Today is Jayanti of Havaldar Abdul Hamid who won the Param Vir Chakra, for his heroics in Battle of Asal Uttar, born on this date in 1933, at Dhamupur in Ghazipur dt of UP.

He joined the Indian Army in December 1954 and was posted to the 4th Battalion of the Grenadiers Regiment. During the 1962 Sino-Indian War, his battalion was part of the 7th Infantry Brigade under Brigadier John Dalvi. At Namka Chu, surrounded and cut off by Chinese forces, the battalion made a daring breakout into Bhutan on foot—a retreat that became a symbol of grit under impossible odds.

Bonalu begins today, a celebration of Shakti in different forms of Grama Devatas. Though celebrated all over the state, it is the celebrations in Hyderabad that are quite famous.

It is a corruption of the word Bhojanalu (meals or a feast) where women devotees prepare rice cooked with milk and jaggery in a brass or earthern pot, adorned with neem leaves, haldi, kumkum, and a lamp on the pot. They carry the pot on their heads to make the offering to Ammavaru, along with Kumkum, saree and bangles too.
#Bonalu Grama Devata Jatras are vibrant, deeply rooted village festivals across the South, dedicated to local guardian deities—often fierce forms of Shakti like Maisamma, Pochamma, Yellamma, Gangamma, and Poleramma.

These deities are believed to protect the village from disease, drought, and misfortune, and their Jatras (annual fairs or processions) are a way for the community to honor that protection.

Today is Jayanti of Hiriye Kempe Gowda the founder of Bengaluru, born at Yelahanka in 1510, belonging to the Morasu Gowda clan, also called as the Yelahanka Prabhus.

He was the fourth in succession after the dynasty’s founder Rana Bhairave Gowda, and son of Kempananje Gowda. His ancestors belonged to Kanchi and had moved to Karnataka in early 15th century to serve under the Vijayanagara Empire then.

Though predominantly Kannada speaking, they knew Telugu also. He got his education in a Gurukula at Aigondapura near Hessaraghata, and soon took over as chieftain in 1531.

In my series on Andhra Pradesh, today taking a look at Srimukhalingam, in Srikakulam dt, one of the famous Shaiva Kshetras.

Located in the Jalumuru mandal of Srikakulam district, was the erstwhile capital of the Eastern Ganga dynasty for close to 6 centuries. However with Anantavarma Chodaganga Deva shifting the capital to Cuttack in 1135, the place lost it's prominence. It was one of the main centers of Shaivism, more specifically of the Pasupati Shaiva sect. You can find the icon of Lakulisa, the founder of the sect, who is also believed to be one of Shiva's avatars too.

The sect was widespread in Gujarat, Rajasthan, from where it spread to Bengal, Odisha, and it's believed to have come to Mukhalingam around the 8th century. The Shaiva temples here date between 9th-11th centuries.

What's in a name?
Quite a lot actually, the name of any city or town, gives a lot on it's background, history.
This thread is on the names of some well known cities in Andhra/Telangana, and the backdrop.

Vishakapatnam- Believed to be named after a temple dedicated to Vaishakha here, that has been washed away. Was also called Kulotungacholapatnam in ancient times. Vizagapatam/Waltair were the British names. Bobilli- Famous for the battle here, the place gets it's name from Bebulli meaning Tiger, the town was founded by Pedda Rayudu, the 15th descendant of the Raja of Venkatagiri, who got this land as a grant from the Nawab of Chicacole.

June 22, 1897

The Chapekar brothers assasination of W.C.Rand in Pune, proves to be a turning point in the history of Indian freedom struggle, as it sparked off the flames of revolution in Maharashtra and beyond. The Chapekar brothers hailed from Chapa, one of the small hamlets adjoining to Chinchwad, which in a way explains their surname too.

The eldest Damodar, was born in 1868, to Dwarka and Hari in a large joint family of twenty that included his parents, aunts, uncles and above all his grandfather, Vinayak, the patriarch. The other two brothers were Balakrishna and Vasudeo.

The Ashadi Wari or the Pandharpur Wari is currently underway in Maharashtra, where the Warkaris, devotees of Vithoba, undertake the journey to Pandharpur, the abode of Vithoba, an avatara of Vishnu, by foot. A joyous celebration where Hindus join together cutting across all castes, walking by foot, singing kirtanas.

This post takes a look at the Warkaris, and the significance of the Wari.


The Ashadi Wari is the Yatra, that is held during the month of Ashada that culminates on Shayan Ekadashi, considered one of the holiest days for Vaishnavas.

It’s believed Vishnu goes to sleep on Adisesha, in the Ksheera Sagara for a period of four months, called the Chaturmasa, and he wakes up again in Karthika, on Prabhodhini Ekadashi. The Warkaris carry the Padukas of the Bhakti era saints Tukaram, Eknath and Jnaneswar from Dehu,Paithan and Alandi respectively.

