Landmarks of Faith

Holy sites in India are laden with lores from the past — some from the Puranas and shastras,while others as reminders of religio-spiritual projects patronised by kings and emperors. The existence of some others goes back to the still-debated mentions in ancient scripts such as the Rig Veda,while some are as recent as Delhi’s Akshardham temple. Architecturally imposing churches and temple carvings,gurudwaras and pilgrimage points carved out of single idols dot India. As someone rightly said,you meet a god at every 100 metres in India. For Mumbai-based author Dharmendra Bhandari,a delicate childhood memory of relishing prasadam at Tirumala’s Sri Venkateswara Temple became the reason to come out with his new self-published coffee-table book. Mosaic of Faith,Places of Worship in India (Rs 3,000) documents 63 “important” places of worship in India.

Launched by Indian Council for Cultural Relations chairman,Dr Karan Singh,and judge at International Court of Justice,Justice Dalveer Bhandari,at the Capital’s Taj Mahal Hotel on Saturday evening,the 212-page book is an engrossing documentation of holy places “of all the faiths in India,” assures Bhandari,who formerly taught at the University of Rajasthan. He adds that he is not a spiritualist but simply saw a dearth of books that serve as informative guides covering all religious places in one.

From Arunachal Pradesh’s 400-year-old Tawang monastery,which is situated at 3,000 metres above sea level and is replete with “rare Buddhist sculptures and art”,to Paradesi Synagogue in Mattancherry,Kerala,which was built in 1568 by Malabar Yehudan (Cochin Jewish community),“the oldest you can find in any of the Commonwealth nations”— the description of all sites include their respective histories,architectural anatomy,significance,USP and a ‘Getting There’ guide. Aptly concluding the book are eight one-line verses from the texts of the Bhagavada Gita,Quran,The Bible,Guru Granth Sahib,Torah,Zend Avesta,Bhagwan Mahavira and Gautama Buddha.