Walking On The Zanskar I learned about the Chadar Trek a few years back, during one of my summer treks in Kashmir. The whole idea of walking on a frozen river during the peak of winter sounded exciting. …

Some things happen only when they are destined to happen. My first ever visit to Shiva’s abode in the mountains high up in the Himalayas of Kashmir, happened only a week back — on 3rd of Aug 2022. Shiva and his consort Parvati, live in the Himalayas. Legend has it…

The walnut harvesting season in Kashmir is arriving soon. In Harud, or Autumn, as we know it. And with it, it always brings a deluge of childhood memories. There were these two huge walnut trees at a neighbour’s farm at my Nana Nani’s place in Srinagar. Only a light fence…

Very often a married Kashmiri Pandit woman gets identified by the two long gold chains with pendants that hang from both her ears. That’s called a Dejhor. It is akin to a Mangalsutra worn by most Hindu women across the country. A Kashmiri woman first wears it on a day…

I have travelled to Venice quite a few times and gone for a Gondola ride on the Grand Canal. I would always wonder how close the water was to the old mansions there and how beautiful they looked with the soft waves of water splashing noiselessly against those centuries-old homes. …

This April, my friends and I went on our annual get-together to Lolab. LOLAB is named after Maharaja Lolo. It falls under the jurisdiction of Sogam in Kupwara district of North Kashmir. The place is stunning, with amazingly thick, verdant forests and sprawling pastures. The river Lalkul goes singing through…

I first visited Botapather or Botapathri in June 2012, when it had just been opened to public. And my last visit was in April 2022. Exactly a decade later.

Buddhism once flourished in Kashmir. In fact, the Mahayana school of Buddhism was conceived in Kashmir and propagated by Kashmiri scholars in Kashmir, Central Asia and Tibet. The great Mauryan king — Ashoka, who founded the city of Srinagar in 250 BCE, was key in spreading Buddhism in the region…

Last year in December, I had two weeks in Chennai, when the weather is at its best there, so I decided to explore the old temples of TN. While finalising the itinerary, I realized that there’s so much to see in TN that it was impossible to fit-in everything in…