Puja Room, the space in our homes where the gods reside to give us hope and take away fear.
July 21, 2008
First published July 20, 2008
Puja Room

July 21, 2008
First published July 20, 2008

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

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…

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…

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

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…
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. …
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. …
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…