Walk into the Indian Museum in Kolkata expecting sculpture, coin cabinets and fossils, and for the first five galleries you get exactly that. Bharhut railings from the second century BCE. An Egyptian mummy donated to the Asiatic Society in 1834. More than fifty thousand coins. Then you reach the anthropology section, and for close to […]Read More
In a quiet corner of southern Chhattisgarh, far from the fanfare of Ravana effigies and fireworks that mark Dussehra across most of India, a different kind of celebration unfolds. It doesn’t last ten days. It lasts seventy-five. And it has almost nothing to do with Rama’s victory over Ravana at all. This is Bastar Dussehra, […]Read More
-Devashree Kulkarni Imagine the time around 300 BCE, walking through the streets of Pataliputra. Merchants traded goods, assigned officials kept detailed records, soldiers always on duty to protect the empire and royal messengers travelling across territories. The reason behind organized, coordinated and thriving world stood the Mauryan Empire which was founded by Chandragupta Maurya and […]Read More
-Devashree Kulkarni Imagine the land we today called India does not exist as a single political entity around 2600 years ago. There was no national flag, no central government and no unified administration. Only the subcontinent was a mosaic of kingdoms, republics, tribes and competing powers and even with political division people were connected through […]Read More
-Devashree Kulkarni Water management history of India is a story of innovation and adaptation of water storage systems over 4000 years. It developed over the ages as a drainage systems of the Indus Valley Civilization to the magnificent stepwells of Gujarat. Today, Indian communities have developed creative ways to collect, store and distribute water. The […]Read More
-Tanushree Wadodkar In a vast epic like the Mahabharata, not all characters get the attention they deserve. They may not have won battles or have heroic poems written about them. But they still manage to leave a lasting impression on the readers. One of such characters, for me, was Uttara. I came across her through […]Read More
-Tanushree Wadodkar The story of India’s struggle for independence is often associated with mass movements, protests, satyagraha, and revolution. Naturally, we tend to think of names like Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Mangal Pandey, and Jawaharlal Nehru. However, long before these movements took shape, some individuals were working towards exposing the realities of British rule, not […]Read More
-Tanushree Wadodkar Lord Krishna occupies a rather unique position in the Hindu traditions. He is seen not just as a God, but also as a friend, a guide, and a companion. He is also a central figure in the great war of the Mahabharata. However, beyond the battlefields, diplomacy, and philosophy lies another aspect of […]Read More
-Devashree Kulkarni Long before social media influencers and trendsetters there were merchants, monks and travelers were the first influencers and influenced people by spreading ideas, beliefs, fashions and culture while traveling around different regions. There were no smartphones and social media they used caravans, ships and trade routes to connect with people. One of the […]Read More
~Tanushree Wadodkar Among the many philosophical and spiritual religions that emerged in ancient India, Buddhism is one of the most influential. It began as a journey of one man seeking answers and became a religion that spread to several parts of the world. Buddhism focused on personal conduct, compassion, self-awareness, and the search for enlightenment, […]Read More