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(The Royal Swan of Lumbini)
Author : K. P. Ramesh
Language : Malayalam
Publisher : DC Books
Price : Rs. 75
THIS COLLECTION of travel articles, presented in three parts, gives
an overview of some interesting elements of India's cultural and
religious ethos, apart from giving a glimpse of the historical evolution
of certain places held high in public esteem for their spiritual
significance.
The first part covers visits to places linked to Gautama Buddha,
including Kushi Nagar that houses a museum. The essays provide a fairly
good description in a lucid language, although one finds clichéd
expressions — for instance, “travelling in the chariot of time” and “the
feeling of awakening from the night of one country to the morning of
another country” — occurring rather frequently.
Places of historical and religious importance such as Rishikesh,
Badrinath, and Delhi figure in the second part. An interaction with a
group of Sikhs takes the author's memory to the assassination of Indira
Gandhi (1984) and the dreadful anti-Sikh riots that followed it. Sadly,
the time at which this interface happened is not mentioned. .
The third part features, among others, Puducherry and the Silent
Valley in Kerala. There seems to be a lack of continuity in the
arrangement of articles. Also, his reflections while on a visit to
Puducherry do not offer anything new for the reader to cherish. Again,
the issues he has highlighted while speaking about his visit to the
Silent Valley have been the subject of passionate debates in public
forums across the country and fierce agitations over the years.
Review by K.K. Gopalakrishnan
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