Anamudi Shola National Park ( Mannavan shola , Idukki , Munnar , Kerala )

Anamudi Shola National Park is a protected area located along the Western Ghats in Idukki , Kerala , India. It is composed of Mannavan shola, Idivara shola and Pullardi shola, covering a total area of around 7.5 km². Draft notification of this new park was released on Nov 21, 2003 . Elevation ranges from 2,152 meters (7,060 ft) - 2,305 meters (7,562 ft).  This park is a very high rainfall area with annual average rainfall of about 4,500 millimeters.

Indian gray mongoose - Kerala

The Indian grey mongoose or common grey mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii) is a species of mongoose mainly found in southern Asia mainly India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and some other parts of Asia.  The grey mongoose is commonly found in open forests, scrublands and cultivated fields, often close to human habitation. It lives in burrows, hedgerows and thickets, among groves of trees, taking shelter under rocks or bushes and even in drains. It is very bold and inquisitive but wary, seldom venturing far from cover. It climbs very well. Usually found singly or in pairs. Being carnivorous it feeds on many species ranging from rat to snake. 

Monsoon Rain Picture - 2013 ( Kerala )

Monsoons bring to Kerala two rainy seasons-the southwest monsoon or the Edavappathi, bringing rains during June-September, and the north east monsoon or the Thulavarsham during October to December.The rainforest areas of the state have humid tropical wet climate while the extreme eastern fringes experience a drier tropical wet and dry climate .Kerala receives an average annual rainfall of 3107 mm.    Southwest monsoon is the main rainy season in Kerala begins by the end of May or early June with the outset of the southwest monsoon winds . North East Monsoon in Kerala Also known as Thulaavarsham  hits Kerala during the return of the southwest monsoon winds. These rains are in the months of October and November. 

Rain Video - Kerala

Bakarwal ( Bakharwal ) - Jammu and Kashmir

 Bakarwal ( Bakharwal ) - Photographed in Patnitop , Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir

Bakarwal ( Bakharwal ) is a nomadic tribe based in the Pir Panjal and Himalayan mountains of South Asia. They are mainly goatherds and shepherds. Bakarwals are spread throughout the northern part of the Himalayan Range. Bakarwals lead a lonely and tough life in the high-altitude meadows of the Himalayas and the Pir-Panjal. Every year, they take their sheep high into the mountains, above the tree-line to graze in the lush meadows. It may take them as many as sixty days to reach these meadows. During the summer, they move from one meadow to the other. They are accompanied by their dogs.

Captive elephants - Kerala

Elephants in Kerala are often referred to as the "sons of the sahya". As the State Animal, the elephant is featured on the emblem of the Government of Kerala state, taken from the Royal Arms of both Travancore and Cochin. Along with a large population of wild elephants, Kerala has more than seven hundred elephants in captivity. Most of them are owned by temples and individuals. They are used for religious ceremonies in and around the temples, and a few elephants work at timber yards. Most of the Hindu temples in Kerala own elephants, the majority of which are donated by devotees. The famous Guruvayur temple has more than 60 captive elephants. The world's only Elephant Palace is constructed in Punnattur Kotta, 3 km from the Guruvayur temple, to house the temple's elephants. A famous elephant, named Guruvayur Kesavan, belonged to this temple.

Saffron field - Kashmir

Saffron ( world's most costly spices by weight )  is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus. Saffron crocus grows to 20–30 cm  and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are the distal end of a carpel. Saffron is graded via laboratory measurement of crocin (colour), picrocrocin (taste), and safranal (fragrance) content .