SEPTEMBER 2023 : ISSUE 06

Pic: Yallamma Devi Gudi, Badami, Karnataka

Contents
Clicked By Dr Dinesh Soni

EXPLORE FEATURES UPDATES

01 Promoting heritage 05 The Stories in Our Lives 04 Archaeology and
through games Dinesh H. Soni Heritage News Updates

10 Kuranganathar Temple, 09 The Dancing Stones 08 Indian.Temples Updates

srinivasanallur Dr Hima Bindu Kanoj

14 Testimonials 13 Heritage Crossword

16 Festivals : September 23 17 Photo Feature

 PROMOTING HERITAGE
THROUGH GAMES
Yoga Rakshitha Dasi
A dual Master's degree in the field of Engineering and
Business administration from abroad, having been
overseas for 11 years with a big corporate job, and
then deciding to come back to India to help young
generation learn about our culture. Seems like a very
unusual and tough decision to take. But there are
some who have the daring to take such tough
decision. Charanya Kumar is one of these tough
ones.
Charanya Kumar is the founder and CEO of Chittam
Games. She had taken this bold decision to resign
from her job at the apex of her career. She had been
to 30 countries, and during her stay, she realized that
there isn't a proper portrayal of Indian culture and
heritage. During her course of interaction with a lot of
children in India, she observed that stress and
depression were the most recurrent problems faced
by them. These conversations made her retrospect
the ways and the reasons that made her bounce back
after facing every setback in her life. According to
her, the source of her strength to emerge much
stronger is always her cultural rootedness.

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 1

She sought guidance from ancient Indian
texts like Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana
whenever she faced hurdles, and the morals
from these texts acted as a coping
mechanism for her. The main mission behind
starting Chittam Games is to instill the virtue
of resilience in the younger minds to face
difficulties instead of escaping from them. In
the present-day scenario, children and
teenagers are running away from their
problems instead of dealing with them. As per
the founder's understanding, stories from our
Puranas and Itihasas enhance kids' mental
fortitude from a young age. Through this
startup in the field of edutainment, Charanya
aims to instill knowledge and life skills in
these blooming minds.
She expounds that the scriptures elucidate the
consequences of performing certain acts or
actions. These morals teach children to analyze
the situation and guide them to make apt
decisions. To practically implement this whole
ideology, she and her qualified team members
are trying to gamify the wisdom and morals
from the treasure troves of our indigenous
history and culture.
On 27th January, 2023, Chittam launched its
five games. Those are Bharath Vilas,
Bommalatam, Suprabatham, Sarathi, and
Neivedya. The key features of their games are
that they are age-appropriate, enhance family
bonding, and the thoughtful design of their
games imbibes cultural rootedness. Another
main objective behind the launch of these
cultural games is to bridge the gap between the
generations. Present-day children are less
interactive, and communicative because of the
influence of social media. These games boost
their interaction with older people
(grandparents and great-grandparents) at
home. The founder supports this point by
asserting that gameplay is something kids are
good at, and elders have a good hold of
content. So these games aid in building a
healthy bond between the grandchildren and
grandparents.
THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 2
The efforts by Chittam group have been yielding
some fruits. The games have been adopted by
SSVM (Coimbatore) and DPS (Noida) at large scale
workshops conducted with teachers, on how to
integrate the games into pedagogy. The games are
now part of classes. Multiple HNIs, realizing the
potential impact, have generously donated the
games to underprivileged schools. Chittam has
been invited to participate in curated exhibitions
(such as 'By Hand, From the Heart 2023') where the
response to the games has been very positive.
Organizations such as Madras Branding Company
and Startup Pedia have profiled Charanya, taking
Chittam's story to large social media audiences.
Plenty of heartwarming stories are coming from
people who have played the games together as a
family.

We wholeheartedly wish that more companies come

forward, and make our culture part of the learning
process. Charanya Kumar would definitely be a
guiding light to all those entrepreneurs, who wish to
take a step in the regard...!!!!

