Mythologist | Author | Speaker | Illustrator
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Articles
The Roadside Shrine
In India, a temple, a mosque or a church can appear just about anywhere and become a pilgrim spot…
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The House of the Superstar
Temples are built for heroes and heroines, by their fans in our country. Are these fans, or devotees?…
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A Lotus for a Temple
Built in 1986, an architectural marvel, this iconic shrine in Delhi attracts millions of tourists every year…
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Chausath Yogini Temple
Yoginis in a Circle : Our Parliament House, completed in 1927, has been patterned on the lines of the circular Chausath Yogini Temple, dating back to circa 1323AD…
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The Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai
Published on 27th November, 2016, in Mumbai Mirror. We have all heard the story of …
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The Bahubali saga
The 57-feet-tall statue, built centuries ago, is still Karnataka’s pride…
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The gates of Dwarka
The Krishna in Dwarka has four arms, the upper arms holding the chakra on the left, the gada on the right, and the lower arms holding the shankha on the left and the padma on the right…
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Adinath Temple of Ranakpur
The Jain temple enshrines a sage, who has attained the highest state of realisation…
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Ranganatha, and his Muslim consort
Six hours from Chennai is the shrine of Ranganatha-swamy, where Vishnu is reclining as Narayana, on the coils of the five-hooded serpent known as Adi-Sesha…
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Articles
Waiting for Ram
At her abode in the caves of Jammu, the Goddess manifests herself as three outcroppings of rock which represent its three forms Maha-Lakshmi, Maha-Saraswati and Maha-Kali…
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Virgin Mary in Vailankanni
At her shrine in Vailankanni, Tamil Nadu, devotees bow to her, stretch out their hands and crawl to her shrine to express their devotion and faith…
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The story of enlightenment
Siddhartha, a Nepalese prince of the Sakya clan, was determined to discover the cause of suffering. After deep meditation under the peepal tree at the site, awareness dawned. He became the Buddha…
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The faces of Mahalakshmi
While the word Mahalakshmi evokes images of the Hindu goddess of wealth seated on a lotus, the deity in Kolhapur, referred to as Amba-bai by locals, evokes Durga, the goddess of war…
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Articles
THE LION ON THE HILL
Simhachalam is special for the worship of a composite image of ‘masculine’ avatars of Vishnu, Varaha and Narasimha…
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Nathdwara God in the Haveli
To devotees, Shrinathji at Nathdwara is the swayambhu (self-created) and swarupa (self-image, not representation) of the seven-year old Krishna…
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Articles
Tirupati: Playing dice with a god in debt
Debt or rina is a key concept in Hinduism… life is about ‘giving’ not about ‘taking’. Giving reduces debt and liberates us. Taking binds us to the world…
