COVER STORY: India’s Cultural Heritage: A Dizzying Mosaic
India’s cultural diversity is breathtaking. Whether it is art and architecture, languages and literature, dance and music, philosophy and religious thoughts, or even culinary traditions, every dimension of culture is rich with variety and creativity. But how and when such diversity developed and flourished is rarely questioned. In the cover story of the March 2020 issue of Khabar Magazine, I explore the origins of diversity in Indian culture.
Twenty-two major languages and 720 dialects. All the major religions of the world. Stunning art and opulent architecture. Happy, colorful festivals that celebrate the glory of life. Customs, rituals, dance forms, and textile traditions—India’s diversity is breathtaking to some and mind-boggling to others! Read more…
ARTICLE: What Is Ganesh Doing in Buddhist Thailand?
In 2018, I traveled through Southeast Asia. Although I was aware that Buddhism and Hinduism had reached Southeast Asia from India centuries ago, the extent to which they influenced beliefs, art and architecture in the region came as a surprise. This article, published in Khabar magazine in June 2018, is about my discovery of the influence of India’s culture on Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
The 600-year-old shrine of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a Theravada wat (temple) in Chiang Mai, a city in the mountainous northern region of Thailand, has many large and small statues of Buddha, beautifully crafted out of semiprecious materials like jade, emerald, and other stones. The stupas are coated with gold leaf. Read more…
What Is Sacred to Man?
It was 7 in the morning, the city was waking up, getting itself ready for the day, the radio was announcing weather forecast for the day, and we were leaving Sydney after leading a nomadic life for three weeks in New Zealand and Australia. We were returning home, to Boston.
As the mind was still feeding upon the last glimpses of this big city, it was also thinking that this is a typical pattern of a fast paced modern life one can find anywhere in the world in big cities like London, New York, Los Angeles, Mumbai or some other city. At the same time, another picture, the picture of a place called Ayers Rock in Australia, that we left a few days back, was emerging at the back of the mind, where even in the middle of the day the variety, the complexity, and the speed of life is nowhere close to what one sees in Sydney even in the very early hours of the day. read more…
What Does Durga Symbolize?
What is Durga the goddess of? In India, according to the matriarchic mythology, goddess Durga, or Devi, symbolizes the primal energy which is the source of all creation. Bengalis celebrate the victory of good over evil during Durga Puja by worshipping Durga along with Laxmi, Saraswati, Kartika and Ganesh, her celestial children. In this essay published in India New England (October. 28, 2015), I interpret the composite symbolism of Durga and the other four deities along with the demon Mahishasura. read more…
Excerpts from In Search of Immortality
About the Book
Where did the world come from?, Who created it?, What happens to a person after death?
Thoughts on such questions are found in the Rig Veda, the oldest extant Indo-European text, dating back to circa 1500 BCE. It provides insights into the world-view of the Aryans who migrated and settled in India approximately 4,000 years ago. Many of the concepts and ideas that comprise present-day Indian world-views descend from the Vedas and the Upanishads.
However, couched in mythological and religious forms, these concepts are prone to give a lopsided impression that Indian philosophy is theistic in nature. But teasing them out from such literature leads to a loss of the context within which they developed and evolved over time. In Search of Immortality seeks to recontextualize Indian world-views by tracing them from their origin in the Rig Vedic hymns to their evolution into various orthodox and heterodox philosophical systems, and illuminates the cluster of quintessential ideas that have molded the Indian psyche over several millennia. read more…
INTERVIEW: Introducing In Search of Immortality on The Foundations TV
This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Gauri Chandna of The Foundations TV about my new book In Search of Immortality, and how my interest in Indian philosphy and religion developed alongside my career in science. We discussed karma and the meaning of liberation as well.
I welcome your questions or comments in the space below. Thank you for watching!
Buy In Search of Immortality
Explore the roots of Indic world-views. Available on Amazon and Amazon India.