Before a prayer is spoken, before a hymn is sung, and before a deity is adorned, faith is often worn. What if the first fashion designers of India were not royal courts, luxury maisons, or celebrity couturiers, but temples, saints, artisans, and age-old rituals? It is a question that challenges the way we think about fashion. Today we think of clothing as an expression of personal style or seasonal trends. But fashion in India has never been all about looks. It has been a lan

Faith, an individual’s glimmer of hope in trying times, the solace one seeks, takes an ugly turn when the state takes charge. The state, in the name of religion, begins to play god, the moral compass shifts and the dual-edged sword of balancing faith and individual liberty takes the limelight. Illustration by The Geostrata Theocratic states have consistently been ranked amongst the least free countries, receiving the lowest scores on civil liberties and political rights. His

Varanasi is a city influenced by faith, but at the same time has a varied identity with multiple traditions thriving and flowing over the...