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Lapland’s Tribal Culture: Reindeer & Sami

Top Indian Couple Blog by Nisha Jha and Vasudevan R - Lapland’s Tribal Culture: Reindeer & SamiLapland’s Culture: Reindeer & Sami

There is no other sound except crunching of snow under their feet and tinkling of sleigh bells tied around their neck. I am cozily snuggled in a wooden sled with a rug casually thrown over me. It is half past midnight with temperature dipping to around minus 20 degrees. There is a chill in the air as expected. We are passing through a snow covered forest and the reindeer are gently pulling my sleigh moving in line.
Reindeer, sleigh and snow … that’s what one expects in a Nordic region during peak winter.

Naropa Festival 2016

Naropa & His legacy

A thousand years ago, a child was born named Naropada (Tibetan name Naropa) who grew to be an excellent scholar at Nalanda but left his materialistic world and his family to the path of enlightenment. At the age of forty he met his Guru Talopa and the next twelve years were the most introspective and spiritual learning period for him that led his attaining enlightenment.

Naropa Festival 2016, Naro Palace, Hemis Monastery
Fully decorated Naro Palace, the venue for the Naropa Festival 2016 and also where the six bone ornaments were in public display

At this moment

A peek into Minangkabau culture

Where the men rule but women call the shots!
There can’t be a more contradictory sentence than the one above but it strikes true everytime in West Sumatra.

It was late afternoon but still bright when I stepped out of Padang Airport in West Sumatra (Sumatra Barat). A designated guide received me and we started walking toward the parking lot. By force of habit I always look back to see how things looked like. I did so this time too and I stopped!

Padang, Minangkabau culture
Padang Airport based on Minangkabau architecture

In front was the beautiful

Evocative Bali Craft

Evocative Bali Craft

One of the aspects of our short but interesting tour of Indonesia, which is forever etched in my mind, is the many types of handicrafts in vogue there. The crafty carvers of Bali have indeed carved a place in our hearts. From painting to sculpture to other forms, the craft magic was enchanting and wove us into its spell. I will talk about some of them here.

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1. Stone Carving

Ramadan in Turkey

Come Ramzan (Ramadan) and it’s a festive mood around us. There are many countries where it is a time of great celebration, something like carnival atmosphere, with trees, mosques and homes in towns are decorated with lights.

The followers of Islam in India, Malaysia, Turkey and other parts of the world fast during the daylight hours of the month long festival of Eid-ul-Fitr or Ramadan maintaining their self-resistance towards their needs and urges. Come evening, they break their fast with mouth watering dishes in this holy month with much gusto.

Today on this occasion I take you to Turkey through pictures.

Ramadan in Turkey

Famous mouth watering Baklava, impossible to resist.