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 3

 NEWS UPDATES

KAPILESHWAR TEMPLE
DECLARED AS MONUMENT
OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE
Kapileshwar temple, located in
Odisha capital, has been declared as
an ancient monument of national
importance by the Centre. The
Ministry of Culture has issued a
notification in this regard recently.
RARE SCULPTURES
UNEARTHED IN UDUPI
Rare sculptures believed to depict
Mylareshwar have been discovered in
Udupi. The find sheds light on the
historical significance of the
Mylareshwar cult that once thrived in
the Deccan and Coastal Karnataka
regions. The Mylareshwar Cult, an
ancient spiritual phenomenon,
commanded considerable reverence
across the Deccan and Coastal
Karnataka.

NINE PANCHALOHA IDOLS FROM CHOLA-

ERA UNEARTHED AT CUDDALORE
CONSTRUCTION SITE
A collection of nine panchaloha idols, believed to be
from the Chola era, has been unearthed from a
construction site near Kattumannarkoil. The police
seized the idols. The idols are at least 1,000 years old.
These artefacts have been transferred to Kumaratchi
police station and will be handed over to the revenue
department.

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 4

 THE STORIES IN OUR LIVES
Hanuman and his communication
Dr. Dinesh H. Soni
The Stories we hear in our Puranas and folklores often have large
implications in our day-to-day lives. We just need to see and hear these
stories with minute attention to details. We just need to understand the crust
of the story, instead of focusing on the outer cover. Dr. Dinesh Soni, in this
monthly series, talks about how we can learn from these stories .

Hello friends
I wholeheartedly thank you for your appreciation for my earlier articles in the series.

While growing up in a religious Hindu family, Hanuman Chalisa has always been a very prominent
part of our daily schedules. We would recite Hanuman Chalisa every day, and later it became our
weekly schedule. I was always very fascinated by the words in Hanuman Chalisa; and later I wrote a
Marathi book explaining the meaning of Hanuman Chalisa. In Hanuman Chalisa, there is a line as

सूक्ष्म रूप धरि सियहिं दिखावा ।

बिकट रूप धरि लंक जरावा ॥

There is a story about how Hanuman met Sita in the

Ashok Vatika, and later also Ravana. Whole Vanar
sena was looking everywhere for Sita. While the first
confirmation had arrived from Jatayu, they were still
looking for what happened with Sita after Ravana
kidnapped her. At this time, one of the teams met
Sampati, the elder brother of Jatayu. Sampati
informed them that Ravana has taken Sita in the
southern land of Lanka. And once has to cross the
sea to reach the land.

The question now arose about who will cross the sea to reach Lanka. Angad showed willingness to
reach Lanka by swimming across the sea. But Jambuwant thought it would be wise not to send
Angad, because Angad was leading the army at this moment. Jambuvant was aware of the powers of
Hanuman, and he made Hanumana aware of his physical strengths. Hanuman, on request of
Jambuvant, agreed to go to Lanka to find out Sita and deliver message to her. At this moment, Rama
handed over his ring, to be given to Sita as a token of identification. Hanuman held the ring in his
mouth and took a long leap towards Lanka.
THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 5
 On reaching Lanka, Hanuman searched for whereabouts of Sita. With
Vibhishana’s help, Hanuman could find the location and he reached
there. When he saw one Aryan lady sitting in center of many attendants,
he immediately realised that this is Maa Sita. The question vexed
Hanuman's mind as to how to present himself before Sita. The problem
had two dimensions:

1. Sita was surrounded by many attendants, and

2. Sita might take him to be a demon in the form of an impostor-
monkey!

She would refuse to accept him as a friend and devotee of Ram. Hanuman was sure that the second
problem would be solved as he had brought the ring from Ram which Sita was sure to recognize as
authentic.

