2023
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Lives of Adi Shankaracharya
With all these different sources, one wonders what the truth about Shankaracharya is.
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From Shiva’s Knot to Ram’s Chanda Mama – Our Stories of the Moon
As Chandrayaan-3 lands on the moon, it just so happens that the name of the current Chief Justice of India, D Y Chandrachud, means “on whose brow the moon takes refuge” – a title for Shiva.
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Bahubali: 63 Insights Into Jainism
In Bahubali, Devdutt Pattanaik explores the stories, symbols, rituals and ideas associated with one of India’s most ancient but lesser-known faiths, and shows us why the tenets of Jainism are still very relevant to all of us even today.
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Oppenheimer’s Gita
Many Indians get excited when White People read Indian religious texts. Hindutva WhatsApp groups proudly shared how Oppenheimer, Father of Atomic Bomb, quoted lines from the Gita. But Oppenheimer quotes: “That I am death and destroyer of the world”. However,…
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From Fortune’s Favourite to Mother’s Son
Indians have visualised India in many different ways. Often through the lens of outsiders. About 4,500 years ago, the kings of Mesopotamia referred to the coast of Gujarat as Meluhha from where they imported beads, cotton, chicken, dogs and buffaloes.…
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Hill Fairies Who Abduct Men
The idea of enchanting magical women abducting men is a recurring idea around the world.
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Why Stories of Floating Idols Crashing Ships Continues to Endure
The idea of a temple or a deity attracting ships, forcing them to move off course and causing shipwrecks by their magnetic power is also found on the western coast of India.
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Raiders and Traders of the Desert
What turned Muhammad, the trader, into Muhammad, the raider? It was the lack of empathy.
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Rashtra-Devta Inside a Tree
A king’s dream about a god in a tree connects Manipur and Sri Lanka with Odisha.
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When the Rising Sun in the South Was Auspicious
The South has been the home of Sugriva, king of monkeys (vanara) and Ravana, king of demons (rakshasa).
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The Goddess Came Later
We can argue that goddesses have been integral to Hinduism since Vedic times. But of the 1,000 hymns of the Rig Veda only the maximum number of hymns dedicated to a goddess as the 21 hymns for Usha, the dawn-goddess.
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Seventy-Two, Not Just Houri
But in mythology, seventy two is a very exciting number. It is 2 raise the power of 3 (2x2x2) multiplied by 3 raise to the power of 2 (3×3). A perfect symmetry which gives us 8×9 = 72. In ancient…
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Which Game Are You Playing Today?
Increasingly, modern society is trying to turn every game into a competitive game, where someone has to be defeated to win. The dopamine rush comes only when you triumph over others. This is the value that we are giving people.
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Where Vishnu Serves Buddha
Many Hindus argue that the ninth avatar of Vishnu is Buddha. But hardly any Hindus know about how Vishnu is a guardian-god in the Buddhist faith in Sri Lanka.
