Last week, the newly elected Chief Minister, C. Joseph Vijay, went walkabout at Fort St. George. Which is a good thing. He must be the first Chief Minister in living memory who went and saw some of the monuments in the precinct. The itinerary was predictable – the Church of St. Mary’s and the Fort Museum. But what was left out was what he really needed to go and see. And had he done so, he may have begun pondering over what can be done to save this historic enclave from its steady decline.

The first problem that faces the Fort is its poor general upkeep. Tonnes of rubbish lurk behind the massive walls – the byproducts of the administrative setup at the place. You don’t need to go looking for it. All around, you will see heaps of plastic, paper, and other discarded items. Go closer to the walls, and you will see a lot more. Go to the rear of the Fort and you will see the moat in all its ghastly (lack of) upkeep. Weeds, stagnant water, and refuse on both sides. This is not to be confused with the front side of the fort, where the moat is regularly tended to, but is bone dry.

Ownership tussle

The next is the conflict of multiple ownership. The Fort has five owners, as far as I know. There is the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and there are the Legislative Assembly, the Tamil Nadu government, the Army, and the Navy. Each has its private turf and guards it fiercely – not by way of protecting the buildings within, but more in terms of recognised bounds. Thus, the Navy had, what is known for some mysterious reason, as Clive’s Library. Years ago, a tree began growing out of it, and nobody noticed it until it took on a stranglehold of the building itself. It is quite certain that the tree, unlike the beanstalk in the fairytale, did not grow overnight and yet, no steps were taken to remove it. Finally, the tree crushed the building for good.

If that is the Navy’s record, the Army fares marginally better. It has taken good care of some buildings, such as the Embarkation HQ. However, the King’s Barracks, said to be the largest in the country, is in a state of near collapse. This is because the Army and the ASI are at loggerheads over control of the building. The ASI wants the Army to hand it over, and the latter is reluctant, given the former’s track record of suddenly denotifying structures under its control, handing them over to the State government for demolition, and putting up new buildings in their place. As a result, King’s Barracks is a shabby, roofless shell.

The Army is not wrong in the doubts it entertains. The ASI has, of course, done a stellar job in restoring Clive’s House (now the ASI HQ) and the church. But the rest of the Fort is littered with episodes where more could have been done. Even in the 1980s, an entire section of historic buildings was denotified to allow the government to build Namakkal Kavignar Maligai. That structure itself would have never been permitted in a precinct of this kind, if we had had a Heritage Act in place. Then came the wilful neglect of Wellesley’s House and Last House on Snob’s Alley, both of which were allowed to collapse. Their ‘protected status’ was subsequently withdrawn.

Which leaves us with the historic gates. Of these, the Sea Gate and the more ornamental entry and departure points are well taken care of. St. Thomas’ Gate, under Army supervision, is good, but the remaining, namely Wallajah, St. George’s, and North, are in very poor repair. The spaces under the arches serve as rubbish tips and the gates themselves are in a state of severe wear and tear.

The buildings under government ownership, namely the Secretariat and Assembly, seem in good condition because of use and regular maintenance. But once you step inside, you see so many mindless additions and renovations that the place has lost all vestige of its antiquity.

In short, the Fort is not what it should be.

What must be done

The new government needs to address the issue of ownership and if that is insurmountable, it should institute a committee of all stakeholders who can at least oversee preservation and maintenance. The Fort premises must be better documented and have signage at significant spots to highlight history. Access must be made easier, and at least from dawn to dusk. The present government timings are a deterrent, given our weather conditions. And lastly, why not a sound and light show on Parade Square? Most forts of India now have this facility. And so, why not Fort St. George?

(Sriram V. is a writer and historian.)

Published – May 27, 2026 08:00 am IST

1,2,3,4,5,6,7…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..∞

The dots lead us to infinity. Or so I can say and immediately end this article here. Try imagining the highest number imaginable (which is, in layman’s terms ‘infinity’). Can you? Let’s hold that thought as it will become a crucial point of departure for our deep understanding of the infinity.

