I knew there were a number of separatist movements in India before we arrived. However, it wasn’t until after we’d been there that I realized how intense some of these conflicts are and simply how many of them there are. One estimate we were given indicated that there are over 300 different separatist movements in … Continue reading
Perhaps not surprisingly to those that know me, I found the military dimension to Arunachal Pradesh interesting. Tensions between India and China run high in this area… Currently, India administers all of Arunachal Pradesh. However, the Chinese lay claim to the majority of Arunachal Pradesh as they believe it to be an extension of the … Continue reading
Picturesque Nameri National Park was not officially established until November of 1998 (although it began to receive some degree of protection as early as 1978). Access to Nameri is from Potasali, 2km off the Tezpur-Bhalukpong road. So, in other words, it is on the border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh… According to the government of … Continue reading
Think Buddhism is all about peace, love, flowers and meditation? Think again. Check out this sample of paintings I photographed inside various Buddhist temples in India: Continue reading
Kali is perhaps best known now in the Western World for her role in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom where Indiana stumbles across a Kali cult practicing child slavery, black magic and ritual human sacrifice… * Kali, whose name means “the black one,” is the Hindu goddess associated with time and … Continue reading
As I mentioned in the previous post on logging in Arunachal Pradesh, our purpose for being in the jungle in the first place was to accompany a tribal hunting expedition deep into the mountains. Well, this post is about that trip… As with the logging, the villagers are not supposed to be hunting in the … Continue reading
A significant source of income in many of the tribal areas of the Arunachal Pradesh jungle is derived from logging. This is a legal gray area. Technically, the jungle is a protected area. However, the villagers are grudgingly permitted by the Indian government to retrieve timber from the jungle for their own use. “Their own … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 