Travel Musings – Being Shiva – Create with love, Abandon without a care
Chambal Valley – Protected by Infamy, Curses and Crimes
Chambal Valley – Protected by Infamy, Curses and Crimes The Chambal Valley is a cursed land as per mythology. It boasts of a barren and ravaged landscape, ravines, gorges and jungles. Bandits and dacoits. Outlaws and lawlessness. The setting for many iconic movies and the backdrop for many legendary Indian Robin Hoods… It remains pristine and untouched...
Hampi – Erstwhile Capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, temples, monuments, ruins and hippie island
Ever since the devastating earthquake caused destruction to the heritage sites in Kathmandu in 2015, I had made up my mind to visit the UNESCO Heritage city of Hampi - famous for its temples and ruins. In 2016, I decided to visit the capital city of the erstwhile Vijayanagara Empire - Hampi. Thanks to Go...
Kumbhalgarh Fort Rajasthan- story of an invincible fort
We call it India’s Great Wall ! It is 36 kilometres long and 15 feet wide, and two cars can run side by side on the wall. Welcome to the Kumbhalgarh fort , Rajasthan. This fort is about beauty, architectural majesty and yes stories around it. Kumbhalgarh Fort, along with five other forts of Rajasthan,...
Malana, The Magic – Of ancient Sages, Myths, Alexander & Malana Cream
Malana, The Magic - Of ancient Sages, Myths, Alexander and Malana Cream. This is a strange story and a real place. It involves ancient sages, kings, mythology, legends, history and drugs. To understand this, you have to get to know the ancient sage, Jamadagni, and a bit of Hindu mythology. Let me start with ancient times...
Khajuraho Temples – celebration of life and love & not just eroticism
The guide kept referring to a certain section of the sculptures in Sun temple Konark as Khajuraho . I and my friends couldn’t stop smiling. This was sometime in 2009, and it made me think that why is this temple and its history only associated with eroticism. I had heard of various stories about Khajuraho...
Sidi Saiyyed Mosque, Tree of Life, IIM Ahmedabad and the medieval Afro-Indian connect
Sidi Saiyyed Mosque, Tree of Life, IIM Ahmedabad and the medieval Afro-Indian connect. What, you may ask, are these three doing together. A place of worship, a tree, a business school and medieval Afro-Indian connect... There is a link, I assure you. Read on… The Sidi Saiyyed Mosque is in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India....
Trichinopoly Cigar, Churchill, World War II, Sherlock Holmes and Trichy in India
Trichinopoly Cigar, the one that Churchill loved and Sherlock Holmes used was from a town in British India that lent its name to it - Trichy What was it that Winston Churchill, Sherlock Holmes and the average Balaji in South India loved? The Trichie or Tritchie. The Trichinopoly Cigar which is a type of cheroot that...
Ruins of Mandu – tales of history, architecture, love and war
Ruins of Mandu, or Mandavgarh, once the capital of Malwa region, a fortified town, was also known as the “City of Joy”. Mandu is not about the ruins of the glorious past , but it is a bouquet of stories and legends. How should I start? Capital of multiple dynasties, a forgotten glorious past, city...
Tower of Silence, Sky Burial and Birds of Prey
A look at the Parsi Tower of Silence, the ritual of Sky Burial, the legends and rationale behind it and the link to the Birds of Prey. Sky burial is the practice of ritualistically leaving the dead as food for the birds of prey and Mother Nature. Sounds gruesome doesn’t it? There must be some rationale...