On 15th October 2023, the Indian.Temples movement turns 4. The journey, started in 2019 by Dr dinesh Soni, has become a synonym for accurate and factual information about temples and heritage. Over the 4 years, Indian.Temples has grown from an Instagram page to a research organisation. It has ventured into multiple facets of social media like youtube and podcasting. The digital magazine “The Heritage Diary” is read by many. The 4 years have been full of learning, understanding, implementing and exciting moments.
THE BEGINNING
The beginning of this journey finds its roots in September 2019. An avid traveller since childhood, Dr Dinesh Soni was on a tour to Tiruchirapalli, Thanjavur and Pondicherry that time. The mesmerizing grandeur of the Brihadeeshwara had literally hypnotised him. After the tour, he thought of getting in touch with some experts on the topic of temples and get detailed information on the topic. He searched Instagram for pages on the topic. And to his despair, he couldn’t find many pages that would provide authentic, research based or propaganda free information on the topic. And at this point, he thought maybe I should start sharing some knowledge on the topic.
When asked about his motivation in starting the page, he says “When I started the page, there were very few pages that provided accurate and propoganda free information. But there were a few who were truly passionate about the heritage and culture promotion. My primary intention was to find out these enthusiasts who are exploring temples and have deep understanding of temple architecture and iconography. Sharing my knowledge about temples and heritage never was an intention. The intention was to learn through friendship.”
The early days of the page was mostly about reposting photos of temples by other photographers. But with time, and with feedback from followers, the post style changed. Dinesh started to conduct own study and research; and would post based on the research. Throughout the four years, one part remained constant in the post strategy. The integrity towards providing content free of any religious or political propaganda and sensationalism.
In fact, this integrity is what helped the page get some early momentum. The momentum that continued for whole 4 years. In an age when sensationalism and propaganda get most traction, the page reached a milestone of 100k followers in 3 and half years. And that is some serious achievement, considering a page that only provides authentic and research-based content.
YOUTUBE AND PODCAST
While Dinesh enjoyed getting connected to like-minded experts on various topics, he also wanted the world to know about the interesting information and insights by these experts. For this, a youtube channel was started where live interactions and interviews were conducted. Later, he also started a podcast; and it is available on spotify, Amazon music, Google podcasts and apple podcasts.
The guests that appeared on these interviews include renowned Kuchipudi dance researcher Dr Hima Bindu Kanoj, Equal Right activist Harish Iyer, Writer and columnist Monidipa Bose Day, Tourism and Iconography expert Ramkrishna Kongalla, Archaeologist & Goan culture researcher Sawani Shetye Malik, Writer Jeffrey Armstrong. Cyclist Santosh Balgir, Solo traveler Priyanka Dalal, Photographer and trekker Pranjal Wagh, Founder of Ekarik Private Ltd Meghna Bhutoria, Architect & Temple digital restoration expert Parnavi Bangar, Writer Meena Arora Nayak, CEO of Chittam Games Charannya Kumar, Writer and film director Rewa Rawat, Goan culture researcher team of Yugaantar Goa, Traveler & explorer Drew Galaxy and travel influencer Shweta Papaiyawala have also graced the channel with their presence. In coming times, he aims to interview more experts on various topics related to heritage and culture.
Through these interviews, Dinesh also got some new friends and explorer buddies. “I find myself to be very fortunate that I could reach out to so many interesting personalities through this page. Through the interviews, through messages and through overall interactions; I could know many interesting personalities. And over time, I met many of them in different heritage explorations. We even had a meetup in Pune. The Biryani we had, sitting on ground outside the Pachchala Someshwara temple with Hima has been one the most memorable time of my life.”
TEAM EXTENSION
Dr Hima Bindu Kanoj, a renowned Kuchipudi dancer and researcher, joined the team towards the end of 2021. She appeared on an interview with youtube channel in June 2021. Later Dinesh and Hima decided to work together on some research projects. They are currently working together on Project Nrityarchana, a project by Department of Language & Culture, Government of Telangana. They are also involved in research about temples and iconography of Marathwada region of Maharashtra.
When asked about this association, Dinesh says “Having Hima on team has been a very magnificent value addition to my work. While I was doing my bit to promotion of heritage, there was someone who had done a thorough research into the field. One who holds a doctorate in the field. A lot of new ideas, explorations and research activities were born through this union. In fact, Hima is the one who helped me in a big way in achieving my doctorate as well. She is truly an inspiration and a great companion.”
