Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
Evangelism, Crusades, Inquisition
Evangelism, Crusades and Inquisition are three terms that come to us from Christian history…
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Articles
Historians too should share the blame for the rise of religious radicalism
It is easy to blame radical politicians and religious leaders for igniting the spark. But let’s not forget those who fuel the fire…
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Articles
What exactly happens after death according to Hinduism?
The simple answer is, we can either be reborn (punar-janma) and experience life once again, or be liberated (moksha) from the cycle of rebirth (samsara). However, the answer is a bit more complex if we see it geographically and historically…
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Articles
Can I be a Hindu and still an atheist?
Since no one can actually define Hinduism, the simple answer is: yes…
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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…
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Articles
Who made God Perfect?
When Shiva and Vishnu merge into one being Hari-Hara, to show they are the same, not different, not higher or lower…
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Articles
Is a Hindu prayer different from a Christian or Muslim prayer?
Prayers exist in a mythic worldview, and depending on the worldview, the nature of the prayer is different…
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Articles
CNN’s Believer: Reza Aslan’s show on Hindu mendicants is bigoted no matter how you look at it
The author and TV host has been criticised for his feature on India’s Aghoris…
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Articles
Question for the Alt-Fact world: Why can’t truth be plural?
When truth is singular, it becomes a territory and thus, a battlefield…
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Articles
Gods of plurality
Plurality is described as respecting each other’s faith. But what if there is something unworthy of respect in the other’s faith…
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Interviews
Similarities between Greek and Hindu mythology are superficial
An interview between Dr Devdutt Pattanaik and Shinie Antony for FirstPost…
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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
Virgin Mary in Vailankanni
At her shrine in Vailankanni, Tamil Nadu, devotees bow to her, stretch out their hands and crawl to her shrine to express their devotion and faith…
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Articles
Glamour of vengeful gods
Faith now manifests not as patience, but as impatience, even intolerance…
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Articles
How Indian sages viewed violence (and why western mythology has such different ideas about it)
In Greek myth, violence is part of a movement from chaos to order. But Indian myth lays out that as long as violence exists, it will beget violence…
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Articles
Is Hinduism A Religion, A Myth Or Something Else?
Words are not ‘objective truths’ as we assume, but ‘subjective truths’, imbued with power and embedded in politics…