Namaskar!
Many people do not know it, but India is one of the world's oldest civilisations. It has been the birthplace of many fundamentals recognised by today's society, in science and in the arts. After traveling tirelessly around India and immersing myself in its flavours and traditions, I wanted to bear witness to its incredibly rich cultural and spiritual heritage. If this website sparks a desire to pack your bags and set off for an Indian adventure, it will have achieved its purpose. Have a good trip around the website and pleasant wanderings in the sacred land of Bharat!
The ‘lingam’ or ‘Shiva-lingam’ is one of India’s most emblematic hindu representation, and one of the most powerful. Some theories trace the lingam back to the ancient fertility cults probably due to its phallic form. But though it is easy to jump to conclusions, it is a mistake to think of the Shiva lingam in purely sexual terms; The Sanskrit word lingam means ‘sign’ or ‘symbol’. So the literal meaning of Shiva lingam is ‘Shiva’s sign”. It is the symbolic form of the god Shiva, the divinity without form, the source of the universe, the infinite into which everything merges at the end of time.
Leh, capital of Ladakh, reveals a very different side of Himalayas. Here verdant meadows give way to grandiose mountains whose bare austerity is broken only by white-clad monasteries. The air is bracing and the faces make one think of nearby Tibet.
Uttarayan, the time of year when the sun starts its northward journey, is celebrated in Gujarat state with a kite festival that’s totally poetic. All day long thousands of multi-coloured kites drift endlessly across the sky, and when night falls the sky is lit by a myriad paper lanterns…
Ajanta, the long-hidden caves carved in the cliffs above a meander in the Waghora river now unveil their secrets to visitors. Inside, the life story and legends of the Buddha are told in magnificent frescoes and rock carvings, masterpieces of religious art whose impact once reached far beyond India’s borders.
Mangaluru is a port city on the Arabian Sea. Much of India’s coffee output leaves from here. The town’s main attractions are its ancient temples, luxuriant vegetation and golden sands – a foretaste of neighbouring Kerala.
Sandhya is a form of traditional mural art that originated in the region of Braj (Uttar Pradesh). From there it spread to many other regions, especially Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. Coinciding with the annual worship of the ancestors, the Sandhya is part of the “Bhakti” movement: it is a means of expressing one’s adoration for the divine and, more precisely, for the Hindu divinity Krishna. If this tradition was once very common, there are only a few places where it is still practiced. A few families in Udaipur in Rajasthan still perpetuate it.
