I caught this procession of folks in the distance, on the way back from a visiting a remote rural temple. They are going to the local Kali temple. Usually this is done on every powarnami (full moon day). But this one is special, as it comes right after Navaratri celebrations. They’re carrying mulai-pari (முளை பாரி; [...]
Mahavira — that is the name given by the Samanars to the accomplished ones. Mahavira means the “Great Warrior” (Samanars were one of the many precursor aboriginal cultures that later contributed significantly to Jainism in Tamil Nadu around 1st century AD; see article on Samanars).
While common society endows the title of “great warrior” on war [...]
About a year ago, while we were walking back to our car my dad had casually pointed in a direction along a dirt path and said that there is supposedly a bat cave somewhere beyond that. Never passing up an opportunity to visit caves and ancient relics I took up a little trek through an [...]