Photo credits: Jithin Vijay
Kattakampal is a village in the Thrissur district of Kerala where Pooram is an important annual festival in the Kattakampal Goddess temple. The name Kattakampal is a combination of three individual words namely Kadu (forest), Kamadhenu (cow) and Pal (milk). Kathakali is the main attraction of this festival.
Thanks, prince (and New York Times for the video record of a noteworthy collaborative act of conservation, with a dash of altruism, and creative definition of commons):
Bringing Back Europe’s Bison
A German prince is leading an effort to bring back the European bison, Europe’s largest land mammal, in Bad Berleburg. The animal almost went extinct in the early 20th century.
Nandi Hills, Karnataka
Ichnology is the study of animal traces—commonly tracks, but also anything else that organisms leave behind in their activities (for example, burrows, nests, scat, feeding remnants, or territory markers). It is often far easier to discover an animal’s presence through tracks than direct visual sighting, especially for shy or nocturnal mammals. “An animal can only be in one place at a time, its tracks can be everywhere,” one of my environmental science professors sometimes remarked in support of this principle. Indeed, around Emory’s campus (Atlanta, Georgia) I found tracks on stream banks that belonged to animals I had never actually clapped eyes on in the flesh. Prized among those were a Continue reading
Over the past decade and a half, the creation and maintenance of Xandari’s impressive and diverse flora has been largely orchestrated by one man, José Luis Ballestero. Head gardener at the property, this man and his skilled team of gardeners have developed a highly heterogeneous and visually appealing collection of plant life throughout the private nature reserve that was once a coffee plantation.
As James and I will show in the next several weeks, Xandari’s gardens are a true wonder and effectively occupy any space that is not covered by the resort’s buildings. I use the word ‘garden’ here flexibly, because the forest that makes up the lower portions of Xandari’s forty-odd acres is more of a jungle than a garden, and at this point much of the flora Continue reading
It’s not all fun and games when it comes to games featuring the environment. With some green game apps, not only can you live in your world and play in it, you can learn stuff too.
Thanks to Conservation magazine for this article, published coincidentally exactly at the time when several Raxa Collective contributors were visiting the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which itself is participating in the App business (more on which, by Seth soon) in a manner resonant with the focus of this article:
DIALING INTO THE OUTDOORS THROUGH PHONE APPS
The Nature Deficit
Judging from the amount of time my grandkids hunch over their iPhones and iPads for game time, I’d have to say games have garnered a major portion of the younger set’s mindshare. And in my book that’s a shame. While more and more studies find that children’s outdoor time contributes to their well-being — by mitigating obesity, promoting cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and mental health, as well as boosting academic achievement — the number of hours children spend outdoors is on the decline. (See also here.) Continue reading
Photo credits: Shymon
Seeds from the rudraksha tree have been traditionally used as Hindu prayer beads. The rudaksha tree’s name means the “eyes of Lord Shiva,” rudra being another name for Lord Shiva. Mythology has it that the rudraksha plant was born out of Lord Shiva’s tear drops. Monks and yogis have found that merely wearing beads from the rudraksha tree imparts an astonishing tranquility to the wearer. Continue reading
Photograph by Dario Cantatore/Getty.
We like him more the more we hear of him, and while we do not know enough to gush, nor to promote his automotive products, we pass along this interesting news as recorded on the New Yorker‘s website:
Yesterday, one of the more interesting people in Silicon Valley did one of the more interesting things that the car industry has seen in a while. Elon Musk, the C.E.O. of Tesla, opened up all of his patents. “Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology,” he wrote in a blog post. Tesla’s competitors can now freely take advantage of its batteries, chargers, or sunroofs. Continue reading
Here at Xandari (Alajuela, Costa Rica) everything is ready for coffee’s big return. The resort’s land was once dedicated to growing and harvesting the finest estate coffee this country offers (you can visit the Doka Estate, to which Xandari’s land once belonged, in one of our guests’ favorite day tours), but for the last 18 years more attention was given to the organic vegetables, orchards and gardens that now dot the verdant grounds. Plans are in motion, however, to bring the crop back to this area long celebrated for the quality of its coffee.
