a sparkling white dome.
In the early years of the twentieth century, some prominent citizens of Bombay decided to set up a Museum with the help of the government to commemorate the visit of the Prince of Wales.
On March 1, 1907, the then government of Bombay handed over to the museum committee a spot of land known as the "Crescent Site", situated at the southern end of the present Mahatma Gandhi Road. After an open competition for the design, George Wittet was commissioned to design the Museum building in 1909.
The construction work was concluded in 1914, but the structure was converted to a military hospital for the period of World War I. The full-fledged museum was inaugurated by Lady Lloyd in 1923.
Its façade is made of yellow and blue stones, mined from the Bombay region. It has an assortment of details from different Indian styles like small spherical cupolas on towers, saracenic arches with Muslim jalis as fillers, semi-open verandahs and jharokhas (windows) of Rajputs. Its dome has been designed deliberately, so as to append variety in the skyline and make a landmark at ground level.

For fascinating representations of the letter M from around the world click Here

Artefact

An artefact in the lawns of the CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ VASTU SANGRAHALAYA
formerly known as: THE PRINCE OF WALES MUSEUM in Mumbai.

Monochrome Monday

Monochromatic sunrise at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

For more classic Monochromes click Here

Camera Critters - Moth

Heres another moth. An amazing looking critter!

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What tree?

I do not know what tree this is but love the multi coloured leaves it displays. There are quite a few of these trees in Mumbai. I will be happy if any of you could identify this tree for me please.

Skywatch Friday

Twilight in Mumbai. Photograph not tampered with. As is where is on 04oct08 at 1829hrs. Thanks to Babooshka, had the courage to use manual settings.

For more wonderful sky pictures from around the world click here

Rangoli

Rangoli is one of the most popular art forms in India. It is a form of sandpainting decoration that uses finely ground white powder and colours, and is used commonly outside homes in India. Rangoli can be wall art as well as floor art. The term rangoli is derived from words rang (colour) and aavalli ('coloured creepers' or 'row of colours'). The picture above is a Rangoli made at the entrances to one of the offices in Mumbai where the Puja of Goddess Durga was being held.
The motifs in traditional Rangoli are usually taken from Nature - peacocks, swans, mango, flowers, creepers, etc. The colours traditionally were derived from natural dyes - from barks of trees, leaves, indigo, etc. However, today, synthetic dyes are used in a range of bright colours. The materials used for Rangoli take on either a flat appearance, when a uniform monolayer of powders are sprinkled or a 3-D effect when different sized grains like cereals, pulses etc are used either in their natural colouring or tinted with natural dyes are used.

Info sourced from Wilipedia