Mahindra Homestays » Photography

Winner: Photo Of The Month February 2010

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:51:01 +0000

The February photo of the month was the most hotly contended yet with over 750 votes, yet only 2% separating first and second place. Congratulations to Rahul for his stunning image entitled Meditation. Rahul wins an Amazon gift voucher - it will be on its way to you soon.

For the next photo of the month competition we want you to suggest a topic! Add your comment below with what you think would make a good theme. It can be anything you like – but has to have an Indian connection! Take a look at some of our past Indian photography competitions for some inspiration.

We will pick our favourite suggestion and open the competition soon.

February India Photo Of The Month: Vote Now

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 06:12:47 +0000

Our popular photo of the month competition continues, and for February the theme was just simply ‘things to do in India‘.

Entries were very varied, showing the sheer scope of activities you can participate in and enjoy during your travels in India. From trekking through the countryside, meditating from a beautiful view point to relaxing on the beach or enjoying the mouthwatering local cuisine it just shows that there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Thank you everyone for entering. Below are the three images we have shortlisted. Please vote now for your favourite.

1. Trekking by Abhivishwanadula

2. Chai by Thibaut Pening

3. Meditation by Rahul

Votes close Friday 5 March 2010.

Winner: Photo Of The Month January 2010

luke — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:34:35 +0000

You chose Mriganka2010’s cliff-top capture from the Nandi Hills as January’s ‘romantic’ Photo of the Month.

Congratulations Mriganka, we’ll be in touch about your £10 prize.

Next up: favourite things to do.

We’d like to see photos of your favourite things to do in India – the scope is broad, and could be anything from adventure sports to cooking, to lazing or sightseeing. Tell us why you love doing what you love!

Our India things to do series may provide some inspiration.

Upload your entries by 15 February for a chance to be shortlisted. Each month followers on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr choose the winner.

Entering your image

On Facebook? Just post your image to the Mahindra Homestays wall as usual

On Flickr? Add your image to the Photo of the Month group

On Twitter? Tweet the image and include our Twitter name @indianhomestays plus the hashtag #indiaphoto

That’s it.

Good luck everyone – and thanks for taking part.

January India Photo Of The Month: Vote Now!

luke — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:06:24 +0000

January’s theme was ‘romance‘, chosen to chime with our recently announced Kerala honeymoon package.

Your interpretation of this theme could have been broad – romantic view, two animals snuggled up or something less obvious – just so long as it had some relevance to India.

Thank you everyone for entering. Below are the images we have shortlisted. Please vote now for your favourite.

1. Passion by judepics

2. Romancing the Waves by Pu Robee

3. Sojourn behind the clouds by Mriganka2010

Votes close Friday 29 January 2010.

Front page image: Creative Commons

December Photo Of The Month Result

luke — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:30:40 +0000

Thank you to all those that entered and voted in our last India photo contest of 2009.

The winner as chosen by public vote was abhivishwanadula who entered via our Flickr Photo of the Month group.

Congratulations to abhivishwanadula who picked up over 50% of the votes for the Goa sunset shot above. A prize is on its way to you.

January’s contest theme is ‘romance‘, in a nod to our recent Kerala honeymoon package. Your interpretation of this theme can be broad – from a romantic view to a picture of two animals snuggled up – but please make sure your image has some relevance to India if you want to stand a chance of making our shortlist.

Entering your image

On Facebook? Just post your image to the Mahindra Homestays wall as usual

On Flickr? Add your image to the Photo of the Month group

On Twitter? Tweet the image and include our Twitter name @indianhomestays plus the hashtag #indiaphoto

That’s it!

The deadline for entries is 25 January 2010.

Good luck!

December Photo Of The Month: Time To Vote

luke — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:26:29 +0000

Front page image: Dan Brady

The last Photo of the Month competition of 2009 – and the first to involve users on Flickr and Twitter as well as Facebook, where we have enjoyed running this India images contest for over a year now.

This month we chose ‘Goa’ as the theme (to celebrate our new homestays in Goa). Users were able to enter by submitting to our Flickr group, hashtagging their image on Twitter with hashtag #indiaphoto or simply uploading to the wall in Facebook. We needed you to make it clear that your image was from Goa.

Inevitably beaches and sunsets were popular. Below are the four images we liked best from all those submitted. Now you choose the winner by voting below!

We look forward to your entries in 2010. Next month’s theme will be announced on 31 December when voting closes for this month’s contest.

