Before nationalists and patriots, before colonizers and invaders, before emperors
and kings, India was woven together by pilgrim paths. Seekers and sages travelled
north and south, east and west, across mountains and along rivers, ignoring artificial
boundaries, seeking and finding gods. Renowned mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik takes
us on an insightful journey to thirty-two holy sites where ancient and modern deities
unravel the complex and layered history, geography, and imagination of the land once
known as ‘land of the Indian blackberry’ (Jambudvipa), ‘land of rivers’ (Sindhusthala
in Sanskrit, or Hindustan in Persian), ‘expanse of King Bharata’ (Bharatvarsha, or
Bharatkhanda), and even ‘abode of joy’ (Sukhavati to the Chinese).