India, Dec. 2 -- When historian William Dalrymple took stage to speak about how ancient India transformed the World, everyone sat up and listened. Add to that the magic of the evening and the experience was complete. The Shiva invocation by Maharani Raseshwari Rajya Laxmi of Jaisalmer and Nick Booker whose Sanskrit chants and interpretations evoked the cosmic principle of Aikyam, Omkara performed by international artists using Kathak, Bharatnatyam and Odissi, were the other highlights of the ethereal experience at the forecourt of the monolithic Kailasa Temple, Ellora, carved from a single rock to honour Lord Shiva that transformed into an open-air amphitheatre that November evening, as the month drew to a close.

If Dalrymple spoke about...