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Nine years of calm before icy storm

Kashmir turns crimson with blood of Pandits

AN UN-ISLAMIC KIDNAPPING AND CHAOS IN THE VALLEY

The illusion of azaadi and Kashmir’s historic deception

How Pak's terror policy evolved in Kashmir

Birth of social media jihadists, death of Article-370

Operation Sindoor: When Indian missiles rained on Pak terror parade

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<h3><span>Lucknow</span><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
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            <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item">  <amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Findiatoday%2Fstyles%2Fmedium_crop_simple%2Fpublic%2F2022-12%2Fhistory_revisited_7.jpg%3FVersionId%3DIM_lo4jbSzRSmD3BPu9VYmhiQT32H8i4%5Cu0026size%3D750:*" alt="" height="770" width="770" class="image-style-medium-crop-simple" layout="responsive"></amp-img>


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<figcaption>(Photo: Sumeet Inder Singh)</figcaption>
</figure><p>For me, the skyline of Lucknow represents India, because you see minarets and mosques and temples and churches. It&rsquo;s a mixture of cultures and cuisines as well. Although I don&rsquo;t like decadence personally, it is nice to savour it for a short while. The Qaiser Bagh area in Lucknow is special for me. I have stayed there with my friends Meera and Muzaffar Ali. It&rsquo;s the epitome of tehzeeb, all sepia photographs and chandeliers and fine kilims; and it&rsquo;s deliciously slow-paced—all the way to the parterres of fragrant Sulaimani roses in Kotwara.</p><h3><span>Ajanta and Ellora</span></h3></p><p>Instead of the Taj Mahal, the one symbol of India should be Ajanta and Ellora. It&rsquo;s up there in world heritage—perhaps even Number One. At Ellora, 400,000 tonnes of stone was hand-chipped over 800 years to create these rock-cut temples. People don&rsquo;t market it or tell enough of its story. The quietude of the arrival at Ajanta is amazing. They have now worked on it to create a decent visitor experience with tourist facilities—which is a relief.</p><h3><span>Srinagar</span></h3></p><p>Srinagar was part of my childhood because we used to pass it on our way to Gulmarg, eating at Ahdoos and taking siestas in the shikara while our car was serviced. For the traveller to India, it is Switzerland with a lot of hustle and bustle. In the old parts, it could be a kasbah in Morocco. One lasting experience is the lake. Here we have a composite culture, mirrored in a lake. We don&rsquo;t have too many water cultures in India, which is why Srinagar should be celebrated. The wooden architecture is extraordinary. I think the long winters, which produce the most exquisitely embellished crafts, have something to do with it. The geometric Khatambandh work of Turkish inspiration on the houseboat ceilings is wonderful.</p><h3><span>Jodhpur</span></h3><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
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            <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item">  <amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Findiatoday%2Fstyles%2Fmedium_crop_simple%2Fpublic%2F2022-12%2Fhistory_revisited_3.jpg%3FVersionId%3Di8kdaceHnQq5fFnvNY6WhOphdeAL9.K8%5Cu0026size%3D750:*" alt="" height="770" width="770" class="image-style-medium-crop-simple" layout="responsive"></amp-img>


