Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
The Many Horse Invaders of India
India has been invaded several times, for over 3,000 years, by horse-breeding tribes from the steppes, grasslands north of the Himalayas, the last of whom were the Mughals, and the Mughals came only 500 years ago…
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Articles
How Brahmin Bureaucrats Thrived In Islamic Kingdoms
Hemadri Pandit feared the imminent arrival of Islam in the Deccan region. They had, by his time, already controlled the rich Ganga river plains. To protect the threatened Brahmin culture Hemadpant wrote the “Chatur-varga-chintamani ” (popularly known as Hemadri-shastra) – which lists activities to be performed to live a fulfilled life…
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Articles
Why is Holi celebrated more in north India than south India?
Holi is indeed celebrated mostly in north India, not south India. No one knows the reason why…
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Articles
Holi for Shiva, Holi for Vishnu
Why do we celebrate Holi? The standard answers we get in websites link Holi to Vishnu—he who preserves the world as per Hindu mythology…
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Articles
Hinduism in Maharashtra
Today, we see Maharashtra as a land defined by political boundaries. But traditionally it has been the land of the Marathi-speaking people, who speak a set of multiple dialects that emerged from Maharashtri Prakrit and was deeply influenced by Sanskrit (which Brahmins encouraged) and even Persian (which Brahmins hated)…
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Articles
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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Articles
Jinns and Aliens
When the Turkish soldiers from Khilji’s army, and later the Mughal army, saw the ruins of Ellora, they were convinced that these were supernatural creations. The caves were not created by humans, but created by jinns. Jinns are supernatural creatures referred to in the Quran. They live in a parallel universe. Like humans, they have…
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Articles
The Hindu History of Bengal
Published on 6th May, 2023, in Times of India. When we talk about Bengal, we speak of its partition. The eastern part became Muslim Bangladesh, the western part became communist West Bengal. It almost seemed as if Hinduism had been wiped out in this eastern corner of India. Yet, this is where Hinduism was defined…
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Articles
Diverse tombs of the rulers of Turkey, Iran and India show that the Islamic world was not homogeneous
Published on 24th February, 2023, in The Hindu. After the sack of Baghdad in the 13th century, the Islamic world, dominated by Arabs since the 8th century, gave way to the Ottomans in Turkey, the Safavids in Iran, and the Mughals in India. These empires owed their success not to religion, but to gunpowder, a…
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Articles
Donation of Courtesans
Published on 17th February, 2023, in Economic Times. Chanakya’s Arthashastra talks about appointing a superintendent for the ganika, variously translated as pleasure women, prostitutes or courtesans. This is done in a matter-of-fact way. No morality is attached. Ganikas were valuable sources of pleasure, income and information for the state. These were not prostitutes, who have…
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Articles
View: Privilege to Saraswati at the cost of Durga & Lakshmi is an old Brahmanical hangover
Published on 21st January, 2023, in Economic Times. In America, the state serves the rich. In China, the rich serve the state. The American politicians get the military to ensure American businesses have access to resources and markets. The Chinese politicians restrain most successful businessmen from gambling away the country’s future in speculative stock market…
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Articles
In Joshimath, the question is: What is the cost of pilgrimage?
Published on 12th January, 2023, in Indian Express. The pandas of Jagannath Puri in Odisha are often chastised for aggressively demanding daan and dakshina from pilgrims. They argue the temple is their mother – she feeds them through those who visit the temple. This idea that pilgrim spots are also commercial spots, source of livelihood…
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Articles
History of How Brahmins Migrated to All Parts of India
Published on 31st December, 2022, in Times of India. To appreciate the history of Africa, we have to study the history of its many tribes. To appreciate the history of India we have to study its many castes. Not the caste system. Just castes – what foods were prepared by different endogamous groups, what kind…
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Articles
Those Who Give Gifts Voluntarily Are Truly Rare and Great
Published on 10th December, 2022, in Economic Times. Many people think the world is unravelling itself today. Politicians insist this unravelling began a thousand years ago with the coming of Muslim warlords of Central Asia (Turuka) followed by the Europeans. But as per Sanskrit lore, this began two thousand years ago, with the arrival of…
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Articles
How Did Jainism Survive In India?
Published on 3rd December, 2023, in The Times of India. Until its revival in the 20th century by Babasaheb Ambedkar — as part of the Navayana movement for Dalit upliftment — Buddhism had all but been forgotten in the land of its birth. By contrast, Jainism maintained a tenacious hold in mainland India. This despite…
