Hairy Caterpillar

Naughty Nishu

Froghopper AKA Spit Bug

Initially I thought it was spit. The picture came out good so I did some googling to find these information:

Froghopper - in the nymph stage produces a cover of frothed-up plant sap resembling spit; the nymphs are therefore commonly known as spittlebugs, or spit bugs, and their froth as cuckoo spit or snake spit.

The froth serves a number of purposes. It hides the nymph from the view of predators and parasites, it insulates against heat and cold, thus providing thermal control and also moisture control. Without the froth the bug would quickly dry up.

Nishu's Vidyarambham at Kollur Mookambika temple

Vidyarambham (Vidya means "knowledge" , arambham means "beginning') is a Hindu tradition where children between two and three years old are formally initiated into the letters of the alphabet.
Initiation into the world of alphabets usually begins with the writing of the mantra

"Om hari sri ganapataye namah". Hari refers to the Lord, sri, to prosperity.

The mantra is written in a tray of rice grains.

Then, the priest would write the mantra on the child's tongue with gold.

Writing on grains denotes the acquisition of knowledge, which leads to prosperity.
Writing on the tongue with gold invokes the grace of the Goddess of Learning, by which one attains the wealth of true knowledge.

Nishu's Vidyarambham ceremony was conducted at Kollur Mookambika temple.

How to book? No prior booking is required. Make sure you complete the procedure before noon. We reached the temple around 7AM and the procedure got over by 8:15AM.

Weekend trip to the beach

Nishu with his play mate

Nishu with Aswathy

Nishu's Train Journey

God's Gift

I clicked this on the outer ring road using my cell phone camera on my way to office.

Weekend trip to Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary

Stone Plover

Spoonbill

Night Heron

Darter or Snake Bird

Brahmini Kite

Crocodile and Spoonbills

Black Herons

Black Headed Ibis

Bats

Cannonball Tree at Someshwara Temple, Bangalore

I found this wonderful looking tree in Someshwara temple. Cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis) is an evergreen tree native to tropical northern South America.
The trees are grown extensively in Shiva temples in India. It is considered a sacred tree among Hindus because the flower resembles a nagam or a sacred snake on the central large shiva lingam and numerous shivalingams around.

Weekend trip to Shravanbelagola, Belur and Halebeedu

Nishu in the park

Weekend trip to Mysore Zoo