Beginning in the 15th century in a land known today as Vietnam, Dai Viet – an empire of the Viet people from the north – which had successfully defeated their long-time rival, the Chams, expanded their territory further south. Quite the opposite of the Hindu-influenced […]
All posts tagged: architecture
Penataran: Appeasing the Mountain God
Swirling tongues of fire welcomed erstwhile royal families and priests who ascended the stairs of Palah, a late 12th-century Hindu temple located on the southwestern slopes of Mount Kelud. The volcano was so active and unpredictable that a temple was deemed necessary to appease Acalapati, […]
Kolkata and the British Raj
Chapter 4, Part 25 “As soon as I stepped out of the hotel, beggars swarmed around me,” my aunt recalled. “You think the buses in Indonesia are full, you should see the ones in Kolkata!” my cousin added. They were in India’s third largest city […]
Goa and Catholicism in India
Chapter 4, Part 1 For more than a millennium the area known today as Goa had been ruled by different clans, dynasties, kingdoms and sultanates before Vijayanagara took control of it in the 14th century. The once mighty southern Indian empire eventually relented control of […]
Minangkabau: the Land of Buffalo Horns
Chapter 2, Part 10 In the highlands of western Sumatra live a society with a unique culture where house roof is anything but unimaginative and women own the family’s wealth. In spite of being Muslims, their life is very much dictated both by the Quran […]
Candi Cetho: A Creation of Those Who Remained
Chapter 2, Part 9 The narrow road keeps going up, climbing the slopes of Mount Lawu, an active volcano rising more than 3,000 meters on the island of Java. We are more than 30 km away east of Solo, the city from which we departed […]
Vijayanagara: the Legacy
Chapter 2, Part 3 “In this city you will find men belonging to every nation and people, because of the great trade which it has, and the many precious stones there … the streets and markets are full of laden oxen without count, … and […]
Vijayanagara: the Golden Period
Chapter 2, Part 2 In the 14th century Harihara I established Vijayanagara, a Hindu kingdom which would later become the most powerful empire in the history of South India, and Harihara II – the third king – conquered the Madurai Sultanate and vast swathes of […]
Kathmandu the Eclectic
Chapter 1, Part 20 Our driver who picked us up from Bhaktapur tried to reach our hotel using the number I gave him earlier. He tried several times, to no avail, until he decided to just ask the locals for direction. We were heading to […]
Patan the Beautiful
Chapter 1, Part 19 One early morning at the reception in our hotel, situated amid the labyrinthine alleys of Kathmandu, we asked a lady, presumably the manager, about the cost of taking a taxi to Patan during the fuel crisis. We then walked to a […]
Indein: Abandoned and Forgotten
Chapter 1, Part 17 Far from the crowds and bustle of tourists and locals at the center of Inle Lake, our small boat headed to the southwestern side of the lake. Our boatman skillfully navigated the calm waters to Indein (Inn Thein) creek, past Phaung […]
Bagan Rising
Chapter 1, Part 13 At the turn of the second millennium, Hinduism became the dominant power in Southeast Asia where powerful Hindu kingdoms controlled vast swathes of land between the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. Following the return of Shaivism into the royal court of […]
What an Amazing World! 