Managing Editor
Jaya Ahuja brings 15 years of practice and study of Hindu traditions to her role as Managing Editor. Her own articles help first-time visitors find their way: temple etiquette, dress codes, darshan and yatra registration. She also reviews work by other contributors, and is an independent contributor who works in another professional field.
Terms & traditions
Snow buries both shrines for about six months, so worship moves downhill: Kedarnath's to Ukhimath, Badrinath's to Pandukeshwar and Jyotirmath. How the closing and opening dates are chosen, and where to check them.
Terms & traditions
The temple trust says it charges no fee for darshan or aarti passes. Its published free darshan slots, the three aarti times, where to reserve a pass, and how to avoid anyone selling 'VIP' entry.
Terms & traditions
Registration for the Uttarakhand Char Dham Yatra is compulsory and free. It is done on the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board's portal, its app, an official WhatsApp service or a registration centre. Here is how it works, and how to spot a fake.
Terms & traditions
Fake websites copying TTD, Puri, Kashi Vishwanath and Somnath have taken money from pilgrims. How to check a booking site before you pay, a list of official portals, and what to do if you have already paid.
Terms & traditions
Entry is free and there is no dress code, but phones, gadgets and even pens are not allowed inside. What Sugam Darshan is, how the four aartis are booked, and how to avoid fake booking sites.
Terms & traditions
There is no single Hindu temple dress code. Each temple sets its own rules, and some have none at all. A temple-by-temple table, with each rule traced to the temple's own page or a government source.
Terms & traditions
TTD runs several darshan queues at Tirumala: free Sarva Darshan, time-slotted SSD tokens, the Special Entry (Seeghra) Darshan booked online, Divya Darshan for those who walk up, and a separate queue for senior citizens, the differently abled and certain medical cases. What each is, who it suits, and where to book safely.
Terms & traditions
Every pilgrim needs a free RFID Yatra Access Card from the Shrine Board before starting the trek from Katra. How registration works, what the 12–13 km climb involves, why pilgrims go on to Bhairon, and the options for elders.
Vrat & festivals
Deepotsav is the Uttar Pradesh government's yearly lamp festival on the Saryu ghats in Ayodhya, held just before Diwali since 2017. Here is what happens, what the records actually say, and how to plan a visit.
Planning a puja
What a Griha Pravesh Puja costs on ProperPandit, what the listing includes, a samagri checklist, the November and December 2026 dates Drik Panchang lists for New Delhi, and how booking on WhatsApp works.
Terms & traditions
The Sydney Murugan Temple at 217 Great Western Highway, Mays Hill, opens 7 am to 8.30 pm (9.30 pm on Fridays). Its conditions of entry ask for no photos, no phones, shoes and hats off, and recommend cultural dress.
Puja guides
For many Gujarati families and business owners, Diwali night is when the new account books are blessed, and the Gujarati New Year follows on Kartik Shukla Pratipada. Here is what Chopda Pujan and Sharda Puja involve, and the 2026 dates.
Vrat & festivals
Dhanteras, Naraka Chaturdashi, Lakshmi Puja, Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj: what each day of Diwali is for, how its date is fixed, and why Tamil Nadu and Karnataka keep their main Deepavali before sunrise on Chaturdashi.
Terms & traditions
The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir at 61 Claireville Drive, Toronto, is free to enter. BAPS's official timings page, checked on 21 Oct 2026, lists the campus as open 9 am to 6:30 pm, with Rajbhog Arti at 11:15 am and Sandhya Arti at 6:30 pm. The complex has a stone mandir, a carved wooden haveli and a heritage museum.
Planning a puja
Outside India, the most common way to book a Hindu priest for a home puja is through a local temple's priest services desk: a form or phone call, a few days' to a few weeks' notice, a published fee or a quote, and samagri you usually buy yourself. Real temple policies from the USA, Canada and the UK show how it works.
Terms & traditions
Nagara temples have a curving tower over the sanctum, Dravida temples a stepped pyramid inside walls entered through gopurams, and Vesara is a contested name for the mixed Deccan style. A guide to the parts you will see and how to recognise each style.
Terms & traditions
Ellora's Kailasa (Cave 16) was carved for the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I in the eighth century, according to a copper-plate grant of 812–13 CE. Masons isolated a block of basalt with deep trenches and carved it from the top down. Here is what the record shows, what scholars estimate, and how the '200 years' and 'alien' claims compare.
Terms & traditions
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden is free to visit, open 9 am to 6 pm every day, and needs no booking for individuals and families. Visitors are welcome at the 11:45 am Rajbhog Arti. Shoulders and upper arms must be covered, and no photos are allowed inside.
Terms & traditions
The Shiva-Vishnu Temple in Livermore, California, run by the Hindu Community and Cultural Center (HCCC), houses Shiva and Vishnu shrines under one roof. Its schedule showed 9 am to 8 pm on Fridays and weekends, and 9 am to noon plus 6 to 8 pm on other weekdays. Photography inside is prohibited.
Kundli & astrology
A divisional chart redraws a Kundli by splitting each sign into smaller parts. The 16 classical vargas, how the Navamsa is worked out, and birth-time limits.
Kundli & astrology
A yoga is a named planetary combination; Raj Yoga links the lords of angular and trinal houses. How the rules work, and why long yoga lists overstate them.
Numerology
Master numbers are totals some numerologists won't reduce. Whether you 'have' one depends on the method, and Indian practice usually reduces them anyway.
Numerology
The same name can give two numbers depending on the letter chart. Both charts side by side, the 16 letters that differ, and how to choose one system.
Numerology
Your name number depends on the letter chart, which version of your name you use, and how you reduce the total. A step-by-step walk-through.
Kundli & astrology
The same Kundli can be drawn as a diamond or a square grid. Learn which part stays fixed in each, and convert between them in a minute.
Kundli & astrology
How the 120-year Vimshottari dasha works, with a full worked example: your first mahadasha, its balance at birth, and every antardasha.
