Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
When India First Smelted Iron
Nowadays, we take iron and steel for granted, but it is worth pausing to ask when iron first appeared around the world. Everyone has heard of the Bronze Age. The Harappan cities of northwest India were Bronze Age cities, built on a foundation of copper and bronze. But it is quite possible that the global…
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Articles
How Many Manus Do You know?
Most people assume that Manu is simply the stern lawgiver of the Manusmriti, son of Brahma, entrusted with the task of framing rules for humankind. But this Manu is only one among many, and a relatively late one at that — emerging around 200 AD. …
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Articles
What makes the idea of ‘sanatan dharma’ such a contentious issue
What is sanatan dharma? Sanatan dharma can mean: One, faith in eternal things; two, faith in soul and rebirth; three, faith in the caste system; four, faith in the doctrine of purity…
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Was Brahma ever Timeless?
The word Sanantan Dharma used by politicians tries to proclaim that Hinduism is unchanging and the only disruption came because of Muslims and British, and their political opponents. But that is not true. …
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Articles
Why no Diwali and Dussehra in Kerala and Kashmir
Religions are never homogeneous. Hinduism is no exception. A case in point is how Diwali and Dussehra are not celebrated in Kashmir or Kerala with the same gusto seen across North, West and East India…
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Articles
Are Horses Native to India?
Many people are arguing that horses are native to India and were domesticated here in pre-historic times. They argue that cave paintings of horses in Bhimbetka prove that horses existed in India even before the Harappan period (2500-2000 BC). But this is simply not true…
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Articles
उत्तर यूरोप के आख्यान शास्त्र से जानें एक विलक्षण अश्व की कहानी
आज के लेख के माध्यम से भारत से दूर उत्तर यूरोप तक यात्रा करके वहाँ के नॉर्स लोगों के आख्यान शास्त्र के बारे में जानते हैं। ये लोग लगभग एक हज़ार वर्ष पहले वहाँ जीते थे।…
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Articles
When Billionaires Speak of The Antichrist
Peter Thiel – venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder – recently used the Christian myth of Antichrist to describe everyone who fears and resists technological change. In other words, for him technology is Christ, saviour, God even…
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Articles
गणेशजी का नाग उनके मूषक का शिकार क्यों नहीं करता?
गणेशजी की एक उपाधि लम्बोदर है। उनका उदर समृद्धि और प्रचुरता का प्रतीक है। उनका गज का सर हममें शक्ति की भावना उत्पन्न करता है। उनका वाहन एक मूषक है, जो बाधाओं को पार करके गोदामों तक पहुँचकर अनाज जमा करने के लिए जाना जाता है। मूषकों को पकड़ना कठिन होता है। रोचक बात यह…
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Articles
Pigeon Spirituality
Who funds these monks who promote non-violence and vegetarian food? Those who make money from industries that pollute rivers, seas, and air. India’s biggest industrialists are vegetarians. …
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Articles
Is Lingayat a caste or a religion?
The Lingayat community today insists it is a separate religion. They refuse to be placed within the Veerashaiva fold, or being seen as a subset of Hinduism. This demand has upset those who seek to unite Hinduism under a single umbrella by referring to it as ‘sanatan dharma’…
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Articles
आइए पाँच हज़ार वर्षों का सफ़र तय करते हैं सात दिनों में
आज के लेख के लिए कुछ रोचक करते हैं और वह है भारत के इतिहास को केवल एक सप्ताह में संक्षिप्त करना। हड़प्पा की सभ्यता से लेकर आधुनिक काल तक भारत का इतिहास लगभग 5000 वर्ष पुराना है। इसलिए, इस एक सप्ताह का प्रत्येक दिन लगभग 700 वर्षों की अवधि का होगा। आइए देखते हैं…
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Articles
Hindu Temples in Cambodia and Thailand
The recent skirmish between Cambodia and Thailand caught Indian attention not because of Buddhist politics but because the fight was over a Hindu temple perched on the border of two Buddhist nations. …
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Articles
विजयनगर जहाँ स्थापित हुआ वहाँ किया था ख़रगोशों ने भेड़ियों पर वार
अगले दो लेखों के माध्यम से हम आधुनिक कर्णाटक राज्य के क्षेत्र के पिछली तीन सहस्त्राब्दियों के इतिहास के बारे में जानेंगे।…
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Articles
Reclaiming the Festival of Lights
Diwali is the Prakrit way of saying Deepavali, a Sanskrit word meaning ‘the festival of lights’. This festival has been increasingly dominated by a single Hindi-belt narrative: that it commemorates the Rama’s return to Ayodhya after his forest-exile. But Diwali is also about Krishna, and Yama, and Lakshmi, and Bali…