The gods expected him to make a temple

This is a picture of my paternal ancestor, Seth Ram Gopal Malani, most likely taken in the late 1890s. We conjecture that this photograph was taken by the Raja Deendayal and Sons studio like most of the pictures within our family from this time.

A supernatural legacy

On one such general visit to Imphal (Princely state Manipur’s capital), during the 1930s, he was informed that the queen of Manipur was quite sick, and the King – Maharaja Churachand’s staff were looking for a healer. My grandfather was roped in, only to find himself cornered with a conundrum : if his queen healed, the Maharaja would reward my grandfather; if she did not, he would be beheaded.