South India

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A boy near the river covers himself with cloth. Backwaters Kerala.  Three woman and a boy washing clothes and themself in the Backwaters of Kerala.  In some places near the coast of Kerala people use this nets to catch fish. The Chinese introduced them. Cochin, near the fort.  If you have to cross a river with two cows, just let them swim. Backwaters Kerala.  This beautifull beach of Costa Malabari streches out for miles and you will be the only visitor! 
During the templefestifal in Kannur you can also place your bets on which photo will be drawn.  A dancer getting dressed for the Theyyam during the templefestifal.  A dancer of the Theyyam will become god and can use those powers to tell the future.  An other dancer of the Theyyam is lead to the temple.  Workers cutting bricks. These bricks are made from lavastone. Costa Malabari. 
Everywhere on the beach are birds, big eagles but also smaller birds like the ones on the photo. Costa Malabari.  A worker is preparing a weaving machine so one of the womans can get to work on it. Kannur.  A woman working on the weaving machine. This is very hard work and you have to be extreme fast.  Visiting a temple I saw this drum hanging. Very difficult photo to make due to the long shuttertime. On road to Karnataka.  These woman are harvesting the upper two leaves of the tea. That is the best tea. On road to Karnataka. 
Colours are just beautifull, it is in the afternoon and the sun is behind me.  Roadconstruction in India is differtent from Europe: Workers break big rocks into grit with a hammer. Then they put the grit into the holes of the road. They melt asphalt in big buckets which they use to cover the holes with. Karnataka.  These tombs where made by the Maharadjas. They are burried here. From this point you can have a great look over the town. Karnataka.  Close to our hotel we did see this cow in a barn. Near Orange County.  Most people in India wash their clothes, and theirselfs, in a river of lake. Near Orange County. 
From Orange County you can have a walk near the river. There are a lot of birds, like the Kingfisher.  Orange County is a hotel in a plantation. They grow coffee and pepper. The peper is a climbing plant which climb trees.  After the Chinese invasion in Tibet a lot of Tibetan people flew their country. In India they have build settlements. This is Bylakuppe.  Detail of a statue on the roof of a temple.  You can see the roof of this temple from miles. It is very colourfull en there are beautifull statues on it. 
One of the tree golden statues in the big temple.  Inside the big temple are tree big golden statues. There are also a lot of birds just flying around, eating the rice offerings.  Inside one of the smaller temples in the Tibetan settlement.  A very bright blue colourd bird on a tree stump. Kabini National Park.  An Indian Bison. Kabini National Park. 
Elephants in the Kabini River. There where also two baby elephants.  Elephants going to the Kabini River in the late afternoon.  Bisons near the Kabini River. The light is fading fast.  When the waves are gone the crab tries to find a meal. Costa Malabari.  A Langur monkey in a tree. Kabini NP. 
This Langur was a little afraid for the jeep. He ran away after I took this photo. Kabini NP.  Two different Kingfishers in one tree. Kabini NP.  A heron in a hole from a dead tree. Kabini NP.  Two very big elephants near the Kabine River.  Sunset over the Kabin River. On the right you can still see some deers. 
A beautifull deer in the bushes. Kabini NP.  Waterpaint at the market of Mysore. They use it to piant cows etc.  The elephant will be washed every day. They are used for templeceremonys. Guruvayor Elephant Camp.  One of the enterances to the beautifull palace. Mysore.  This is the famous Hoysala temple in Somnaphur, build in 1264 AD. Made of soapstone. That is why the buiders could carve this beautifull statues. 
Looking from inside the temple to the outside. Somnathpur.  The carvings are incredible, very detailled and very beautifull. Somnathpur.  A corridor in the palaca of Madurai. This palace is deserted but still very beautifull.  Detail of the grand hall in the palace of Madurai.  Three windows in the roof of the Madurai palace. 
Very big columns near the enterance of the Madurai palace.  The interior of a church in Madurai.  Marjolein blessed by a temple elephant in the templecomplex of Madurai.  And indeed, I was also blessed by a temple elephant.  People performing a ritual before a statue which is carved in a collumn. Madurai. 
Some people performing a ritual in the temple. Madurai.  On of the oldest places in the templecomplex. Madurai.  Highlighted carvings in the temple of Madurai.  With a very long shuttertime I was able to catch this lightbeams in the middle of the temple. Madurai.  This is a little outside Madurai, it is the golden roof from the hill temple. 
The Chettinadu mansion was build by very rich merchants from the coast of India.  The courtyard with collums made from English steel. Chettinadu Mansion.  Sunset at the Kabini River. It is the same river as in the Kabini National Park. But this is near the city of Tanjore.  This is the interior in one of the many beautifull temples in Mahabalipuram.  The people here can still carve rocks this way. They make also very beautifull statues. Mahabalipuram. 
This templecomplex has some beautifull statues of a cow, elephant and tiger. Mahabalipuram.  All of the temples have been carved out of one piece of stone. Mahabalipuram.  This elephant is as big as a real one. Mahabalipuram.  It has suffert from the Tsunami but this temple is still very impressive. Mahabalipuram.  The Emirates has orderd 46 new mega Airbus planes, so they need to make new gates at Dubai Airport. 
A plane leaving from the Dubai airport in the early morning.  On our way to Orange County we crossed a big bambooforest. Karnataka.  Back on our way to Madurai we noticed that farmers did put rice on the road.  The elephants did not liked it that some bisons also wanted to drink the water.  India 67 
Market in Mysore, the strings of flowers are used as offering for the gods.  The palace of Mysore is the residence of the Maharadja. The Maharadja still lives here. Mysore.  The palace is splendid. The best materials are used to build it. Inside it is even more beautifull, but you are not allowed to take photos. Mysore.  The same church but now from the outside. Very colourfull thanks to the bright blue sky.  Corridor in the temple of Madurai, this is where Shiva and Parvati meet for the dance. 
This is the biggest temple of Mysore and one of the holiest places in India.  This is also a very, very big templecomplex, it is almost a town on its own. Trichy.