Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
Why is Holi celebrated more in north India than south India?
Holi is indeed celebrated mostly in north India, not south India. No one knows the reason why…
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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
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
Krishna’s Sister and the Varying Interpretations Of Her Image
One of the oldest caves (number 27) in Ellora in Maharashtra, has the image of a goddess holding a lotus flower, flanked by two gods…
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Articles
How Hinduism Reached Manipur and Remains Entrenched
Published on 22nd May, 2023, in Times of India. Manipuri dance is a popular classical dance in India, which shows Raas Leela of Krishna, a reminder that Vaishnav parampara and Krishna bhakti reached even the eastern most state of Manipur. Northeast India is full of hills and valleys, full of tribes, who have a contentious…
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Articles
The Hindu History of Bengal
Published on 6th May, 2023, in Times of India. When we talk about Bengal, we speak of its partition. The eastern part became Muslim Bangladesh, the western part became communist West Bengal. It almost seemed as if Hinduism had been wiped out in this eastern corner of India. Yet, this is where Hinduism was defined…
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Articles
How Hara and Hari Helped Kings of Cambodia
Published on 17th December, 2022, in Times of India. In the 5th century AD, i.e. 1,500 years ago, the Gupta kings rose in India. They were amongst the earliest royal families to establish themselves through a Hindu framework. Following the Gupta period, trade with Rome was disrupted, as the Roman Empire collapsed. But trade from…
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Articles
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 years. Goan Hinduism is unique in India. The village structure that the Portuguese encountered five…
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Articles
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. When the Delhi Sultanate was being established in the north of India some 800 years…
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Articles
A Brief History of the Lion-Kings of Andhra
Published on 3rd July, 2022, in Times of India. Everyone knows about the famous Venktateshwara Balaji temple of Tirupati located in Andhra Pradesh. What is less known are the Narasimha temples found in coastal Andhra, flanking the rice-rich deltas of Krishna and Godavari. These temples became popular as the old Vedic form of Hinduism gave…
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Articles
No, It’s Neither a Sin Nor Un-Indian to Drink Alchohol
Published on 1st April, 2022, in Times of India. There are two types of alcohol. One produced by fermenting flowers, fruits and grain (Desi Daru). The other produced by distilling (English Daru). The former was produced in kitchens across India for thousands of years, offered to the many villages gods and goddesses, before the rise…
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Articles
The Dark Man on a White Horse
Published on 6th March, 2022, in Mid-day. Most Indians have heard about Somnath temple that was raided by Mahmud of Ghazni a thousand years ago. Very few know that in the same century, the Chola king from the south raided Odisha and Bengal and took back with him images of Shiva. Even fewer people know…
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Articles
‘Are We Seeking Cultural Unity By Denying History?’
Published on 12th February, 2022, in Times of India. Tall statues of men, using Indian money and Chinese technology, are being built across India to unite India. There is the Statue of Unity of Sardar Patel in Gujarat, the Statue of Equality of Ramanuja-acharya built near Hyderabad, and soon there will be the Statue of…
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Articles
From Shrinathji to Jagannath: How Krishna Avatars Change Across India.
Published on 29th January, 2022, in Times of India. Five hundred years ago, when the Mughals ruled north India, there was an explosion of Bhakti poetry across India. From north to south, people expressed their devotion to different forms of god using emotionally charged language. One of these forms of God was that of Krishna.…
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Articles
Tying the Knot
Published on 22nd August, 2021, in Mid-day. In Hindu metaphysics, yoga is the practice of untying mental knots. Bhoga is the experience of life that creates these mental knots. When we consume life, we experience hunger, fear, delight, jealousy, attachment, rage, greed, frustration, hatred, joy, and these various emotions and stimulations cause our mind to…
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Articles
Are Brahmins a Single, Homogenous Group?
Who is a Hindu? Are Brahmins a single, homogenous group? Published on 25th April, 2021, in Mumbai Mirror. Brahmins have to be distinguished from rishis, who actually ‘saw’ the mantras and transmitted them in the Vedas. They were different from tapasvis, sanyasis and sramanas who meditated, practiced yoga, and performed tantric rites. In theory, they…