Kartikeya
Unlike the Ganesh Cult, the Kartikeya cult was confined to South India only. In the Vedic calendar, the sixth day of a lunar month (Sasthi) is considered sacred to Kartikeya. Tradition has it that he married Valli, a forest...
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The Vedanga
The term Vedanga (“member of the Veda”) refers to six auxiliary disciplines for the understanding and tradition of the Vedas. These six disciplines are: 1. Shiksha (siksa): phonetics and phonology (sandhi) 2. Chandas...
Read MoreEmerson and Hinduism
“Ralph Waldo Emerson was the first American to pioneer the serious exploration of Indian philosophy, and as his own thinking grew over time, Indian philosophy profoundly influenced the course of that growth. This book...
Read MoreMedicinal Plants of India
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been promoting a movement for “Saving Plants for Saving Lives”. This is because of the growing understanding of the pivotal role medicinal plants play in providing herbal...
Read MoreThe Ayurveda Tradition in Kerala
The etymology of the word ‘Ayurveda’, derived as it is from ayuso vedah, proclaims it as the science of health. This discipline is not confined to the health problems and their treatments concerning just human beings but also...
Read MoreAyurveda Nighantu
Ayurveda, the Indian system of medicine, refers broadly to the ‘knowledge of life’ and is based on ‘life’ (ayus) and ‘knowledge’ (veda). During the last few centuries, although there have only been negligible changes in the...
Read MoreMahari: The Divine Damsels of Puri
The expression “Mahari” is a derivative of two Oriya words, ‘Mahan’ and ‘Nari’, meaning ‘divine damsels’. They were a professional group, a class of sevayats of Lord Jagannath. The...
Read MoreIndian Epic Redux: Mahabharat in Orissa, Assam and Bengal
Our ancient literature was essentially pan-Indian in character. As such, all Indian languages descend from only two sources: the Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian. Obviously, both Oriya and Assamese share their common origin from the...
Read MoreNanchinadu: Brahminical Origins of the Royal Ploughing Ceremony
The king’s coronation, mundane ceremony, royal wedding, first ploughing ceremony etc. were among the important events at which the Thai Brahman priests officiated. The Ploughing Ceremony, the first of the traditional...
Read MoreIndian Origins of Christianity – Western Perspective
Christian theology keeps tying up scholars in knots. There are a lot unexplained elements in it, which almost look mysterious. What does the phrase “Son of Man” mean? We can understand what “Son of God” means, but what does “Son...
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