States
Kerala is rained on twice a year and only the first monsoon is famous
The southwest monsoon arrives from the sea in June and the retreating monsoon comes back over land in…
· 4 min read
Pranav Kulkarni
Editor, Traveology
Pranav writes the explanatory pieces on states, hills, coast & islands and reads the small print so you do not have to.
14 articles
Coast & Islands
Reaching an Indian island is a capacity problem before it is a permit problem
The Andamans and Lakshadweep are governed differently, sit in different seas and share one constraint…
· 4 min read
Festivals
A state-organised festival is a different product from a living one
Curated events with fixed dates and ticketed access make a region legible to visitors, and what they gain…
· 4 min read
Coast & Islands
In the mangrove delta the tide is the timetable and nothing else is
Boat travel through the Sundarbans and similar tidal forests is governed by water depth in the creeks…
· 3 min read
Trains & Permits
An Indian address is a set of directions rather than a coordinate
Landmarks, sector numbers, phase names and locally known building names carry more weight than street…
· 3 min read
Festivals
The harvest festivals barely move because they follow the sun, not the moon
Mid-January celebrations across several states are tied to the sun’s passage rather than to a lunar month…
· 3 min read
Hills
A homestay is a licensed category in most hill states, not just a spare room
State governments created registration schemes to turn village households into legal accommodation, and the…
· 4 min read
Coast & Islands
India’s ancient ports moved because rivers silt up and coastlines shift
The great trading harbours of the past sat on river mouths, and the same sediment that made those mouths…
· 3 min read
Trains & Permits
Flying within India is easy at the big airports and a different exercise at the small ones
The metro terminals run like any modern airport, while a single-runway regional field with one departure a…
· 3 min read
Festivals
A chariot festival is the one week the deity leaves the building
Temple car processions invert the usual arrangement by bringing the image out into the street, which is why…
· 4 min read
States
A rock-cut temple was carved downwards and has no joints anywhere in it
Excavated architecture is subtraction rather than assembly, which decides how it was built, why nothing in…
· 4 min read
Hills
A hill terrace tells you where the water is and what month it is
Flat ground on a mountain is manufactured, and the way a terrace is cut, watered and planted says more…
· 3 min read
Coast & Islands
A salt coast is a landscape made by evaporation
India produces most of its salt by letting the sun take the water out of seawater in shallow ponds, and the…
· 3 min read
Coast & Islands
Sea air is slowly taking apart India’s shore monuments
Salt spray, wind-driven sand and a permanently damp atmosphere attack coastal stone in ways that inland…
· 3 min read