The brain-melting vagueness of the infinite can be quite annoying, especially in a world of rigorous mathematics. Yet, the story of the mathematical ‘infinity’ is where the infinite has found its shoes and socks.

Two best friends

In the beginning, the concept of the infinity introduced itself to the ancient philosophers and mathematicians who dealt with the cosmos. “Infinity” was the playground for philosophers and mathematicians alike. They were quite chummy when it came to solving fallacies and mysteries regarding ‘infinity’.

In Ancient Greece, way before Socrates, one of the crucial answers people were hunting for was that of the archē — the beloved mysterious origin, the beginning. It was a question rooted in the ontology of existence and life. Infinity peeks out here first.

In the hunt for the archē, a prominent philosopher named Anaxagoras had put forth his two cents. He believed that the universe was made up of infinite elements; a mixture of these elements in everything. I mean, he clearly was onto something then. To give you a bit of context, this was the time when the only popular theories of origin were

1) Everything was made up of water (Thales of Miletus)

2) Everything was made up of four things — air, water, fire, earth (Empedocles)

3) Everything was made up of air (Anaximenes)

4) Everything came from a “boundless” source. (This theory by Anaximander put the idea of infinity as something boundless and unlimited inside our heads)

While Anaxagoras still got many things wrong, he had derived a crucial mathematical edge to the understanding of infinity — that things could be infinitely divided and there’s no limit (no smallest and no largest).

It goes on and on and on,

Then it goes on and on and on again

We first said that in layman’s terms infinity is the highest number imaginable. But the act of putting a number on infinity is to state that there is an end.

Now another Greek philosopher named Zeno had two cents to offer in the name of the story of Achilles and the Tortoise.

The story is simple, actually. There was a tortoise and there was Achilles. They were both in a running race. Since it is known that Achilles was pro at running, the tortoise was given a head start.

After the tortoise had run some distance, Achilles could begin. Now here’s the plot twist. Every time Achilles would catch up to where the tortoise had been, the tortoise would have already moved some more distance ahead. The distance gets halved, every time Achilles moves towards the target. See, it’s like this. I move half a distance of A from B to reach my destination C. From B, I move another half a distance D to reach C. Every time I move half up front, I still have another half to cover. This distance between me and the destination can be infinitely halved. This way I can’t ever reach my destination C.

Our brother Zeno here, inferred from this example that motion is an illusion. The later generations of mathematicians and philosophers took it upon themselves to study this mind-bending infinity.

Infinite Series

Integers (in ordered lists) can extend in an infinite manner. The natural numbers with which we began our enquiry into the infinite is one such list. Zeno’s question had pivoted the modern mathematician’s brain towards arithmetic relating to infinite series. How do I find the sum of such a series?

It took about twenty centuries for Zeno’s paradox to be resolved. With calculus as a weapon, the seventeenth and eighteenth century mathematicians undertook to study the nature of infinite series with vigour.

Infinite Mirror Effect

is an example of an infinite geometric series (sum of an infinite geometric sequence).

Infiniti-es?

When Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story said “To infinity and beyond!”, he wasn’t kidding.

By the time German mathematician Georg Cantor joined in the infinity research, a good amount of foundation had been set in place by the virtuosos like Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, and John Wallis. Infinity had become proper in the numerical, numerous sense. Bringing set theory to the scene, Cantor revolutionised the infinity research by giving proof that different types of infinities exist.

Say there are two sets. If we know that for every element in a set there is a corresponding unique element in the other, then despite not knowing how many elements are there we can say that the two sets have the size (cardinality). Cantor took sets with infinite elements. For instance, sets of natural numbers, odd numbers, even numbers, are all infinite. Take two again. If we assume the same condition, then the infinite sets are also of the same size despite one set having half as many or fewer numbers (a set of primes will always have fewer numbers as compared to a set of natural numbers if we write them based on a finite range).

