July 21, 2008

First published July 20, 2008

Puja Room

Puja Room, the space in our homes where the gods reside to give us hope and take away fear.


Recent Books

  • Itihasa Cover

    Itihasa: A History of Hindu Mythology

    Deeply researched and painstakingly put together, this magnum opus by Bharat’s foremost mythologist, Devdutt Pattanaik, explores: how Hindu mythology changed with history; how Indian history changed with mythology; how arguments about Indian culture and Hindu civilization reveal the myth inhabited by historians, rationalists, nationalists and activists…

  • flowers of india book

    Flower of India: Ways of Seeing the Lotus

    In Flower of India, bestselling author and renowned mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik examines the lotus as one of the most pervasive and resonant symbols of the Indian subcontinent. Through its many avatars—as plant, resource, metaphor, design, and sacred form—he traces how the lotus has shaped India’s cultural imagination across history, religion, art, and everyday life. Concise…

  • astra shastra

    Astra Shastra: Weapons of the Hindu Gods

    Well-known mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik introduces young readers to the wonderful weapons of Hindu gods with his unique art and easy-to-read text…

  • Escape the Bakasura Trap : Let Contentment Fuel Your Growth

    This book re-discovers this path, first revealed by Hanuman in the Mahabharata. Insightful and inspiring, Escape the Bakasura Trap is another classic from one of our great mythologists and thinkers…

Recent Posts

  • How Food Practices Created a Network of Trust

    How Food Practices Created a Network of Trust

    Have you ever been curious as to why Jews keep Kosher, Muslims keep Halal, or why Hindu and Jain Banias are strictly vegetarian? All these are trading communities. All have, for centuries, used food practices to establish a network of trust in global trade. …

  • Hindu Temples Within Mughal Gardens

    Hindu Temples Within Mughal Gardens

    When BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham opened in Delhi in 2005, it was hailed as a triumph of Hindu civilisation. The sandstone shikhara, the hand-carved pillars, the bronze elephants: all sourced from the iconographic repertoire of classical India. And then, surrounding this monument to Hindu authenticity, were lawns. Trimmed, mowed, geometrically edged lawns. …

  • Chanakya’s Temple Economics

    Chanakya’s Temple Economics

    The political treatise Arthashastra, attributed to Chanakya (Kautilya), dated to 300 AD, does not romanticise the role of the temple in ancient India. Image of the romantic Hindu temple as a sacred space, untainted by politics and money, does not exist in Arthashastra. In fact, Kautilya understood temples as repositories of wealth, with faith encouraging…