Shree Bhoga Nandishwara Temple, Nandi village

We spent our Sunday as a family in the hands of Aliyeh Rizvi, who is one of the foremost chroniclers of Bangalore and its history, both ancient and contemporary. 

She took us to Shree Bhoga Nandishwara Temple located just below Nandi Hill, an ancient temple that I had stumbled across on a drive to see some land. I had no clue what it was and that it even existed but I thought it was stunning so I messaged Aliyeh asking her about it. Not only did she know about it, it turned out she’s spent the last few years researching the Nandi valley, it’s history, ecology, community and more! She offered to take us to the temple and see it through her eyes and we jumped at the opportunity.

Built between 8th and 15th centuries, it is a stunning monument. The different kings and dynasties all left an imprint without destroying the architectural integrity of the temple. As a result, a history writer like Aliyeh was able to show us the temple almost as a physical chronicle of history, where the shape of the pillars, the carvings on granite, the use of soapstone, pre-Vedic motifs all came together to tell the story of the Nandi valley, its people and its rulers over the course of centuries… all from over a millennium ago.

Yet again, I was struck by how messed up we are as a country in our ability to look after our heritage and history, to preserve it, to tell its stories, to help people discover and become aware of who they are and where they come from. We live in a world where people take flights across continents to see buildings that are less than a hundred years old. And here we are, with a historical and architectural marvel, a true treasure, just 20 minutes from the airport, and I’m certain that 99% of Bangaloreans have never been there, leave alone people from across the country and the world.

Taking pride in our past needn’t be an act of polarisation, it needn’t be about erasing histories or creating false narratives of glory, demonising straw men from centuries past. That’s the product of insecurity and not pride. 

We have enough to be proud of if we open our minds and our eyes, if we spend our time with curiosity and in the spirit of discovery, rather than in the echo chambers of our screens, both large and small. 

Aliyeh Rizvi, product of an eminent Muslim family, is spending hours and hours, years and years, researching and writing books about the temples in and around Bangalore because that is an area of special focus for her, and part of her shared heritage as an Indian that makes her proud. Seeing this temple through her eyes reminds me that we as a nation have so much to be proud of if we can just approach the past through a sense of togetherness, of shared history, through the commonality of our inherited experiences. 

That’s what we need. Not a history that divides us into us and them. A history that we all share, through good and bad, but that shapes a nation we can all be proud of. 

I believe that’s the India and Indian history my children deserve.