Elephanta Caves, Mumbai

Elephanta Caves, originally uploaded by Himanshu Sarpotdar.

The Elephanta Caves are located on Elephanta Island in Mumbai Harbour, about 10 kilometres to the east of Mumbai, India. The island, on an inlet of the Arabian Sea, has a large group of five Hindu caves and a smaller group of two Buddhist caves. The caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, and maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Ajanta Caves, World Heritage Site

Photo published under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.

Ajanta Caves, in Maharashtra, India, contain ancient paintings and sculptures of both Buddhist religious art and sculpture.

Cave No. 1 is the first cave, with one of the most elaborate sculptures showing scenes from the life of the Buddha. The cave has a front-court with cells, and a porch, once covered with murals of which many fragments remain now. Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 40 feet (12 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) high. There is a shrine on the rear wall to house a seated image of the Buddha. There are four cells on each of the left, rear and the right walls. The walls are covered with paintings, fairly well preserved.

The nearby Cave No. 2 is famous for paintings on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It has a porch quite different from Cave one. The cave is supported by pillars. The size and ground plan have many things in common with the first cave. The front porch consists of cells.

The caves at Ajanta were abandoned by AD 480 and for the next 1300 years the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, and unvisited until the spring of 1819 when a British officer in the Madras army entered the steep gorge on the trail of a tiger. Within the tangled undergrowth, he came across the almost hidden entrance to one of the caves. Exploring that first cave, long since inhabited by birds, bats and larger animals, Captain Smith wrote his name in pencil on one of the walls, still faintly visible, it records his name and the date, April 1819.

Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra

Ajanta Caves, originally uploaded by danchitnis.

Ajanta Caves, located just outside the village of Ajinṭha in Aurangabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra, are rock-cut, richly decorated cave monuments containing paintings and sculptures considered masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, have had a considerable artistic influence. Since 1983 the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The first Buddhist caves at Ajanta date from the second and first centuries BC. During the Gupta period (5th and 6th centuries AD), many more caves were added to the original group of caves.

Practising Yoga in the French Alps

Yoga in the French Alps, originally uploaded by kajo55.

Sun Yoga for more energy at sunset

Sun Yoga brings more energy., originally uploaded by Eric Lon.

This is a very popular photo on yoga that has been seen 20.523 times on January 17, 2010 on Flickr, according to this photographer. He says the model featured here is Janga, a 26-year-old Nepali, the spiritual son of French Eric Lon, 59 years old, masseur physiotherapist and yogi for 36 years. According to him, this tree posture connect the energy of the earth with the sea and the sky. He says, "Eric teaches yoga from sea level to the Himalayas; Nepal, India."

Gate of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas

The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, is a city situated in Talmage, Mendocino County, California, 180 km north of San Francisco. It was one of the first Buddhist monasteries built in the United States. The temple follows the Guiyang Chan School, one of the five houses of classical Chinese Chan.

The founder Hsuan Hua (16 April 1918 - 7 June 1995), was a revered Chan Buddhist monk who had an important role in the propagation of Western Buddhism in the United States. He is also known as An Tzu and Tu Lun.

Development of Zen (translated from the Chinese word Chan to Japanese, and originally derived from the Sanskrit word ‘dhyana’) is traditionally credited to be in China, in the Shaolin Temple, by the South Indian Pallava prince-turned-monk Bodhidharma, who came to China to teach the principles of Chan or Zen.

Address : 2001 Talmage Road, Ukiah, California 95482, USA

Website: www.cttbusa.org

The Jeweled Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas

The Jeweled Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, situated in Talmage, Mendocino County, California, USA. The city was founded by Master Hsuan Hua. Constructed in 1982, the Jeweled Hall is adorned with streamers, banners, lamps and a 20-foot (6 m) statue of a thousand-handed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. The walls of the hall are adorned with 10,000 images of the Buddha molded by Master Hsuan Hua himself.

Avalokitesvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas, and one of the most revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism. In China, Avalokitesvara is often depicted in a female form known as Guan Yin. In India, Avalokitesvara is also referred to as Padmapani, Lokesvara or Tara. In Tibetan, Avalokitesvara is known as Chenrezig, and is said to be incarnated in the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa and other high Lamas. In Mongolia, he is called Megjid Janraisig or Xongsim Bodisadva.

A visit to the Space City Houston

One of the finest destinations to visit for those who like a kaleidoscopic panorama of tourist attractions in the United States is Houston in the State of Texas, home to NASA, and one of the busiest tourist destinations in the world. The two major attractions that most people would not like to miss are the Houston Museum District, home to many cultural institutions and exhibits, and the Theater District, known an active visual and performing arts scene offering year-round resident companies in all major performing arts.

Renowned as the most air-conditioned city in the world, Houston has some of the best hotels to suit every pocket and providing the best of hospitality for the celebrity traveler as well as the budget traveler. For instance, if you are to be around the Greenspoint Mall, a very popular place for visitors and home to some of the topmost brands in the world. It is a very convenient location to visit the most sought-after spots such as Splashtown, Old Town Spring, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, and the Sam Houston Racetrack.

Local transport is what most travelers overlook while planning their vacations, but like most of the best hotels in the world. These destinations are comparable in accommodation as Ontario in San Bernardino County, California, famous for the Ontario Mills, and Ontario Motor Speedway, and Ontario California hotel where can be a preferred place for most visitors. Here, being very near to Ontario International Airport (ONT), and attractions like Ontario Mills Mall and San Manuel Amphitheater, the airport shuttle service offered by Ontario Airport Hotel can solve the problem for local transport.

Houston, nicknamed as The Space City, has also one of the largest concentrations of well-maintained parks in the world, about 350 parks, such as Hermann Park that houses the famous Houston Zoo, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Lake Houston Park, Discovery Green, and Sam Houston Park. And a ‘must-visit’ destination is Space Center Houston, where many exhibits including moon rocks (brought back from the moon by space missions to the moon), a shuttle simulator, and many attractive presentations about history of NASA's manned space flights program are exhibited.

Burj Al Arab, world's only seven star hotel

Burj Al Arab Hotel at sunset