Religions
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Kailasa in Cambodia
A few decades before the Chola king Rajaraja I built the Brihadeeswara Temple in Tamil Nadu, around 1000 AD, a Khmer king called Jayavarman IV had begun building a temple to replicate the Kailasa mountain in Cambodia, at Koh Ker,…
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Abandoned twins: Kripa and Kripi
One day, King Shantanu stumbles upon two abandoned babies on the forest floor: a boy and a girl. He adopts them, names them Kripa and Kripi, and raises them.
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Why Buddhists Erased a Queen From History
Buddhism is seen today as the religion of social justice. Yet, in ancient and medieval times, the Buddhist monastic discipline spread concepts of misogyny wherever it went.
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The Non-Brahmin Priests of Hinduism
Hinduism has many groups and communities. Different castes and tribes have different gods. Each of these gods have different priests.
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Many Forms of the Buddha
Over time, the Buddha images multiplied in form and scale. They were carved seated, standing, reclining, and even walking. They spread from India to Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China, and Tibet. Giant Buddhas were cut into cliffs along trade routes,…
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Why is Marxism turning homophobic?
Marxist movements have always aligned with groups seen as oppressed by capitalist regimes. On one side, progressive left voices (e.g., queer activists, gender-fluid theorists) proclaim ‘no binaries, no genders.’ On the other, Marxist solidarity movements justify or ignore homophobia when…
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Three Dharmic Archetypes
Hindu mythology expresses personal transformation of leaders through three archetypes: Indra, Shiva and Vishnu. The worlds they create are Swarga, Kailasa and Vaikuntha.
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The Buddha and His Impact On Brahminism
Vishnu takes the form of Buddha to save animals from being slaughtered in Vedic rituals. Today, many Hindus get upset when told that Vedic rituals involved animal sacrifice. Clearly, Buddhist influence on Vedic Brahmins has been profound, though always denied.
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Decoding Invisible Hunger and Fear
Where there is pursuit of food, there is hunger. Where there is hunger there is competition, collaboration, success and failure.
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From ‘makhan-chor’ to rebel icon, MP’s recasting of Krishna echoes Gujarat’s warrior tradition
Many Sanatani Hindus do not like the idea of Krishna, the beloved of women. They prefer Krishna, the warrior, admired by men. Krishna allows such interpretations because we are looking at a deity who has evolved over at least 2,000…
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Dravidian Iron for the Aryan Horse
Colonial historians argued the ‘Aryan invasion theory’ that light-skinned chariot-riding people destroyed Harappan cities, conquered India, enslaved local dark-skinned people and created the caste system. To counter this, there was the ‘out of India’ theory popularised by many Brahmins, that…
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Dalai Lama: Politics of reincarnation
The Dalai Lama plans to declare where he will be reincarnated in his next life. In other words, where his successor will be born. To the rational mind, this may sound like a bizarre proposition, but it has annoyed the…
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Ashoka’s Afterlife
Historians amplify the rational and secular aspects of Ashoka’s inscriptions, and play down the mythical elements, use of words like paraloka and swarga. These would indicate Ashoka’s need to perform ritual acts to ensure a positive fate in the afterlife.
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Shiva, the Teacher
Most texts describe Buddhism as a reaction to Vedic ritualism, but they fail to discuss how Shaivism was a response to Buddhism.
