The Stones Speak

Poems by Siddharth Mehrotra and stories by Rahul Mehrotra, inspired by Rahul Gajjar’s photographs of the monuments and people of Champaner-Pavagadh, a UNESCO world heritage site in Gujarat, Western India.

Champaner is the village at the foot of Pavagadh hill. Myths and legends have swirled around this land forever. Some say Pavagadh was formed when a toe from Sati’s disintegrating body fell as a distraught Shiva stomped across the earth with his dead wife in his arms.

Others believe Pavagadh is the part of Chitrakoot mountain that fell when Hanuman was carrying it back after Lakshman’s life was saved by the sanjivni booti growing on it.

The sage Vishvamitra lived nearby at the source of the Vishvamitri river on Pavagadh. Ram’s sons, Luv and Kush, spent the later years of their life at Pavagadh where they embraced Jainism.

Jain mandirs flourished first on Pavagadh. Then came the local killas, mandirs, mahals, Rajput kings, masjids, makbaras, Islamic sultans, and Portuguese traders.

Reading from The Stones Speak (YouTube) and the Introduction (Instagram)
at the
South Asian Literature and Art Festival

Stories and Poems

GENESISHow the eons have shaped a bond shared today by the people and their land of Champaner-Pavagadh, a UNESCO world heritage site in Gujarat, Western India.

 MASJID

Sunshine through stone takes myriad shapes,
As divinity through matter shapes life's variety.

MAQBARA

Lonely edifice, soundless singing,
Ever alive with the voices of the dead.

MANDIR

In the misty morning, old monuments speak,
Silently singing the song of the ages.

DARWAZA

Mighty forts stand, testimony to war;
Great halls lie open, ancient havens of peace.

JAL

Silver threads plunging down mountains,
Winding down wells to waves underground.

PATH

Through mist and fog to the mountain's height,
The path to the peak has place for all.

Rahul Gajjar

Rahul's photographs have won numerous national and international awards. He spends his time designing jewelry based upon motifs from Pavagadh and taking care of his vintage cars. His passion for unusual black and white fine photography live on. He was most recently charged by a camera-shy leapoard.

Siddharth Mehrotra

Siddharth is a prolific writer of poetry and fiction, and holds a Master’s degree in critical comparative scriptures. He lives in California immersed in his study of ancient texts and mythologies, the search for planets in outer space, and a lifelong practice of Tae Kwon Do. He is always working on a new story or a new poem.

Rahul Mehrotra

Rahul lives with his wife and grown-up children in California. Wondrous memories of a lifetime spent with old friends and total strangers fuel his writing. His phone doesn't need to be charged for days and his dog doesn’t need a leash to take him for long walks along dry riverbeds.