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<figcaption>(Photo: Shutterstock)</figcaption>
</figure></p><p>Jodhpur is wonderful because it has a great sense of arrival. If you fly in, you look down and see this absolutely dry landscape in summer, all brown colours and dust. It&rsquo;s like a moonscape; and then you see this tiny waterbody and the Umaid Bhawan Palace in the skyline as you land. It&rsquo;s a place where there are discoveries at every corner. It is India that is modern but also traditional. This is well represented by the erstwhile ruler, Maharaja Gaj Singh, fondly called Bapji, who is old-world and totally contemporary at the same time. The city has also grown in that direction. You can eat modern food here, stay in modern hotels, but you can also do the old-world. That mixture makes it a very Indian sort of civilised experience. Then there&rsquo;s the Mehrangarh Fort. What they&rsquo;ve done with it is wonderful. You get a taste of royalty without being made envious of it. The whole experience they have created there is very well done.</p><div class="itemcenter"><amp-iframe height="62" title="" width="320" sandbox="allow-forms allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-top-navigation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" allowfullscreen src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Findiatoday%2Fbanner%2Fpreferred-source-new.html%3Fv%3D1.014%5Cu0026native%3D1" class="mrBt15 preferred-source-banner"> </amp-iframe></div><h3><span>Nalanda</span></h3></p><p>Nalanda, for me, was a late discovery. Sadly, nobody seems to go there. What I found totally staggering was how evolved the civilisation that built it was. Nalanda had Asia&rsquo;s biggest library in its heyday. It was burnt down by Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193 AD. They say it burnt for months and months.</p><p>They&rsquo;ve only excavated a mound or two; there&rsquo;s so much more to be discovered. Just the proportion of a single brick holds the earth and its ancient tales. Nalanda had a past that is unimaginable and, hopefully, it will have a great future too.</p><p>Now that India is in nationalist mode, we are discovering what we were in so many fields. What Mark Twain said about India being &ldquo;the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the greatgrandmother of tradition&rdquo; is truly representative of Nalanda. When Indians go to places like Nalanda they should stop for a minute and say, &ldquo;Wow, we were all this and let&rsquo;s draw it out of our marrow, so that we continue to aspire to be all that.&rdquo;</p><h3><span>Gwalior</span></h3></p><p>Gwalior is a hidden jewel. People aren&rsquo;t even sure if there is anything to see there and if they should go there at all. What I find interesting is that the Taj Express goes to Gwalior, but everybody stops at Agra and comes back. Those who do get to Gwalior realise it&rsquo;s a much better destination than Agra—the latter is very crowded and dirty.</p><p>At Gwalior, again, you have a great sense of private discovery. When you go up to the fort and see the Jain caves and statues en route, you begin to appreciate the many layers of civilisation and history there. There are many beautiful temples in Gwalior. The fort of Gwalior is one of the few great Hindu forts that retain its glory. You can get a good idea of the lifestyle of the royals from the size of the rooms, courts and kitchens. Travelling, after all, is also about imagining what lifestyles were in those days, and how we evolved. The sound-and-light show at Gwalior Fort is quite thrilling.</p><h3><span>Thanjavur</span></h3><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
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<figcaption>Brihadishwara Temple, Tanjore; (Photo: Alamy)</figcaption>
</figure></p><p>Thanjavur is the high pinnacle of Hinduism and of Chola architecture. I mean high like &lsquo;beyond the heavens&rsquo;. Just to imagine that you can make a temple with a 700-ft-high shikhara. Then there&rsquo;s the fascinating story of how they made a 6-km-long ramp to roll the kalash up to the top of the Brihadeeswarar Temple. The detailed planning, in terms of how the light enters the temple and falls on the Shiva lingam, is truly humbling. It&rsquo;s not enough to say wow—you have to put your head to the ground and salute the ancestors we had.</p><h3><span>Konark</span></h3><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
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<figcaption>The Sun Temple, Konark</figcaption>
</figure></p><p>The Sun Temple at Konark is a humbling experience when compared to the arrogance of progress and technology. Just the explanation of what the chariot wheels of the temple signify and how they were conceptualised takes your breath away. The spokes of the chariot wheels break down to hours, minutes, seconds with a bewildering precision. When it had the full shikhara, the temple must have been mighty and grandiose. Even what remains is awe-inspiring. The sound-and-light show at the temple is excellent. And when you go to the beach, it&rsquo;s quiet and cosmic. There&rsquo;s a village en route—Balikondalo—where mud houses painted with beautiful frescoes make it an eternal sort of rural India.</p><h3><span>Khajuraho</span></h3><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
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<figcaption>Carvings at Khajuraho</figcaption>
</figure></p><p>When the West saw Khajuraho they said it is all about procreation and sexuality, but then through Shobita Punja&rsquo;s research and so on, we have got new eyes and come to know how it depicts the wedding of Shiva and Parvati. The details are stunning. For instance, there&rsquo;s a sculpture of a lady picking a thorn from her foot, in stone. The erotic sculptures at Khajuraho have humour in them, the absolute opposite of being coy and Victorian, which historical layering made us.</p><h3><span>Tranquebar</span></h3><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
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<figcaption>Tranquebar</figcaption>
</figure></p><p>In the early days of travel, it was all about travelling to see the difference. In the 21st century, you must also have a sense of unique discovery. That sense is total when the road that takes you to Tranquebar stops at the sea. You reach a dead end. You don&rsquo;t expect anything there. Then you start discovering the destination. Tranquebar has Tamil, Danish and British architecture. There are pretty, white tropical churches. The place is an interesting mixture of East and West. You will find people singing Christian hymns in Tamil. The first printing press of India was set up at Tranquebar and the first publication of the Bible in Tamil was done here. And it has the maxiyozone (maximum concentration of ozone) there to prolong your life.</p><p><em>—with Amit Dixit</em></p><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Aditya Mohan Wig</div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Dec 26, 2022</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div><div id="tab-video-wrapper-plugin"><amp-iframe height="365" title="" width="648" layout="responsive" sandbox="allow-forms allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-top-navigation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" allowfullscreen src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fembed.indiatoday.in%2Fshare%2Fvideo%2Fscience%2Fvideo%2FMTg1NzEwMg%3D%3D%3Fnative%3Dend" class="mrBt15"> </amp-iframe></div></div></h3>

