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The Ancient Motif Found from the Indus Valley to Egypt | Master of Animals

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

Culture, History, Places, Religions

The Chausath Yoginis of Hirapur

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,

Culture, History, People, Places, Religions

A 2000-Year-Old Inscription Holds The Clues | Hathigumpha Inscription

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.

History, People, Places

What a 4,500-Year-Old Skeleton Reveals About Indian Ancestry

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;

Culture, History, People, Places, Religions

The Story of the Heliodorus Pillar at Vidisha

An ancient pillar that has been worshipped for centuries. And a Greek ambassador who declared himself a devotee of Vasudeva. Around the 2nd century

Culture, History, Mythology, Places, Religions

The Udayagiri Ganesha: Why Historians Consider It Among the Earliest Ganesha Images

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

Culture, History, Mythology, People, Places, Religions

The Ancient Motif Found from the Indus Valley to Egypt | Master of Animals

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?

Culture, History, People, Places, Religions

A 2000-Year-Old Inscription Holds The Clues | Hathigumpha Inscription

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. Carved into the walls of the Udayagiri-Khadagiri Caves in Odisha, the Hathigumpha inscription tells the remarkable story of King Kharavela, a powerful ruler who emerged in Kalinga centuries after Ashoka’s conquest.

History, People, Places

What a 4,500-Year-Old Skeleton Reveals About Indian Ancestry

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; the first successful genome from a Harappan individual. What makes this discovery significant, and what does it tell us about the ancestry of Indians?

Culture, History, People, Places, Religions

The Story of the Heliodorus Pillar at Vidisha

An ancient pillar that has been worshipped for centuries. And a Greek ambassador who declared himself a devotee of Vasudeva. Around the 2nd century BCE, Heliodorus, an ambassador from the Indo-Greek kingdom, erected a pillar at Besnagar in central India. Its Brahmi inscription identifies him as a devotee of Vasudeva. The Heliodorus Pillar at Vidisha offers a fascinating glimpse into the cultural exchanges that shaped ancient India.

History, People, Places

The Prison That Secured Aurangzeb’s Throne | Gwalior Fort

Beneath the palaces of Gwalior Fort lies one of the most dreaded prisons of medieval India. Here, princes vanished and rivals were erased from politics. This was the prison that secured Aurangzeb the Mughal throne.

History, People, Places, Religions

The Strange Partnership that saved Bateshwar | Madhya Pradesh

In the ravines of Chambal in Madhya Pradesh, lies Bateshwar, a complex of 200 ancient temples. For centuries they lay in ruins, swallowed by forest. Until about 20 years ago, when, K.K. Muhammed, an archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of India, teamed up with Nirbhay Singh Gujjar, one of Chambal’s most feared dacoits, to bring the heritage site back to life. This is the story of an unusual partnership that saved Bateshwar.

Culture, People

Bhang | The Holy Holi Drink

Is bhang legal in India? From Holi celebrations to Siva worship, bhang has been consumed in India for centuries in various forms— bhang lassi, bhang thandai, bhang laddoos... What makes it ‘sacred’?

History, People, Places

India’s first sports superstar | Dhyan Chand

This young sepoy’s sporting achievements are so remarkable that his birthday is celebrated as National Sports Day in India. This is the story of hockey legend, Jhansi’s Dhyan Chand.

People, Places, Religions

Kanwar Yatra | Har Ki Pauri

Kanwar Yatra is one of India's largest pilgrimages. It sees over 30 million devotees walk barefoot for miles, carrying Ganga water to Siva temples across North India. What’s the story of this pilgrimage?

History, People, Places

The Excavations at Adichanallur | Tamil Nadu

About 150 years ago, a series of excavations at Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu threw up many ancient artefacts that were dated to about 900 BCE. That included skeletons of people from all over the world! What explains this ancient, international, multi-racial cemetery?

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