India may be celebrating 67 years of independence this year, but its culture is 3,000 years old.
Another ancient culture flourished in China. And the two countries share a common thread – thanks to a monk called Bodhidharma, who travelled from Kanchipuram in South India to the Henan province in China. The circle of history was completed when a Shaolin monk came to India and spent a whole month with a family in Chennai. Turn to ‘In Focus’ for the full story.
September is a time when celebrations are in the air – this month marks the start of a series of festivals, with Onam and Dussera just around the corner. Onam, the harvest festival of Kerala, is a time when the people believe that their beloved mythical King Mahabali pays them a visit. This calls for a special feast – one with 18 dishes, no less! ‘In Your Kitchen’ features a recipe for ‘aviyal’ – one of the key dishes in the feast. Dussera, a 10-day festival, involves re-enactments of scenes from the Ramayan – an epic that portrays the life of Lord Ram and his wife Sita. The demon king Ravan, who kidnaps Sita, is said to have been defeated on the last day of a battle that lasted for ten days. To mark Lord Ram’s victory, giant effigies of Ravan are set on fire on the last day of Dussera. ‘Picture Story’ takes you on a tour of Titarpur in New Delhi, where teams of men work hard to put together these gigantic images.
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Culturama is published by Global Adjustments Services Pvt. Ltd – a cross-cultural destination services company which helps Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India succeed. Global Adjustments works with expatriate families relocating to India and with Indian business professionals functioning in a global environment.
