Rishikesh! For me, that is a name that conjures up the sound of sitars, images of pastel-coloured Hindu Gods, and memories of songs from the Beatles’ post-hallucinogenic phase. Can you believe it? It was 50 years ago, this February-past, that the Beatles followed their guru – their teacher – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to his ashram […]
Tag Archives: architecture It is no wonder that Budapest is called one of the most beautiful cities in Europe! Approaching it from the Danube River that runs between what were originally the separate cities of Buda on the right bank and Pest on the left, renders it magical: this section of old city along the Banks of the […]  Prayers and dal bhat for breakfast. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. An overnight stay at the guesthouse at the Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery, some 40 kilometres from Kathmandu, Nepal, is like stepping into another world: a timeless space where the drone of Tibetan Buddhist chanting – punctuated by gongs and cymbals – resonates through the crisp, crystal […]  When I think of northern India, it is the incredible Rajput (Hindu) and Mughal (Islamic) architecture of Rajasthan that I remember: fortified walls and sandstone edifices climbing across hillsides; exquisite turrets floating in the hot, dusty air; delicate lattice work shielding windows and casting intricate shadow patterns in the cloistered rooms behind them. But, I also think […]  Charlemagne (c.742-814), the medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe from 768 to 814, dreamed of traversing the European continent, from the North Sea to the Black Sea by water. All that was needed, in theory, was a trench around 3,000 metres (9,843 ft) long, connecting the Rhine River and the Danube. In the absence of pumps, […] |
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