travel-plus

Travel Plus

<h3><span style="color:#c0392b;">Lucknow</span><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
<div data-embed-button="ckeditor_image" data-entity-embed-display="view_mode:media.image" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="09f9ee93-5d28-4924-b01f-e3ea1ee91e79" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"><article class="media media--type-ckeditor-image media--view-mode-image">
  
      
            <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item">  <div class="itgimage"><img  height="770"  title=""  width="770"  class="image-style-medium-crop-simple" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Findiatoday%2Fstyles%2Fmedium_crop_simple%2Fpublic%2F2022-12%2Fhistory_revisited_7.jpg%3FVersionId%3DIM_lo4jbSzRSmD3BPu9VYmhiQT32H8i4%5Cu0026size%3D750:*" loading="lazy" /></div>


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<figcaption>(Photo: Sumeet Inder Singh)</figcaption>
</figure><p>For me, the skyline of Lucknow represents India, because you see minarets and mosques and temples and churches. It&rsquo;s a mixture of cultures and cuisines as well. Although I don&rsquo;t like decadence personally, it is nice to savour it for a short while. The Qaiser Bagh area in Lucknow is special for me. I have stayed there with my friends Meera and Muzaffar Ali. It&rsquo;s the epitome of tehzeeb, all sepia photographs and chandeliers and fine kilims; and it&rsquo;s deliciously slow-paced—all the way to the parterres of fragrant Sulaimani roses in Kotwara.</p><h3><span style="color:#c0392b;">Ajanta and Ellora</span></h3></p><p>Instead of the Taj Mahal, the one symbol of India should be Ajanta and Ellora. It&rsquo;s up there in world heritage—perhaps even Number One. At Ellora, 400,000 tonnes of stone was hand-chipped over 800 years to create these rock-cut temples. People don&rsquo;t market it or tell enough of its story. The quietude of the arrival at Ajanta is amazing. They have now worked on it to create a decent visitor experience with tourist facilities—which is a relief.</p><h3><span style="color:#c0392b;">Srinagar</span></h3></p><p>Srinagar was part of my childhood because we used to pass it on our way to Gulmarg, eating at Ahdoos and taking siestas in the shikara while our car was serviced. For the traveller to India, it is Switzerland with a lot of hustle and bustle. In the old parts, it could be a kasbah in Morocco. One lasting experience is the lake. Here we have a composite culture, mirrored in a lake. We don&rsquo;t have too many water cultures in India, which is why Srinagar should be celebrated. The wooden architecture is extraordinary. I think the long winters, which produce the most exquisitely embellished crafts, have something to do with it. The geometric Khatambandh work of Turkish inspiration on the houseboat ceilings is wonderful.</p><h3><span style="color:#c0392b;">Jodhpur</span></h3><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
<div data-embed-button="ckeditor_image" data-entity-embed-display="view_mode:media.image" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="e683ad9a-cfc7-4355-96f7-cd0b486de6d8" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"><article class="media media--type-ckeditor-image media--view-mode-image">
  
