Folklore - Different Truths

February 11, 2018
Shail Raghuvanshi
Potpourri, Religion, Travel & Food

Feel the Jail, Ice Chunks Fall from Skies, Temple Idol Goes Savvy, Shikkari Shambu Sued

The Telangana prison department runs the unique jail tourism programme called ‘Feel the Jail’ where anyone can stay for 24 hours inside the Sangareddy Prison, built during the Nizam...

January 21, 2018
Shail Raghuvanshi
Health, International Relations, Politics, Potpourri, Science & Technology

Political Kite Flying, App Looking at the Big Picture, Child-Friendly Police Station, Mice Have a Field Day

Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu, two PMs, bond over kite-flying at Sabarmati Ashram and they paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. The App WeCroak is born of Bhutanese folklore saying that to be...

September 8, 2017
Arindam Roy
Business, Opinion, Religion

Durga and her Entourage in a Jawed Habib Salon: Reverence, Irreverence, Trolls, Erotica and the Liberal Hindu Mind

There’s public outrage on the social media about the newspaper advertisement of Goddess Durga’s family dolling themselves in a Jawed Habib salon. The celebrity hairstylist is being trolled on...

March 21, 2017
Shernaz Wadia
Fairs & Festivals

Jamshedi Navroz: Celebrated along the Silk Route, it Dates Back to Sixth Century BC

Jamshedi Navroz is recognised as a public holiday in many countries along the Silk Route – Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iraq (by the Kurdish people), Kazakstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Bayan...

March 12, 2017
Different Truths
Book Club

The Saffronisation of UP and In Search of Ram Rajya: A Journey Through UP Politics

A journey through the political history of India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, giving it more say in national affairs than any...

February 21, 2017
Sunil Kumar Banerjee
History & Culture, Politics

Musings on Martyrdom: Ibaadat sey Shahdat!

The Cellular Jail, in Port Blair, completed in 1906, is a National Memorial and a place of pilgrimage for all freedom loving people. Many today would be proud to know...

January 15, 2017
Geethanjali Dilip
Travel & Food

Lotus Island with G Strings, Major and Minor

The El Dorado and Rome of the East, Goa was the portal of golden dreams where, Lisbon floated Azure aspirations harbouring adventurous vessels that anchored in the Arabian Sea. The Portuguese...

December 11, 2016
Archana Sharma
Religion, Travel & Food

Patal Bhubaneshwar: A Limestone Temple

Patal Bhubaneshwar is a unique limestone cave temple located in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, 14 kilometres from Gangolihat. It is at an altitude of 1350m and on the confluence of rivers...

October 28, 2016
Arindam Roy
Announcement, Fairs & Festivals, Folklore, History & Culture, Rituals & Practices, Special Feature

Diwali: The Brightest Dark Night

In this curtain raiser, Arindam recounts some of the legends and folklore associated with the five-day Festival of Lights. He also gives a synopsis of the articles and poems...

July 6, 2016
Arindam Roy
Folklore, Literature, Religion

Rath Yatra: The Story of Lord Jagannath and his Siblings

The annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, with his siblings, Balabhadra and Subhadra, is symbolic of fertility worship. The charioteers, Dhauka, used to sing bawdy songs (Boli). Though these songs...

subscribe