Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
-
Articles
Even the Gods played sport
We can safely say that sport in India began in both agricultural communities as well as martial communities…
-
Articles
Using Puranas for politics
Politics may change but there is always a political enemy, and so the Puranas lend themselves to serve as communication and even propaganda tools to whip up popular sentiment…
-
Articles
Why are Brahmin and Kshatriya aspirational for most Hindus and not Vaishya and Shudra?
The chatur-varna system or the four-fold division of society was the hallmark of Vedic society. But it is completely theoretical, probably based on “aptitude” rather than “birth” but one is not entirely sure…
-
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 …
-
Articles
Is Hinduism the same as Hindutva?
A crude, but useful way to understand the relationship between Hinduism and Hindutva is to study Hindu history…
-
Articles
What exactly is the Manusmriti?
Many assume Mansumriti to be the law book of Hindus. It is not…
-
Articles
How to spot a lesbian in sacred Indian art
Is it our discomfort with homosexuality that makes us believe that it cannot be part of the sacred?…
-
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…
-
Articles
The faces of Mahalakshmi
While the word Mahalakshmi evokes images of the Hindu goddess of wealth seated on a lotus, the deity in Kolhapur, referred to as Amba-bai by locals, evokes Durga, the goddess of war…
-
Articles
Nathdwara God in the Haveli
To devotees, Shrinathji at Nathdwara is the swayambhu (self-created) and swarupa (self-image, not representation) of the seven-year old Krishna…
-
Articles
The Bacchus of Bharat
On the fringes of mainstream Hinduism lie the stories of Kilkari Bhairava — raw and elemental, they deal with sex and violence…
-
Articles
Shrine a light
That a Muslim tomb is the most popular image of India may exasperate some but the Taj Mahal is emblematic of the many kinds of pilgrimages we undertake…
-
Articles
Superstition and the inherent cruelty of rationalists
Rationality, secularism, religion, and superstition are parts of the same continuum called culture…
-
Articles
Two Birds in Jaipur
About the vast wisdom imbibed in our ancient texts,waiting to enlighten us…
-
Articles
The tale of two epics
A hypothesis that the Ramayana and Mahabharata were reactions to Buddhism…
