The Ranki Vav step well in Patan aesthetically represents the expression of a Queen’s response to the passing of her loved one and in doing so, reflects the larger interplay of the spiritual and temporal.

In the region of Gujarat and Rajasthan, the climate has traditionally been dry. Scarce rainfall, seasonal rivers and a low water table, has made water a significant life force. This is why, during the course of time, the simple village well, pond or reservoir developed into an inventive architectural form – the step well. One quadrant of a circular well was opened up and flights of steps were introduced from the surface of the ground right down to the water below. Sometimes, a pond was provided for between the stairs and the well at the end. To solve the engineering problems in excavating and building an underground structure in the sandy soil, pavilions were inserted at regular intervals in the stepped corridor. Long descending staircases, pavilions, reservoirs, draw wells – all these resulted in a unique structural form.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Surya Namaskar or salutations to the Sun, is essentially worship of the Sun God. The Sun is the source of all energy and a prayer to him everyday, early in the morning is believed to bestow one with unlimited energy. We find mention of this practice in ancient Indian texts like the Rigveda, in the Chapter “Trucha – Kalpa – Namaskarah – Rugvediya Nityavidhi”, as also in the Puranas. Nityavidhi means tasks to be performed daily. The Surya Namaskar accompanied by Aumkar (Articulating the ‘Aum’) is an all round exercise which is believed to keep the body and mind in a state of well being.

Modern Sports and Medical Sciences relating to Health and Sports analyse benefits of exercises by calculating Strength, Endurance, Core stability, Elasticity, Flexibility of the body and Power of the mind. The Surya Namaskar exercises done with Aumkar are supposed to meet these Norms.

Popularity: 17% [?]

For sheer exuberance of spirit, devotion to her Lord, mastery over language as well as mythology and her ability to speak to us across the centuries, there are few poets who match Andal, the poet-saint in the Vaishnava tradition of South India. Today we cannot identify completely with all her materialistic allusions. There is, however, no disputing the emotions Andal evokes in us of wanting to partake and enjoy the benefits of living in peace together and in praying to one who brings ‘disparate hearts together’ – a very pertinent prayer in our raucous times.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Worn by everyone, from the Maharaja of Kolhapur to rural folk, these chappals have a story that dates back four hundred years. Comfortable, hardy and aesthetically designed, they express the very essence of a traditional craft.

A long time ago, when footwear wasn’t fussy and design was a response to utility, the now well-known Kolhapuri chappals made their appearance. Evolving from the basic features of a simple wooden base and toe (similar to that worn by sadhus), they went on to become footwear with a hard leather sole that would bend a bit with use, helping the farmer to walk in muddy areas with the two braided straps at the big and small toes holding the chappal in place. Those for kings had a softer sole and a lot of decorative work on them.

Popularity: 16% [?]

A pepper corn carries with it centuries of history, arduous journeys over land and sea and the growth of economies and empires. It is the spice that launched a thousand ships.
Native to the monsoon rainforests of Kerala, black pepper, a sun-dried berry of the pepper vine, is one of the earliest known, and most widely used, spices in the world. Growing on a climbing evergreen perennial vine supported by host trees such as areca, coconut, mango or jackfruit in home-yards or on a wooden pole in plantations, it is a common feature in the region.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Cover photo of book 'Wari- Pilgrimage of Joy'. “Wari – Pilgrimage of Joy” by Sandesh Bhandare from Pune is a pictorial representation of the annual Pandarpur Yatra from Alandi to Lord Vithal Temple in Pandarpur. The book is released in English and French by Heritage India Communications Pvt Ltd.

Popularity: 84% [?]

Rich with life, the Narmada flows not merely past human histories and sacred sites but amazing Naturescapes. Dense prehistoric forests, spectacular rock formations, magical islands and a wealth of inspiring land formations…all this and more make up the course of this ancient waterway as it journeys from the mountains to the sea.

