Pure Pursuit of Photography

Today, the last day of my 12 day trip, was a pure pursuit of photography. Started off at 7 in the morning after just a cup of tea. The plan was to cover the Sun Temple at Modhera and Rani ki Vav at Patan and if time permits the Vav (Stepwell) at Adalaj on the return. Yusuf, my driver, modified that plan and asked me to visit Adalaj first, because the light may not be good while returning. We drove northwards out of Ahmedabad city and Adalaj was the first halt few minutes before 8. There is no entrance fee to this monument and I saw only a sweeper kicking up clouds of dust with his broom. Sunlight was yet to filter deep into this stepwell and I struggled a bit to negotiate the steps. Also scores of pigeons were roosting here and they fiercely tried to defend their territory by flying into my face. So I had to fight dust, darkness and pigeons to take some decent photos. Adalaj ki Vav was constructed in 1498 and has some exquisite stone carvings. I will just give you two examples now.

I limited myself to 30 minutes at Adalaj; favourable light would have made me linger longer. We drove towards Mahesana, a name that I associate with milk and butter. Breakfast halt was at a place just short of Mahesana. Almost immediately on driving out after breakfast, I spotted a blue board proclaiming “TROPIC OF CANCER IS PASSING FROM HERE”. It aroused my childlike curiosity and I told Yusuf to remember to halt at this point while returning to take a picture.

From Mahesana town, you turn left and travel 20 kms to reach Modhera, Modhera is 110 kms from Ahmedabad, and the road is generally excellent, but for some rough patches. I was inside the Sun Temple complex at 10.15 after buying an entrance ticket for the ludicrously grand amount of Rs5. To describe the 11^th C Sun Temple as a photographer’s delight will be an understatement. Every angle gives you a new perspective. The light was excellent, but I had a new challenge here. The place was teeming with college students from a nearby town on an excursion, and I had a hard time to get a frame without a human in it. Also people have this irritating habit of striking multifarious poses before doorways and getting themselves framed for posterity. I required oodles of patience to take the photos I fancied. You would have seen numerous pictures of the Modhera Sun Temple on the Internet or in your friends’ albums, but allow me to present it to you in two unusual perspectives.

Spent 2 hours at the Sun Temple; it was very difficult to tear myself away from there. Patan is 40 kms from Modhera through another excellent road and close to the town had a simple lunch of dal – chawal, green salad and buttermilk. Again a measly Rs5 gains admission to Rani ki Vav. I was there at 2 in the afternoon, when the sunlight is exceedingly harsh. This presented another challenge, that of controlling the exposure, because many of my frames were partly in shadow, and partly in bright light. Here are two examples of situations that I managed well through exposure control. Spent 90 minutes at Rani ki Vav and my thirst wasn’t quenched. The carvings are on par with some of what I have seen at Halebid and Belur in their intricate details. More about Rani ki Vav in another blogpost.

On the way back made a short halt at a Patola weaving centre and a Jain Derasar with a 1200 year old idol.

Not to forget, there was a photo op at Tropic of Cancer. This is the only point during my entire 12 day trip, where I got myself photographed. But you will not get to see that photo. Yusuf was very curious to know about Tropic of Cancer and I did my utmost to explain by drawing a sketch. He promised me to learn more about it from his school going children.

The day ended on a small note of regret, of not making it in daytime to the Sidi Sayed Mosque for photographing the Tree of Life screen window (Jali).

More details and more photos from all these places will follow in subsequent posts when I am back home.