Archive for August, 2005 |
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Book written by Seema Mohanty based on lectures of Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik Illustrated by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik One of the most unconventional yet immensely popular deities in the Hindu pantheon, goddess Kali essentially represents the dark and contrary aspects of the cosmos. Her naked form and association with violence, blood and gore challenge the very […]
This article was published in First City Magazine, New Delhi, July 2005 You cannot avoid commenting on Dan Brown’s book, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ which has taken the world by storm. Especially when you are a mythologist, and everybody asks you, “Is it true? Is Mary Magdalene really the ‘Holy Grail’? Was she really […]
This article was published in First City Magazine, New Delhi, March 2004
Two thousand five hundred years ago, Prince Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakya clan wanted to know the cause of suffering. When he discovered it, he became known as the Buddha, the enlightened one, enlightened enough to forge a path out of suffering into bliss.
Two […]
This article was published in First City Magazine, New Delhi, February 2004
Last year around February 14, there were a group of people who attacked shops selling Valentine’s Day trinkets denouncing them for pressuring Indian youths with Western ideas like ‘going on dates’ and encouraging pre-marital romance (hence sex).
We Indians – and I guess many citizens […]
This article was published in First City Magazine, New Delhi, in August 2004 It started as a tribute to dead warriors. Homer’s Iliad mentions that Achilles held funeral games on the shores of Troy in honor of his male lover, Patrolocus. Marcus and Decimus Brutus held the first gladiatorial games in Rome […]
An exploration of 99 classic myths of India from an entirely non-Western paradigm that provides a fresh understanding of the Hindu spiritual landscape. Compares and contrasts Indian mythology with the stories of the Bible, ancient Egypt, Greece, Scandinavia, and Mesopotamia. Looks at the evolution of Indian narratives and their interpretations over the millennia. Demonstrates how […]
The Hindu worldview considers every behavior and identity a possibility in this endless boundless cyclical universe. Hindu society, however, with its foundations in patriarchy and heterosexuality, deems non-conventional gender identities and sexual behaviors inappropriate for social stability. They are tolerated only in fringes, especially if they express themselves through patriarchal and heterosexual vocabulary. This conflict […]
The first exhaustive collection of goddess mythologies from India. It explores the evolution of goddess worship in India over 4,000 years with stunning color photographs that illustrate many stories of goddess lore never before available in one collection.
In India it is said that there is a goddess in every village, a nymph in every lake. […]
Lakshmi, the goddess of material abundance, affluence, authority and auspiciousness, is the most popular goddess of the Hindu pantheon. An understanding of her helps on appreciate the Hindu attitude towards wealth and power.
This book brings together:
Stories of the goddess compiled from Vedas, Puranas, Tantras and fold narratives Over 200 images from different parts of India, […]
Hanuman, the lord of monkeys, is one of the few gods in Hinduism to be worshipped across caste lines by followers of the Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta orders. He is admired for his strength, scholarship, wisdom, humility and celibacy.
This book is an attempt to understand the imagery, ritual and philosophy associated with Hanuman worship in […]
This is an attempt to understand the meaning of goddess worship in our time. Written in simple narrative style, it takes us through Shakta imagery, philosophy, beliefs, customs, history, folklore and myth.
The book reaches to young and old alike, bringing together tales of Adi-Maya-Shakti, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Parvati, Kali, Durga as well as several village-goddesses such […]
This is an attempt to understand the meaning of Vishnu worship in our time. Written in simple narrative style, it takes us through Vaishnava imagery, philosophy, beliefs, customs, history, folklore and myth.
The book reaches to young and old alike, retelling familiar legends of Rama and Krishna as well as unfamiliar ones like those of Vishnu’s […]
First City Magazine, New Delhi, July 2001
“Sex and violence are fundamentals of life. They rotate the cycle of life. Without sex, there is no life. There is violence every time we eat-when a fruit is plucked, a crop is harvested, an animal is killed. The Upanishads states that made up of the eaters and […]
by Vikram Doctor - Brand Equity, Economic Times[10-16 March 2000]
We know about management gurus and management mantras. But management and mythology? It’s easy to dismiss as yet another of those fads that management folks keep coming out with from time to time. But listen carefully to Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik - and managers from companies as […]
by Vinita Ramchandani the Week[4th Oct 1998]
DEVDUTT Pattanaik is a doctor. But then he could have been a space engineer, an environmentalist or a yoga instructor, illustrator, columnist and medical communicator. That’s not all. He can recite the 300 versions of Ramayana with as much ease as he can rattle off the Mahabharata or the […]
by Ranjit Hoskote - Sunday Times - Mumbai Edition, Times of India[12th July 1998]
Mumbai’s architectural heritage can turn into an occupational hazard if you happen to be walking down a street with Devdutt Pattanaik. Mr Pattanaik, a man of medicine to all outward appearances, leads a secret life as a mythologist. And, come hell or […]
This is an attempt to understand the meaning of Shiva worship in our time exploring various pictorial images of Shiva iconography, taking us through Shaivite philosophy, beliefs, history, folklore and myth. Written in a simple narrative style, and interspersed with familiar and unfamiliar tales retold, the book reaches out to young and old alike.
Highlights […]
This article was published in Times of India, page 2, on Saturday, 6th August 2005
With disaster striking Mumbai in the form of rains, media reports constantly refer to rain gods. But who are the rain gods? Indra? Yes, but when was the last time you saw a temple dedicated to him. Monsoon, in fact, […]
This article appeared in Economic Times, May, 2005“
Raw milk for Shiva and butter for Krishna.” That is what my mother told me whenever we went to temples. I have come to realize this divine culinary rule is very much the norm across India.
Last month I was had the opportunity to visit both Tirupati and Varanasi. […]
Hinduism is a socio-cultural phenomenon that evolved in the Indian sub-continent and spread to South-East Asia. It does not have a clearly defined God or one dominating philosophy or one holy book or one prophet or one church or one religious hierarchy. The secular and the sacred are not separated. Hence, Hinduism is referred to […]
Hinduism is a complex mixture of sublime Vedic philosophies, dogmatic Brahmanical rituals, Yogic mysticism, Tantrik occultism, fertility cults, monastic orders, pagan customs and the belief in one God who manifests as innumerable divine beings.
The oldest text known to Hinduism is the Rig Veda that reached its final form around 1500 BC. For at least 2000 […]
