India gained independence in 1947 after a long freedom struggle with British imperialism. Perhaps because of that, lack of historical...

On any given day, one can see hordes of people flocking to dargahs in the subcontinent. What is it that...

Man kunto Maula Fa hazaa Aliyun Maula Any lover of qawwali would have heard myriad soulful versions of this sung...

Be-khatar kood pada aatish-e-Namrood mein ishq Aql abhi hai mahv-e-tamasha-e-lab-e-baam abhi (Love jumped fearlessly into the fire of Nimrood The...

Life throws up unlikely heroes and I found one yesterday (August 22) in Shayara Bano, one of the petitioner’s in the...

The issue of (instant) triple talaq - the utterance of the word talaq thrice in one go - has been...

Urdu, the language born in the streets of Delhi, became the language of love in the 19th century and the...

A few days ago, an article in the Pakistani newspaper The Dawn was being shared on social media - “Why is the...

The Mughal Empire in the 18th century was mostly run by powerful ministers, who put puppet kings on the throne and...

We read and commemorate the heroes who gave their lives in the first war of Indian Independence, every year on...

A chance reference in a book by 17th century Italian traveller and writer that many women in the Mughal harem faked...

Our namaz is one of the main tenets of my faith The faith of my forefathers. But... I was not...

  My research on monuments leads me to interesting places and as someone who feels that stones speak, I hear...

It looks the same but this one is a strange but sweet and tangy concoction .. Three tangerines cut up..skin...

Hoshang Shah's tomb in Mandu is India's first completely marble tomb. Said to be inspiration for the Taj Mahal An...

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

Khairul manazil or best of houses is a chronogram which gives the year of construction 969 AH or 1561-62 AD...

A summer special this dish is called Chochle. I had first heard of it from my mother in law. It...

It's in this peaceful setting of Dargah #Hazrat Baqi Billah that the sons of BahadurShah Zafar shot by #Hodson in...

A few years ago I attended a lecture by Prof Irfan Habib on Indian architecture. He started with the Barabar...

The Giant Buddha Statue towering over the area at approximately 80 feet was gifted by the Daijokyo Buddhist sect. It...

One of the highlights of Bodh Gaya apart from the Mahabodhi Temple is the Thai Temple. It's grand and magnificent....

The Metta Buddharam Temple in Bodh Gaya or the silver temple is a stunning piece of architecture built by the...

Prince Siddhartha left home as a young man in search of truth. He experimented with various things including severe self...

We all know that Lord Buddha received enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. But before that he did...

Neelkanth temple in Mandu is a very popular place of worship for Shiva devotees. There's a lovely climb down a...

In the village of Deo, Aurangabad is an ancient Surya temple. It's a 8 km aside from the highway to...