Allô Chatrath

       

  My son, Anurag Chatrath, travelled in the jungles of Madagascar for a few weeks in 2017. Here is one of the many faces of nature that he shared with me.  

  Photo credit Wolfy P Photo credit Voorberg Photo credit Sue Perez B                                                                                                                 Photo credit Starlight Shanghai   Photo credit Starlight Shanghai Photo credit Ammazz Photo credit Seled 1958                                                                                                                                   Photo credit Saronic   Photo credit Rob S.

                                                                          (Photo source: Wikipedia) Tomorrow’s News Today! There was a commotion in the Mona Lisa room of the Louvre today when a 79 year old Indian visitor fainted while looking at the masterpiece. Some say that the reason was just a combination of old age and tiredness while the artistically inclined view is that the mysterious smile of Mona Lisa was too much for him to handle. A professorial looking gentleman in the crowd swiftly gave his verdict. ‘It is a classic case or Stendhal Syndrome’, said he knowledgeably Happily the Indian senior citizen recovered shortly afterward and continued his tour of the Louvre.

      I visited the the  National Museum of Archeology, Sofia, Bulgaria in 2018. It is located in the vicinity of many central state institutions, cultural organisations and historical sight seeing.  The museum is housed in the building of the old Buyuk (Grand) Mosque. This is said to be the oldest building of the city dating back to the period of the Ottoman rule also known as Kodza Mahmud Pasha dzamisi. , i.e. the mosque of the great Mahmud Pasha. It was built in 1494.      I bought this ticket and entered the building which I found to be very impressive from inside. This museum was established way back in 1892. It has an impressive collection of over 450,000 artifacts. Above is the bronze portrait head of Shipka, Stara Region  relating to end of 5th century B.C. Photo by F. Jane. Head of a statue of Apollo. . Gilded bronze.Sofia (Serdica); 2nd-3rd century A.D. Photo by Marco P D. Golden funerary mask from Svetizata tumulus, Shipka Stara Region  relating to end of 5th century B.C.Pho

  The A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts is the largest art museum in Kazhakasthan located in Almaty. I visited it in 2015. The museum opened on 16 September 1976, based on the collections of the Shevchenko Kazakh State Gallery (established in 1935) and the Republic Museum of Decorative and Applied Art (established in 1970). In 1984, the museum was renamed to honour the Kazakh artist Abilkhan Kasteev (1904–1973). The museum has a collection of over 23,000 works, including historic and contemporary Kazakhstan art, works from the Soviet era (1920s–1990s), Russian artworks   (17th to early 20th century), Western Europen   art (16th–20th centuries), and art from East Asia (India, China, Japan & Korea). Take a look at some of its art pieces.    

 

  Uma-Maheshwar, discovered in Penukonda Taluk, Anantpur District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva are also known as Uma-Maheshwar. The posture of Goddess Uma and her facial expression as frozen by the master sculptor are absolutely amazing. Lord Vishnu, discovered in Ponneri Taluk, Tiruvallyr District, Tamil Nadu, India; 9th century AD. In Hinduism, Lord Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva. In Vaishnav tradition of Hinduism, Vishnu is the supreme being who creates, protects and transforms the universe. Lord Kubera. Kubera is the Hindu god of wealth and the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas . He is regarded as the regent of the North (Dik-pala), and a protector of the world (Lokapala). location of discovery and the period to which it belongs is not recorded in the Museum.

  A kind friend took me out for lunch. Peeli Dal Tadka had to be a part of the order, as I just love it...Of course there was beer-sheer and chicken-shicken too (though not in the photo)

The National Museum of Anthropology or   Museo Nacional de Antropología , MNA ) is the national   museum of Mexico.   It is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. It is located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma   and Mahatma Gandhi Street within Chapultepec   Park in Mexico City. The museum contains significant archeological and anthropological artifacts from Mexico's pre-Colombian heritage, such as the Stone of the Sun (or the Aztec calendar stone) and the Aztec Xochipilli statue. I visited it in 2018 and found it to be one of the best museums that I have seen any where in the world. The beauty is that practically all the artifacts on display belong to Meso-America region and hardly any procured/bought/looted/kept for safe custody etc from other countries, as is the case in quite a few museums around the world.