On the southern edge of Madras, India’s fourth largest city, nestled between the sea and one of the city’s busiest boulevards, is a sprawling, well-wooded compound known locally as Adyar. For more than 100 years, Adyar has been the international headquarters of the Theosophical Society, a worldwide organization dedicated to the promotion of Eastern religious thought and the occult. Nowadays, Adyar is chiefly famous among Madrassis for its large banyan tree, reputedly the world’s largest. But more than a century ago, this quiet park witnessed the beginning of …
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