Lisbon, Potugal

It is just a day before Christmas and there are not many people on the streets. But there are few people who are in a celebrative mood and people who want to be a part of celebration. The city is alive in its own way attracting the few people who are there to have a different experience. Musical Bands playing on the streets, People cheering, Beer flowing and those who are comfortable with Public performances shaking their Hips etc.. We were lucky to have photographed some live moments as you see in the album.

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, predating other modern European capitals such as London, Paris and Rome by hundreds of years. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbon's status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal. Lisbon is recognised as an global city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education, and tourism. Lisbon is the 25th most livable city in the World according to lifestyle magazine Monocle. The city is the seventh-most-visited city in Southern Europe, after Istanbul, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens, and Milan.

2012, New Year in Big Ben, London

2,50,000 people, warm weather, slight showers, Dazzling fireworks, could not get the right spot to shoot the happenings. These were the only pics that could be taken from a distance.

SIGIRIYA : THE LION MOUNTAIN.

Sri Lanka's ancient architectural tradition is well portrayed at Sigiriya, the best preserved city centre in Asia from the first millennium, with its combination of buildings and gardens with their trees, pathways, water gardens, the fusion of symmetrical and asymmetrical elements, use of varying levels and of axial and radial planning. Sophisticated city planning was at the heart of Sigiriya, this royal citadel of ancient fame from the days of Sri Lanka's memorable past.

The ruins of the capital lie on the steep slopes and at the summit of a granite peak (the 'Lion's Rock', which dominates the jungle from all sides). A series of galleries and staircases emerging from the mouth of a gigantic lion constructed of bricks and plaster provide access to the site.

The Complex consists of the central rock, rising 200 meters above the surrounding plain, and the two rectangular precincts on the east (90 hectares) and the west (40 hectares), surrounded by two moats and three ramparts

Sigiriya dates back from over 7,000 years ago, through Pre-Historic to Proto-Historic to Early Historic times, then as a rock-shelter mountain monastery from about the 3rd century BC, with caves prepared and donated by devotees to the sangha.
The plan of the city is based on a precise square module. The layout extends outwards from co-ordinates at the centre of the palace complex at the summit, with the eastern and western axis directly aligned to it. The water garden, moats and ramparts are based on an ‘echo plan’ duplicating the layout and design on either side. This city still displays its skeletal layout and its significant features. 3 km from east to west and 1 km from north to south it displays the grandeur and complexity of urban-planning in 5th century Sri Lanka.

“The garden city and the palace was built by king Kasyapa 477 - 495 AD. Then after king Kasyapa's death it was a Buddhist monastery complex upto about the 14th century”.

SUNRISE OVER THE ANGKOR...

Up and Ready by 4:30 am I went to witness the Iconic sunrise over the Angkor Wat Temple. It’s the sunrise over this temple that makes it so beautiful and breathtaking. This is indeed one of the best sunrises I have ever seen in my life. I hated to see so many bystanders, but once the skies lit up, I just felt "Man is such a miniature before nature". I shot these images the first day, but the next 2 days I just sat without my camera, I got so involved by the magnanimous beauty of the sun rising from the horizon. Every minute and everyday during the same time the skies play a colorful game which is just unexplainable...