Religions
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Tantrik Temples In Faraway Java
Published on 4th December, 2022, in Mid-day. Indonesia today is a Muslim country except for the island of Bali. However, over 1,000 years ago, the island of Java saw great competition between Tantric Buddhism and Tantric Hinduism. This resulted in…
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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…
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The Boar of Kantara Has Much Significance In Our Mythology
Published on 2nd December, 2022, in The Hindu. The domesticated pig descended from the wild boar. The wild boar is a forager, the domesticated pig is a scavenger. Symbolically, they are a reminder of wild nature and cultivated culture. The…
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American Snakes in Hindu Ganga
Published on 27th November, 2022, in Mid-day. A section of American Hindus are trying to turn the phrase “snakes in the Ganga” into a neo-Hindutva metaphor for Hinduphobia. This is highly disrespectful to revered Naga-devata or snake deities of Indian…
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India and China Have Received Many Ideas from Each Other
Published on 26th November, 2022, in Economic Times. Nationalists in India and China love the idea that their culture influenced the world, but hate the idea that their culture was influenced by the world. While the Chinese preferred isolating themselves…
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Why Goan Hinduism Is Unique in India?
Published on 18th November, 2022, in Times of India. Goa is a sliver of land between the Western ghats and the sea, divided by rivers opening up to estuaries, much like Kerala, visited by sea traders for the past 4,000…
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Grandchild of Vedic Waters
Published on 13th November, 2022, in Mid-day. Of the thousand songs in the Rig Veda, we find 200 songs praising Agni. In fact, the first song of the Rigveda is a praise to Agni, who is called the priest and…
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Dharma Governance and Chakravarti Government
Published on 11th November, 2022, in Economic Times. Forming the Government is not the same as Governance. This is most beautifully understood when we compare the concept of Dharma-raja and the Chakravarthi. Dharma-raja is one who rules by dharma. Chakravarti…
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Why Some Gods Dance and Some Don’t
Published on 6th November, 2022, in the Times of India. One of the things we take for granted in Hinduism is dancing. Hindu gods dance. Shiva dances his Tandava as Nataraja surrounded by ganas and yoginis. Vishnu dances in the…
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Again and Again and Again
Published on 6th November, 2022, in Mid-day. In Greek mythology, we hear the story of Sisyphus. The gods condemn him to roll a rock up the mountain all day, only to find the rock rolling down at night. Thus, he…
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The Women In Buddhism
Published on 4th November, 2022, in The Hindu. All religions insist they respect women. However they all have stories, art and laws that are rather patriarchal, if not outrightly misogynistic. When this is pointed out, believers and followers tend to…
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Tell Me the Story of Chhat Puja
Published on 30th October, 2022, in Mid-day. Many people asked me what is the significance of Chhat puja. They want to know a story, for example, there is a story of Ram’s return to Ayodhya on Diwali, and Lakshmi entering…
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Collaboration in a Vedic Ritual
Published on 29th October, 2022, in Economic Times. View: Ancient cultures prioritised collaboration over competition, for the larger good of the world When asked what Vedic society was like, historians tend to describe it as a pastoral society led by…
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Distracted by Balaram’s Beauty
Published on 23rd October, 2022, in Mid-day. In Persian lore, we hear the story of Yusuf (biblical Joseph), the son of Yaqub (Jacob). Yusuf was a very nice person, very handsome, extremely talented, much loved by his father, to the…
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The Mountains That Stopped Eagles
Published on 23rd October, 2022, in The Times of India. The mountains that stopped eagles and killed Hindus – Was Hindu Kush where millions of Hindus died? The Hindu Kush mountains separates South Asia from Afghanistan. These are the mountains…
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Cholas In Focus
Published on 16th October, 2022, in The Hindu. Cholas in focus: 12th century war poem ‘Kalingathu Parani’ celebrates the dynasty’s exploits against the Kalinga kingdom. The poem is narrated by ghosts who are companions of a fearsome goddess called Anangu.…