Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
Who is a guru?
Different people in different contexts use the word guru differently to refer to different kinds of people…
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Articles
Who is a Hindu? Always and everywhere
The notion that religious texts have always been around may be rooted in the timelessness of philosophies…
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Articles
God’s Marital Status
Is celibacy or singleness a prerequisite to seek an ideal world? It’s another matter that marital pleasures are fine for temple deities with their consorts…
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Articles
Did arrival of Muslim invaders a thousand years ago destroy Hindu culture?
Published on 31st May, 2017, on www.dailyo.in . The arrival of Muslim invaders a thousand years ago dramatically transformed the Hindu culture. Like in any invasion, there was destruction, mayhem and trauma. Hindu Kush in Afghanistan literally means ‘killer of Hindu (slaves)’ during early phase of this invasion and the ruins of Vijayanagara by a…
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Articles
What is Tamil Veda?
Depending on who you ask, you will find one of three books identified as the Tamil Veda, locally known as Dravida Veda or Tamil Marai…
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Articles
Eternal or progressing truths
From the Vedas through the Upanishads, Puranas and Bhakti poetry, we see the struggle to communicate the same Vedic idea in a way that is more relevant and meaningful to a particular context…
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Articles
The Curious Case Of Two Valmikis
Published on 27th January, 2017, in The Speaking Tree. Rishi Valmiki is known as Adi Kavi, the first poet, who composed the first mahakavya, epic, the Ramayana, that chronicles the life of Rama, prince of Ayodhya. In the final chapter of the epic, Uttara Kanda, we learn how he teaches the story to Luv and…
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Articles
Epics as Novels
Most people in India are not familiar with the Sanskrit Ramayana or Mahabharata. We read popular versions…
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Articles
The Bahubali saga
The 57-feet-tall statue, built centuries ago, is still Karnataka’s pride…
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Articles
Reverse devotion
The most peculiar form of devotion is called reverse devotion, or devotion of the enemy. This is viparit-bhakti…
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Articles
Is a yogini a female yogi, or a wild erotic witch?
The answer depends on what feelings are evoked in you by these four words: yogi, wild, erotic and witch…
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Articles
Amritsar: The Lake of Nectar
The Golden Temple is located in the middle of a water body considered to be an elixir of eternal life…
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Articles
Ranganatha, and his Muslim consort
Six hours from Chennai is the shrine of Ranganatha-swamy, where Vishnu is reclining as Narayana, on the coils of the five-hooded serpent known as Adi-Sesha…
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Articles
God in Indian history
So questions are raised: is Hinduism polytheistic (many gods), monotheistic (one God), pantheistic, monistic, henotheistic or kat henotheistic?…