He saw that Sita was sitting under an Ashoka tree; surrounded by hundreds of guards. Realising that
Sita may be very afraid in the situation, Hanuman shifted his body to a small scale. He appeared in
front of Sita as a very small monkey. He introduced himself to Sita and handed over the ring given by
Ram.

Sita also handed over a piece of jewelry to him, to be handed over to Rama. But at this point, she had
a doubt about how such a small monkey could cross the big sea to reach here. Hanuman realises this
doubt and he plays a trick. He asks Sita if he could eat some fruits as he is hungry. Sita says “you can
it, but only eat the fruits that have fallen on the ground.” Hanuman, at this point, grows his size and
jumps vigorously to make lot of fruits fall on ground.

Irked by the destruction being done by him, Hanuman is

arrested by the guards of Lanka. Hanuman is taken to Ravana’s
court. When Hanuman reaches there, he starts speaking in
impeccable Sanskrit language. Ravana feels anguised by the
monkey who speaks Sanskrit, and orders to put fire to his tail.

He aimed to have some entertainment, by putting fire to tail of a

monkey and see him jump here and there. But what actually
happened was more frightening than entertaining. Hanuman
took a big and wild form, and started to jump from one building
to other with the tail on fire. In this process, Hanuman burnt
down the whole city of Lanka.

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 6

This whole incident tells a lot about how an effective communication should be. Hanuman, on
seeing that Sita may be afraid, reaches to her as a small monkey and talks to her in a homely
Prakrit language. However, when he reaches the courtroom of learned but arrogant Ravana, he
makes sure he talks to him Sanskrit. Hanuman also changes his body based on the situation. He
appears in front of Sita as a small and timid monkey. But in front of Ravana, he appears as a giant
and fearsome one. Thus, he changes both verbal and non-verbal communication based on the
situation and the person he is communicating with.

This perfectly showcases how communication should be in corporate in social environment. Your
verbal and non-verbal communication must be based on the person you are interacting with. And
in the course of the discussion, he realised what is going on in the mind of Sita. And he changes
his non verbal ways, to clear the doubt in the minds of Sita. Thus, he isn’t only focusing on self
communication, but also continuously reads the cues on the face and in words of the other
person.

In Ramayana, we can see many examples about how Hanuman had the best communication style.
But, in this article, I have only included two incidents, that are suited to the lines in the Hanuman
Chalisa. I hope this gives you some thought to ponder about. Look forward to meeting again with
another article..

The Writer is an indologist and is writer of 16 books. He has received Doctorate in Cultural
Studies. He is felicitated by Acedemia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan for his research in mythology. He has
received numerous awards including the Lokmat Digital Influencer Award (Heritage). Dinesh is
also a speaker who has graced many occasions. He is the main admin of Indian.Temples.

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 7

 INDIAN.TEMPLES UPDATES

WE ARE NOW A 100K

OUR FOUNDER RECEIVES
DOCTORATE IN CULTURAL
STUDIES
Our founder Dinesh Soni is now Dr
Dinesh Soni. He received Doctorate
in Cultural Studies by IEMS on June
10, 2023. The ceremony was
organised at YB Chavan Auditorium,
Mumbai.
FAMILY
Indian.Temples is now a 100k family
on Instagram. The page that was
started in October 2019 has reached
this milestone, in an organic way, in
three and half years. Along with
Instagram, we are also active on
youtube, facebook and podcasting
platforms like spotify, amazon music,
google podcast and apple podcast.

FEATURE IN 40 UNDER 40 RISING AND

EMERGING INDUSTRY EXPERTS LIST

Our found Dr Dinesh soni for featured in "40 Under

40 Rising and emerging industry experts". list and
received Glaze Iconic Award. He has received
multiple awards in the past, including Lokmat Digital
Influencer Award and felicitation by Acedemia
Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 8

 THE DANCING STONES
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔
Dr Hima Bindu Kanoj
In Indian history, every art form is interconnected. The stories in Puranas
started to be shared in the form of oral retelling, and gradually other art forms
like literature, performance, dance and sculptures were introduced. Dance
researcher Dr Hima Bindu Kanoj explores the interconnection in Dance and
sculptures as a medium of expression.

