Essays, Commentaries, Jottings, Photography, Videos – In the Light of Sri Aurobindo
The Avatar "The crisis in which the Avatar appears, though apparent to the outward eye only as a crisis of events and great material changes, is always in its source and real meaning a crisis in the consciousness of humanity when it has to undergo some grand modification and effect some new development. For this... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 2 Having spent some time exploring the Badami rock-cut cave temples 1, 2 and 3 in our earlier posts we now move to the last and the smallest of the four caves. Cave 1 is dedicated to Lord Shiva, caves 2 and... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 2 We continue our exploration of the famous Badami cave temples carved out of the soft red sandstone atop a hill. After exploring caves 1 and 2 we now climb up to cave 3, and the exterior view itself makes us stop... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 1 As we start climbing up the steps to reach cave 2, we turn around and take one more look at the majestic cave temple 1 with Nataraja who has already stolen our hearts! Dedicated primarily to Lord Vishnu, cave 2... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra After Aihole (see three parts - 1, 2, 3), we now travel to Badami for a completely different aesthetic experience. Badami was the capital of the early Chalukyas who ruled much of Karnataka during the 6th to 8th centuries. Situated on the banks of... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Aihole, also known as Aivalli, Ahivolal, Ilavalapura or Aryapura, is a sleepy village about 140 km from Hampi, or about 450 km from Bangalore. The story goes that after killing the decadent Kshatriyas who had been abusing their power, Lord Parasurama, the sixth avatār of... Continue Reading →
Continued from Part 9 Royal Enclosure (Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Suhas and Beloo Mehra) If you were a visitor to Hampi during the times of the mighty Vijayanagara emperors, wanting to see where the kings and queens, princes and princesses lived and from where they ruled the great empire, you would go to... Continue Reading →
“…if you will not learn from history, you will have to be taught by a harsher teacher the same lesson—and taught perhaps at a much more tremendous price…” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 7, p. 770) Dr. Rajat Mitra’s ‘The Infidel Next Door’ is a book divided in 100 chapters. But each of these small chapters... Continue Reading →
Continued from Part 8 Lotus Mahal, Queen's Bath, & Stables (Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Suhas and Beloo Mehra) A little walk from behind the Hazara Rama temple brings you to the great Royal Quarters of the mighty Vijayanagara Emperors who ruled from Hampi. A visit to Hampi would not be complete without... Continue Reading →
“The greatness of the ideals of the past is a promise of greater ideals for the future.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 20, p. 85) Indian cultural vision of human life and existence is the deepest, highest and greatest ever conceived by the human mind. Its attempt to mould the collective life of the community according... Continue Reading →
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