As the year is coming to an end, we remember these creative personalities of eminence, from India, that are no more amongst us. The departing year took lives of many creative personalities—from literary geniuses, to cinema personalities to some of…

Writers are finding interesting ways to return to stories from Mahabharata and Ramayana. Some of the recent approaches include tracing the journey of minor characters, or of the major ones who weren’t explored enough. We revisit some of these developments…

Did you ever wonder where the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ characters got their names from? Well, your search is complete. Here is a brief introduction of the artists from whom the creators of TMNT took inspiration. Teenage mutant ninja turtles,…

Paying homage to the influential legacy left behind by the great Bauhaus Art School, the German town of Dessau inaugurates the Bauhaus Museum Dessau on the anniversary of the school’s centenary year. Here’s a brief introduction to the Bauhaus and…

Meena Alexander wrote about the relationship between history and poetry and returned to memory often through her works. In this article, we focus on what the poet left behind and in particular, a lesser-known work of hers, Dreaming in Shimla:…

It was the eve of the Indian Independence Day and I was on this season’s first visit to San Francisco. And unwittingly I discovered these two icons of the Indian mythology and the Indian freedom struggle at the first and…

It’s a pleasant coincidence to see Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) – mostly known as a Painter – being remembered and celebrated in both East and the West after 500 years of his life. While celebration of this landmark about the…

Imagine living inside a museum with more than 9000 antiques, collectables and artworks. That’s the life of Dr Tejus Naik, an established surgeon of Ahmedabad and grandson of Gulzarilal Nanda. Soon into my interview with Dr Tejus Naik, a well-known…

After Hong Kong, Yangon, Penang and Colombo, iDiscover comes to Ahmedabad. The travellers’ itinerary is curated and designed by locals to give people an authentic cultural experience. It will have an illustrated map of Khadia and Bhadra area. It’s always…

Did you know you are as wide as you are tall? Just stretch your arms out in the famous Titanic pose and measure your arm span! Though we comply with international units of measurement today, our old systems of measurement were…

For art lovers. For the history buffs. For the anthropologists. For the science enthusiasts. For the conservationists. For the curious minds. These museums are for all. Tucked away in a bygone era, these lesser-known museums of Ahmedabad have some amazing…

The Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus during the crucifixion, colourful stained rose windows, one of the world’s largest organs, and various other relics, paintings and sculptures were present in the Notre Dame de Paris during the fire. Do they…

The new National Salt Satyagraha Memorial at Dandi captures the spirit of the historic Salt March that led to India’s independence. 48 international artists depict life-size sculptures of the 80 revolutionaries who marched alongside Mahatma Gandhi. “With this, I am…

With Amdavad Yatra stroll with us on the trails of the old stories of India’s first world heritage city Ahmedabad. Know about the history in this heritage walk video. Ahmedabad has always been a melting pot of various cultures and…

608 years ago, Ahmedabad began its journey towards becoming the urban hub of culture it is today. And the city’s recent status as a UNESCO World Heritage City has put it on the map. So what is the story of…

Imagine what it would be like to experience the world from within it. This stained glass globe made in 1935 takes you back in time to a world marred by World Wars, in a journey from within it. Find out about…

Find out what makes the architecture of the first free library in the United States stand out. Take a visual tour of this eclectic collage of art, architecture, religion and literature at the Boston Public Library. Boston Public Library, McKim Building As you…

Are you someone who doesn’t let Indian classical Music reach your heart, harboured misconceptions for ages? Music, in all its glory and forms, is never unappealing or unmoving. The Raag and Raginis are as enthralling as Rock and Roll, provided you take a free plunge and don’t…

Do you know Sri Lanka and Nepal have five World Heritage Cities? Let’s explore about these magnificent timeless cities that have preserved their culture, architecture, arts and celebrations for centuries! As a backpacker, a question that predominantly occupies my mind…

A demure, daring girl with dance in her breath and Tagore at the core of her being during formative years, on tying the nuptial knot with a scientist from Gujarat, set foot in this culturally nearly dry city when the…

