2022
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Claiming the Earth as Nation
Published on 22nd May, 2022, in Mid-day. In prehistoric times, people captured a hunting ground or agricultural land or pastures by claiming that is where the ancestor was buried. Burial was an important ritual invented by ancient people to claim…
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Kashmir Before Islam
Published on 21st May, 2022, in Times of India. The Muslims say that Suleiman (Solomon) came to Kashmir on a flying throne (takht), sat on a hill in Srinagar, and got his djinns to clear the lake, get rid of…
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Out of the Woods
Published on 20th May, 2022, in The Hindu. The word ‘history’ as we know it today, which means the scientific evidence-based understanding of the past, is less than 200 years old. The Sanskrit words ‘itihasa-purana’, both of which are translated…
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Why Scholars Don’t Agree About the Origins of the Shivlinga
Published on 18th May, 2022, in Times of India. Orientalist academicians love describing the Shiva-ling as a ‘phallic symbol’ because it irritates the Hindu who prefer to see the object of their devotion as something spiritual, not sexual. For the…
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Tales of Mandodari
Published on 15th May, 2022, in Mid-day. Lambodhara is the name given to Ganesha because he has a big belly. Damodhar is the name given to Krishna because a rope was tied by his mother around his waist to ensure…
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View: The Idea that People Are Driven by Economic Realities Is a Flawed Argument
Published on 14th May, 2022, in Economic Times. A Hindu temple is often called Deul. This is derived from the world Deva-kula, or the divine family. The land attached to the temple was called Deva-bhoga. That produce of this land…
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Lion Atop an Elephant
Published on 8th May, 2022, in Mid-day. A very common motif found in Indian art is the lion standing on top of the elephant, defeating it. These images are called the Gaja-Simha images, Gaja meaning the elephant and Simha meaning…
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How Nepal Came to Be Once Called ‘Asli Hindustan’
Published on 7th May, 2022, in Times of India. In the 18th century, as many tiny principalities and kingdoms of Nepal were being unified to one mighty kingdom, the king of Nepal saw his land as ‘Asli Hindustan’ and saw…
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Dogs, Rats, Unicorns and Other Animal Guilds
Published on 30th April, 2022, in Economic Times. Animals have a close relationship with human corporations and guilds. Nearly 4500 years ago, in the Harappan cities of Northwestern India, archeologists have found hundreds of soft stone seals, barely an inch…
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Creepy-Crawly Lore
Published on 1st May, 2022, in Mid-day. The story of Bhramari Devi comes to us from Andhra Pradesh’s Mallikarjuna temple. It is said that there was an asura called Arunasura. He had asked for protection from all creatures that have…
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Can Hanuman Protect Us From Political Sorcery?
Published on 27th April, 2022, in Times of India. Hanuman Chalisa is a 400-year-old Awadhi poem of forty (chalis) verses, aimed at invoking Hanuman to get health, wealth, wisdom, security, and success. Jai Hanuman Gyan gun sagar. Jai Kapis Tihun…
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Bankura Horse for Dharma Thakur
Published on 24th April, 2022, in Mid-day. Terracotta Bankura horses serve as decoration today. But for many centuries, these were offerings made in rural Bengal to the god Dharma who is formless and all-powerful. Stories about Dharma Thakur were written…
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The Jogi As Seasonal Hermit
Published on 23rd April, 2022, in The Hindu. In North India, especially in the Gangetic plains, in what is now Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, we find songs known as Baramasa. It is a 12-month cycle in poetry, expressing the…
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What Genghis Khan Can Teach Us About Secular Values
Published on 23rd April, 2022, in the Times of India. China today has a very problematic relationship with two provinces on its west. To the Northwest is Xinjiang, home of Uighur Muslims. To its Southwest is Tibet, home of Vajrayana…
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Brahmin Father, Dalit Mother
Published on 17th April, 2022, in Mid-day. From 16th-Century Kerala, comes the folktale, some say legend, called Parayi petta panthirukulam that informs us about a Dalit woman who bears a Brahmin man twelve illustrious children. Vararuchi, a learned Brahmin courtier,…
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Modern Management Is Essentially Violent As It Is Based on Consumption
Published on 16th April, 2022, in Economic Times. Consumption is violence. Bhoga (food) demands bali (sacrifice). Something has to be destroyed to produce the food that you consume. This is natural law. So the elements are consumed by trees. Trees…