Arts & Culture
India doesn't have one culture — it has a few hundred, layered on top of each other for four thousand years. This is where we explore all of it: the temples and forts, the classical dances and folk songs, the weaves and the paintings, the saints and the film stars. One article might take you inside a Chola bronze workshop, the next into a Kathakali dressing room or a Kanchipuram loom. Pick a thread below — architecture, music, regional traditions, the people who made the art — or just follow your curiosity. The idea here is to understand where the art came from and why it still matters.
Patan Patola: The Saree Dyed Before It Is Woven
There are perhaps fewer than five families left in the world who know how to make a genuine Patan Patola....
Murugappa: The Business That Escaped Burma
Murugappa was born in Burma. The Second World War forced a retreat to India and a new kind of business.
How Chhau Mask Dance of Purulia Invoke Martial Spirits
The masks of Purulia Chhau are not costumes. They are invocations. When a dancer in Purulia district straps on the...
Konyak Naga Facial Tattoos: History Written on Human Skin
The last generation of Konyak Naga men and women who carry the full record of their lineage on their faces...
The Rhythmic Buddhist Chanting of the Monks of Ladakh
In the high-altitude monasteries of Ladakh, the chanting of Buddhist monks is not music in the way that word is...
How Kodava Celebrates Weapons During Kailpodh Festival
The Kodava people of Kodagu in Karnataka are one of the very few communities in India granted the legal right...
Ceremonial Preparation of Karah Parshad in Sikh Gurdwaras
In every Gurdwara, before the service begins and before anything else is offered to the congregation, the Karah Parshad is...
Intricate Kolam Floor Art Drawn Daily in South Indian Homes
Before sunrise in millions of homes across Tamil Nadu, a woman steps out of her front door with a fistful...
The Priest Who Learned to See
The Toda people of the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu do not simply keep buffaloes. They have organized their entire...
The Geometry of Everything They Needed
The Warli tribe of Maharashtra's Palghar district has been painting on the walls of their homes for thousands of years...
Explore the soul of India, that is Bharat with Curious Indian. A definitive guide to Indian history, arts, culture, biographies, and the events that defined our present.