The ground is tilled:
Photo credits: Shymon
Banana leaves are used in many traditional dishes in South India, often wrapped around the food before it is cooked. Food wrapped in banana leaves can be grilled, steamed or deep fried. In Kerala, banana leaves are frequently used as a completely biodegradable “plate” in a Sadya (traditional Kerala meals), but they serve many other purposes as well. Continue reading
One of the many billboards representing the outcry from environmentalists and concerned members of the tourism sector
It’s been some years since our work brought me to this magical part of the world, but all of Patagonia and the specific region of Aysen have long been close to our hearts. So the news that the Chilean government overturned their 2011 approval of the HidroAysén project was happy indeed. The Baker and Pascua Rivers, previously slated for a series of 5 dams, are two of Patagonias wildest, and that’s saying a lot in a country filled with rugged beauty as diverse as it’s 4,300 kilometer length can possibly hold.
Part of that diversity has the potential to offer multiple options for renewable energy sources other than hydro-electric power. Solar power from the Atacama Desert, wave and tide projects from that enormous coastline, as well as wind turbines in areas of the country where winds reach gale force strength on a regular day are all possible options. Continue reading
Outskirts of Bangalore, Karnataka
Last year, and the year before, were successes to say the least. But, after the jump, see what makes this year‘s worth attending if at all possible:
Following on from the success of 2012’s inaugural Here symposium, we returned to the splendid surroundings of The Royal Geographical Society in the summer of 2013 to do it all over again. From Nelly Ben Hayoun and Adam Buxton to Kate Moross, Wayne Hemingway and Erik Kessels, our international line-up once again dazzled and delighted the audience with a series of engaging and exciting creative talks.
Sarah Anne Ward for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Maeve Sheridan. Parmesan-Crusted Rack of Lamb
With Spice Harbour‘s restaurant, 51, open and having passed through the swelter of late summer, we find ourselves sampling new dishes that work well in a water-front setting during these luscious monsoon showers.
At the same time, we are approaching the opening of what we believe will be Kerala’s most fabulous beach resort and its restaurant will offer cuisine worthy of this sort of a “comfort zone” hideaway.
Between Spice Harbour and Marari Pearl we have done more sampling (someone has to do it) than is generally good for the waistline, but we are committed, dear reader, to your comfort.
Photo credits: Jaimon
Attappadi is one of the largest tribal settlements in Kerala. Situated in Palakkad district, the Attappadi region is a beautiful synthesis of rivers, forests and moutains. This scenic, hilly area is rich flora and fauna, with the Bhavani river flowing from the mountains. Continue reading
In a climate of embattled bibliophilia, authors have been undertaking reading stunts to prove that reading—anything—matters. Construction by Stephen Doyle.
Our occasional posts on books and book-ish things, on libraries and library-ish things, on authors and author-ish things, all grow out of the obvious: books are essential to humanity. We do what we can in the general interest of books. So, this item on the New Yorker‘s website about stunts in the stacks is welcome here and now:
In the nineteen-nineties, when you bought a book at Barnes & Noble the cashier slipped it into a plastic bag bearing a black-and-white illustration of an author’s face—Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Edith Wharton. Recently, I was poking around a bookstore in Manhattan and noticed a canvas tote for sale. In a simple red heart, the word “books” was spelled out in white letters. This tale of two bags is the story of decades of change in the publishing industry. “Books,” O.K.—but which ones? Continue reading
This set of photographs, noted on the New Yorker‘s website, are a collection related to water that, in the artist’s words, deserves our attention:
“While trying to accommodate the growing needs of an expanding, and very thirsty civilization, we are reshaping the Earth in colossal ways. In this new and powerful role over the planet, we are also capable of engineering our own demise. We have to learn to think more long-term about the consequences of what we are doing, while we are doing it. My hope is that these pictures will stimulate a process of thinking about something essential to our survival; something we often take for granted—until it’s gone.” Continue reading
Photo credit: Shymon
Chakkiyarkoothu is a traditional dance form originally performed by priests at Hindu temples. This solo performance was traditionally performed only by the Chakkiyar community, a Brahmin caste of Kerala. The Chakkiyar narrates the story based on the Holy books of ‘Ramayana and Mahabharata’.
Organikos 