Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
The Politics of Ghosts
The spirits of the dead people were considered to be powerful, and these spirits are channelized during special ceremonies by special groups of people who are associated with singing, dancing, playing drums and going into trance. …
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Articles
Is Green an Islamic Colour?
Since green is the dominant colour of the Pakistan flag, many Sanatani Hindutva folks see it as the colour of Islam. …
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Articles
Fifth Veda Uses Gender As a Metaphor
We need to remember that as per popular lore, the gods created the Puranas as the Fifth Veda to transmit Vedic wisdom to women and lowborn people who did not have access to the mantra and the ritual…
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Articles
The Forest and the Field
Increasingly, we find laws that protect forests being cut down, giving way for industries. This brings tribal communities into conflict with the state. …
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Articles
The History of Draupadi’s Vastraharan
When we study the history of the story, we realise that Draupadi’s disrobing and rerobing by Krishna was never part of the earliest layers of the epic…
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Articles
Alone As the Rhinoceros’ Horn
We know the one-horned rhino is the state animal of Assam. As per a folk poetry in the Terai region, Vishwakarma created this beast by mixing elephant skin, horse hooves, crocodile eyes, bear brain, lion heart and a bull’s horn…
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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
The Influence of Vikramaditya
Today’s politicians have convinced themselves and their vote bank that they exist to defend Hindu …
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Articles
Retelling Tales of Temple Plunder
While we want to reduce communal tensions created using history, we should not try to overstretch a point to make it seem like Muslim invasions did not bring about a major cultural shift in India’s past. …
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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
From Fortune’s Favourite to Mother’s Son
Indians have visualised India in many different ways. Often through the lens of outsiders. About …
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Articles
Why Stories of Floating Idols Crashing Ships Continues to Endure
The idea of a temple or a deity attracting ships, forcing them to move off course and causing shipwrecks by their magnetic power is also found on the western coast of India…
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Articles
Rashtra-Devta Inside a Tree
A king’s dream about a god in a tree connects Manipur and Sri Lanka with Odisha…
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Articles
Which Game Are You Playing Today?
Increasingly, modern society is trying to turn every game into a competitive game, where someone has to be defeated to win. The dopamine rush comes only when you triumph over others. This is the value that we are giving people. …
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Articles
How Gujarat Got Temples That Are Upside-down Or Topped With Mountain Peaks
Internet alien hunters have concluded that in Gujarat there is an underground upside-down temple, despite the fact that the ‘upside-down’ temple has upright images of Vishnu and his avatars…
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BooksFeatured Books
Tales From the Land of Jagannatha
There are 30 short essays in this book. They were written by renowned mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik over a ten-year period and published in various publications…