HT Picks; New Reads

This week’s pick of interesting reads includes a book that explores seven ancient temples across India and Cambodia, an iconic American author’s meticulously recorded conversations with her psychiatrist, and a collection of Malayalam short fiction from the late nineteenth to the mid twentieth century

An ode to India’s temple culture

On the reading list this week is an exploration of seven ancient temples across India and Cambodia, Joan Didion’s record of her conversations with her psychiatrist, and a collection of short fiction written in Malayalam from the late nineteenth to the mid twentieth century. (Akash Shrivastav)

232pp, ₹399; HarperCollins (Exploring seven ancient temples across India and Cambodia)

For centuries, temples have functioned not just as places of worship but also social and cultural centres, offering both a connection to the divine and entertainment in the form of music and dance as respite from everyday life. In Dynasties of Devotion, Deepa Mandlik explores seven ancient temples across India and Cambodia, and meticulously examines historical contexts and mythological stories associated with each temple.

At the Kailasa Temple in Ellora, Maharashtra, she is struck by the visual representation of fertility and abundance – Goddess Lakshmi, elegantly sitting on a lotus, surrounded by four elephants showering her with rain. Through the dancing sculptures of Shiva and Parvati at the magnificent Brihadeeswara Temple in Tamil Nadu, Deepa reveals that this Chola dynasty temple was once a prestigious platform for Bharatanatyam with nearly 400 dancers and 250 musicians in residence. At the Airavatesvara Temple, in Tamil Nadu, she experiences the wonder of the saptaswara (seven-note) steps which, when struck lightly, produce the sound of the seven musical notes.

From these to the other similarly named Brihdeshwara Temple in Tamil Nadu to the Chainnakeshva Temple in Karnataka and the Padmanabh Swami Temple in Kerala to Angkor Wat and Bayon in Cambodia, Mandlik brings to life the rich tapestry of history, art and spirituality that is woven through them. Marked by vivid storytelling, Dynasties of Devotion is an ode to the enduring legacy of India’s temple culture; it is at once an intimate glimpse into these spaces for the curious reader and scholar and a handy walking guide for the spellbound tourist.*

A journal kept by one of America’s most iconic writers

208pp, ₹499; HarperCollins (Didion’s meticulously recorded conversations with her psychiatrist)

In November 1999, Joan Didion began seeing a psychiatrist because, as she wrote to a friend, her family had had ‘’a rough few years’’. She described the sessions in a journal she created for her husband, John Gregory Dunne.For several months, Didion recorded conversations with the psychiatrist in meticulous detail. The initial sessions focused on alcoholism, adoption, depression, anxiety, guilt, and the heartbreaking complexities of her relationship with her daughter, Quintana. The subjects evolved to include her work, which she was finding difficult to maintain for sustained periods. There were discussions about her own childhood – misunderstandings and lack of communication with her mother and father, her early tendency to anticipate catastrophe – and the question of legacy, or, as she put it, ‘’what it’s been worth’’. The analysis would continue for more than a decade. A previously unpublished work from one of America’s most iconic writers, Notes to John is that journal. Crafted with the singular intelligence, precision, and elegance that characterize all of Didion’s writing, it is an intimate account that reveals sides of her that were unknown.*

Stories as windows into the past

272pp, ₹399; HarperCollins (Malayalam short fiction from the late nineteenth to the mid twentieth century)

Kunju Namboodiri wishes to marry a second time, but fate has other plans. A man visits the mythical city of Dwaraka in the first Malayalam fantasy tale. An abandoned infant is raised as a Muslim till her royal identity is discovered.

An India almost unknown to us floods the pages of this significant series of short stories sourced from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. Ringing with the music of the language and peppered with wit and social commentary, these stories are windows to the past and its people – the everyday struggles and joys; the ties of friendship and faith; the politics of love and rejection; the intricacies of betrayal and envy; and the conflicts of class and caste –-while continuing to be relevant to our present, puncturing the boundaries of time and space.

At the end, the reader wonders how much Indian society has changed, or if it has changed at all.

*All stories from book flap.