You know the ragamala is Lalit when you see the gentleman leaving or approaching his sleeping lady . Of course...

The Hathiya Pol in Garh, Bundi built by Rao Ratan Singh (r. 1608-1632) Very reminiscent of the Hathiya Pol in...

Jhoola kinne daara re amriyyan Though there's no amriyyan ( Mango orchards) that Bahadur Shah Zafar referred to in this...

Bundi has one of the largest rock painting sites in India. These are dated to 15,000 years ago. They were...

A classical nayika ( heroine) pose is the enchanting one where she has stepped out of her bath and her...

I came across this dargah in Gulbarga a few years ago. It's called Jhat Pat Bibi ki dargah and women...

the al Thani collection in Paris is small ( at least on display) but its spectacular. That is Jahangir's jade...

Orchha was founded as the capital of Bundelkhand by Rudra Pratap in 1531. He built his citadel on an island...

During my trip to Bodh Gaya in 2019, i walked a lot outside the Mahabodhi temple boundary. To my surprise...

Akbar had an enquiring mind and that can be seen in his interactions with various priests, maulvis and monks in...

One of the best roads I found in my Bihar trip (2019) passed through the village of the Mountain Man,...

In Islam, Thursday evenings or shab e Jumaa is believed to be blessed with a bright night, when Allah’s rahmat...

gulrīzī-e ashk bū-ye khūn dāsht īn subha zi khāk-e karbalā būd The flower-fall of tears was redolent of blood. This...

I had heard a lot about the Buddhist artwork collection in Guimet- perhaps the largest in Europe. What i found...

The gorgeous Armenian Church in Isfahan also known the Church of the Saintly Sisters, calked Vank which means "monastery" or...

The Iran National Museum in Teheran is a treat for the senses spanning as it does many glorious centuries of...

#SufiThursdays Last year I visited the shrine of Gul Baba in Budapest. Gül Baba was a member of the Bektás...

Magar jab shukr-e-ne’mat mein jabin...

A good time to describe the achiements and legacy of Abu Ali al-Husayn IBN SINA (980–1037), known to the west...

I have travelled extensively by God's Grace and seen tombs and mausoleums all over the world. there are some like...

One thing that doesn't change are the tall stories told by guides. We had our share of them in Uzbekistan...

Who hasn't heard of Hyderabad's Char Minar? It was built in the 16th century and defines the city. But recently...

The most popular image when one googles majolica tiles or Uzbekistan tourism is the mausoleum of Shirin Bika in the...

Every mausoleum in Shah e Zinda in Samarqand is exquisite but one of the most breathtaking is the tomb of...

"Heart which has no divine mystery Should be broken into a thousand pieces" Mahmud Pahlavon I am in glazed tiles...

Mas'ūd b. ʿAbd Allah Bayḍawi* (Arabic: مسعود بن عبدالله بیضاوی) (d. 769/1368), famous as: Bābā Rūkn al-Dīn Shīrazī (Persian: بابا...

The arc ( citadel) of Khiva was built as a self contained universe inside Khiva. The mud walls ( will...

I had shared that the Jama Masjid, Delhi has relics attributed to the Prophet pbuh anf Hazrat Ali. This is...

Uzbekistan is full of madrasa, Sufi shrines and speaks of an atmosphere of learning and knowledge. One such place was...