As I have mentioned in my previous blogs that I am a great history buff and anything related to history , I cannot keep away from it .In  the past ,I have restricted myself to Indian history as  relating to it was easy but the book I am going to share with you today is a travel book with its unique historical back drop .

William Dalrymple , one of my favorite authors is an authentic historian , who I have been following for the last so many years .He is of Scottish descent and has won numerous awards for travel writing and extensively researched history .

Author  has an intimate connection with India and his affection for the country is real .He  has embraced India more than many of us could and  through his eyes we have rediscovered New Delhi and India many times over .

His first published book ”In  Xanadu- A Quest “  is my most favorite , till date and I have a personally signed copy of the book , when I got it autographed from him at a Mini lit fest in New Delhi ,a couple of years back .I am sure, I would share this  book “In Xanadu -A Quest “  in my future blogs ,where he retraces the steps of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Inner Mongolia in China .It is a travel writing full of interesting incidents and anecdotes  and   is written in a lighter vein and that’s what makes it all the more enjoyable .

In the book “From the Holy Mountain “ we take  both an  inward and outward journey of  the Holy land which was taken by an Orthodox Monk ,John Moschos in 587 AD with one of his young students ,Sophronius .

Author Dalrymple  took us on this journey almost 1500 years later .

John Moschos  later compressed the journey into a book called “Spiritual Meadow” . John Moschos ,in the book ,mentions about his personnel experiences with other monks ,the various miracle stories ,the ecstatic vision and other practices of Eastern monasticism .Interestingly ,Author Dalrymple ,during his journey found that so many of those practices were still prevalent even today , may be in some modified version .

Dalrymple  began his journey in Greece and then via Istanbul in Turkey ,Syria ,Lebanon , Israel  and then concluded in Egypt .The journey included a part of Byzantine empire ,of middle ages ,which was considered eastern Roman empire, under Great King Constantinople ,who in his later life embraced Christianity .

Christianity has been historically a middle eastern religion with its origin in Judaism .In the initial years it was practiced in secrecy as it had conflict with Judaism and early Pagan Roman practices .Then the church meant gathering or community , rather  than a building or structure .Such teachings or  churches were founded by early disciples of Jesus  as they travelled to the various parts of the world .

It became legal to practice Christianity under Emperor Constantinople in Roman Empire  around 313 AD .His vision was to bring the whole Roman Empire together .But the practices of the Christians in the eastern parts  of the Empire were very  different than that of the western counterpart .Orthodox Christianity or the Eastern Christians gave more stress on  physical and mental ascetism .Such practices also mirrored in Sufism , Vendantic mysticism and Buddhist psychology .

Whereas the head of the Western counterpart is Pope , Eastern Christianity is spread out under various religious heads  with individualistic teachings ,in various parts of the World .

As author visited these ancient monasteries, he gave us numerous accounts of  how the orthodox monks competed against each other in physical and mental deprivation for a divine connection .It was interesting to note that such practices overlap among the various religions of those times . As  per author’s comments, rules for practicing religions were  more porous as compared . Even  today , people  in the rural area of the land of  different faiths, during their difficult times , prayed  at the shrines of these orthodox monks and  performed  animal sacrifices .

In ancient days people with money, commissioned important buildings and works of art to give them a societal presence .Similarly ,in   Emperor Constantinople’s time the concept of  Basilica was gradually taking shape and churches were being built , where people would come together and stress on inner transformation rather than outer ritualistic Pagan practices.

Author has a keen eye for architecture as we have  noted in his past books and he describes the monasteries in great details whatever he could as most of them are in states of great dilapidation secondary to antiquity ,violence and no maintenance . But it was amazing to know  that few of those which are still in one piece and functional are practicing the faith exactly what they did 1500 years earlier .

In the book “Spiritual Meadow “ ,John Moschos  described about the practices of miracle healing by the Saints of those times . Author presented many such instances in his usual tongue in cheek fashion where present day monks are preaching about the Saints .

As we travelled with the author through the modern day cities and onto the remote places of worship ,we noted the political turmoil ,unrest and a constant fear of persecution among the  minority residents .Christianity has systematically  been routed out  from its  place of  origin and more  and more people are  moving west wards for a better and secure life .

These areas from time immemorial has been under great strife .Cradle of three great religions of the world ,Christianity ,Islam and Judaism  has always  been  a socio politically disturbed region.   Peace never returned to these areas and this   journey itself   seemed  like  a challenging adventure .

Amongst the many other present days ironies of the Modern World ,The Holy Land ,has not witnessed a lasting peace for the last two centuries  and we really pray for a miracle when the true essence of Humanity and Religion would prevail.

Wishing you all  a happy Easter weekend .