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I remember reading ‘Mahabhaktavijaya’ in Tamil published by Lifco with stories of Saint poets of India, especially the Maharashtrian Saints Jnaneshwar, Tukaram and Namdev when I was still in school. I gave the book to my maternal grandmother one summer when I was spending my vacation and she was overjoyed read them, as much as I did. At the time I had no clue about the greatness of the work or its original author. For years, I had not heard or read anything about it. I have been living in and out of Bombay/Mumbai for the last 20 years. Have been following abhangs of the Saint poets with great interest and keep dreaming of the day I can visit Dehu, Alandi and Pandharpur and if possible walk with the Palki of Varkaris. It is by accident that I came across this book ‘Stories of Indian Saints’ by Justin E.Abbott and N.R.Godbole at the Motilal Banarasidas shop near Mahalakshmi temple in Mumbai. I read the word Mahipati for the first time. The introduction to the book made me very...

It was when I first came to Bombay in 1990 to work, I got to know of Ahilyabai Holkar. Not much beyond a simple fact she was a queen and that Churchgate junction was named after her, Ahilyabai Holkar chowk. Today there is a marble bust of hers at the junction, with a tacky modern pedestal. Later that decade I got a chance to visit Maheshwar, and I forgot all about Holkar though it was at Ahilyabai ghat that I fell in love with Narmada. Narmada overpowered me so much, that neither the ghat, nor the structures around mattered. But, Maheshwar stood in my mind and heart, as one of the places I most loved in this land. Once again I got an opportunity to visit Maheshwar, in the rainy shravan. I want to see Narmada my dad wished and so a plan was made. We stayed on the banks of Narmada at the new Madhya Pradesh Tourism lodging it was comfortble to do so. We decided to take the boat that evening to the Ahilyabai ghat from where we stayed and told our driver to come and pick u...

Rayalaseema, literally the land of the kings, an arid region in Andhra Pradesh has some phenomenal archaeological sites and famous temples. Who would not know a Tirupati or Srikalahasti temples. Millions visit these two temples every year and the main train junction that connects these two places is a busy Renigunta station. But, look beyond, for this region in the southern end of Rayalaseema has a treasure unknown to many. Gudimallam Shiva is that treasure, by all reckoning the oldest Shiva image found in the country till date. One doesn’t remember the first time one heard Gudimallam or Gudimallam Shiva. But, the image registered in mind over several power point presentations during the Ancient Indian Culture course. There cannot be an AIC or a course in Indian iconography without a mention of Gudimallam Shiva. From larger treatises on Indian iconography to books on Indian temples and images, lots have been written about it, but most of them have remained a knowledge only in acad...

There are very few real Vaidikas left in this country, though many of the shastras, sampradayas that is followed widely consider Vedas as the pramana. Many Brahmin families across the country, though not really Vaidikas in the true sense continue to follow some of the Samskaras prescribed in the Vedas. Vivaha is one such Samskara. We all know that there have been as many as eight different ways of marriage as per the classification and practice available though not all are considered good. Many in modern times may consider the “rituals” related to vivaha meaningless, they may choose to get married under Special Marriage Act in the sub-registrar’s office if they don’t want Hindu marriage. Some who prefer an Arya Samaj wedding to keep the rituals to minimum and also avoid issues there may be involved in mixed sampradaya marriages. In fact one of the Sutras says since there seems to be divergence in rites of marriage, one should ask the women what procedure is to be foll...

This morning I woke up to the images of the grand festival of Kallazhagar descending on to Vaigai River in Madurai. Lakhs gather for days at Madurai celebrating first the wedding of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar, Meenakshi’s coronation and their chariot ride and then the Lord of Thirumalirumsolai, Sundararajan, Azhagan visiting Maduari after making a long detour and back to his abode Azhagar Koil. Then one was reminded that it is also Chitra Pournami, and Buddha Purnima. As usual I wanted to pick up one of the Buddha images from my archives and post them – but decided not to do that as my mind was still lingering on the readings of India’s maritime history. Himanshu Prabha Ray’s ‘Beyond Trade: Cultural Roots of India’s Ocean’ has a topic dedicated to the famous port of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. Over 250 Buddha bronzes were discovered over a period of 50 years from late 19 th century to early parts of 20 th century and were distributed across museums, the chapter said. Photo...

“ One deeply moving moment comes when Pi, a Hindu who has studied the Muslim and Christian faiths, catches a fish, kills it, weeps for having killed it and says, through his tears, "Thank you, Lord Vishnu, thank you for coming in the form of a fish and saving our lives ." – Life of Pi movie review My friend Anu sent me this quote and the link to the Wall Street Journal review, soon after I told her or poured over my anguish about a profound moment in the movie when the theatre erupted in laughter as if it was some Vadivelu comedy. I am not belittling Vadivelu comedy, a fan of several of his scenes and there are profound moments even there. Anu had not seen the movie then and I didn’t describe the scene to her. When I read the review I was shocked at the way the reviewer from a foreign land reacted to it, and how we who I would presume more deeply rooted in spirituality reacted to the same scene. I kept thinking for several days, a...

Recently there was a big furor over a mundane menu card on Twitter. Rocky & Mayur the foodies handle tweeted a photo of what looked like a Masal Vada calling it a Medu Vada. Those who knew the difference called it out. But the television hosts were a bit belligerent to either enquire into the truth or take it as correct if they believed the so called Tamilians who suspected were behind the onslaught to know the truth. But, it dragged on for days, and the first aggressive assault came from the foodies handle, asking if Tamil culture is all lost if a Masal Vadu is to be called Medu Vada. What is there in the name as long as one got the taste right? Well, that is not the issue. The issue is if food is part of one’s culture or  not? Madarasi might call it Masal Vadai, Malayali might call them paruppu vadas, they may be different things to different people. Yet, to each of them it might part of their cultural identity. Similar fight erupted last week over a magazine cove...