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"Neerinri amayaadhu ulagenin yaaryaarkkum  vaaninru amayaadhu ozhukku" - Thirukkural  There can be no life without water  Lack of rains may even derail Dharma (Virtuousness) We were discussing the topic of Water Management in Ancient India as a seminar topic under the predominantly Indology centric department few days back. “There will be no water as sacred, elixir of life etc., it will be purely on water management as the emphasis is on science,” told our professor. The precursor to the day-long seminar was an expert talk on the same topic. The talk was an inspiration, as it was seamless in its approach to the subject from the emotional point of view, invoking instances from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and the practical ways of conservation and management of water in ancient India. I was a bit perplexed – why should the seminar papers be only science and why not include the spiritual. The ancient Indians never separated them into different ...

Shiva & Parvati playing dice  "The ceiling paintings of the Virabhadra temple at Lepakshi are justly celebrated as being among the best preserved examples of southern Indian murals. In 1936, C.Sivaramamurti was the first to propose that the Lepakshi to propose that the Lepakshi paintings be recognized as the finest examples of Vijayanagara pictorial art." - Anna L.Dallapiccola  Laugh at me, but the truth is that for most of my adult life Lepakshi to me was the Andhra Pradesh state emporium that sells the state’s arts, crafts, textiles etc., Even with all the admiration I had for the Vijayanagara Empire, Krishnadevaraya, the Nayaka temples and art, little did I know of the grand Virabhadra temple at Lepakshi, not very far from one of the Nayaka capital Penukonda in Andhra Pradesh. Today to visit the temple at Lepakshi is a breeze, with a super smooth and clear highway that connects Bengaluru to Hyderabad. Hindupur station has far long been the railway connectio...