His family transformed how the medieval world worked - yet they are largely unknown outside India. Prior to the 11th Century ... Tamil poets developed notions of sainthood, history and even magical ...

Episode Four is the story of India in the Middle Ages. At the time of the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, and the European Dark Ages, India had a series of great flowerings of culture ...

At every temple in South India, the aarti for the deity is performed by burning a piece of camphor on a platter. Who knew ...

Research areas: Religious & social history of medieval Tamil Nadu; women in pre-colonial India; temple architecture & epigraphy; interactions among and sectarianism in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism ...

His family transformed how the medieval world worked - yet they are largely unknown outside India. Prior to the 11th ... developed notions of sainthood, history and even magical realism.