Culture

The Sigiriya Rock Fortress has a dramatic and thrilling past that is bound to captivate all who visit the site. Discover a tale of ambition, betrayal, and vengeance. When you learn about the king who had the vision and perseverance to create this magnificent palace in the sky. Located in between the Habarana and Dambulla towns in the Matale district in Sri Lanka is, Sigiriya. The ‘Lions Rock’ previously known as Sihagiri has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and is commonly referred to as Sigiriya. Ancient rock fortress and palace ruin surrounded by the remains of an extensive network of gardens and reservoirs. The fortress’ name is echoed in the staircases that emerge from a lion’s mouth constructed in brick and plaster which offer access to the site. Sigiriya is al...

The close relationship between Queen Victoria and her young Indian attendant Abdul Karim was deemed controversial and scandalous by the royal court. After the Queen passed away, the family evicted Karim from the home the queen had given him and deported him back to India. Shrabani Basu, a renowned UK-based journalist notices a unique detail while touring Victoria’s Isle of Wight summer home in 2003. She saw a brown man standing next to Queen Victoria with a posture of a nobleman. She noticed that he is holding a book or important paper rather than a serving tray. This intrigued her and eventually led her to the details of Karim and Queen Victoria's scandalous yet eccentric friendship. This duo from the royal court is removed thoroughly after her demise. An assistant clerk at Ag...

These highly skilled courtesans sang, danced, wrote poetry, and were the purveyors of all that was considered good taste and high fashion. Tawaifs, the Awadhi term for highly skilled courtesans, rose to prominence between the 18th and 19th centuries in the royal courts of Awadh, part of present-day Uttar Pradesh. For the majority of us, our exposure to tawaifs and their way of life has mainly been through their depiction in popular Bollywood cinema. When we come across the word ‘Tawaif’. The first image that comes to our mind is that of a sensual seductress, equivalent to prostitutes. Iconic movies like Devdas, Umrao Jaan, Pakheeza, and Mughal-E-Azam portrayed the tawaif as a fallen woman. Wrapping up their stories with admonitory diktats on morality. Their existence in these narra...