Now bring in the real numbers. Since real numbers can be rational or irrational, a set of real numbers will have a hard time having corresponding unique elements on the set of natural numbers since we can always come up with the most random real number, i.e. the list would be greatly uneven. Long story short, Cantor inferred from all these and studies them even further to recognise that some infinities are larger than some others. He also proved that real numbers are uncountable since we are unable to express them.

Paradox struck an arrow at him. If there are multiple infinities, surely there must be a largest! No. For that to exist, a set of all sets have to exist which does not exist (look up Cantor’s paradox tomorrow, study a paradox a day). Infinity twisted the logic once again!

Indefinite v/s Infinite

Indefinite and infinite are two things. One thing we often forget to register in our minds is that infinity truly has no end. Indefinite means that while we don’t know the end, it still exists. Infinite means that it is endless. Without differentiating this, our understanding of this ordeal becomes a conundrum. Infinity is a concept and not a number, clearly. By now we must be intelligent enough to understand that much.

While infinity doesn’t end, I unfortunately have to end my article here. take with you two things — infinity is not a number; infinity defies finite logic. One day if you find another paradox related to infinity, act surprised.

So does Achilles ever catch up with the tortoise?

I mean I can literally have a running race with a tortoise and say yes. That is precisely the paradox. The sum of all the infinite half distances I cover will give me a finite number. Achilles will catch up with the tortoise after a finite lapse of time. Something without an end, ends.

In mathematical terms, this is basically resolved with the help of limits. An infinite series converges to finite value if we take partial sums.

Partial Sum: The sum of a finite number of terms in an infinite series.

The Nataraja bronze sculpture from the 10th Century.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The globally renowned Jagannatha Temple in Puri is once again in the spotlight, with the Congress party pushing for the reopening of all four temple gates. The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has announced a rally on October 16 in Puri. The primary purpose of this rally is to advocate for the reopening of all four gates of the Jagannath Temple, allowing devotees to access the sacred site. OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak emphasised the temple’s significance as a destination for devotees from all over India and beyond.

“The number of devotees will increase during the holy Odia month of Kartik, which begins on October 29. Respecting the demands of Jagannath lovers, all four gates of the temple should be reopened for public immediately,” he demanded.

The party will submit a memorandum to the chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in this regard, he said.

In a statement in the state assembly during the recently concluded monsoon session, Law Minister Jagannath Saraka said entry of devotees to the temple through the four gates has been closed since March 20, 2020, due to COVID restrictions.

“As the Srimandir Parikrama project is still underway, three gates cannot be opened for devotees,” he had said.

Apart from the Singhadwar (Lions Gate), the government has opened the Paschim Dwar (west gate) only for Puri residents to perform daily rituals.

With the temple administration in the news once again, it’s worth exploring the significant cultural, religious, and historical importance it holds for the people of Odisha and India. This revered temple is dedicated to Lord Jagannath, a prominent incarnation of Lord Vishnu in Hinduism, and it plays a central role in the religious and cultural heritage of the region and the nation.

It is one of the fourpilgrimage sites (Char Dham) and is visited by millions of devotees each year. The main deity in the temple is a wooden idol of Jagannath, which is said to be over 1,000 years old. The idol is flanked by the idols of his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra.

The present-day structure of the Jagannath Temple is believed to have been built in the 12th century by King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva.

Rath Yatra:

The Jagannath Temple is known for its unique Rath Yatra festival, which is held every year. During the Rath Yatra, the idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra are placed on three giant chariots and pulled through the streets of Puri by millions of devotees. The Rath Yatra is one of the largest religious festivals in the world.

The Jagannath Temple is a place of great religious and cultural significance. It is a place where people from all walks of life come together to worship and celebrate their faith. It is also a place where people can learn about Hindu culture and tradition.

The temple architecture:

According to the official website, the temple of Lord Shree Jagannatha is about 214 feet and 8 inches high from the road level. The entire temple premises are enclosed by two big concentric walls. The outer wall is known as ‘Meghanada Prachira’ (665 ft. x 640 ft.), and the inner wall is known as ‘Kurma Prachira’ (420 ft. x 315 ft.). The height of the outer walls varies from 20 feet to 24 feet. There are four gates in the outer enclosure. The eastern entrance is known as Singha Dwara’, or the Lion’s Gate.

