Cover Stories

Under the Sacred Light

Priyanka Dalal

Fifty lakh devotees throng Tiruvannamalai for the Karthigai Deepam festival when a lamp is lit atop the Arunachala hill. Travelling solo, Priyanka Dalal experiences the sublime

Barabar Caves: The Repassage

Tansy Troy

A hundred years ago, EM Forster, in his most celebrated novel A Passage to India, wrote about the Marabar Caves. Tansy Troy travels to Bihar’s Barabar Caves, the inspiration for Forster’s fictional setting

Normandy: Ghosts of War

Rishad Saam Mehta

On the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion that won World War II, Rishad Saam Mehta visits the sites of the Normandy landings to discover that violence has been replaced by tribute and thankfulness

Kraków: Living in a Metaphor

Sabin Iqbal

Like a well-crafted novel, Kraków reveals its secrets slowly, inviting repeated visits, rewarding careful attention. Sabin Iqbal gets into the city’s literary soul

The Buddha Smiles Again

Amita Shah

Padum in Zanskar was a small, isolated Buddhist town accessed in winters only through an arduous trek over a river of ice. Today, Amita Shah finds a new highway offshoot that has brought the world to it

Vitamin R in Tobacco Land

Ullekh NP

The Cuban cigar is coveted worldwide but what does it mean to the country itself? Ullekh NP ventures into the tobacco heartland of Pinar del Río and finds a connection with Kerala and the beedi

The Eternity of Art in Hampi

V Shoba

In the shadow of its hallowed ruins, V Shoba finds the legacy of the art and handicraft of Vijayanagara living on in ancient and modern forms

Zoroaster Shows the Way

Lhendup G Bhutia

Zoroaster Shows the Way: Retracing the earliest Parsi settlements in Sanjan, Udvada and Navsari, Lhendup G Bhutia explores the rich tapestry of myths, history, and modern challenges facing the community

Finding Begum Akhtar

Kaveree Bamzai

Every city has at least one legendary icon who embodies its spirit. Kaveree Bamzai goes to Lucknow in search of the Queen of Ghazals who personified Awadh