Devdutt Pattnaik is among my favorite Indian authors. Along with Amish Tripathi, Devdutt belongs to the group of authors who made me bookworm that I am today. Unlike other authors, especially Indian authors who are writing books on mythology-based fiction Devdutt has created his own genre. His books are more of explanations of various Hindu cultures, gods, Vedic ways, etc. When I got the "Pilgrim Nation" book's mail in my inbox, I was overloaded with review copies, but I put aside all other tasks and took the book. I stood like to thank team Aleph books for providing this lovely review copy.
Before I talk about the content of the book, let me tell you what was my first impression of the book. It is a hardbound book with the cover designed by Devdutt himself. It shows Shravan taking his blind and weak parents to various pilgrims around India. I was thoroughly impressed by the cover.
As the name suggests, this book covers various pilgrimages across India. But what is new? Devdatta has divided these locations as per the time frame/age. I mean to say he started with places covered in Vedic age then went to Puranic age from there he came to Islamic age, European age and finally temples of today's time. In each of the sections, he has covered many temples & shrines that are of importance in today's world or in previous years. Each chapter is dedicated to one location, which covers where it is located, what are its historical/religious importance, folklore about Temple & duties, and the current state of these temples.
As common with books of Devdutt, chapters are accompanied by various drawings and artworks dedicated to temples and gods residing in those temples. Each of the sections that I mentioned earlier starts with reasoning why the following chapters are combined together. Devdatt has tried to give an explanation of various concepts in and around temples.
I would say Good read for any age group. I would like to give 4 out of 5 to this wonderful book.
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