Treasure Map Decoded
Do you know how it feels to hold a real treasure map in your hands? I do! …and it is one of the most exciting things that ever happened to me. Classical treasure maps were sometimes torn into two or … Continued
“The Light of India”
“You are the Light of India” the Rough Tough Big Man called after Raja as we moved down the isle of the supermarket. The Bas supermarket in a suburb of the great port of Rotterdam is an unlikely location for … Continued
Shiva Gajasamharamurti, slaying the Elephant Demon, Kailasha temple in Ellora
As always it makes me sad to note a sacred place has lost its living tradition. And has even lost its history. Besides I am really a bit surprised that with some 200 years of studies behind us there are … Continued
Kailasha temple at Ellora, sculptural plan part 2, Gopuram passage.
Notes and thoughts on the sculptural program of the gopuram of the Shri Kailasha temple of Ellora. Although Christel has not posted photos, I expect that at numbers 5 and 6 there will also be some kind of guardian figure. … Continued
Jacob Haafner’s* Mahabalipuram: comparable to the miracles of Egypt.
Jacob Haafner was an 18th century traveller from Amsterdam. He wrote extensively about his time in India. Here an excerpt of his description of Mahabalipuram, the first published in the West. With the dawn we boarded again in our … Continued