Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
Ramayana Isn’t a Lesson In History Or Geography
Published on 8th October, 2022. in Times of India. Many people see Ramayana as history. This means they seek the exact location where the events of the Ramayana took place. But this poses a huge problem. Take the case of where Jatayu was killed. If one travels to Kerala, one finds the Chendamangalam site —…
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Articles
Tales of the Horned Sage
Published on 18th September, 2022, in Mid-day. The story of Rishyasringa Muni is found in the Ramayana. Dashratha had three wives, but no children. So, he called a sage to perform the ritual that would get him children. The rishi selected was Rishyasringa Muni. In Odia miniature paintings, Rishyasringa is depicted as having two horns.…
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Articles
Burning Lanka in Odisha
Published on 12th June, 2022, in Mid-day. Ravana-podi means burning effigies of Ravana. In the Gangetic plains, this happens at the end of autumn Navaratri after the rains on Vijaya Dashami. In Odisha’s Dasapalla, Nayagarh district, the same happens at the end of the spring Navaratri before the rains on Ram Navami. However, in another…
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Articles
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 the overactive toddler would not run too far away. Then there is the name Mandodari.…
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Articles
Mythology of Maternal Uncles
Published on 30th January, 2022, in Mid-day. The maternal uncle plays a very important role in Hindu scriptures. He is called the ‘Maama’. He is the brother who visits his sister’s house during the rakhi festival. She visits his house during Bhai Dooj, the final day of Diwali. He watches over her welfare. It is…
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Articles
Ramayana in Jataka
Published on 17th January, 2022, in Mid-day. The Ramayana story reveals the Vedic world that thrived in the Gangetic plains between 1,000 CE and 500 CE, though the story itself came to be written between 200 BCE and 200 CE. Buddhist Jataka tales also written at the same time tell stories that are curiously similar…
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Articles
Why 14 Years of Exile?
Published on 2nd January, 2022, in Mid-day. There are two big mysteries in Hindu mythology. One, why does Kaikai ask Ram to be exiled only for 14 years? Two, why does Duryodhan demand that the Pandavas be exiled only for 13 years? Why did Kaikai not ask for Ram’s permanent exile? Or why did Duryodhan…
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Articles
Can the Ramayana Be Feminist?
Published on 5th June, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. The Ramayana has been seen differently by different people. It’s a story rooted in Vedic culture that thrived in 1,000 BCE, in the Gangetic plains. But it was put down in writing only 2,000 years ago, in classical Sanskrit. There are many Sanskrit texts claiming to be…
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Articles
Is Lanka Located In Madhya Pradesh?
Published on 28th February, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. Temples dedicated to Ravana in MP, and rulers claiming descent from him in this region, indicate that Lanka may not be across the ocean as imagined, but very much within Indian territory. Many people are convinced that the Ramayana they saw on television is history, and that…
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Articles
From ‘Shri’ Ram To ‘Siya’ Ram
Published om 6th September, 2020, in Mid-day. While laying the foundation stone of the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple on August 5, 2020, it was clear that no other Hindutva leader, other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was in the photograph that would be part of history. No woman was part of the ceremony, either, which is…
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Articles
Was Ram Born In Ayodhya?
Published on 6th August, 2020, in Mumbai Mirror. Devdutt Pattanaik, the author of The Book of Ram, answers some commonly asked questions. ♦ Was Ram actually born in Ayodhya? Hindus believe he was, just as Muslims believe Mecca is where Adam and Eve (Hawa) met after they were cast out of Eden, and Christians believe…
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Articles
An Unsuitable God
Published on 21st June, 2020, in Mid-day. In Vedic mythology we hear how the Ashwin Kumars were unsuitable gods, not allowed to partake the Soma offering. To get the offering, they approached Dadichi, who said that if he chanted the verses, then his head would split into a thousand pieces. So, the Ashwins replaced Dadichi’s…
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Articles
Five Unheard stories from the Ramayana
“Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana is based on the Awadhi retelling by Tulsidas, but it is not the ‘National’ Ramayana ”…
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Articles
Ram and Rain
Published on 24th November, 2019, in Mid-day In the Tulsi Ramcharitmanas, which was composed 500 years ago in the Gangetic plains, in the Awadhi language, we find a beautiful description of rain in Ram’s own words. He speaks during the four months of the rainy season, when he is waiting for the rain to end…
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Articles
When the concept of liberation is closely linked to the concept of debt
Published on 28th June, 2019, in Economic Times One of the key principles in Hindu mythology is the idea of rebirth. It means that no child is born on earth with a clean slate. He comes to the world with debt (rinn). This debt is of various kinds. We owe debt to our ancestors. Because…
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Articles
The non-violent Ram: Stories from the Jain tradition – and how they differ from the Hindu canon
Published on 12th May, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror Followers of Hindutva believe that Jainism is just a branch of Hinduism, despite the fact that it is deemed a minority religion in India’s Constitution. They often use the phrase Sanatan Dharma as an umbrella term to include both faiths. While there are no doubt many things…