Stories in stone

The story of Hampi is the story of stone. You disagree? You think it is sacrilege to reduce the heady might and valour of the Vijayanagara kings to the passivity of stone? Stone – inanimate, indifferent and cold?
No, it is true. In Hampi, the stones tell you more interesting stories than your guide [...]

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Future tense

In Shekhawati, the future looks at the past…

Update: or, the past and future look at each other, as Arun says in a comment. I have also changed the title of the post to ‘Future Tense’ as a nod to the deplorable state of many of the mansions / frescoes in Shekhawati.

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Chola! and thanks for all the bronze

I had sent this titled – Chola! and thanks for all the bronze… it appeared on March 14th in HT Cafe as Temples of a dynasty… Here is the original version.

Long after I returned from Thanjavur, I kept telling friends, the cholas were dudes. Most predictably gave me strange looks but there were a few [...]

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Memories of Meenakshi

My favourite spot inside the Meenakshi temple is not the long corridors where people sit for hours, staring at the lotus pond or the imposing towers. Nor under the stunning paintings of the god and goddess, a million stories including the divine wedding, on the walls of the corridors.

It is not in the narrow lanes [...]

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Celebrating culture

Published in the Hindu Sunday magazine today. Read Celebrating Culture online…
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Who would have thought kitsch could be so charming? The first evening of our stay at Jodhpur, when I venture into Mandore Gardens for the inauguration of the annual Marwar Festival, I do not have very high expectations. Blame it on everything I have read [...]

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All that glitters : Amritsar photoessay

A few memories from a visit to Amritsar almost a year ago. I usually like to write a lot even in photoessays in this blog, but this time I am going to cheat and just put in images (blame it on bad health)…
The temple at Amritsar must be the most peaceful place of worship [...]

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Morning at Jama Masjid

It’s Sunday morning and the roads leading to Chandni Chowk are deserted. We cross the chaotic merry go round of Connaught Place in a trice and head to old Delhi. Where are all the people? The buffaloes that carry on listlessly and children who dart at unexpected moments across the road. It is so quiet. [...]

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The temple that time forgot

Published in the April issue of ‘Windows & Aisles’, the inflight magazine of Paramount Airways…
Take a closer look at Lepakshi and discover a legend hidden behind every pillar
and every wall in the temple…
Lepakshi is a town that is fighting a hard and brave battle against obscurity. Despite being a contemporary of its more famous cousin [...]

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She sells sea shells…

Have not been traveling much of late, and this blog therefore remains unupdated. In the meanwhile, here is a story from an earlier visit to Mahabalipuram – published in the travel section of today’s HT Cafe…

The article is available online for only a week here… Quick! Read while offer exists.
And for more photographs from Mahabalipuram, [...]

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My heart is in Hampi

I know you are thinking that there has been too much of Hampi in this blog – but that is a place that truly keeps calling me back – but this is the last one, I promise. I had written a short post on the Virupaksha temple a while ago on this blog – this [...]

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