In the previous articles in the series, we read about

the dance sculptures in Harappan times and the era
of cave temples.

The seventh century bought in significant

transformations in dance sculptures. The significant
change was that apart from the celestial beings,
human figurines started to appear in form of
nartakis ( female dancers) and nartakas ( male
dancers) on temple walls.

Added to this was the reduction of spiritual

illumination and calmness and replacing these
movements with dynamic movements and postures
showing the supernatural energy of dance. This was
completed with beautiful ornamentation and
clothing in varied styles showing that the dancers
were beautiful fashionistas!!!

In pic: A dancer sculpture from Pacchala Someswara

temple, Panagal, Nalgonda district, Telangana.

The Writer is an internationally acclaimed Kuchipudi dancer, who has performed at more than 100
dance festivals in and outside India. She has done extensive research in the topic of the dance related
sculptures and the connection between dance and sculptures. She has also done workshops on
various topics of Indian Dance, Art and Culture at multiple universities in USA. Hima is also a
part of admin team of Indian.Temples.

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 9

KURANGANATHAR
TEMPLE,
SRINIVASANALLUR
ETHIRAJAN SRINIVASAN
Srinivasanallur is a small village on
Tiruchirappalli-Namakkal Highway, about 45
kilometres from Tiruchirappalli town, where
there is this magnificent Temple called,
Kuranganathar Temple, which is quiet popular
amongst History and Archaeology enthusiasts.

The village Srinivasanallur, was known as

Mahendramangalam when this part of the
region was under the reign of Pallava King
Mahendravarman, and was a Brahmadeya, a
tax free village granted to Brahmanas! Later,
when it came under Chozha empire, it was
known as “Thirukkurakkuththurai” and
mentioned so in the Temple inscriptions of
Chozhas.

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 10

This Temple was originally erected during the
reign of Mahendravarman in 7th Century CE as
a brick Temple and later converted into a
granite one by Aditya Chozha I, and the
construction was completed by his son
Paranthaka Chozha. Legend has it that Vaali,
the Vanara King of Kishkintha from Ramayana,
an ardent devotee of Bhagwan Shiva
worshipped Shiva in this Temple before his
war with Ravana, the King of Lanka and it is
evident from a unique miniature sculpture on
the right side pilaster of the main entrance
where Vaali is seen playing an
accompaniment instrument to Bhagwan
Shiva’s cosmic dance.
The Temple’s outer-walls have beautifully
sculpted manifestations of Bhagwan Shiva
such as Bikshatana, Dakshinamurthy and
members of the Chozha royal family.
This Temple has a total of 20 inscriptions, of
which, 18 are from Chozhas and the
remaining two are of unknown Kings. Some of
the inscriptions are about land registrations
and grants to this Temple from Kings and
local landlords, apart from these, three of the
inscriptions are of larger interest, from which
we learn,
·The kind of taxations existed during that
time.
· How Brahmana women were empowered
with legal rights to receive Dowry
(Sreedhanam) from their husbands, to take
care of their personal needs.
· Irrigation methods and flourishment of
agriculture.
THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 11
Taxations, there were several taxes like Irai, Echchoru, Vetti, Senneervetti, Vedhinai of which,
Echchoru was a tax to host and feed Govt officials who come to the village for administrative
purposes; Vetti, Senneervetti and Vedhinai were taxes collected to build, renovate and to maintain
the waterbodies in the village.

Another inscription explains, How a Brahmana Woman named Kaalineeli sold her land that she
obtained as Dowry, to make a grant to the Temple to light a perpetual lamp. The information we
learn from the inscription is that the Brahmana women not only received Dowry from their spouses,
also had the rights to sell them off at their will.

This Temple is now a Non-Living Temple and being governed by Archaeological Survey of India.

