Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, is surely one of the world's most amazing cities, being endowed with a very large number of ancient monuments, historic temples and other interesting spiritual sights. Here, the presence of Buddhist and Hindu deities are found side by side, and devotees have a rare opportunity to view Vaisnavism in a predominantly Buddhist milieu.

Surina Devi, a matronly 70-year-old in a brown crepe sari, had a so-so life, she says, until her shopkeeper husband died four years ago. For reasons she is unable or loath to explain, the former housewife from a rural village near Patna, in Bihar, was left with “nothing, nothing.

Orissa was famous as Kalinga, Kosala, Odra and Utkala during ancient days. All these independent regions came under one administrative control which was known as Utkala and subsequently Orissa. The name of Utkala has been mentioned in Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas, and the existence of Utkala as a kingdom is found in Kalidas's Raghuvamsa.

Odissi dance is the typical classical dance form of Orissa and has its origin in the temples. The rhythm, the bhangis and mudras used in Odissi dance have a distinctive quality of their own. Odissi dance deals largely with the love theme of Radha and Krishna.

The twin arts of dance and sculpture developed together in close spiritual association with the concept of the Divine Being himself as a dancer in Tamilnad. The fusion of these two arts dates back to the dawn of our civilisation. The figure of a dancer unearthed in Mohenja-daro of proto-historic India explains the genetic relationship between the various dance styles of India.

Dhanuyatra of Bargarh, the world's biggest open-air theatre, is unique in many respects. It is a theatre having the biggest assembly of actors that a play can ever have, with almost the entire population of Bargarh, a small town of Orissa state and its nearby villages, making up the cast. It is a cultural extravaganza where the same lila pastime play is enacted year after year, but neither the audience nor the actors seem to get tired.

Music syllabi across Orissa teach two systems of music: Hindustani and Carnatic. They usually miss the third, a music system that has distinctive features of its own and lies in between the two. All classical dances are based on their respective classical music form, but Odissi music, though classical in nature, has not been widely perceived as such even though it has been treated as classical dance. Without music there cannot be any dance, so it has been missed perhaps due to ignorance.

In India, the ‘Art of Painting’ has deep historical roots traced back to the Mesolithic time, about 10, 000 years ago. Some of the richest treasures of early Indian paintings are found on the walls of the Ajanta caves in Western India. From Ajanta, ideas in paintings were spread across the length and breadth of the country over centuries, bringing several new elements and a synthesis of various ideas (miniature, realism, etc.) to the arts.

The evolution of theatre in Bengal and modern Bangladesh, which follows more or less the South Asian tradition with a later European mix, may be narrated in terms of three distinct streams: (i) Sanskrit theatre and derivatives, (ii) indigenous theatre and (iii) European theatre. In the South Asian tradition dramatic conflict is not an indispensable structural element.

The unpretentious village of Krishnapuram, near Kayamkulam, Kerala, is home to a stunning mural depicting the pastimes of Lord Visnu and the elephant Gajendra. In a small palace located near the old Krishna temple is found one of the largest mural panels in Kerala. The palace was constructed during the reign of King Marthanda Varma, who annexed Kayamkulam to Thiruvithamcode in 1746 AD.

We have added a new photo gallery with pictures of sadhus, babas and holy men of India. There are currently over 230 photographs of sadhus from throughout India. You can also send email postcards with any of the pictures in the picture gallery.