Showing posts with the label India

The Chapati Movement of 1857

Apr 8, 2021

The year was 1857. A storm was brewing in British-occupied India. There was growing resentment among the Indians against the rule of the Eas...

Talakadu: The Temple City Devoured by Sand

Jan 8, 2021

The ancient city of Talakadu situated on the banks of the Kaveri river, about 45 km east of Mysore, was once the capital of the Western Gang...

The Indian Perfume That Smells Like Rain

Mar 3, 2020

Rainwater flows down a roof. Photo: Anna Nikonorova/Shutterstock.com Love that musky, fresh smell of earth that permeates the air when t...

The World’s Oldest Dock at Lothal

Feb 25, 2020

The dockyard at Lothal. Photo: DARSHAN KUMAR/Shutterstock.com This large rectangular, water-filled structure may look like a reservoir, ...

The Great Hedge of India

Feb 20, 2020

Back in the 19th century, eastern India was separated from the west by an impenetrable belt of trees made up of mostly thorny plants such as...

Haystacks of Rishikesh

Dec 12, 2019

Haystacks are often constructed around a central pole, or a tree. Bales of hay are loosely arranged around the central structure to prevent ...

Punkah: The Hand Operated Ceiling Fans of Colonial India

Sep 4, 2019

When the British first came to India, they had to adapt themselves to a lot of unfamiliar things, such as the climate, the blood sucking mos...

The Rotating Solariums of Jean Saidman

Jul 22, 2019

The importance of sunlight to human health is well understood, and that understanding developed in the late 19th century when it was discov...

Gilbert Hill: Mumbai’s Forgotten 66 Million Years Old Heritage

May 28, 2019

Concrete buildings aren’t the only thing that rises vertically in the metropolis of Mumbai, India’s most populous city. In a suburb, north ...

The Rockets of Mysore

May 3, 2019

Rockets were originally invented not to send things into space, but to shoot enemies with. Their effectiveness in warfare was demonstrated ...

The Red Taj Mahal: John Hessing’s Tomb

Mar 22, 2019

The Roman Catholic Cemetery in Nehru Nagar, Agra, harks back to a time when the many princely states that eventually united to become India ...

Alai Minar: Alauddin Khilji’s Unfinished Minaret

Mar 18, 2019

The Qutub Minar in New Delhi is a well known landmark. The sandstone-colored minaret with intricately carved inscription and reliefs on its ...

The Catholic Church Built by a Muslim Emperor

Mar 7, 2019

The city of Agra on the banks of Yamuna is a historical city full of monuments from the Mughal period, of which the Taj Mahal is one of the ...

Dhanushkodi: The Ghost Town Ravaged By Cyclone

Nov 9, 2018

In the middle of Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka is a small elongated island called Pamban, and it's connected to the Indian pen...

India Unveils World’s Tallest Statue

Oct 31, 2018

The controversial Statue of Unity dedicated to India’s first deputy prime minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was unveiled today at a remo...

Battle of Kohima: The Greatest World War Two Battle Everyone Forgot

Jul 23, 2018

Perched on top of a mountain ridge, some 5,000 feet up in the remote hilly terrain of northeast India, lies the town of Kohima, in what is n...

Mail Delivery By Rockets

Jun 28, 2018

The history of the postal system is inextricably tied to the history of transport. Advances in transportation technology have not only allow...

Ice Stupas: These Artificial Glaciers Are Solving Water Crises in The Himalayas

May 25, 2018

Photo credit: Sonam Wangchuk High in the Himalayas in northern India, at a remote village near Phyang Monastery in Ladakh, stands two giga...

Ross Island: The Ghostly Ruins of a Former Penal Colony

May 23, 2018

Abandoned colonial architecture covered with big tree roots at Ross island. Photo credit: CRS PHOTO/Shutterstock For more than eighty yea...

Tipu Sultan’s Mechanical Tiger

Jan 24, 2018

The sun is the hottest when the clock strikes one in the small town of Seringapatam, not far from the city of Mysore, in present day Karnata...