Showing posts with the label India

Rozabal Shrine: The Tomb of Jesus

Oct 23, 2023

In the Khanyar area of Kashmir, India, in downtown Srinagar, there is an old shrine—a modest stone building with a traditional Kashmiri mult...

Pidakala War: The Cow Dung Fight

Jul 12, 2023

The Hindu new year or Baisakhi is celebrated throughout India in mid-April. The celebrations vary across states and from culture to culture,...

The World’s Oldest Optical Illusion

May 10, 2023

In the October 1892 issue of Fliegende Blätter , a German humor magazine, there appeared an image depicting an optical illusion. The image w...

London to Calcutta by Bus

Aug 30, 2022

For fifteen years from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, it was possible to hop on to a bus in London and travel all the way to Calcutta, I...

Gol Gumbaz: The Taj Mahal of South India

Jul 8, 2022

In the city of Bijapur, in the south Indian state of Karnataka, stands one of the grandest royal tombs to be ever constructed in India. Aptl...

The Two-Headed Boy of Bengal

Jun 29, 2022

In May 1783, in a small village named Mundul Gaut, in Bengal, India, a strange child was born. He had two heads. The midwife assisting the...

Watson’s Hotel: India’s Oldest Cast Iron Building

Jun 24, 2022

Early one morning In 1867, a traveler walking through the familiar streets of Kala Ghoda district in Bombay noticed something strange “like ...

Mahabat Maqbara: A Forgotten Testament of Artistry

Jun 8, 2022

In Junagadh, Gujarat, the confluence of cultural influences in India epitomises in the form of an overlooked monument. Mahabat Maqbara—an ep...

Mehrangarh Fort: Of Brick, Mortar & Death

May 19, 2022

In Mehrangarh fort of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, murals lend insight into the infernal past of Hindu traditions. Its imprinted walls and resounding...

The Mysteries of Nidhivan

May 13, 2022

Every year millions set foot on Vrindavan with one motive: to witness Krishna’s raasleela . This dance of coquetry has riddled the pages of ...

Bera, The Indian Village Where Man and Leopards Live Together

May 10, 2022

Along the sun-soaked Aravallis of Rajasthan thrives the leopard country of India. In and around Bera, a small village in Pali district, maje...

The Peculiar Locks of Dindigul

May 5, 2022

In India’s Tamil Nadu, some 420km south of Chennai, sits Dindigul. In this city of over two million people, families have slept without a wo...

The Lake of The Dead: Roopkund

Apr 21, 2022

At a breathtaking altitude of 16,500ft, pristine waters of the Himalayas lay frozen to their depths for most part of the year. Come summer t...

Reverse Waterfalls: When Water Flies Up

Apr 16, 2022

Every monsoon, the Indian subcontinent turns into a land of natural marvel. Cascading waterfalls, dense greenscapes and the smell of earth t...

The Abandoned Village of Kuldhara

Apr 11, 2022

Some 30 kilometres from Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, a dusty track meanders towards the abandoned town of Kuldhara. Deserted land of scanty vegetat...

Razia Sultan: Delhi’s First And Only Female Emperor

Apr 7, 2022

Tales of female courage and prudence, power and fortitude run long in the pages of Mughal history. Women who were daughters, who were begums...

What the Megaliths of Jharkhand Reveal About Tribal India

Mar 23, 2022

In 2016, a cluster of over 300 megaliths were discovered under a maze of shrubs and garbage near Ranchi. The tombstones of Yamuna Nagar had ...

Inflated Bullock Skin Boats

Feb 3, 2022

In the early 1900s, American school teacher, traveler, and photographer, James Ricalton, went to India and traveled extensively throughout t...

The Fabled Diamonds of Golconda

Aug 5, 2021

Before the discovery of the diamond mines in Brazil and South Africa in the early 18th century, India was the sole supplier of the world’s d...

Bharat Mata Temple: A Shrine Dedicated to Mother India

Jul 15, 2021

The ancient city of Varanasi, in central India, draws pilgrims from all around the world. One of the most important religious hubs and the h...