Today is Jayanti of Lakshman Rao Kirloskar, the founder of the iconic industrial group named after him, one of the great industrialists, who started his career as a teacher, drawing 45 Rs per month, and would go onto found a 10,000 cr conglomerate, and also set up an entire township, in Sangli district. Lakshman Rao Kashinath Kirloskar was born on June 20, 1869 in Gurlahosur, a small village in Belgaum district, to Kashinath, a Ved Pandit. However he was least interested in learning the scriptures, and his passion was mainly drawing, and mechanical engineering.

Breaking away from the family tradition, he enrolled at Mumbai’s JJ School of Art in 1885, much against his father’s wishes, but was supported by his brother Ramuanna.

June 18, 1576, Haldighati

A narrow mountain pass in the Arravallis located around 40 Km from Udaipur, connecting the districts of Rajsamand and Pali, it is believed to have got it’s name from the turmeric colored soil here.

It would be witness to one of the most epic battle ever in Indian history on this date.


Akbar had captured Chittorgarh in 1568 after a long siege, that saw the massacre of it’s inhabitants, as well as the heroism of Jaimal and Patta who resisted till the end. . It’s ruler Udai Singh had fled from the fort, and founded a new capital at Udaipur.

However while the fertile eastern plains of Mewar were under Mughal control, the more wooded, hilly regions were still out of bounds, which he needed to get a secure, stable route to Gujarat via Mewar.

The War of the Patents- Robert Noyce vs Jack Kilby.

Two legends of the Tech field, one the founder of Intel, another a Nobel Prize winner, who had realized the first IC.

This Noyce vs Kilby rivalry in Integrated Circuits, is on par with other legendary rivalries like Gates vs Ellison, Edison vs Tesla in the science and tech world.
Robert Noyce’s invention of the monolithic IC, was enough to put him in the Computing Hall of Fame. This in turn, fuelled the PC revolution, and also gave Silicon Valley it’s more famous moniker, not to mention a certain Intel.

He was one of the Traitorous 8, or the Fairchild 8, the men who left Shockley Semiconductor Labs in 1957, fed up with the Nobel Prize winner’s rather whimsical style of working and founded Fairchild Semiconductors.

What's in a name?

This post takes a look at the etymology of some places in Karnataka.

Bengaluru is believed to have got it's name from Bendakaluru, village of boiled beans, after an old woman offered Veera Ballala some boiled beans.

However many historians have disputed this as a folk tale, as per Suryakanth Kamath it is believed to have got it's name from the Benga trees here.

Mysore is dervied from Mahisuru, abode of Mahisha, a reference to Mahishasura who is believed to have ruled from here.
Bagalkot’s older name was Bagadige as per inscriptions, it’s believed the area was given by Ravan to his court musicians as a grant.

As per historical records, the town was given by Bijapur ruler Ibrahim Adil Shah II, as bangle money to his daughter, a tradition by which girls are given money by parents to buy bangles, gold, ornaments.

Prafulla Chandra Ray, aka P.C.Ray. The father of modern Indian Chemistry, the first Indian to set up a pharma company, and a pioneer of modern chemical industries in India.

Thread on his death anniversary today. But Ray was more than just a mere chemist, he worked actively in the fields of education reforms, employment generation, political advancement too. He was a social reformer, fought against casteism, advocated the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction.

He was elected as President of the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, for his contribution to Bengali language. A man of simplicity who had no worldly possesions, lived in a single room all his life at the University College of Science in Kolkata.

Sri Kalahasti is one of the Panchabhuta Kshetras where Shiva is worshipped as Vayu Lingeswara, the others being Tiruvannamalai(Fire), Chidambaram(Space), Kanchi(Earth) and Jambukeswara(Water).

This post is about the story of Sri Kalahasti and Kannappa Nayanar who was associated with the place.

It gets it's name from the story that Shiva was worshipped here by a spider(Sri), snake(Kala) and elephant(Hasti). The spider used to weave webs around the Shiva Linga here. While the snake used to fetch precious stones and place it on the Shiva linga, the elephant used to worship it with water and flowers.

One day the snake seeing the elephant remove the stones it placed, bit the elephant. As the elephant rolled over in agony, it crushed the snake under it, as both died. The spider too passed away, and Shiva pleased with their devotion, blessed the three, leading to name of Sri Kalahasti.

Today is Jayanti of Ganesh Savarkar, affectionately known as Babarao, elder brother of Veer Savarkar.

While we are familiar with the life and times of Veer Savarkar, not much is known about as Babarao, a true nationalist, who suffered and sacrificed as much, in fact more.
Babarao was born on June 13, 1879 in Bhagur near to Nashik, the eldest of the 3 brothers, followed by Vinayak Savarkar and Narayan Savarkar.

