Tag: culture

culture, everywhereBUTindia, travel

stepping on the sandakada pahana (moonstone) at srilanka

moonstone at the bodhi temple
moonstone at the bodhi temple

i visited sri lanka last year and that is the first time i came across a sandakada pahana or moonstone in english.

this is a semi-circular stone that is seen at the entrance of the temples at anuradhapuram and polonnaruwa.

buddhism flourished during the anuradhapuram. this is when the moonstone was supposed to have developed the most and become the most elaborate with intricate carvings. prior to that it was a square slab of stone.

carved in stone, the moonstone embodies the teachings of buddhism.

Continue reading “stepping on the sandakada pahana (moonstone) at srilanka”

bhavani5 Comments
culture

visiting ‘recommended’ artisans in a city, town, village?

should you even bother? this is a situation i have been faced with often… a couple of year ago, i visited the river nila project. set in kerala. this is the efforts of one person to make people respect and care for the river that runs through the north – the malabar region of kerala. over years, there has been much abuse in terms of … Continue reading visiting ‘recommended’ artisans in a city, town, village?

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culture, india, merrytoSLEEP, travel

chettinad – love at first ‘site’!!

had heard so much about chettinad cuisine over the years, but being vegetarian it never really excited me. but, then my husband and i saw pictures of some old mansions in chettinad and knew we had to visit… the old mansions looked beautiful, and there seemed to be way more to chettinad than food and saris!

first steps we had to find a nice place to stay. we chanced upon Visalam managed by CGH Earth. it seemed to have captured that old-world charm without going over-board! none of the places in karaikudi or nearby seemed nearly as good! when we reached at an early 8am, we were awed by the beauty of the house. how they had managed to renovate it! Continue reading “chettinad – love at first ‘site’!!”

bhavani2 Comments