Exploring Indian Treasures with Bettany Hughes, Channel 4, Monday and All4
For some TV genres, it’s easy to gauge if they are working.
Comedy is straightforward. If it’s any good you’re laughing, even average stuff should give you the odd giggle.
Travel shows should give you itchy feet. As soon as the episode is over you should be on your phone checking out the price of flights.
By this measure, Bettany Hughes has been successful in her discerning guide to one of the world’s most fascinating countries.
In Indian Treasures she takes us on a two-episode tour of the most remarkable sights of the world’s most populous country.
The Taj Mahal in Agra, Amritsar’s Golden Temple, the lake palaces of Rajasthan and the holy Ganges at Varanasi are included, but there are many others you may not have heard of.
Read More: The top ten shows of the year
TV Review: Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland
There was the fort city of Fatehpur Sikri where the Mughal Emperor Akbar decided to mix the main religions (Hindu, Islam and Buddism) into a merged form, ‘The Devine Faith’.
Hughes praised his religious tolerance “in a growing empire with so many belief systems”, describing it as the “great flowering of the rule of this great man”.
We also saw the lost city of Hampi, the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire and the second largest city in the world in the 1500s. It was abandoned after it fell to invaders in 1565.
Then we went further south to Tamil Nadu and the sights of the Chola Empire which conquered Sir Lanka and parts of South-East Asia.
We saw the waterways of Kerala and the Malabar Coast, plus we paid a visit to the British built railway in the Nilgiri hills.
Similar to the Shimla line in the foothills of the Himalayas, it was built to take the elite out of the stifling summer heat. Its 16 tunnels and 250 bridges were opened in 1908.
After meeting a local expert, as she did at most locations, Hughes noted that the railway had been built by the British and asked: “Is it OK to enjoy it?”
She knew what the answer would be and off she went on a thrilling four-hour ride to 7,000 feet.
There was also some concern at the “imperial project” of Britain’s tea plantations.
The colonial guilt is understandable. Hughes is English and the British dominance of India is within living memory, while the pains of earlier invaders have receded with time.
Thus, there was no criticisms of the Mughals who swept down from the Asian Steppe to conquer the sub-continent, and likewise the Romans, Arabs, Portuguese and the other “waves of visitors and settlers.”
This, however, is a minor criticism. Hughes reminded this one-time visitor to India that it is one of the most captivating counties on earth, with a diversity unimagined elsewhere.
It is home to so many ways of thinking and some of the world’s most significant religions in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Islam.
It’s time to get on the phone and check out the flights.
***
Tour de France, Eurosport and ITV4
Another great country is getting its annual exposure through the Tour de France.
With the stain of drug taking gradually being washed away, Le Tour is again a joy, with red hot competition in the most wonderful setting.
There is no sport with such a visually impressive backdrop and this year’s race is making use of every dramatic mountain range in France – the Pyrenees, Alps, Jura and Massif Central.
It’s the antithesis of the scenes of rioting in the cities and while France undoubtedly has problems, Le Tour is a reminder of its magnificence.
