Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
The Rise of Nava-grahas
In Vedic times, graha meant malevolent spirits who hurt mothers and babies. It had nothing to do with planets. The 3000-year-old Vedic Jyotisha had nothing to do with predicting the future. It was a practical science of timekeeping — fixing solstices, calibrating the lunar calendar, scheduling sacrifices. The Rig Veda mentions no grahas at all.…
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Articles
Did Indra Eat Buffaloes?
We live in times, where people want to ban goat sacrifice during the Muslim observance of Bakra Eid, on grounds of compassion. This overt attack on Islamic rituals is also a covert attack on subaltern Hindu practices — where goddesses are offered fish and meat…
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Articles
The Selective Sanctity of the Ganga
In Ayodhya Kanda, verse 52.89, Sita stands before the Ganga before crossing into exile and makes a vow. The Sanskrit is unambiguous. “Sura-ghata-sahasrena”: a thousand pots of wine. “Mamsa-bhuta-odanena”: cooked rice mixed with meat (the original Vedic biryani?). …
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Articles
Secrets of Bihar’s Mirrored Caves
One of the most striking experiences near Rajgir in Bihar lies inside the Barabar Caves. The walls are polished to such perfection that they are like mirrors. These surfaces were carved and finished over 2,300 years ago, yet they still reflect light with startling clarity, as if time has barely touched them. This sheen, often…
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Articles
Historical Reality of Pre-colonial Learning in India
Dharampal’s book, The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century (1983), is a groundbreaking historical work that used official British colonial archives to challenge the narrative that pre-colonial India was uneducated. …
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Articles
Sanatan Dharma: A Hinduism That Defines Itself Through Food ‘Purity’
Notably, the term “satvik” food does not appear in Ayurveda, yet it has become central to the Sanatan Dharma movement. North Indian temples now demand that no meat-serving establishments operate within 15 km of their premises. This dietary politics points to the real character of the movement: Sanatan Dharma is essentially a vegetarian Hinduism, promoted…
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Articles
Re-centring the Hindu Goddess
Re-centring the goddess is not anti-male. It is pro-ecosystem. It reminds us that festivals are contracts with land, water, animals, and labour — especially women’s labour. When we reduce Diwali to a warrior’s homecoming, we miss Lakshmi’s audit of how we earned, spent, hoarded, and gave. When we make Navaratri a fashion parade, we forget…
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Articles
Today’s Sanatan Dharma prefers ‘trad’ Bhisma
The Trans Bill signed by the President of India aligns with the commander of the Kauravas, not Krishna. The Kauravas were more aligned to Christian Evangelists, not “woke” Krishna…
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Articles
Blood Pacts of Kutch
Priestly role was often performed by Charans. They were bards, negotiators, ritual specialists, poets, warriors, royal companisons and much more. They preserved memory in the old Dingal language. …
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Articles
Can a French man be a ‘civilisational Hindu’?
In New India, an Italian woman with an Indian passport remains a ‘foreigner’, but a French man with an Indian passport becomes a ‘civilisational Hindu’, and is even asked to influence young impressionable minds by creating ‘decolonised’ school textbooks…
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Articles
How Ganesh Became The God Of All Things
To understand why Ganesha is worshipped as the remover of obstacles and invoked before every Hindu ceremony, we must understand—and appreciate—the role elephants have played in Indian history and imagination. …
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Articles
Are vegetarians kinder people?
Vegetarianism has become associated with Jains, Brahmins, Baniyas, Lingayats and with the idea of purity, even though Kashmiri, Maithili, Bengali and Odia Brahmins are meat-eaters. Meat eating became associated with communities considered “untouchable” and “impure”: Tribals, Dalits, Chandalas, Ati Shudras. Over time, diet has become a caste marker. …
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Articles
How Diwali Changes Shape Across India
Diwali is celebrated across India, but contrary to popular assumption, it is not a single, uniform festival. It takes very different forms depending on where you go. …
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Articles
The Seven Steps To Partnership Over Promises
The idea of taking vows during weddings is not part of Hindu traditions. This idea comes to us from West Asia and the Middle East…
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Articles
The Great Satvic Scam
Across India and in the diaspora, satvikism is now being marketed as a refined, enlightened Hinduism. However, it subtly divides Hindus into two camps. …
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Articles
The hook-swinging rituals of India
Across India there are festivals where men and sometimes women do hook swinging. Here, an iron hook is passed through the back of the person and they are hung from a pole that either rotates around a pillar or is attached to a pillar of a cart that is pulled by buffaloes. This is not…