      
            <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item">  <div class="itgimage"><img  height="770"  title=""  width="770"  class="image-style-medium-crop-simple" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Findiatoday%2Fstyles%2Fmedium_crop_simple%2Fpublic%2F2022-12%2Fhistory_revisited_3.jpg%3FVersionId%3Di8kdaceHnQq5fFnvNY6WhOphdeAL9.K8%5Cu0026size%3D750:*" loading="lazy" /></div>


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<figcaption>(Photo: Shutterstock)</figcaption>
</figure></p><p>Jodhpur is wonderful because it has a great sense of arrival. If you fly in, you look down and see this absolutely dry landscape in summer, all brown colours and dust. It&rsquo;s like a moonscape; and then you see this tiny waterbody and the Umaid Bhawan Palace in the skyline as you land. It&rsquo;s a place where there are discoveries at every corner. It is India that is modern but also traditional. This is well represented by the erstwhile ruler, Maharaja Gaj Singh, fondly called Bapji, who is old-world and totally contemporary at the same time. The city has also grown in that direction. You can eat modern food here, stay in modern hotels, but you can also do the old-world. That mixture makes it a very Indian sort of civilised experience. Then there&rsquo;s the Mehrangarh Fort. What they&rsquo;ve done with it is wonderful. You get a taste of royalty without being made envious of it. The whole experience they have created there is very well done.</p><div class="itemcenter"><iframe scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="62" awidth="320" aheight="62" amplayout="fixed" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Findiatoday%2Fbanner%2Fpreferred-source-new.html%3Fv%3D1.014" class="preferred-source-banner" loading="lazy"></iframe></div><style>.preferred-source-banner{  margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}</style><h3><span style="color:#c0392b;">Nalanda</span></h3></p><p>Nalanda, for me, was a late discovery. Sadly, nobody seems to go there. What I found totally staggering was how evolved the civilisation that built it was. Nalanda had Asia&rsquo;s biggest library in its heyday. It was burnt down by Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193 AD. They say it burnt for months and months.</p><p>They&rsquo;ve only excavated a mound or two; there&rsquo;s so much more to be discovered. Just the proportion of a single brick holds the earth and its ancient tales. Nalanda had a past that is unimaginable and, hopefully, it will have a great future too.</p><p>Now that India is in nationalist mode, we are discovering what we were in so many fields. What Mark Twain said about India being &ldquo;the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the greatgrandmother of tradition&rdquo; is truly representative of Nalanda. When Indians go to places like Nalanda they should stop for a minute and say, &ldquo;Wow, we were all this and let&rsquo;s draw it out of our marrow, so that we continue to aspire to be all that.&rdquo;</p><h3><span style="color:#c0392b;">Gwalior</span></h3></p><p>Gwalior is a hidden jewel. People aren&rsquo;t even sure if there is anything to see there and if they should go there at all. What I find interesting is that the Taj Express goes to Gwalior, but everybody stops at Agra and comes back. Those who do get to Gwalior realise it&rsquo;s a much better destination than Agra—the latter is very crowded and dirty.</p><p>At Gwalior, again, you have a great sense of private discovery. When you go up to the fort and see the Jain caves and statues en route, you begin to appreciate the many layers of civilisation and history there. There are many beautiful temples in Gwalior. The fort of Gwalior is one of the few great Hindu forts that retain its glory. You can get a good idea of the lifestyle of the royals from the size of the rooms, courts and kitchens. Travelling, after all, is also about imagining what lifestyles were in those days, and how we evolved. The sound-and-light show at Gwalior Fort is quite thrilling.</p><h3><span style="color:#c0392b;">Thanjavur</span></h3><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
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<figcaption>Brihadishwara Temple, Tanjore; (Photo: Alamy)</figcaption>
</figure></p><p>Thanjavur is the high pinnacle of Hinduism and of Chola architecture. I mean high like &lsquo;beyond the heavens&rsquo;. Just to imagine that you can make a temple with a 700-ft-high shikhara. Then there&rsquo;s the fascinating story of how they made a 6-km-long ramp to roll the kalash up to the top of the Brihadeeswarar Temple. The detailed planning, in terms of how the light enters the temple and falls on the Shiva lingam, is truly humbling. It&rsquo;s not enough to say wow—you have to put your head to the ground and salute the ancestors we had.</p><h3><span style="color:#c0392b;">Konark</span></h3><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
<div data-embed-button="ckeditor_image" data-entity-embed-display="view_mode:media.image" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="5dd2f13d-614f-4419-a74c-ad84cee9ee05" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"><article class="media media--type-ckeditor-image media--view-mode-image">
  
