Akshaya Tritiya, festival of "the never diminishing" Akshaya Tritiya holds great meaning in Indian culture. It is symbolically and beautifully woven with Indian mythology since time immemorial. So many important episodes of Puranas, which suggest "bountifulness" or "endless grace", happen on this day. It is the day of endless bounty for Hindus and Jains. "Akshaya" [...]

Rumi Darwaza, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 1784 CE Lucknow boasted an incredible city-scape! Do you know Lucknow has many architectural gems and Rumi Darwaza is just one among them? Standing not too far from the bed of river Gomti, the imposing Rumi Darwaza is sixty feet tall and was meant to be a grand entrance to [...]

Ayyanar, the guardian village deity of Tamil Nadu On the Village edge Ayyanar village folk deity Ayyanar is a village god of Tamil Nadu. If you travel in Tamil Nadu, you are bound to see them just outside the villages - you just can't miss them! Ayyanar is big, really big. They are bigger than [...]

Blackbuck, the Indian antelope The only surviving Antilope Why is the Blackbuck so dear to Indians that even a celebrity is not spared if caught harming one? Yes, it is not a deer but an antelope, the only surviving member of genus Antilope in the world and is native to India. In India we know them [...]