Kalyan Panja: Photographer and Travel Writer

About Kalyan

I'm Kalyan Panja, a travel writer and photographer. For twenty years I have documented place and food, and Travtasy is where the trips, meals and photographs are collected.

How Travtasy began

My journey began on one fine summer day in 2006, when I started out as a freelance writer, sharing stories and experiences through photographs, and words through my blog. I am always on the lookout for unusual, off-the-track destinations, and I aspire to have more stamps in my passport than years on this Earth.

My travel style

I love routes outside the traditional circuits, and I believe, with good reason, that the real gems lie just away from the crowds of tourists in the queue. I look for WOW moments around the world, among local people, in the cuisine or across the streets, to share with travel freaks everywhere. Telling stories through images, and showing the different cultures of the places I visit, is what I love most.

I share images, articles and reviews through platforms including National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Getty Images, Google Local Guide and Zomato, and I am a Google Trusted Tester.

Journeys So Far

All along this, I walk, while I photograph and write on this blog. I have also topped many pan-India blogging competitions, and I have more than 90,000 followers across my social channels, with good organic engagement on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, X, YouTube and others. My reviews have been published in notable magazines like Femina and in popular books by leading authors.

My Blogging Journey

How it started

It has been a long 20 years, and the saying that "time flies" applies very aptly to this blog. The feeling is more than overwhelming, because of the imagination Heaven's Garden has been able to capture. The day I started, I could never have imagined it would come this far, and I can only say it is you, and only you, who have kept this blog going.

First and foremost, I thank God, who gives me the words to write instead of actions to regret.

For those who are new here: what inspired me to blog? It began with some Google searching on a few topics, when I bumped into the beautiful world of the blogosphere. The design and content of some of those blogs really struck me.

The second inspiration was Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, which became my first post. The place, its people and its culture influenced me so much that I wanted to bring this little known corner to the entire world. It is heartening that people get more and more curious about Tawang, and the number of queries I receive tells me it has been worth it.

That mixture of the earlier blogs and a beautiful place gave birth to what I called "Heaven's Garden". After that, things just kept adding up. Over the years the blog has diversified into many topics, but one thing has remained the same: its storytelling.

I also want to mention my family, without whose silent support, inspiration and motivation this blog might not have been possible. They are the main energy driving it.

Why I blog

My main intention is to showcase the beauty and diversity of this amazing world, the myriad cultures, customs and traditions, to the entire world. After a while, it also becomes something of an addiction.

I see this blog as a platform where I can write on almost anything under the sun that might interest most people, like an informal gossip among friends. A garden is made of many beautiful posts, and so is this blog, with photography adding the flavor. Its basic theme is travel and lifestyle.

I blog because it widens my world. I love the thought that somewhere across the oceans, a person I have never met (and may never meet) is getting to know something I wrote or a picture I captured. Blogging forces me to articulate my thoughts. Sometimes I don't know what I think until I write it down, examine it and critique it. Sometimes what comes out surprises me.

What blogging has given me

In the beginning there were so few visitors that I would open my blog each morning to find no comments. It disheartened me at first, but the inspiration was there to move ahead, and today I feel it was worth it. The comments have crossed thousands, and the blog attracts more than a 1000 visitors every day.

Blogs have taught me about facts, places and cities I would never have known, and about photography skills and techniques. It is a learning curve. Some posts made me laugh to my heart's content, some brought tears to my cheeks, and many made me think. Blogging is an emotional journey, especially when bloggers share moments alike.

It has given me friends from every part of the world, and a platform to contribute to popular informative and educative websites specialising in various fields, where I could never otherwise have contributed. I thank those websites' editors for the scope to enhance my knowledge and skills and reach a mass audience.

Over time, visitors liked posts and wanted to link to them from their sites. Once a visitor offered to write a poem on my blog based on one of my photographs. It gives a nice feeling, and it feels even better to know that someone got inspired by me or this blog and started blogging themselves.

People from all spheres have visited, mostly through search engines and others by reference. Some found what they wanted and stayed to read, while others left within seconds and probably cursed me, and the search engine, for the wrong page. At times I felt on top of the world when some of my posts ranked first in search results for specific queries.

What You'll Find on Travtasy

Features and Interviews

My photographs and articles have been featured by:

Archived copy of the National Geographic story: Wayback Machine

Awards and Recognition

Listed among

Campaigns and Collaborations

I have worked with airlines, tourism and hospitality brands, tech makers, food and drink labels and more. A selection:

See every campaign on the Contact and Media Kit page

Find me online