      
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<figcaption>The Sun Temple, Konark</figcaption>
</figure></p><p>The Sun Temple at Konark is a humbling experience when compared to the arrogance of progress and technology. Just the explanation of what the chariot wheels of the temple signify and how they were conceptualised takes your breath away. The spokes of the chariot wheels break down to hours, minutes, seconds with a bewildering precision. When it had the full shikhara, the temple must have been mighty and grandiose. Even what remains is awe-inspiring. The sound-and-light show at the temple is excellent. And when you go to the beach, it&rsquo;s quiet and cosmic. There&rsquo;s a village en route—Balikondalo—where mud houses painted with beautiful frescoes make it an eternal sort of rural India.</p><h3><span style="color:#c0392b;">Khajuraho</span></h3><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
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<figcaption>Carvings at Khajuraho</figcaption>
</figure></p><p>When the West saw Khajuraho they said it is all about procreation and sexuality, but then through Shobita Punja&rsquo;s research and so on, we have got new eyes and come to know how it depicts the wedding of Shiva and Parvati. The details are stunning. For instance, there&rsquo;s a sculpture of a lady picking a thorn from her foot, in stone. The erotic sculptures at Khajuraho have humour in them, the absolute opposite of being coy and Victorian, which historical layering made us.</p><h3><span style="color:#c0392b;">Tranquebar</span></h3><figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-entity">
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            <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item">  <div class="itgimage"><img  height="770"  title=""  width="770"  class="image-style-medium-crop-simple" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Findiatoday%2Fstyles%2Fmedium_crop_simple%2Fpublic%2F2022-12%2Fhistory_revisited_4.jpg%3FVersionId%3DKyKDZIQCo0NFzyACnLsjKpmUCquR0FJy%5Cu0026size%3D750:*" loading="lazy" /></div>


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<figcaption>Tranquebar</figcaption>
</figure></p><p>In the early days of travel, it was all about travelling to see the difference. In the 21st century, you must also have a sense of unique discovery. That sense is total when the road that takes you to Tranquebar stops at the sea. You reach a dead end. You don&rsquo;t expect anything there. Then you start discovering the destination. Tranquebar has Tamil, Danish and British architecture. There are pretty, white tropical churches. The place is an interesting mixture of East and West. You will find people singing Christian hymns in Tamil. The first printing press of India was set up at Tranquebar and the first publication of the Bible in Tamil was done here. And it has the maxiyozone (maximum concentration of ozone) there to prolong your life.</p><p><em>—with Amit Dixit</em></p><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Aditya Mohan Wig</div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Dec 26, 2022</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div><div id="tab-video-wrapper-plugin"><iframe  height="365"  title=""  width="648"  layout="responsive" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-top-navigation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fembed.indiatoday.in%2Fshare%2Fvideo%2Fscience%2Fvideo%2FMTg1NzEwMg%3D%3D%3Fnative%3D1" loading="lazy" class="multy-video-iframe" > </iframe></div></div></h3>

For Indians, these heritage destinations are not relics, they are places of wonder and comfort

India Today

Travel Plus | Heritage destinations: History revisited - India Today

Heritage destinations: History revisited

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Heritage destinations: History revisited

For Indians, these heritage destinations are not relics, they are places of wonder and comfort

Lucknow

(Photo: Sumeet Inder Singh)

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Subscribe to India Today Print + Digital. Your First Month Is On Us. ₹299/month thereafter. Cancel anytime.

Heritage destinations: History revisited

For Indians, these heritage destinations are not relics, they are places of wonder and comfort

Lucknow (Photo: Sumeet Inder Singh)

Lucknow

(Photo: Sumeet Inder Singh)