The entrances on the southern, western, and northern sides of the outer enclosure are known as Aswadwara (South Gate). “Vyaghra Dwara’ (West Gate) and Hastidwara (North Gate), respectively, have hundreds of subsidiary shrines and Mandapas (elevated platforms) inside the temple premises. Two gardens, namely ‘Koili Baikuntha’ and ‘Nilachala Upabana”, seven wells, Ananda Bazara, the kitchen, and the holy banyan tree (Kalpabata), are also inside the temple premises.

World Tourism Day is celebrated on September 27. This day highlights the significance of tourism in fostering cultural exchange, economic growth and sustainable development. The day encourages people worldwide to explore the beauty and diversity of our planet while recognising the responsibilities that come with it. Tourism not only allows us to discover new places but also bridges cultural gaps, promotes peace and contributes significantly to local economies. 

World Tourism Day 2023 Theme:

The theme for World Tourism Day 2023 is “Tourism and Green Investments”. This theme emphasises the importance of making tourism more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Green investments involve using money and resources to support eco-friendly practices in the tourism industry. By focusing on tourism and green investments, we all can work towards a future where travel not only enriches our lives but also helps to preserve the planet for generations to come. 

Significance of World Tourism Day:

World Tourism Day holds great significance as it underscores the role of tourism in various aspects of human life. Firstly, it promotes cultural exchange, encouraging people from different backgrounds to come together and learn from one another. Secondly, it increases economic growth by creating job opportunities and stimulating local businesses. Additionally, it creates environmental awareness and highlights the importance of sustainable tourism practices to protect our planet for future generations. Furthermore, World Tourism Day promotes the idea that travel can be a powerful instrument for peace and understanding.

World Tourism Day: History

World Tourism Day was established by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in 1980. Since then, this global celebration has grown in prominence, with each year focusing on a specific theme related to tourism. These themes have ranged from “Tourism for Sustainable Energy” to “Tourism and the Digital Transformation.” World Tourism Day continues to be a platform for governments, businesses, and individuals to come together to promote responsible and sustainable tourism practices worldwide.

People in the southern state of Kerala are celebrating Onam to mark the harvest season and the end of the monsoon. The 10-day-long harvest festival, Onam, will end on Tuesday (August 29) with Thiruvonam. The celebrations began on August 20 with Atham. The festival is considered a time of feasting and cultural bonding, bringing people from all walks of life together.

On August 28, people celebrated Uthradam, considered the penultimate day. The day holds immense importance, as people welcome the spirit of King Mahabali, a benevolent and righteous ruler known as “Sukrutha Yuga” – the golden era.

History of Onam festival

Onam celebrates the homecoming of the Asura King Mahabali from the Patal Lok. Despite being a demon king, Mahabali was said to be generous and his era was considered the golden time for Kerala. This is the reason why his return is widely celebrated.

Legend has it that King Mahabali defeated the Gods and took over the three worlds. That’s also said to be the reason Gods resented him and urged Lord Vishnu to help them fight the demon king. Since Mahabali was a devotee of Lord Vishnu, he found it difficult to take sides in battle.

Therefore, he decided to visit King Mahabali in his Vamana (poor Brahmin) avatar and made the demon king agree to his wish for property rights over a piece of land that measures “three paces”.

Then Vamana grew in size and covered everything the king ruled in just two steps. Abiding by his words, Mahabali offered his head for the third step. This impressed lord Vishnu, who allowed him to return to earth once every year, celebrated as Onam.

Significance of Onam

Onam has a great religious significance among the people of Kerala. Through the celebrations of this festival, people show their gratitude towards the land for giving a good harvest. People offer prayers to lord Vamana and their beloved King Mahabali, for the well-being and longevity of their family members.