Every river has a story to tell, whether of primordial life that bred and evolved in its waters or on its banks or of the flowering of human communities and civilizations. But there are some rivers that are more alive with the past and the present than the others. The Narmada is one of them. Prehistoric life-forms, early man, tribal society, Puranic personages, kingdoms, battle-fields of medieval India and cities of today – the river has been a constant force and factor in the lives and events played out on the vast stretches of central India. She traverses mountains, rocks, forests and plains along some of India’s holiest sites before dissolving in the Arabian Sea at the Gulf of Cambay.

The Narmada is one of India’s seven holy rivers, revered and invoked in prayer, prose and poetry. In fact the word “Narmada” literally means She Who Pleases. She is also known as Rewa and Shankari locally. The river finds mention in the Puranas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Mythology says Narmada is the reborn form of Tapati (also Tapti) who was Surya and Chaya’s daughter. She is Shani and Savitri’s sister. Surya blessed his daughter and deemed that she would flow west from the Vindhya as Narmada. She is believed to have descended from heaven at the Narmada Udgam temple which is situated at the very source of the river. The sanctity of her waters is why pilgrims undertake the arduous Narmada Parikrama, circumambulation of the river beginning at Bharuch going upto Amarkantak and then back again on the opposite bank – a journey of 2600 kilometers.

But history and legend apart, the Narmada’s physically real dramatic birth and journey give her a charisma that transcends human imagination.

Born from deep within the forests of teak and sal, over bauxite and clay rich earth, the river emerges at a height of 1000 metres above sea level near the Amarkantak peak of the Maikala plateau in the Vindhya and Satpura ranges on the border of Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The unusual river, unlike others, flows from the east to the west of the subcontinent. It traverses varied topography. The dense dry deciduous forests here are a Natural Heritage Zone and home to a unique ecosystem with complex plant-life. The area’s geological roots go back to the ancient Gondwanaland which was the undivided land mass on our planet before continents were formed.

Popularity: 14% [?]

They were once travellers on the high roads of freedom, crafting their own destinies as hunters, gatherers, traders, transporters and craftsmen but exist today in the no-mans-land of the settled world. But they persist.

To the uninitiated, Nari Kuravar Gypsies are an uncivilised wild bunch of people who are only familiar with life on the road. They resist change and live in the present with no notion of the future. They don’t want their children to be educated and are suspicious of the settled way of life. Well-meaning social workers will glibly say, “For years now, we have been trying our best. They even refuse to talk our language. This stubbornness hasn’t helped them in the least. It has been to their detriment. They walk around with weapons, steal, cheat, rummage around in garbage bins and in tourist places dupe unsuspecting victims. They just can’t keep still. We have done our best to civilize them but have not succeeded. They just can’t settle down.”

This is the usual response of people from settled communities who regard those who are nomadic as unreliable because they don’t ‘belong’ to a specific physical space. And around this perceived notion is woven a myriad misconceptions which are based on rumour and prejudice.

To experience the story of this community, a visit to one of its settlements would be a good way to start. Let’s take for example a Nari Kuravar settlement in Tirumullayvayal in Tamil Nadu.

Off on the side of a busy main road, the settlement is tucked away in a wild grove of babul, neem and other trees and as you approach, a pathway opens up between crouched dwellings made of discarded junk like wooden crates, wire, rusted tin sheeting, worn out truck tyres and a host of other bits and pieces ingenuously patched together to create shelters. Nevertheless, however desperate the settlement may appear it throbs with life. Men women and children are everywhere.

To one side, a group of men and women industriously sort junk that they have collected from the city’s bins, another group plays cards, a third fabricates primitive muzzle-loading shot guns, a fourth busily beheads chickens for a midnight feast and a fifth works on stringing beads into necklaces. Children are being bathed, women cook on open fires. Cats, dogs, goats, pigeons, doves, rabbits, hamsters and a host of domestic creatures, caged and free, are everywhere. You are soon overwhelmed by the sheer exuberance of life that oozes from the settlement

Popularity: 9% [?]

Firuz Shah Tughlaq and Emperor Akbar were among the many who attempted to decipher the Brahmi script because they realized that it would reveal a wealth of information about the past. However, it was Sir James Prinsep who succeeded…and finally the script divine revealed itself.