Hima is not the only one who joined Dinesh in this endeavour. Madhu Chandrasekaran, Spoorthy Kotala and Geetha Shree S have helped Dinesh and Hima in building content strategy and creating content. Avinash Jadhav of V J Analytics helped with Social media marketing. Yoga Rakshitha Dasi came forward to look after the e-newsletter “The Heritage Diary”. Ethirajan Srinivasan (Sculptographer on Instagram) has recently joined the team. “Without all these great minds extending their hand, I would have just been yet another content creator on Instagram. My journey from content creator to influencer would not have been possible without these great minds.” Dinesh explains the position of his team in these words.
RECEPTION BY BRANDS AND YOUTUBERS
Dinesh still feels that he is just another content creator on Instagram. But there are brands out there who think he has power to influence minds. The content on Instagram and Youtuber also attracted a lot of brands, who wanted to use this platform for promotion. Dinesh has always been very choosy about which brands and products he wants to promote through the page. His focus has always been on providing a space of cultural startups and only the heritage related contents. Morality always came before money for him.
“I kept myself strictly away from posting anything that didn’t suit my morality. I was offered huge sum for just putting up logo of one of the betting apps in my posts. But that wasn’t morally correct. I often get requests to post some religious propaganda or hatred posts.
I have also sometimes received threats for refusing to post these. But I don’t pay much heed to them.” Dinesh has this to say about the promotions. Not only the brands, many youtubers and podcasters also wanted to get associated with Dinesh via interviews. Dinesh appeared as guest on multiple podcasts and youtube interviews. His articles got published in various magazines and he was also invited at various places to deliver sessions. The most recent one being the session he delivered at MIT World Peace University, Pune. Dinesh is also soon starting to write a series of articles for a Marathi weekly published from Mumbai.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
The good work being done on Instagram and youtube didn’t go unnoticed from the eyes from brands, youtubers and podcasters, educational institutes and social organisation. So it was obviously not gonna be missed from the eyes of award juries. Dinesh is already recipient of an appreciation award by Department of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. In the course of the four years of Indian.Temples Research & Media Services; he received some awards including the Paul Harris Fellow recognition of Rotary International; Lokmat Digital Influencer Award by Maharashtra’s media powerhouse Lokmat. He was also featured in the list of “40 under 40 Rising and Emerging Industry Experts of India”. He also received doctorate in Cultural Studies based on the research activities he was doing for the page.
Dr Hima Bindu Kanoj too received prestigious “India Excellence Award” for her commitment towards promoting culture and heritage through her dance performances. He recently did a series about “75 lesser-known ancient temples of India” as celebration of 75 years of India’s independence. Dinesh received a special G20 lapel pin for this post series.
With the kind of response being received by the posts and activities, the followers and friends would definitely be expecting a lot from the page.
“I keep receiving many suggestions about how to scale up the activities. I am cautious about where to step in. With my business and family life, this research work is an additional responsibility for me. But this activity gives me pleasure and satisfaction. And that’s what matters at the end of the day.” Dinesh’s words when asked about the scaling up of the activities.
Indian.Temples Research & Media Services are already involved in research activities. In coming times, they wish to create documentary series about the findings of research. They have already been promised help and assistance from film director Rewa Rawat for this activity. They also are working on an idea of providing a book publishing platform for upcoming writers.
“Many of us have immense knowledge about some culture or heritage aspect. But they don’t receive the right platform to showcase their knowledge to the world. A book would be a great way for that. And it is our duty to provide a staircase to the amazing talent”, Dinesh, a writer of 16 books himself, says when asked about the book publishing idea. There are 4 book titles in the process of writing. And hopefully they will be ready for publishing soon.
Dinesh is also working around on options of organising heritage walks and get togethers at some interesting heritage locations. “While some heritage locations are always flooded with tourists, there are many others that don’t get the recognition they deserve. Many of us are not well aware of the great heritage we have within our vicinity. I wish to attempt and organise some local heritage walks and get togethers, so that more people could be made aware about their local heritage. This, hopefully, will motivate them to take batter care of the heritage in their vicinity. The heritage walks and get togethers could be done with help of heritage enthusiasts in the region”, Dinesh explains the idea behind the heritage walks and get togethers.
The four years of Indian.Temples Research & Media Services have been a multifaceted experience. The page has provided accurate information and knowledge to thousands of us. No wonder the page enjoys being followed by more than a lakh Instagrammers. The page, that is loved by brands, instagrammers and heritage enthusiasts alike; continues to grow stronger and more popular with every single day. And Dinesh is hopeful of more positive experiences in coming times. And we are too.. Here’s wishing a very happy fourth to Indian.Temples.
Guest Author
Dr Dinesh Soni