Anau Fort Video

During my journey along the Silk Route in 2012-2013 I visited Turkmenistan, here are my pictures from the Anau Fort just before we entered the Karakum desert. Both stunning places that I had to share.

Graffitti and Street Art Singapore

In 2013 I was in the amazing city of Singapore where I sought and found some of the wonderful street art you will see here in this slide show.

Havelis of Shekhawati, Rajasthan

In 2007 I visited India in the Rajistan region. During my search for the famous Hevelis I visited Shekhawati, Nawalgarh, Mandawa, Jhunjuno, Fatephur and Dunlod. This slideshow is the collection from all these locations. They were all in different conditions ranging from derelict and falling down to part lived in to completely restored. I have tried to reflect this in my selection of images and even put a couple of images of the restoration drawings put on the walls to guide the artists during restoration. Haveli- Is a huge private mansion in India or Pakistan. The Rajasthani havelis were constructed by the wealthy Marwari community in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan in the 19th century. A haveli typically has two courtyards one for the men and the inner one for the women, the walls were adorned with beautiful colourful frescoes painted by commissioned artists. The themes were usually images of Gods, Goddesses & animals. Mandawa, Ramgarh, Fatehpur are dusty little towns in the Shekhawati area that have many old havelis, which in their glorious days would have been a treat to the eyes, but even today have not lost their timeless beauty. A handful of these havelis are being restored and given a new lease of life by private organizations, historians & architects. Some of them have been converted into heritage hotels.

Turkmenbashi Gypjak Mosque

The mosque was built in 2002-2004 on the initiative of Turkmenbashi and named after him. Its word-for-word translation means “the mosque of Turkmenbashi spirituality” or “the mosque of spirit of Turkmenbashi”. By the way the mosque is located in Gypjak – the Turkmenbashi native village which i visited in 2012.

Persepolis

During my “Silk Route” journey in 2012 I travelled through Iran and of course the route Alexander the Great took to Persepolis the ancient City of Persia. Now in ruins, this UNESCO World Heritage is one that you really need to see to understand and get a feel of. The area of the site is vast and seems to just keep going and going. It is pretty amazing to walk around and imagine how it would have looked in the 4th century.

Danushkodi 2015

In December 1964, a cyclonic storm destroyed a vast part of Danushkodi, a massive tidal wave toppled a passenger train carrying 116 passengers and the Pamban Bridge which connected the island of Rameswaram to India was also destroyed in the storm. Over 1800 residents were killed in act of nature and most buildings and structures in Danushkodi were destroyed. It is said that the tidal waves battered the region all the way down till the entrance of the Ramanathaswamy temple of Rameswaram which was a main shelter point for people during the storm.

After this massive destruction, the town of Danushkodi was declared a ghost town by the Government and all remaining settlements were moved away for the town was stated to be “unfit for living”. Today, Danushkodi is a jeep ride away from Rameswaram. Hundreds of people visit the place to pay tribute to the ghost town. The skeletal remains of the Church building, the old Railway Station and the Water tank are reminders of a prosperous town that was here once.

We took a shared jeep ride to enter Danushkodi; from there, another local jeep took us on a thrilling ride to Land’s End, the tip of the island where we could see traces of the old town. A small settlement of fishermen now occupies the land.

Brick Lane Amazing Street Art In London

Brick Lane is world famous for its street art, which features artists such as Banksy, D*Face and Ben Eine. Brick Lane has been used in many music videos such as “Glory Days” by Just Jack and “All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers.

 

Artists from all over the world and the UK come here to paint, safe in the knowledge that they will get an appreciative audience.

 

The street art is constantly changing, new work is created, new artists come to the area.  From one day to the next exciting finds will always be made.