Speaking Archaeologically™

Have you ever looked at an ancient monument or sculpture Trishla is a research wing member at Speaking Archaeologically since August 2018 and wondered : how it is, that our ancient civilisations, armed with just a set of primitive tools, were able to conceptualise and execute them ? I know I have . But everytime a teacher responded with "That's for you to find out" and multiple google searches led me to the famous "Maybe the God's built it..?" or my mothers favourite, "Alien theory," I put aside my rather genuine inquiry only to forget about it completely-until it hit me again on site at Sanghol. If you haven't read my last blog here, where I took about how we reached the site, its history and present status, it would be a good idea to read that first for what we call "more context". In this blog I'll only be dishing on how we resourcefully tackled our biggest handicap at the Sanghol site which as I had mentioned in that...

A rather interesting story surfaced at the Lunch table yesterday at a party.Kamakhya Devi or Kamru Devi is a goddess who has been worshiped by the Upper Shimla area Kshatriyas for generations. They worship a tamra patra   or a small metallic pot with water in the name of this Goddess, who, when she possesses a mortal worshiper, asks for her "gaude" (local for ghada or water pot). The very same goddess is worshiped in Kinnaur as Kamru Devi and was apparently introduced in Upper Shimla by one of the ancestors of the Kshatriyas , who had gone to that region for trade. When the river freezes (and I am assuming this is Shyok River and Borasu Pass), the area becomes a trade-route that directly leads to China, and also opens up in Guwahati, Assam. Kamakhya Devi Temple, Assam Interestingly, Guwahati is in the Kamrup District, a famous Shakti Peeth where, interestingly,  there is a temple called Kamakhya Devi. According to Shakti Traditions,  the genitals of the Go...

What comes to your mind when I talk of an Archaeological recording workshop? A formal site visit led by a regimented Task In-charge?   If yes, then let me help you get rid of this preconception. Because the Speaking Archaeologically site visits are nothing like that. On the fine Sunday morning of 15th October,  I embarked on the bus journey from Chandigarh to Pinjore. Though I had visited the place before, but never knew there was a temple too. Anyway, it was a 45 minute long journey and I spent the whole time trying to wrap up the essay we had to submit the same day. I reached there by noon as we all were supposed to, where Shriya greeted us all warmly (See, what did I say? No formalities). We walked further, got onto the site, had a session on Hindu temples and conferred about them in detail. Studied Hinduism in its primary form, discussed Tantra, Mantra and Yantra, familiarized ourselves with different Gods, including the one pictured below. That's Ishana (Moon)...

You'd think one won't be covering a Temple when one's first cousin is  getting   married !  Wrong! In the heart of my heart, I always knew that I took an off from supervising SAV India for this wedding, only because it was being held 10 minutes away from the Ancient Temple of Baijnath. You'd think a ten hour long drive on a topsy-turvy road, that included meandering our way through many village roads would be enough to exhaust anyone! The Baijnath Temple, Kangra,Himachal Pradesh, North India Oh, so wrong, again! There we were, in a hotel overlooking Binwa River, appropriately named Hotel Binwa View, and while my family was busy reuniting for the wedding, congratulating the groom, trying dresses on and discussing the events, but more importantly, resting, yours truly spent the better half of the night, talking to the man at the concierge, to the devout Aunt, to the encyclopaediac Uncle, gathering information on the site, which I was determined to visit t...

There's always a picture, no matter how tired we are! Or as I like to call it — Our first official road trip. We started bright and early at noon. Or maybe we were supposed to reach at noon. Much of the details evade me. What I do distinctly remember is that we got lost. Three of us were driving down together, we were consulting Google Maps, and we got lost. Insert sexist joke about women, directions and maps. But before you do, know this, we found our way and made it to the site in one piece. All that can truly be demanded, if you ask me. That's not actually true, but I digress. We reached, and the first thing we did was stock up on supplies (re: junk food). Then we found a lovely tree under which we sat and spent some quality time with Ishan, Sharad, Shiv and Varun. It was, after all, Valentine's Day. That Plan drawing. Before you reach the conclusion that Speaking Archaeologically is actually an organisation devoted to setting you up on date...

Top:  The Svetambara Temple at Zira, Bottom Left: The Newly Renovated Svetamabar Temple, Lehra Bottom Right : The Digambara Temple, Zira This one is to be a jumbled up post because I am late with this. My memory shouldn't,  but might, fail.  So, here's what happened on the day we went to Zira to see the Jain Temples .  Now, there were conflicting opinions on the temple and how old it was. Also, there's very limited record of it anywhere so, it was nothing short of surprising that I found out about it at all. Sitting at the dinner table, I wondered out loud that if it was indeed 1200 years old, it would be an ancient temple,  very very significant for SA and me because that would place it between circa 800-1000AD. We drove to Zira with the music playing and the sky a beautiful blue in front of us.   Zira is about 35 kms away from Ferozepur Cantonment and was a disputed territory during the Partition of 1947.  On reaching, I was surpris...

The Main Temple Premise The week following the Diwali break was all about books, delicacies, long drives and visiting sites! Being a Doonite, I had very enthusiastically offered to cover one of the most auspicious sites in the town: The temple of Tapkeshwar Mahadev. The temple holds significance as one of the oldest Shiva ling is in the cave nearby where the river enters and water drops drip down on the Shiva ling (there by its name "Tap-keshwar"). The water that drops down vanishes underground and can be seen only few yards away in the form of a stream. The temple premises hold many cool sulphur-water springs where devoted pilgrims take bath before entering the temple. The small cave with this splendid scenery is said to be once resided by Dronacharya- the teacher of Pandavas and Kauravas in Hindu holy epic Mahabharata written by Ved Vyas. The cave is named Drona Cave after him. Drona Cave There is a saying that "If the stars and deities wish it, you are l...