SUNSET OVER ALDONA church. These are the many hues of a Goan setting sun. No artificial filters -- only nature and my Canon AF7 -- were used for this photograph.

OPEN SPACE is fast vanishing from places like Porvorim, a fast- urbanizing area. Yet, these bovines find a place where, it appears, they can take the day off.

THIS IS NOT on the list of the biggest or most famous temples in Goa. But this small place of worship is among the most picturesque. Fields on one side, a river on the other... a temple in Aldona.

AFTER THE monsoons make their exit, the sunny days of September signal that it's time for a fresh coat of paint for boats and canoes in the many village of Goa -- a land of many rivers and bridges.

SUNSET SILHOUETTE along the Mandovi river, just outside the state-capital Panjim, with fishermens' stake-nets barely visible in the distance.

GOA'S FORTS are being privatised, and some are being turned into 'heritage' hotels. This policy has been challenged in the courts, though. Photo shows the view from the Korjuvem fort, on a scenic island off Aldona village.

STANDING OUT, ALL ALONE. That's what seems to be the motto of this lonely, bald tree at sunset. No filters used.

IN 1997, the Goa legislators passed a bill to ban the cutting of hillocks in the state. But, by this time, many hillocks (like this one at Divar island) had been razed. Many were bulldozed to get sufficient mud for earthworks of the Konkan Railway.

WHERE DO WE GO, these buffaloes seem to be asking. Behind them are large dumps of iron-ore 'rejects', which have marred the landscape of Bicholim and some other talukas.

SCULPTING THE GODS. This artiste from Bicholim is adept at shaping the elephant-headed god, Ganesh, whose festival is very popular among devotees in Goa around September each year.

ALL DECKED in white... and yellow. The Saligao Church of the Mother of God is lit up brightly on a dark night. This is part of the Tourism Department's plan to draw tourists by highlighting some monuments.

NETS GO UP for drying, at this rustic picture-postcard setting, after the heavy monsoon season ends sometime in August-September.

OLD ARTS get a new impetus. This young lady paints earthernware at Bicholim industrial estate, which is incidentally home to a number of craft units and churns out some of the most creative work in the state.

ECHOES OF THE PAST.? An interesting colonial painting on blue glazed tiles at Panjim gives a hint of how the Portuguese saw themselves, the Indian rajahs (rulers) and the exchange between these two sides in centuries past.

RUSTIC HOMES is where this path leads us to. This scenic shot comes from Pernem taluka, the northernmost region of Goa, which is among the most picturesque, but which many Goans may have themselves not visited.