Kapileshwar Mahadev temple near Almora, Uttarakhand is an ancient shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva, built by the Katyuris around 9th century…
Kapileshwar Mahadev and unperturbed histories…
Category: Art & Culture
Georgia and a pore on microcosms…
Travelogue of a week long trip to Georgia 🇬🇪, covering the north and northeastern parts of the Caucasian country 🏔️…
Temples of busy bee valleys…
Temples, those that have been wizened by the meanders of civilization since medieval times, are more often than not draped in a bemused solemnity… been there, seen that… the tomes of religion remain the same, but their interpretations are forever in a state of flux… the monuments lie somewhere in the middle… tangible testimonies of …
Lakhudiyar and the languid…
Prehistory, one feels at times, deserves to be left alone… for we aren’t doing much with it, except maybe for emojis… there’s no cultures to revere or ancestries to venerate, and consequently, no opinions to subjugate… hardly any narratives soaked in drama… just a clutch of unembellished facts aloof to sensational revelations or discoveries… content …
Holipura and its melancholic heritage…
Holipura Heritage Village, a small (and save for the glossy paint, largely non-descript) board on the road from Agra to Bah announces a potential excursion to those meandering in the ravines of Chambal… that ‘tis a short detour swings the decision in its favour as one turns the car down a narrow bumpy road for …
tridents and their high abodes…
Musings on Shiva in Himalayan contexts…
Chortens and their chores…
Chortens are one of those religious structures that are universally revered, a harbinger of constructive contemplation – one that leads towards inner peace through reminiscent journeys – these trapezoids stacked over one another and topped with a crown are but Buddha posing himself they say… a structural representation of different stages of his mortal journey… …
Temple trudges…
If one were to look at the innate motivations that pique one’s curiosity about temple ruins – somewhere in the middle of the animal instinct of seeking shelter from the elements and the intellectual cycle of constructing theories from the deconstructed – it’d be the simple appeal of geometry, large cuboid appearances staring from plinths …
on mountain abodes
photo essay on vernacular architecture of Western Himalaya
On royal animists… Sun Temple, Katarmal
A temple is a kernel around which settlements, permanent or temporary, are spun… across history and religions, they have laid the ground rules for civilizations, defined the contours of culture and cradled the arts… one might say it comes at a price though… an opacity of belief and conviction beyond which societies offer little incentive …