British whispers in Chunar

Part 3: British Chunar The most interesting building we saw in the Chunar fort campus was the house of Warren Hastings, the 1st British Governor General of Bengal. He was in India just after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, when the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud Daulah had to give away all his powers to... Continue Reading →

The ascent to Chunar Fort

Part 2: Medieval Chunar Chunar fort is built on a promontory on the eastern bank of the river Ganga but is so strategically placed across it that the mighty river actually strikes against the fort and turns back towards north. This gives the name to Ganga as Uttarvahini - meaning turning around! This fort has... Continue Reading →

Chunar: discovering the home of the famous sandstone

One cool November morning we decided to visit Chunar. Our driver Mishraji, took us on my parent’s second and my maiden visit to Chunar. Any Indian history, art, design, architecture and archaeology student or enthusiast would have heard of Chunar – the birthplace of sandstone that made the buff coloured majestic Asokan pillars with his... Continue Reading →

A Maharaja’s vision, and the romance continues…

In the last blog, we had started on the journey of the discovery of the creations of the illustrious ruler Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. We saw him turn into a full fledged king, soon he will prove he is a ruler above excellence, a beloved of his citizens whom he never considered his subjects. Sayajirao was... Continue Reading →

‘Varnika’ explained

Many friends have asked about the name of my blog and tiny firm 'VarnikaDesigns'. The name is borrowed from 'Varnikabhangam' from the Six Limbs of Indian Painting. The Six Limbs of Indian Painting is a set of cannons and guidelines that were assembled around the 6th century to guide artists for creating paintings. If you... Continue Reading →

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