In the summer of 2019, I was invited to share something about my connection to India and Indian culture for the Deepavali edition of the renowned Marathi publication Prasad Prakasan. The invitation came from Smt. Uma Joshi-Bodas, editor, through the … Continued
In the summer of 2019, I was invited to share something about my connection to India and Indian culture for the Deepavali edition of the renowned Marathi publication Prasad Prakasan. The invitation came from Smt.Uma Joshi-Bodas, editor, through the researcher … Continued
BOOK LAUNCH! Today 27th October 2020 the biography of the 18th-century traveler in India Jacob Haafner has been launched by NUS Press of Singapore University. Originally researched and written in Dutch by Dr.Paul van der Velde and translated into English … Continued
Ujjain is literally the crossroad of Space and Time in India. This renowned and ancient city is famous for spiritual as well as scientific reasons. It has stood, quite literally, at the very centre of the development of astronomy as … Continued
The Orion Constellation is one of the most recognizable star patterns in the night sky. For the ancient Egyptians it was Osiris, Lord of Resurrection and regeneration. For the people of India today he is the Nataraja, the Dancing Shiva, … Continued
Do you know how it feels to hold a real treasure map in your hands? I do! …and it is one of the most exciting things that ever happened to me. Classical treasure maps were sometimes torn into two or … Continued
Once upon a time a young Deekshithar boy in India looked deep and dreamed far, endowed with a need to know why and to understand the nature of the world around him. His life became a QUEST. Being born into … Continued
Jacob Haafner’s deep interest and love for the Indian civilisation is expressed through his travelogues. Especially by his description of the ruins of Mahabalipuram, or Mavelievarom, as he called it in his day. Here he muses about the fate of … Continued
Now Mahabalipuram is a famous Unesco Heritage site and tourist destination. The first traveller to write about is extensively was Jacob Haafner, a scribe with the VOC living at Sadras. Herein this blog his description is translated into English for … Continued
This is an excerpt of what is possibly the first ever Western witness about the cave temples at Ellora. This letter dated 1794 from one C.W. Malet to Sir John Shore, President of the Asiatic Society, was published in the … Continued