Vedic
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Is Governance a Yagna?
The word yagna is translated even today by eminent scholars as sacrifice, or fire-sacrifice, or fire-ritual.
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How Hindu Temples Evolved
We assume that temples were always part of Hindu culture. But historians present a far more complex story.
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The Lion Goddess and the River God
Nourished by the river Nile, Egyptian culture began with many settlements on its banks and in the delta, each its own god and chieftain.
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History of Luv-Kush
The word kushalava in Sanskrit literature like Manusmriti and Arthashastra refer to lowborn travelling entertainers. This feels strange as Kusha and Lava are the names of Ram’s twin sons — Ram who is the greatest king of Indian lore.
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The Politics of Ghosts
The spirits of the dead people were considered to be powerful, and these spirits are channelized during special ceremonies by special groups of people who are associated with singing, dancing, playing drums and going into trance.
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Fifth Veda Uses Gender As a Metaphor
We need to remember that as per popular lore, the gods created the Puranas as the Fifth Veda to transmit Vedic wisdom to women and lowborn people who did not have access to the mantra and the ritual.
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The Forest and the Field
Increasingly, we find laws that protect forests being cut down, giving way for industries. This brings tribal communities into conflict with the state.
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The Celestial Stories of Plants in India
We have come a long way from the days when there were sacred groves across India, where no one was allowed to graze cattle, plant crops or forage for fruit or firewood.
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Caste Tales They Don’t Tell Us
Caste is a word introduced by Europeans about 300 years ago for what Indians have referred to as jati for at least 2,000 years.
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How Vedic Are We Today?
Hymns of the Rig Veda were composed in the Punjab-Haryana region around 1500 BCE.
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Shaped By the Rains
Aryans came from lands north of the Himalayas where there was no monsoon rains. They focused on four quarters of the year, based on the solstices, and equinoxes. Balgangadhar Tilak pointed out how Vedic hymns refer to long days without…
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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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Who are the power-broking landlord monks of Tamil Nadu?
Sengol is a staff of royal authority. We can call the symbol of justice in the spirit of wordplay, when a symbol of monarchy is made the symbol of democracy.
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The Naked Philosophers
Published on 19th May, 2023, in The Hindu. The naked philosophers: the reason some Indian ascetics renounced their robes The naked ascetic in India is euphemistically referred to as Digambara or sky-clad. These are men who have rejected the material…
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Not Blood Or Bones, But Sweets
Published on 14th May, 2023, in Mid-day. There is one temple of Sachi, wife of Indra. And it is a Jain-Hindu temple, located in Osian, Rajasthan, near Jodhpur, where she is revered as clan goddess of local Jains, Rajputs and…
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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…