2020 / Articles
-
Does Hindu Meal Include Dalit Food?
Published on 28th December, 2020, in Mid-day. Have you been offered Hindu meals on flights? What is it? North Indian food, or South Indian? Does it include Dalit food? What is Dalit food? The word “Dalit” homogenises hundreds of communities…
-
Sea of Spices: How Trade Gets Intertwined With Myths
Published on 26th December, 2020, in Economic Times. There was a goddess called Harsiddhi Mata who resided atop a hill, overlooking the sea in the coastal areas of Gujarat and Sindh. She would see ships sailing by. There were those…
-
Pagans In Christmas
Published on 20th December, 2020, in Mid-day. The word “pagan” was used derisively by colonial powers to refer to non-Christian faiths, especially polytheistic ones that celebrated divinity through nature-plants, animals, rivers, mountains, stars. Yet, paganism contributed greatly to what we…
-
Hinduism Beyond Vedas
Published on 20th December, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror. Hinduism is typically taught through a historical lens. We are told that there was a Harappan period 4,000 years ago, followed by Vedic Period 3,000 years ago, followed by the Puranic Age,…
-
Mothers and Daughters of Rishi Bharadvaja
Published on 13th December, 2020, in Mid-day. Bharadvaja is a famous Rishi in ancient Hindu lore, listed as one of the Sapta Rishis, or the seven celestial sages. Bharadvaja is one of the sages that Ram meets on his exile.…
-
Of Thrill-Seekers and Deer Hunters
Published on 11th December, 2020, in Economic Times. In the forest, chasing the deer (mriga) creates a path (marga). Hence in Vedic texts, deer embodies a goal: the object of desire. In the Manusmriti, kings are warned not to indulge…
-
Hindu Parliament and Churning the Ocean of Milk
Published on 6th December, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror. The design of the Parliament building in Delhi was based on yogini shrines of North India that were built over 1,000 years ago. They are circular without a central roof, very different…
-
Mahasiddhas Of Tantrik Buddhism
Published on 6th December, 2020, in Mid-day. Buddhism has a vast history of 2,500 years. The earliest form of Buddhism is called Theravada Buddhism. Here, Buddha is visualised as a monk. Gautam Buddha was a prince, who abandoned his kingdom…
-
Fox With Nine Tails
Published on 29th November, 2020, in Mid-day. In ancient China, the belief was that as the common red fox grew older, it would get supernatural powers. Its colour would change and its tails would multiply. Therefore, with the passage of…
-
View: Can America Be Hindu Holy Land?
Published on 28th November, 2020, in Economic Times. In the 19th-century, Joseph Smith argued that he had found gold plates buried in the Americas. These gold plates, he said, told the secret history of the Christians. That during the Babylonian…
-
Hinglaj Mata In Pakistan
Published on 22nd November, 2020, in Mid-day. We often forget that there are still many Hindu temples in Pakistan, despite the state being avowedly Islamic, with clear blasphemy and anti-idolatry laws. These temples existed before Islam arrived in the subcontinent…
-
The Origins of Bharat Mata
Published on 22nd November, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror. Every Indian village is personified as a grama-devi. So, we have Chandigarh associated with the goddess Chandi. Calcutta is associated with the goddess, Kali. Mumbai is associated with the goddess, Mumba Devi.…
-
Bhrigu: The Father of Fortune
Published on 13th November, 2020, in Economic Times. Bhrigu is one of the Sapta Rishis. He is also famous nowadays because the Bhrigu Samhita, a Sanskrit astrological (Jyotisha) treatise compiled by him, is being used as a forecasting tool. A…
-
Angry Baby Rishis
Published on 8th November, 2020, in Mid-day. Puranas refer to stories of three rishis who, while still in their mother’s wombs, get very angry at the cruelties, injustices and meanness of people around them. So, they try to destroy the…
-
The Geography of Gods
Who Is a Hindu? The Geography of Gods. Published on 8th November, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror. Hinduism is typically taught through a historical lens. We are told that there was a Harappan period 4,000 years ago, followed by Vedic Period…