It was a hard life for him from beginning, with mother Radhabai passing away when he was just 13, and their father Damodar Pant, passing away in a plague epidemic couple of years later.

Tirupathi my birth place, though I grew up in Vizag for most of my life, always had this bond with Tirupathi. Whenever I go there, it's like coming home for me. While most of us know about Tirumala Balaji temple, there are many other facts that are not so well known.

Tirumala is one of the 108 Divya Desams, and one of the 8 temples where Vishnu manifested himself in Swayambhu form.
Tirumala is located on the Seshachalam hill range, the 7 hills are believed to be the 7 heads of Adisesha. The 7 Hills are Seshadri, Garudadri, Vrishabhadri, Neeladri, Anjanadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri.

Vrishabadri is named after an Asura Vrushaba killed by Srinivasa.
Anjanadri after Hanuman.
Neela after Neela Devi, a devotee of Shri Venkateswara.
Garuda after Garuda, Shesha after Adi Shesha.
Narayanadri is where the Srivari Padalu are believed to be located.

“Sarfarosh ki Tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai, dekhna ki zor kitna baazu-e-qatil mein hai”

Jayanti of Ram Prasad Bismil , one of the great revolutionaries in the Indian freedom struggle, the mastermind behind Kakori.

Though Sarfarosh ki Tamanna was written by Bismil Azimbadi , it was he who made that popular, and it became a rallying cry for the revolutionaries. Ram Prasad Bismil was born in Shajahanpur on June 11, 1887, his ancestors hailed from Gwalior, and his native village was close to the Chambal valley. His father was a clerk in the Municipality, and later started a small business lending out money on interest.

One of my favorite novelists, Frederick Forsyth is no more, his stories with political backdrop, were one of the reasons for me to get interested in geo politics. A brilliant storyteller, whose novels are backed up with solid research.

He started his career as a journo with Reuters in 1961, later with BBC in 1965. His first assignment was covering an attempted assasination of Charles De Gaulle, which would form the background of his first and best novel to date. He would however gain fame for his reporting of the Biafra Civil War in Nigeria( 1967). When he was asked to come back after 6 months into the war, Forsyth quit BBC, covered the conflict as a freelance reporter, which also resulted in his first book The Biafra Story.

In a way his coverage of the Biafran Conflict, would define Forsyth's style of writing, attention to detail, well researched, a fast paced narrative without any distractions, sticking straight to the plot, that made him one of the top writers.

Banda Singh Bahadur is brutally tortured and executed on this date in 1716 by the Mughals for his revolt and refusal to convert to Islam. A true warrior who was a terror to the Mughals.

The great warrior was born as Lachmann Dev on October 1670 in Jammu’s Rajouri region to a Rajput family. It is believed he took to Sanyas, after seeing a pregant doe, he shot, writhing in pain and dying. He met a Sadhu named Janaki Das and became his disciple, adopting the name of Madho Das. After travelling all over the North, he finally settled on the banks of the Godavari near Nanded.

Guru Gobind Singh was dissatisfied with the Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah for not punishing the Governor of Sirhind, Nawab Wazir Khan for the murder of his two sons Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh.

Have you heard of a temple with no doors? And which is visited by ISRO Scientists before every launch to seek the blessings of the deity.

Welcome to Chengalamma Parameswari Temple at Sullurpeta, Andhra Pradesh, the Ammavaru here is the Grama Devata of Sriharikota which lies close, as well as the Pulicat Lake nearby.

Sullurpeta located close to the Andhra-Tamil Nadu border, was originally called Subagiri, a small village populated by cowherds. One day when they had taken the cattle to graze, some of them who took a dip in the Kalangi river nearby, found themselves being swept away by the current. They caught hold of an old statue, and managed to come safely ashore.

Around 400 Indian immigrants arrive in Surinam on this date in 1873, on the Lalla Rookh, which had started from Kolkata. This date is marked as Indian Arrival Day in Suriname.

Much like Fiji, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, another country with a significant Indian diaspora, though many are now settled in Netherlands.


Suriname the smallest country in South America, is located just north of the Equator, and half of it’s territory is covered by thick rain forests. It’s capital city, is Paramaribo, and the country was inhabited by indigenous natives, which included the Arawaks, Caribs and Wayana.

A Catholic from Mangalore, who represented Muzaffarpur in Bihar 4 times, an anti nuke activist who presided over Pokhran 2, a pacifist who went on to become one of the best Defense Ministers ever.

Jayanti of George Fernandes, one of my favorite political leaders, true maverick, rebel, who had a remarkable life, and spent his last years in isolation, cut off from the world. I was disillusioned, because there was a lot of difference between precept and practice where the Church was concerned.

He was born in Mangalore, to an insurance executive, and sent for training as a Roman Catholic priest when he was just 16. Frustrated with what he saw as double standards and hypocrisy in the Church, he left the seminary.