Anjali Sookram is our Kingston correspondent, covering Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. She pays particular attention to the Indian-origin communities — Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname — whose histories connect Indian indenture to the shape of the modern Caribbean.
Recent work
Amritsar: Where Gold, Grief, and Glory Meet Punjab's Soul
Amritsar is Punjab's living heart — a city where the gleaming Golden Temple anchors centuries of Sikh faith and philosophy, while Jallianwala Bagh and the Wagah Border remind visitors of the extraordinary price India paid for freedom. Far from a preserved relic, Amritsar pulses with bazaar energy, street food aromas, and a warmth of spirit that makes every lane feel like a homecoming. To visit Amritsar is to step into India's civilisational story at one of its most luminous chapters.
Where the Forest Goddess Still Holds Court in Manali
Nestled within a cedar forest in Manali, the Hidimba Devi Temple is one of Himachal Pradesh's most revered and visually striking shrines. Built in 1553 CE, it honours Hidimba — a figure from the Mahabharata — and remains an active centre of worship for the Kullu valley's communities. This article explores the temple's history, architectural beauty, cultural significance, and why it deserves a place in every traveller's understanding of India's civilisational soul.
Alleppey: Where Kerala's Soul Drifts on Eternal Waters
Alleppey, known as the Venice of the East, is a living tapestry of Kerala's maritime heritage, coir traditions, and spiritual rhythms woven across thousands of kilometres of backwater canals. From the thundering spectacle of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race to the meditative hush of a rice-boat houseboat gliding at dusk, this destination offers travellers not a postcard but a civilisational encounter. It is a place where ancient trade routes, temple festivals, and Ayurvedic wisdom converge in a landscape that has remained, at its core, unchanged for centuries.
Mysore Palace: Where India's Royal Soul Still Breathes
Mysore Palace in Karnataka is not merely a royal residence frozen in history — it is a breathing, ceremonially active monument that connects modern India to centuries of Wodeyar dynasty rule. Drawing millions of visitors annually, the palace dazzles with its Indo-Saracenic architecture, its legendary Dasara celebrations, and its layered story of art, devotion, and statecraft. To walk its corridors is to understand that Indian civilisation did not end with empire — it endured, adapted, and illuminated.
Somnath Temple: Where the Sea Witnesses Eternity's Unbroken Vow
Somnath Temple in Gujarat is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva and among the most sacred pilgrimage sites in all of India. Perched at the confluence of three rivers on the Arabian Sea coast, it has been razed and reborn across centuries, each reconstruction a testament to the living pulse of Hindu civilisation. Today's gleaming temple — consecrated in 1951 with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's blessing — is not merely a religious monument but a declaration that India's spiritual inheritance cannot be erased.