History & Culture

Independence Day: Visakhapatnamโ€™s landmarks of the freedom struggle

Independence Day: Visakhapatnamโ€™s landmarks of the freedom struggle

While much of Indiaโ€™s freedom struggle is told through events in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, Visakhapatnam had its own powerful, if quieter, moments of resistance. From salt-laden hands held high at the beach to fiery speeches in the Town Hall, these landmarks narrate the cityโ€™s fight for swaraj.In the 1940s, Visakhapatnam was a relatively small coastal town with fewer organised public events when compared to major urban centres of the Independence Movement. Yet the spaces and stories that have survived from that period reveal a city fully engaged in the struggle, albeit in its own manner. The dawn of freedom…
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Dive deeper into the history of Indiaโ€™s lesser-known freedom fighters this Independence Day, with exhibition Hamaara Itihaas Archives of Freedom Fighters (HIAFF) in Delhi

Dive deeper into the history of Indiaโ€™s lesser-known freedom fighters this Independence Day, with exhibition Hamaara Itihaas Archives of Freedom Fighters (HIAFF) in Delhi

Seventy-eight years ago, as the clock ticked towards midnight on August 14, Indiaโ€™s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru announced the countryโ€™s independence with an iconic speech, Tryst with Destiny, at Parliament House. In the Art Gallery of Kamaladevi Complex at India International Centre, New Delhi, before I examine the exhibition, Hamaara Ithihaas Archives Of Freedom Fighters, I engage in a surreal study of my proximity with time and space from where I stand, physically and existentially. It leads me to juxtapose the distance of four-and-a-half kilometres from Parliament House and the nearly eight decades from 1947.Surrounded by the maze of…
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Independence Day 2025 | A nation in banknotes

Independence Day 2025 | A nation in banknotes

The birth of a banknote occurred in the 18th century Defined by a nation and driven by commerce, a banknote โ€” a promissory note issued by a bank and payable to the bearer on demand โ€” is many things. For the longest time in history, the idea of money was transactional, pivoting from barter systems to commodity exchange such as grain, metal and metal coins, and a form of paper money in early Chinese history.The birth of a banknote, and money as we know it now, occurred only in the 18th century. Today, banknotes are so ubiquitous that few realise…
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This exhibition enables people to live and feel history

This exhibition enables people to live and feel history

An abandoned chair balances precariously on a pile of rubble in the corner of the gallery of the Bangalore International Centre (BIC) in Domlur, where Un. Divided Identities, an interactive exhibition on the 1947 Partition, is still being set up. I flit between the various open doors scattered across the space, stepping past a myriad collection of objects across the gallery, including the frame of a charpoy, oil lamps, a dented tiffin carrier, choolah and a battered-looking metal trunk, all anachronistic enough to evoke a sense of loss, nostalgia and memory. The curatorial note, already up, explains what all these…
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How villages in Telangana are uncovering 10,000-year-old rock art and forgotten histories

How villages in Telangana are uncovering 10,000-year-old rock art and forgotten histories

A quiet revolution in historical storytelling is underway in Telangana. Over the past few years, a treasure trove of archaeological finds and cultural narratives has surfaced, courtesy the grassroots initiative Kotha Telangana Charithra Brundam (KTCB). Literally translating to โ€˜New History Group of Telangana,โ€™ the 125-member collective is made up of farmers, professionals, students, and teachers โ€” everyday history enthusiasts who are unearthing remnants of the regionโ€™s past, often hidden in plain sight.โ€œThis is my office,โ€ quips 68-year-old Sriramoju Hargopal, gesturing to his laptop at his home in Tellapur, Hyderabad. Surrounded by stacks of books, the retired Telugu teacher and KTCB…
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How Karnatakaโ€™s artisans strive to stay afloat sans a middleman

How Karnatakaโ€™s artisans strive to stay afloat sans a middleman

The recent years have seen a surge in the demand for traditionally handcrafted home decor. Brassware, wooden idols, handmade lamps, rugs and more are being marketed as โ€˜minimalist aestheticโ€™ on various social media platforms and weekend pop-ups. Minimalism, referring to a lifestyle of intentionally living with only essentials rather than focusing on appearances, has led to a boom in the Aesthetic Economy. The gleaming finish of various handicrafts in Karnatakaโ€™s newly constructed urban houses raises the question of who really benefits from it.At a hushed weaving unit in Bengaluru, Nanditha Sulurโ€™s team consists of 15 weavers who make rugs, pure…
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A guide to Gingee fort, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site

A guide to Gingee fort, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The privilege of lounging on Monday afternoons is reserved for loafers and lovers. You do not have to take my word for it. Ask one of several hundred people who are scaling Gingee fort at the start of the week, and you would know I am right. Ever since Gingee fort, part of the Mighty Maratha Landscape encompassing 11 other forts, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site last week, footfall has shot up from between 600-700 people a day to about 1,700 over the weekend.Gingee fort, first said to have been built in the 12th Century by Ananda Kon,…
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In Bengaluru, Cubbon Parkโ€™s bandstand comes alive again

In Bengaluru, Cubbon Parkโ€™s bandstand comes alive again

Priya Chetty-Rajagopalโ€™s earliest memory of Cubbon Parkโ€™s iconic bandstand is hearing the Madras Sappers, one of the oldest of three Madras regiments of the Corps of Engineers that are headquartered in Bengaluru, play there, back in the 1970s. โ€œThe bandstand has military band origins, so it has always been about the military for me,โ€ says the founder of the citizen-led initiative, Heritage Beku, which has been instrumental in reviving cultural performances at the Cubbon Park bandstand. The initiative, she says, was catalysed by this dream of bringing the military band back to the park. โ€œThat is where it started: saying…
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Art Deco 100 | A tale of two cities: Mumbai and Chennai

Art Deco 100 | A tale of two cities: Mumbai and Chennai

When Art Deco was introduced to the world in April 1925 at the Paris Exposition, it was in many ways a reaction to Art Nouveau, a style that was based on the premise of nature-abhorring straight lines and formal geometry. Art Deco brought geometric shapes into sharp focus once again and, interestingly, it did so with the same materials that Art Nouveau had espoused: iron, glass, concrete, and later aluminium, chromium, and mosaics.Worldwide, the arrival of the architecture and design style coincided with many technological advances. Machinery was playing a greater role in daily life, concrete was being used increasingly…
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Art Deco 100 | Rajasthanโ€™s forgotten geometry

Art Deco 100 | Rajasthanโ€™s forgotten geometry

The Art Deco movement brought with it a sense of glamour and opulence. It upheld geometric design and modern materials, and was inspired by the relics of Native American and Egyptian civilisations. It soon made its way from France to the shores of the United States. While New York went by the book, building incredible skyscrapers inspired by the original decorative phase, cities like Miami adapted the style as it saw fit, in keeping with the place.The intercontinental appeal of the movement fascinates me. As does its evolution. For instance, major events such as the Great Depression and World War…
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