Lalita Rao writes on India's cultural heritage and the biographies of the figures — kings, reformers, warriors, philosophers — who built the country as it is. Her work draws on archival research and oral history, and reads India as a civilisational story with particular people at every turn of it.
Recent work
Tawang: Where the Himalayas Hold Eternity in Their Palms
Tawang, perched high in the eastern Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh, is home to the largest monastery in India and one of the most spiritually charged landscapes on the subcontinent. It is a living civilisational outpost where Tibetan Buddhism, indigenous Monpa culture, and India's Himalayan identity have coexisted for centuries. For the traveller willing to make the journey, Tawang does not merely offer sights — it offers a reckoning with something ancient and enduring.
Varanasi: Where the Sacred River Carries Civilisation's Oldest Flame
Varanasi, known through the ages as Kashi and Banaras, is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities and the spiritual heartland of Hindu civilisation. From the hypnotic Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat to the silk-threaded lanes of the old city, every stone and every ritual here speaks of an unbroken thread of human devotion stretching back millennia. This article explores why Varanasi is not merely a destination but an encounter with India's living civilisational soul.