“A Story That Stayed With Me”
Over the years, while travelling across India and visiting historical sites, I was often deeply moved by what I saw — but also pained by the condition of many of them.
Across the centuries, thousands of historical sites and structures have been lost, damaged or forgotten because of war, neglect, changing landscapes, natural forces and human activity. And once a site disappears, we often lose much more than stone — we lose a part of the memory attached to it.
At Srirangam, one story brought this home to me very strongly.
During the multitudes of conflicts of the 14th century, the processional deity Namperumal was taken away from the temple for safety and remained displaced for decades before being brought back and reconsecrated in 1371–72 CE.
What stayed with me was not only the event, but the people behind it.
Someone had to protect the deity. Someone had to preserve the memory. Someone had to believe that one day it would return.
They were preserving more than a temple.
They were preserving continuity.
That thought stayed with me and gradually became part of my own mission.
We may not have to carry temples on our shoulders today. However, we do have a responsibility to understand, preserve and carry their stories forward.
For me, that mission began with the tangible heritage of this ancient land of Bharata — identifying, documenting and mapping historical and archaeological sites before more of them are lost to time, neglect or development.
