World Photography Day: From Our Archives

Most visit Hampi (the photograph above) to see the splendour of the Vijayanagara Empire, but few know that this popular tourist destination is steeped in a legend that connects it to the world of the Ramayana. At a short distance from the city lies what is believed to have been the ancient kingdom of Kishkindha, the birthplace of Lord Hanuman. One of the places in Hampi associated with Ramayana is Malyavanta Hill. The hill has a Raghunatha Temple, built in classic Vijayanagara style, dedicated to Ram. Further ahead is a small Shivalaya. Lore has it that Ram and Lakshman stayed on top of the Malyavanta Hill while waiting out the monsoons before proceeding to Lanka with Hanuman and his army to rescue Sita.

This photograph was captured by Harsha Vadlamani, an independent photojournalist and filmmaker who is also the recipient of Amnesty International’s Media Award for Photojournalism, 2022.

A narrow alley in Hanoi’s Old Quarter is Vietnam’s most famous selfie spot. Not just another alley, this “Instagrammable” stretch has quaint cafés and homes stacked next to each other. Yet a railway track runs through this 100-metre-long road, where every few hours since 1902, a train bolts by just inches away from the homes. Each time it does, the locals grab everything in sight—be it their makeshift stalls or belongings—and rush back in. Despite the risk, this unique “Train Street” caught the world’s attention, and many locals turned their houses into cafés, hoping to earn well. The tourists took to sipping Vietnamese coffee while watching the chaos unfurl. However, recently safety concerns have led authorities to crack down on these cafés and eateries, forcing them to shut shop, much to the dismay of tourists.

A deep inlet of the East China Sea on the coast of Japan, Kagoshima Bay, also known as Kinko Bay, is partially volcanic in origin. This volcanic activity allows diverse wildlife to thrive within the bay’s waters. Photographer Tony Wu captured a stunning example of this underwater life, letting an undulating sea star find room in his camera’s field of view. In what seems to be a scene from space, Wu captured the electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star, with bluish electric streaks of semen and eggs swirling in the water as they get fertilised in the currents carrying them. The image, which he captured with difficulty, saw him clinch the title in the “underwater” category at London’s Natural History Museum’s prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

“I used to think the splashes of colour were intentional, perhaps to counter the snowy-white monotone. On the contrary, the houses and buildings are colour-coded. The churches are red, hospitals are yellow, fishing houses are blue, and police stations are black,” says Bani Nanda, chef and founder of Delhi’s Miam Pâtisserie. On a trip to Greenland’s capital Nuuk, she shot this picture on her camera as the angled sun hit the roofs. The colour coding of buildings and houses in Greenland started in the 18th century during colonial times to make it easy to identify a structure. For example, homes and buildings in green signified areas where power works and auto mechanics were situated. While today the system is no longer in use, a walk at Nuussuaq, a large suburb of Nuuk, takes you through meandering paths lined with pastel-hued houses in addition to the old colour-coded buildings.

"Lord Bhairavnath is always around, keeping guard,” is what the priests tell you when you visit the Kedarnath temple. After being buried under snow for about 400 years, saved from the torrential flash floods of 2013 by a massive boulder, and amidst a global climate crisis, Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath temple is still standing unharmed and untouched by the fury of nature. An architectural marvel or the work of divine forces at play, the temple is a testimony to the beliefs of its most devout followers. The Mandakini river slithers below, and snowy peaks surround the temple, perched at 3,583 metres. Among the sacred four pilgrimage sites for Hindus, Kedarnath is also the most revered out of the 12 jyotirlingas.

Extreme weather makes it inaccessible from November to April. PM Modi launched the Gaurikund to Kedarnath ropeway project in October 2022, which reduces travel time for commuters. But with ease of access comes inevitable ecological damage. “It’s important to train the local community about protecting their environs,” said Pradeep Sangwan of the Healing Himalayas Foundation, a company that collects, stores, and recycles the waste generated on trekking routes in the Himalayas by tourists.

Papier mache murals and jade walls greet you as you step inside the holy shrine of Khanqah-e-Moula. One of the oldest Muslim shrines in Kashmir, Khanqah-e-Moula or Shah-e-Hamadan is believed to contain “the secret of Allah” and fulfil the wishes of the sincere. Flanked by the Jhelum river on one side, the wooden edifice, built by Sultan Sikander Butshikan in 1395, stands in a glorious mix of intricate carvings, sloping roofs with hanging bells and naturally-grown flowerbeds. The shrine, featuring sloping pyramidal roofs and double-arcaded verandahs running around its entirety, is dedicated to Muslim preacher Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani.

Photographer Varun Thakkar managed to capture snippets of the secret life of red pandas by venturing into the depths of the eastern Himalayas. It can take days to track these solitary and territorial “fire foxes,” as they are the masters of camouflage. Their red backs easily blend in with the red moss-covered trees, white lichen, and yellowish-orange foliage, while their black bellies make them hard to spot from below. Therefore, catching a glimpse of these elusive creatures requires patience and dedication. Typically creatures of the mountains, red pandas are found in the forests of India, Bhutan, and Nepal. If you want to sight them in the wild in India, travel to bioreserves in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal.

Some 50 kms from Mysore, in a labyrinth of jade and filtered silences, at first light, the silhouette appears, and then the torso gradually clears. Steeped in the glowing embers of dawn, photographer Shaaz Jung captured a tigress drifting through the densely wooded forests of Nagarhole National Park. The dawn and dusk hours are the most active for the big cats as they navigate the thicket of trees in search of prey. Even with forest fires, seasonal droughts, and run-ins with the native tribal communities, you might still spot several predators prowling around this UNESCO World Heritage site.