Brahmi is considered to be one of the most ancient scripts used in the sub-continent of India. According to tradition Brahmā, the God of Knowledge, is credited with the creation of this script, hence the name Brāhmi. However, the antiquity of the writing system in India goes back to the period of the Indus Valley Civilization though the Indus Script has not been convincingly deciphered as yet.

The earliest surviving records of the use of the Brāhmi script are found in the form of the inscriptions of Aśoka, the Mauryan Emperor (c.269 B.C.E. to c.232 B.C.E.). He had his messages to his subjects written on rocks and pillars at various places in his empire. His inscriptions on the trade routes and at important Buddhist places have provided us with evidence of a completely evolved alphabetical writing system in ancient India. Over a period of time, with the regional preferences and specialties the script changed its form and developed into almost all modern Indian scripts.

Until the advent of the British, the natives had completely forgotten the Brāhmi script. Early British scholars like Sir William Jones had come across stone inscriptions written in Brāhmi way back in 1784. The initial attempts to solve the riddle of this script proved futile and the scholarly world had to wait until 1837 for the script to be deciphered. Sir James Prinsep (1799-1840) was appointed as an assay master in the Calcutta mint by the British Government. During the course of his work, he had to handle a number of different types of coins every day. Studying the characters of the inscriptions on them he began deciphering the script with the help of the coins of the Indo – Greek rulers.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Neha Parmar

The desert festival in Jaisalmer celebrates the richness of Rajasthani heritage, drawing into its folds both tradition and modernity in the feisty spirit of timelessness. For three days, cultures converge and move beyond difference into a realm of mutual respect, inspired by the magic of the sands.

The city of Jaisalmer stands atop a yellow ridge of sandstone, glowing on the edge of the Thar Desert. Symbolizing the spirit of Rajasthan, this city is crowned by a majestic fort. Legend has it that Lord Krishna had predicted to Arjuna that a descendant of the Yadav clan would found his kingdom on top of the Trikuta Hill. Raja Rawal Jaisal fulfilled the prophecy when he built the fort city in 1156 AD.

In medieval times, Jaisalmer had a significant position along a major trade route connecting India with Persia, Egypt and the west but in later times lost this position to port cities as sea routes became more popular. Faced with a looming crisis as the main source of income until then had been taxes levied on caravans, Jaisalmer struggled to preserve itself. But then, as time rolled on and modernity crept in government interventions led to the city being connected to the road and rail network and tourism began to flourish. Today, combining the richness of the past with modern day facilities, Jaisalmer has become the quintessence of a living desert tradition.

Celebrating this tradition, the city now plays host to a vibrant desert festival which was started by the need to attract tourists. However, in time, economic necessity was replaced by the overpowering spirit of culture and an annual event took shape which was destined to become Rajasthan’s foremost desert festival, encouraging the visitor to be absorbed into the very ethos of this magical place. The Thar Desert provides a scenic backdrop which is a visual treat, as the three day festival unfolds, showcasing the creative essence of the Rajasthani people and their way of life, wrapped in folk music that reverberates in every corner of the region.

The festival is inaugurated by the BSF (The Border Security Force), which has a strong presence in the area. Riding on their camels and leading the procession the BSF is led on by Rajasthani folk dancers as they sing and dance in prayer to the Gods to shower them with blessings. This procession starts from the Sonar fort and ends at Poonam Singh stadium where the finale of the inauguration takes place. A packed stadium is witness to the first event – the turban tying competition that encourages visitors to participate in the intricacies of tying a turban. Rajasthani menfolk take great pride in their turbans as they symbolise a man’s honour. Amidst a sea of cheers, participating guests struggle to tie the length of cloth around their heads. Once the ice has been broken and the tourist is ready to absorb more, the day progresses with the Mr Desert contest, Miss Moomal contest, and finally the Mr Moustache contest. These contests essentially allow people to ethnically present themselves, embodying the spirit of the desert with grace, colour and exquisitely designed jewellery.

Popularity: 9% [?]