A 4500-year-old seal from the Indus Valley Civilisation shows a human figure grasping two lions. Known as the ‘Master of Animals’ motif, this enigmatic
Tucked away near Bhubaneswar lies one of India’s most mysterious temples, Hirapur’s Chausath Yogini Temple. This circular, roofless shrine, built in the 9th century,
What happened to Kalinga after its devastating war with Ashoka? Did Buddhism simply sweep across the region?
A 2000-year-old inscription offers some fascinating clues.
At Rakhigarhi in Haryana, archaeologists uncovered the 4500-year-old skeleton of a middle-aged woman from the Harappan period. Scientists recovered ancient DNA from her remains;
A 4500-year-old seal from the Indus Valley Civilisation shows a human figure grasping two lions. Known as the ‘Master of Animals’ motif, this enigmatic figure appears in different forms across cultures and over many centuries, stretching from Egypt to Mesopotamia. What did this image represent? And how did cultures separated by thousands of kilometres come to adopt such a strikingly similar icon?
In the rock-cut shrines of the Udayagiri Caves in Madhya Pradesh sits a sculpture often described as the earliest datable image of Ganesha in India today. An inscription at the cave entrance dates the monument to 401 CE, when king Chandragupta II reigned.
A casket within a casket… within another. Buried beneath centuries of earth at Lalitgiri, archaeologists uncovered a remarkable series of nested caskets in 1985. At their center lay a tiny gold reliquary containing relics believed to be those of the Buddha himself! It is one of the most significant Buddhist discoveries in India.
Did you know the first human images of the Buddha appeared nearly 500 years after his death? Before that, artists used symbols to represent him. You can see many such symbols at the Sanchi Stupa.
The yoginis are at once, both alluring and fearsome. They had special, circular temples built for their worship, the nature of which remained esoteric. But about a thousand years ago, the cult of Yogini worship completely disappeared from public knowledge. What do we know about this strange cult of goddess worship in India?
Narasimha, the fierce half-lion, half-human form of Vishnu, is usually remembered for his wrath. But did you know there’s also a legend of him falling in love? In Ahobilam, he is said to have married a local tribal goddess, Chenchu Lakshmi.
