Svarga Returns

When I started in-world, as a younger nerd than I am today, I did what any good nerd would do: I bought a book. Several of them, in fact.

One of the ways books on Second Life filled pages was to have a section on "must-see" destinations. One that got a mention, if not a full writeup, in most books was Svarga. The Second Life In-World Travel Guide lists Svarga as one of the "best of the best," and describes it as follows:

In Hinduism, Svarga is considered one of the parts of Heaven. It's the waiting room, so to speak, before your reincarnation....After a year's work, Svarga is a full functioning virtual ecosystem brought online by resident Laukosargas Svarog. This SIM uses artificial clouds that help to carry the plant spores and bees to pollinate the flowers.

(Humorously, the section notes: "It's very common to see residents relaxing. Feel free to say hello, but understand they may not say hello back.")

I visited early on, and took some pictures, and meant to post them. I'm not quite sure why I didn't. Then the sim closed, and it hardly seemed worth posting on a location that no longer existed.

The other night, I heard that Svarga was back. (And now owned by Linden Lab, according to New World Notes.) I paid another visit, a little older and, I hope, a little wiser.

The sim looked exactly as I remembered...and, indeed, exactly as the camera remembered.




















The first three pictures are from November 2, 2008; the final seven are from March 22, 2010. The blue dragon, by the way, is an avatar and not part of the environment.