Did you know that Tagore was a feminist? And that his plays were far more progressive than their time? To mark the 157th birth anniversary of Tagore, academician and theatre critic Dr Anand Lal spoke about the Bengali polymath’s socially…

A marvel of engineering and architecture, the Middle East’s new Louvre museum boldly draws connections across Eastern and Western cultures. As scorching sunlight strikes the Louvre’s gigantic dome, the sprawling museum is sprinkled by a ‘rain of light’. It is…

From the ‘Taj of Gujarat’ to its palatial seat of royalty, the quaint former kingdom of Rajpipla is dotted with little-known remnants of heritage and old world charm. Rajpipla is a small town in the Narmada district of Gujarat –…

Confused about what the recent furor in Tamil Nadu is about? Here, we break it down for you. The first time I read about Jallilkattu, I thought of it as an Indian version of Spanish bullfighting, with matadors and red…

India as a nation is synonymous for her well-known Textile Industry that has flourished both formally and informally since time immemorial. The prominence of this media was such that it became a part of culture. Based on the inspirations of…

The Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group have shared a very special relationship with the city of Ahmedabad, giving widely to the nascent yet vibrant scene in the city and helping it grow as one of the strongest art precincts in the…

Lets take a look at some of the most important pre and post Independence Women Poets from India. Male folks, as it was the norm in most part of the world largely dominated literature in India. History however along with the…

Even though they were regional films, Satyajit Ray made powerful cinema. His oeuvre transcends boundaries – geographical, linguistic or otherwise. The women portrayed in his films were detailed and multifaceted in both rural and urban settings.  Let us look back…

A Spanish writer, poet and philosopher, who himself became a revolution of Spanish literature and language.  His contribution towards Spanish literary was so impactful that people started calling the language as La lengua de Cervantes (The language of Cervantes). The…

The street Fernandes Bridge connects readers with writers, students with publishers and curious beings with the age-old answers they’re looking for. The Chopda Bazaar of Fernandes Bridge is one of the oldest Book Markets in Ahmedabad that serves thousands of people…

Yoga can bring transformation! The way we conduct our deeds, thoughts that we develop in mind, habits we infuse, and everything that that defines our existence can be transformed for betterment and wellbeing through Yoga.  Yoga, a 5000 year old…

Summer vacations are on, and you want a dose of enrichment for your children and for yourself. This International Museum Day i.e. May 18, Team Creative Yatra suggests treating yourself with a visit to the 10 most interesting museums in…

Charles Correa was a young man of 28 when he got the opportunity to design a museum housing documents from Gandhi’s life on the banks of the Sabarmati river. This was the place where Gandhi had set up his ashram,…

There are theories, but no one knows when exactly this celebration started. Since thousands of decades every 4 years an extravaganza occurs, where men, women and children from varied culture and ethnicity come together to celebrate human history’s biggest social…

In Greek tragedies like Oedipus the King and Agamemnon, it is the gods and fate that pull the strings and humans, like puppets, behave the way they do. In Shakespeare’s tragedies like King Lear and Othello, the factors that cause…

Few people realize that there is a strong connection between water and women, as they descend into the subterranean Adalaj or Bai Harir stepwell and feel the changing dampness and temperature. Queens, mothers, daughters, mistresses and goddesses – various women…

If you are walking around the labyrinth streets of ghee kanta, ask for Dahya kaka’s shop and even a stone would direct you. And if you decide to ask a human, be ready for the counter question – ‘Dahya kaka…

Narsinh Mehta an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna continues to reside in our hearts even today, after 600 years. Such is the presence of souls like Narsinh Mehta. Being a pioneer of Gujarati bhakti (devotional) literature, Narsinh Mehta started his…

“Only progressive literature can produce self-confidence. It will be disappointing if our writers don’t use their pen for the betterment of the common people, because if writers, journalists and thinkers turn away from present-day circumstances and write merely for personal…

There’s an interesting story behind Ashram Road of Ahmedabad getting its name. It is said that Ashram road is the road that connects the two ashrams of Mahatma Gandhi, Kochrab Ashram and Sabarmati Ashram. While Sabarmati Ashram is more popular nowadays,…