Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
Temple Gopurams As Royal Defiance
Most of the tall gopurams we see in South India today were built by Nayaka kings of Telugu origin. Most are three to four centuries old, built during and after the Vijayangar period. Nayaka rulers reimagined Ram and Krishna as political and theological answers to the Islamic and Indo-Persian imperial culture that shaped North and…
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Articles
जानें मंदिरों को रथ और विमान कहने के पीछे क्या रहस्य है
पशुपालक जहाँ भी जाते वहाँ वे इन मंदिरों को ले जाते थे। यही कारण है कि कई सदियों बाद पत्थर से बने विशाल मंदिरों को रथ कहा गया। …
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Articles
The History of the Hindu Temple
It was only around 2,000 years ago that we began to see the first sculptures of Hindu gods in Mathura. Interestingly, images of Shiva, Vishnu, and the Goddess also appear on Kushan coins from the same period, though scholars debate whether these are truly Hindu deities or representations shaped by Zoroastrian and Greek influences…
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Articles
The Head On the Temple
On the top of many Hindu temples, one finds the image of a head looking down on the people below — his eyes protruding from its sockets, his mouth wide open, his tongue out. This is called the Kirtimukha, the Head of Glory, or Vajramukha, the Eternal Head…
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Articles
The Hindu Idea of Pilgrimage
Temples are becoming tourist spots. Festivals are becoming experience centres. Local priests are eager to provide customer delight. Politicians are figuring out ways to make profit by ensuring their people get lucrative contracts for hotels and restaurants. …
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Articles
How to Visit a Temple
A visit to a Hindu temple can be a lesson in history and geography, politics and economics, along with spiritual upliftment. If we allow it, the structure, to speak to us…
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Articles
Feet Of Fortune
After the devotee pays obeisance to the deity (darshan), the priest places a crown on his head. But it is not quite a crown. On top are the footprints of the deity…
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Articles
The Turtle In Shiva’s Temple
Between the Nandi Bull and the Shiva Linga is a turtle. No one quite knows the significance of this turtle, though many interpretations have been offered…
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Articles
The Return of Idolatry
As Hindu Rashtra prepares to establish itself with the grand inauguration of the Ram temple of Ayodhya on January 22, it is good to remind ourselves that 200 years ago, the Hindu elite was defensive and apologetic about Hindu idolatry…
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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
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
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…
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Articles
The Story of Stolen Gods
In the medieval times, Indian kings declared their victory by bringing back home images of gods that were worshipped in the land they conquered. These gods became minor deities in the victor’s temple, living in the shadow of the victor’s patron deity, just as the defeated king lived in the shadow of the victor. It…