Namaskaram !
Welcome, Padharo ! I'm Mathini, a French woman who has been living in Rajasthan for 10 years. Despite being imbued with Indian culture from a young age it wasn't until 2014 that my Indian adventure really began. I left everything behind in France and set off on a 6-year journey through the land of Gandhi. These adventures are gathered in this blog which aspires, in an intentionally positive spirit, to bear witness to India's remarkably diverse and multifaceted cultural heritage. If this website sparks a desire to pack your bags and set off for an Indian adventure, it will have achieved its purpose. Subh Yatra on Magik India and beautiful explorations in the sacred land of Bharat...
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.
In Tamil Nadu, the nine-day Navaratri festival honoring the Shakti or universal primordial force, is celebrated in a unique way by venerating successively three goddesses: Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati; three days are dedicated to each of them. This festival punctuated by precise rituals symbolically ends with the victory of light over darkness called Vijayadashami.
The indigenous people of India (adivasi) are guardians of many ancient traditions expressed during festivals that can transport us to other worlds. Simultaneously, these traditional activities can evoke something somehow familiar, perhaps common roots echoing within us. Gavari is one of these festivals. This mystical folk-theatre of the Bhil people of Rajasthan is expressed through several acts composed of incantations, sacred songs, social satire and ecstatic dances.
Radhakrishna represents the unique union of the Goddess-gopi Radha and her beloved Krishna, two highly revered deities in the Hindu Vaishnavite tradition. Radhakrishna is not any romantic relationship or simply the combination of the feminine and the masculine: it symbolizes the soul seeking the Divine Love.
If you are looking for a rather unknown little corner of India, Chhattisgarh will not disappoint you. It is one of the few states in India where a large part of the population is composed of “Adivasi”, that is to say indigenous peoples. During my third trip in Chhattisgarh, I was lucky enough to stay with the Dhurwa community in the Bastar region, about fifty kilometers from Jagdalpur. No need to tell you that it was an enriching experience just like all my other encounters with the different cultures of India.
I was visiting Gujarat for the second time. This time I had decided see the coastal region of the Saurashtra peninsula: Diu, Somnath and Dwarka. I don’t know how I ended up in Pingleshwar, I always have the habit of traveling without a guide to leave spontaneity. What I do remember, however, is that it was a precious day with the inhabitants of the region.
