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Published on 14th October, 2016, on www.livemint.com . I had heard that the nose-ring of Meenakshi, a local manifestation of Parvati, goddess-queen of Madurai, is removed each night as she awaits her consort, Sundareswarar, Shiva, in her jasmine-filled bedchamber. “That ceremony starts only after 9pm,” my friend, an amateur historian, told me. He suggested we use our time to visit the Samanar Malai. Samanar means Jain in Tamil. It is derived from the Sanskrit shramana, which refers to all hermits, not just Jains, or more specifically those who prefer meditation and austerities to Vedic rituals in all matters spiritual. Malai is Tamil for hill. The ..

Published on 4th July, 2015, on livemint.com . For an Odia like me, despite being born and raised in faraway Mumbai, visiting Jagannath temple in Puri is to visit a beloved relative. I may skillfully slip past other relatives when on a whirlwind business trip like this one, but I cannot avoid this very delightful god-friend of mine, especially when he is dying. Jagannath means “lord of the world” and is the form of Hindu gods Krishna/Vishnu worshipped in Odisha. Locally Jagannath is called Kaliya, for its black colour, with great affection, although modern colour prejudice makes many insist that Krishna is actually blue. He ..