Inherited Edition 03

🎉 Congratulations to cricketer Ashish Nehra on becoming UK's new prime minister.

#doppelganger

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In today's edition:

🔅 Gomantak: Goa beyond hippies, beaches and churches.
🗺 Sh*tshow Shantaram: Must we endure another Slumdog Millionaire?
🫶 Ati Sundar! Inherited's lifestyle pick of the week.
🥒 Mellow bites: A glimpse into lesser known Goan veg cuisine
❤A roundup of cultural tidbits and a whole lot more.

THE BIG FEATURE

And you thought Goa was just beaches and churches

Goa is usually associated with magnificent beach holidays or trance parties - an image popularised by American/European hippies who drove in flocks to India during the 1960s.

And, thanks to Bollywood, Goa also conjures images of churches and wine guzzling, guitar-strumming anglophiles making merry.

But what most people don’t know is that Goa is dotted with magnificent Hindu temples, some very ancient, with intricate sculptures and carvings dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries.

In fact, Goa’s original name was the Sanskrit Gomantak, or “Land of the gods”.

For local devotees, these temples also tell the traumatic tales of the persecution that their ancestors faced from Portuguese inquisitions.

📘

Read Goa Inquisition - The Terrible Tribunal For The East by author Anant Kakba Priolkar.

Notwithstanding a violent past, today the temples of Goa are magnificent structures showcasing an amalgam of Indian temple, Mughal and Portuguese architectural styles and are a must-visit.

🏟Here’s a whistle stop tour of the most famous temples:

Tambdi Surla Temple

Tambdi Surla Temple

Goa’s oldest, and the most striking, temple is the 13th century Tambdi Surla temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Located deep inside the Goan jungle, the backdrop is nothing short of spectacular...

Shanta Durga Temple

Shanta Durga Temple

This temple has an impressive idol of Goddess Shree Durga who mediated between Shree Vishnu and Shree Shiva and stopped the fearful war going on between the two deities - hence, the name 'Shanta' (~ peace) for an otherwise fierce Goddess Durga. She is flanked by Vishnu and Shiva on both the sides...

More amazing temples this way 🏹

🙏 सुप्रभात Sorted

Roundup of the remarkable.

💍 Madras meets Varanasi: The Kashi Tamil Sangaman programme starts on Nov 17, and will take people from Tamil Nadu on a month-long educational tour up-north to Kashi. Aim is to highlight deep-rooted cultural links between the two great manifestations of Indian culture. Keen to go? Applications closed Nov 7, but keep an eye out for it next year!

🦯 Granted Braille! 46 Tamil epics, including Sillapatiakaram, Tolkappiyam, and Manimekalai will soon be published in Braille language for the benefit of visually challenged literature students.

🧐 HOLD MY CHAI

A re-take on cultural narratives

Shantaram on Apple TV+

Apple TV just released a TV series adaptation of Shantaram, that best-selling novel set in 1980s Bombay, written by OG slumdog turned author Gregory David Roberts.

The trailer reveals yet another white protagonist enjoying moody close ups as faceless Indians swarm in the slummy background.

😤Several critics have argued that Shantaram perpetuates the Orientalist fantasies that much of Western art does when depicting India and Indians. A la Slumdog Millionaire.

The important question: Is a story set in the squalid conditions of 1980s really acceptable as a contemporary watch in 2022?

Worldwide internet audiences today are enjoying authentic and rooted Indian films like RRR and Kantara. They have a 360 view of India at their literal fingertips.

So why is Apple TV being a sore thumb?

🙇 Let us know what you thought about Shantaram.

👌 ATI SUNDAR !

That which caught the eye.

Drdha Vrata Gorrick, Artist

Our pick of the week is the phenomenal artist Drdha Vrata Gorrick, born and raised in the US and trained in the traditional arts in South India, bringing the best of both worlds to his creative practice.

His work infuses new life into devotional art by combining religious styles from different parts of India while staying within a Vedic tradition.

👨‍🎨

Drdha's blessed works were recently inaugurated in an exhibition named 'Divyakala' by Aditi Gallery, Udupi. Not to be missed if you're around!

|| द्वितीय अध्याय ||

7 iconic dishes: Goa's vegetarian food heaven

Just like its tourism sites, Goan food has its mellower side too.

Not far away from the bustling beach shacks serving meaty vindaloo curries, there is a charming world of vegetarian, at-home cuisine that involves the passionate use of local and seasonal ingredients. Goan slow food, if you will.

A typical Goan vegetable market, source: Lokaso

Our resident Goan food expert has picked these seven vegetarian classics that are lesser known to the outside world.

Khatkhate: A celebratory stew of seasonal vegetables

Khatkhate is a coming together of a number of seasonal and local vegetables.

It is a dish that is predominantly cooked on special occasions like Ganesh Chaturthi festivities, or socio-religious ceremonies held at home.

Oil and onions are absent in the preparation of khatkate. Instead, the vegetables are boiled, and cooked in their juices with coconut, lentils, and spices.

Patholi: Steamed rice pockets with a sweet filling

Patholi are jaggery-coconut stuffed rice rolls that are steamed in fresh turmeric leaves, a method which gives the dish its unique aroma.

For a precious few weeks between mid-June to September, fresh turmeric leaves are abundant in Goa.

You start by smearing fresh turmeric leaves with a thick rice paste. Place a mixture of grated coconut and jaggery on top and fold the leaf over. Then, steam the 'dumpling'. Gently peel off the leaf, drizzle some ghee and bite!

All 7 iconic dishes this way—>

DOWN MEMORY LANE 🙃

Because everyone needs nostalgia

Look down, hold your breath, jump.. and Splash!💦

How many of you learnt to swim in the well? Using ropes, empty cans and dried bottle gourds for safety?This is how kids in Indian villages have been learning to swim safely for generations! IYKYK.

🧘‍♂️THE MENTAL WORKOUT

Take a deep breath and reflect upon the greatness of our rishis.

This week's shloka:

Found in the Rig Veda Samhita, the 89th suktam is one of the most powerful mantras in the Vedas and it contains ten verses. The first verse:

आ नो॑ भ॒द्राः क्रत॑वो यंतु वि॒श्वतोऽद॑ब्धासो॒ अप॑रीतास उ॒द्भिदः॑ ।
दे॒वा नो॒ यथा॒ सद॒मिद्वृ॒धे अस॒न्नप्रा॑युवो रक्षि॒तारो॑ दि॒वेदि॑वे ॥

Mandala 1, Suktam 89, Verse 1

Transliteration:

ā ǀ naḥ ǀ bhadrāḥ ǀ kratavaḥ ǀ yantu ǀ viśvataḥ ǀ adabdhāsaḥ ǀ apari-itāsaḥ ǀ ut-bhidaḥ ǀ devāḥ ǀ naḥ ǀ yathā ǀ sadam ǀ it ǀ vṛdhe ǀ asan ǀ apra-āyuvaḥ ǀ rakṣitāraḥ ǀ dive-dive ǁ

Meaning:

Let auspicious thoughts and wills come to us from all sides, invincible, not deviating, breaking through. Verily, let gods, be always not careless protectors for us that {we can} grow day by day.