The Writer is a Natgeo published Temple and Bird photographer

from Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu. He publishes posts about temples
and iconography on Instagram page @sculptographer.

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 12

 HERITAGE CROSSWORD
1

3 4

6 7 8

Across:
2. An dynasty that ruled between 3rd to 9th
century
4. Female form of Ganesha is called as ______
6. This temple is oldest standing stand alone
structure in Maharashtra
9. Chalukya era Shiva temple in Aihole is also
called as _____________ temple
Mail us the answers at
indiantemplelovers@gmail.com . first 5 to send
right answers will be featured in next issue.
Down
1. One classical South Indian painting style
developed in Maratha rule
3. legendary creature from Skanda Purana
and Shiv purana, often used as ornamental
relif in temple art
5. A town in Gujarat where ASI excavations
are in progress
7. Name of Airavata's (Indra's Vahan) mother
8. A Hindu god, associated with the sky,
oceans and water
THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 13
 TESTIMONIALS

PRANJAL WAGH, TREKKER & PHOTOGRAPHER

Indian Temples is one of the best pages on Instagram which focuses on spreading
pure and unadulterated knowledge about our Indian Temples.

I have learnt a lot about our temples and especially their sculptures & dances from
their daily posts. I also like the daily news bytes they publish about temples in
India, it helps me stay updated!

Their monthly magazine “The Heritage Diary” is a must read for every temple
aficionado who wants to learn more!

NIHARICKA SINGH, YOUTUBER AND INFLUENCER (CAPTAIN NICK)

We definitely need more pages like Indian.temples to educate ourselves about our
rich and forgotten culture,architectural history and most importantly our roots.

It’s because of pages like this I ditched the idea of exploring foreign countries first
and stared travelling India to learn about such unbelievable marvels of our mother
land. Jai Hind. Jai Bharat.

STHAVIRA ACHARYA, TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE AND ICONOGRAPHY ENTHUSIAST

As a someone who has a very keen interest on Temple architecture and Indian
iconography, I feel very lucky to stumble upon this Instagram page. In the era of
wrong interpretation and propaganda, Dinesh Sir of @indian.temples ensures that
only authentic & quality information is shared. Icing on the cake is their monthly
magazine " The Heritage Diary"

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 14

 TESTIMONIALS

REWA RAWAT, WRITER AND FILM DIRECTOR

When we contacted Indian Temples for a screening collaboration of our
documentary, they were more than enthusiastic about screening the film. They
went above and beyond our expectations to help us. This enthusiasm is reflected
in every work they do in preserving the heritage of India and disseminating
authentic, well-researched studies of our temples. This initiative started by Indian
Temples is a wonderful way for Indians to reconnect with our heritage and
understand the meaning behind the beautiful sculptures. The team is a delight to
work with and their passion is contagious. I had a great time working with them
and hope for future such collaborations. Thank you

DHAVAL CHANDE, ENGINEERING STUDENT

Indian Temple Instagram page is an incredible resource for all temple enthusiasts
and sculpture lovers. . It offers a wide range of details about temples and
sculptures, making it an invaluable resource. The curated content is highly
informative, allowing us to delve into the fascinating world of temple architecture
and artistic craftsmanship. Exploring the page has become a captivating
experience, providing us with a deeper understanding of the rich cultural heritage
of India. It serves as an excellent platform to learn and explore the intricate beauty
of temples and sculptures.

PARNAVI BANGAR, ARCHITECT AND FOUNDER OF REMINISCING HISTORY

Indian Temples is a perfect example of how research can be presented in an
interesting manner. I think it's a rare find in this fast growing world of AI to have a
page for culture with actual authentic information. Happy to have contributed and
wish you the best!

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 15

FESTIVALS : SEPTEMBER 2023

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 16

 PHOTO FEATURE
Undavalli Caves, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
Clicked by Dasi Yoga Rakshitha

THE HERITAGE DIARY/ SEP 2023 17