UPSC
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What was Rig Vedic society like?
Rig Vedic society reflects a long and uneven transition from a predominantly pastoral mode of life to a more settled agrarian order, accompanied by the gradual emergence of social hierarchies.
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How Metaphors Reveal Ancient India’s Cultural Secrets
Early Indian metaphors emerge from three very different cultural zones: the Vedic northwest, the Tamil south, and the Prakrit-speaking Deccan. Each region had its own climate, flora, fauna, settlement pattern, and historical rhythm.
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Brief History of Rasa, India’s Aesthetic Theory
Ancient Indians analysed the experience of beauty (aesthetics) using the rasa theory. Rasa means juice. Just as the mere thought of food makes the mouth water, the experience of art generates a flow of aesthetic juices (rasa) in the audience…
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Is Buddha a historical or a mythological figure?
No one ever talks about the “300 Buddhas” or the many narratives that recount the story of the Buddha. The assumption is that the Buddha is a historical figure, even though every Buddhist scholar knows that the Buddha story we…
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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…
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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…
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The History of the Hindu Temple
It was only around 2,000 years ago that we began to see the first sculptures of Hindu gods in Mathura. Interestingly, images of Shiva, Vishnu, and the Goddess also appear on Kushan coins from the same period, though scholars debate…
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Legacy of Brahmi in Modern Languages
Why is the Ashokan script called the Brahmi script? Was it known so in Mauryan times? We do not know. Early scholars referred to it as “pin-man” script, then “Lat” script (from lathi, or staff, as the Ashokan pillars were…
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Stories Behind Diverse Calendars of India
India has many calendars; different communities use different calendars in different regions. Therefore, it is very difficult to create a single Indian calendar, even if it follows traditional rules.
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Cultural Significance of the Buffalo
Buffaloes are found in ponds, rivers, marshes, and wetlands meant for rice cultivation. Cows, on the other hand, prefer drier jungle areas. India has both dry jungles and wet river basins.
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Funeral practices across faiths and regions in India
Different cultures imagine the afterlife differently and so have different funeral practices.
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Rise of the Brahmi Script
The ancient Indian writing system or the Brahmi is unique in that it is an abugida – which falls between an alphabet (vowels and consonants are separate) and a syllabary (vowels and consonants are merged).
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Cultural Significance of State Trees
Every state in India has a tree. Unfortunately, when you go to the various railway stations and airports in the capital city of each state, you do not find the state tree.
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Cultural Significance Of Elephant and Horse
The elephant and the horse have played a major role in shaping Indian culture. The elephant is native to India; the horse is not.
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Sultan, Badshah and Shahenshah: What These Titles Say About India’s Muslim Rulers
Politicians usually refer to the Islamic period (1000 to 1800) as the Mughal period (1500-1800), but that is not quite correct.
