Local belief holds that the ground upon which Likir Monastery sits is shaped by a serpent. This, according to legend, is why the hill has its distinctive shape. The very...

The Rapa Nui people were surely masters of innovation when it came to moving their colossal Moai statues across Easter Island, a remote speck in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, part...

The Tripura Sundari Temple at Naggar (near Manali), built of deodar wood, is a prime example of the Pagoda style's effectiveness in a mountainous setting. Its three tiers, ascending to...

Though Phyang Monastery may not immediately come to mind when thinking of Ladakh’s most notable landmarks, it holds its own as one of the two primary seats of the Drikung...

For the Asiatic lion, Gir, in western India, is the only home—a protected area much reduced compared to their historical distribution, which once stretched from Mesopotamia to the Indian subcontinent....

If discretion had a physical form, it would look something like the Hawa Mahal. Though one might expect such an elaborate structure—built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh—to host...

Millions of years ago, tectonic forces sculpted the Tinajani Basin in the Andes, laying the foundation for present-day Lake Titicaca. Nestled within the Andean Altiplano, the basin formed through processes...

A pattal is, in a way, a plate. Only not like the ones we are used to. It’s basically a leaf, or more accurately, a bunch of leaves carefully formed...

Lamayuru rises from Ladakh’s rugged terrain like a vision from another world, cliffs twisting into eroded formations defying symmetry and logic—some standing like ancient pillars, others breaking into jagged ridges—spilling...

The Indian Institute of Advanced Study-the name itself suggests a definite intellectual weight. And undoubtedly, serious scholarly work happens within its walls. But on any given day (except on gazetted...