yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

A Baroda where temple, trees, grace, aesthetic, Sayajirao's influence, quiet all come together,  These elephants are as cute as any I have come across,  A Baroda that is old and crumbling, yet beautiful and appealing, and can do with some restoration,  If the dilapilated windows are this grand, one can only imagine, wish,  A Baroda that invites me to be amidst meaningful silences,  This made me feel the temple wanted to shake hands, greet playfully as we stood next to the door,  A Baroda which reminds me of Banaras, that trees at temples have a special feel,  And that we have not yet learnt how to build platforms around their trunks,  A Baroda I have not experienced previously,  A Baroda I am glad exists,  A Baroda I look forward to knowing better,  More about the place here ,  Thanks Eesha for the images, 

Sher Shah Suri's Tomb How did they visualise this then? A structure in the middle of a pond! Locally known as Paani Rouza Sher Shah Suri's tomb is beyond stunning. The tomb is Located in Rohtas ( Bihar ) - about 125 kms from Banaras. On our way back from the tomb it struck us that we were driving on the Grand Trunk Road - one that Sher Shah Suri had built.  Would the makers have known then that centuries later it would be Sasaram's claim to fame, provide refuge to local young folks ( there are walk-paths around the structure and pond! ) and have people come to pay respects, to pray.  A structure large yet not intimidating (is it the water! ) and grand yet accessible. ASI's curbs on boating and carrying plastic inside seem to have helped keep the water clean.  When we have maintained the monument so well can we also pay more attention to signage? To what introduces us to the monument, to the first object we sight as we enter the monument.  Moving beyond the Tomb...

A temple with a view Some places I am glad that I have been to. These places I revisit to sit in silence. This is one such place. A door with bells! A temple which stands out including for its craft and aesthetics in Banaras, a town of temples, has got to be special.  Here, artists have created magic with wood. The Cambridge dictionary describes wooden (adjective) as awkward or disapproving. People who coined this have possibly not been here! Lights, Camera, Window! This replica of the Pashupatinath Temple at Kathmandu was spruced up recently for the visit of the prime minister of Nepal.  The gherua walls and 'wood' appeared to be happily welcoming the sun. Playing with the morning light! One morning a colleague and I were affectionately offered curd, banana and sweets as prasad. As I thanked and figured out a place to sit a monkey (efficient fellow!) ran away with the sweets. He was silent, quick and happy. Bird on a tree! A board on the stairs asks people to not smoke at th...

Mundeshvari temple: History in every stone An edited version of this piece has been published in the Friday Review .  Many thanks to colleagues and friends together on this trip, Fiona Buckee for sharing her paper and the team at The Hindu. Mundeshvari Temple is considered the oldest functional temple in the country - I came across this clichéd sounding line multiple times. And questions arose. How old is it then? Is it older than Banaras and its temples? Banaras with all its history, mythology and umpteen temples. Few more questions arose and then I forgot all of them. Mundeshvari is located in Bhabua - 100 kms from Banaras. I then landed upon the temple again in Saba Dewan’s classic Tawaifnama where she writes: ‘Some recent scholars are of the opinion that the goddess installed in the Mundesvari temple might well have been a deity worshipped originally by the aboriginal population described in the Vedic and post-Vedic texts as asura and daitya. In the long-drawn-out struggles ...

Notes from Laat Bhairav And edited version of this piece appears in the Hindu Sunday Magazine . Thanks are due to the team there.  I am indebted to Ajay Pandey, Rakeshbhai and Shagufta Siddhi for taking out to help with the images. And of course the photographers – Devendra Singh and Beat Niederer.  Image: Devendra Singh Newspaper reports had got me intrigued of the place. They had images of Ramleela being played on one side and prayers being offered at the idgah on the other. Descriptions went like ‘To the east of the platform Ramcharit Manas ’ chaupais were sung while to the west Namaz took place’ and ‘on the one hand azaan took place and on the other Narayan muni went on with his Narayan, Narayan as the Ramleela played’. This is the Laat Bhairav in Banaras. Couple of colleagues I talked with had never been there. Both of them stayed less than 5 kms from the compound! The third colleague I asked conveyed that I could access it from the road that branches towar...