Calangute beach by Mandi Jones

Goa yoga by judepics

Sunset at Velsao beach by abhivishwanadula

Couple at Palolem by sahil0202

Tweets Of The Week: India Travel On The Web Round-Up 4

luke — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:17:51 +0000

Ravangla Man, Sikkim

This wonderful capture of a man at Ravangla market, Sikkim, leaped out at us this week. It was taken by Sukanto Debnath of Hyderabad. Sukanto says “Photography is a hobby and Flickr is an addiction. It’s mostly when I go for vacations, I take photographs. And then I take photographs like crazy…almost non stop. I love Sikkim and Nepal. Every year I try to spend at least few days there. I mainly do environmental candid portraits.” Sukanto is also a talented concept artist – see his Doodles N Drawings blog.

We also liked…

How to wrap a turban
Last week we posted Wrapping A Sari, this week Beth Whitman at WanderlustAndLipstick.com is sharing her Wrapping A Turban video. Beth’s post includes a photo of – legend has it – Rajasthan’s most photographed man. See what he looks like.

Varanasi views
More photographic goodness. The World Effect travelogue takes the reader on a journey down the Ganges river, Varanasi, in part one, and then through its narrow roads and alleys in part two.

The corkscrew minarets
Madhu and Savita, who are on an 18 month trip around India and surrounding countries, were recently in Gujarat. They posted photos from the mesmerising, though sadly decaying, Bahauddin Makbara in Junagadh. Read more of their blog.

Honest appraisal of a houseboat tour
Dave and Deb bought the Kerela backwater experience after hearing so much about it. Here they give a balanced review of the things they liked, and the things they didn’t.

Nine day India tour
Lee Harrison of the UK’s Select World Travel shares his photo album after a tour of the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Delhi, Jaipur and Agra.

Best beaches in India?
Finally we enjoyed About.com (and sometimes Mahindra Homestays) writer Sharell Cook’s pick of India’s top beaches. Do you agree with these?

We love sharing links and conversation on Twitter and Facebook. If you do to, don’t be shy to send us a message!

Photo Of The Month Gets Bigger

luke — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:33:47 +0000

India Photo of the Month

Our popular Facebook Photo of the Month contest – where people submit their themed India images and users vote for their favourite – is spreading its reach.

Following requests from followers, we’ve decided to increase the ways that people can take part. We took a break in November to plan some improvements, and this is what we’re now doing.

We’re still asking you to submit images according to a monthly theme. The difference is, now you can do so on Flickr and Twitter as well as Facebook.

This widens the pool of photos, gets more people involved and increases the interest in India photography.

Photo: Shermee

So how does judging work? It’s still decided by you.

After the submission deadline passes each month (roughly around the middle) we’ll be putting up a shortlist of three or four photos – with links to their owners – and asking you to pick a winner using our neat polling system.

And while the contest is mainly for fun and inspiration, we’ll still be sending a £10 Amazon voucher to the chosen winner as a token.

We’re looking forward to spreading this out and welcoming some new participants. If you have any queries, just ask.

This month’s contest
This month our theme is simply Goa. We wanted to mark the arrival of several new Goa homestays with something special, so we’re looking for one photo from you that says something you like about India’s top tourist spot.

On Facebook? Just post your image to the wall as usual

On Flickr? Add your image to the Photo of the Month group

On Twitter? Tweet the image and include our Twitter name @indianhomestays plus the hashtag #indiaphoto

That’s it!

The deadline for entries is 14 December 2009.

October Photo Of The Month Result

luke — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:47:56 +0000

Varanasi Puja

The winner of October’s Facebook Photo of the Month competition is Thibaut Pening, who entered this atmospheric image of puja at Varanasi. Congratulations Thibaut – the fans voted your photo as their favourite and you earn a £10 Amazon voucher.

We like to keep this monthly competition fresh, and with that in mind we are expanding it.

From November users of Twitter and Flickr will be able to take part directly.

Shortly we will be announcing our new month’s theme. Facebook users will be able to enter in the usual way, by uploading their image to the Mahindra Homestays page. Twitter users will be able to take part by linking to their photo and including a hashtag (eg #indiaphotonovember). Flickr users will be invited to submit their work into a pool that we will create for each month’s contest.

With over 1,400 uploaded photos since we began less than a year ago, this competition has been a great success and a pleasure to run.

We’re really excited about opening it up further and giving more India travellers the chance to take part.

Travel Writer’s Kerala Trip In Photos

luke — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:16:42 +0000

Saree wrapping

About.com travel writer Sharell Cook took a trip Kerala recently to experience two Mahindra Homestays and everything they offer.

Sharell enjoyed the warm hospitality of Meenachil Enclave, Kottayam and Vembanad House, Alleppey.

Take a look at her photos below and see what she got up to.

As well as a backwaters journey, farm tour and spot of handicraft shopping, she enjoyed learning about saree wrapping and toddy tapping to name a few.

This wasn’t Sharell’s first time in a homestay – she’s written several reviews of our network accommodation and wrote a popular post 5 Benefits of Staying in a Homestay in India.