Current affairs, spirituality, heritage & lifestyle.
An amazingly anti-Hindu article and a powerful and inspiring rebuttal! A great Independence Day read to compare & contrast these two articles: What Hindus can & should be proud of (anti-Hindu monstrosity) What a Secularist can and should be proud of (rebuttal)
The post-World War II era saw the dramatic end of colonialism across the world. The first and most devastating blow to colonialism was the freedom of India. Overnight, the second most populous nation in the world, accounting for over 1/6th of the world’s population, achieved freedom. Despite the sad events that accompanied India’s Independence, the […]
In childhood years, many Hindu children nowadays are introduced to Hindu sacred stories through the medium of comic books, such as Amar Chitra Katha. These provide a colourful, entertaining and valuable rendering of ancient stories from texts called the Puranas, and most kids read them with great enthusiasm, forming many people’s introduction to the world […]
For a long time, ‘tolerance’ was spoken of as a characteristic feature of Hinduism. Even people who otherwise strongly disagreed with Hinduism still managed to praise the fact that Hinduism had a benign, harmless tolerance. But in recent years the image of Hinduism and of Hindu society has changed quite drastically. Media coverage of the […]
Dr Koenraad Elst is a noted Belgian scholar and writer, specialising in coverage of Hindu contemporary issues, Indian history and comparative philosophy. He has authored at least 20 books, including the monumental ‘Decolonising the Hindu Mind’ and ‘Saffron Swastika: the Notion of Hindu Fascism’. What first made you interested in India? Its funny, Muslims never ask people who […]
By David Frawley (Pt. Vamadeva Shastri) India’s Traditions of Non-violence and Vegetarianism The Buddha states in the Dhammapada 26.409, “Him I call a Brahmana who lays aside the rod, who neither kills nor causes the death of creatures, moving or non-moving (animals or plants).” The same type of statements are very common in Hindu literature […]
After Shivaji’s death in 1680, the Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb thought to himself that the Marathas would henceforth be easy to crush, erroneously thinking that the sustenance of this new Hindu kingdom rested on one able man alone [Shivaji]. Like so many other uprisings in that period, he thought the Maratha movement too would receive its […]
At least 2,800 years ago, circa 800BCE, there existed a giant University at Takshashila (often called Taxila), a town located in the north-western region of India (in today’s Pakistan). According to references in the Ramayana, King Bharata founded the town in the name of his son, Taksha. The site initially began to develop as a […]
Please sign this petition and help spread it (click here) Sanjay Dutt is one of India’s best and most distinguished actors. However this should in no way influence the way in which he has to face justice for a serious crime he has committed. There cannot be a system in India where the privileged can […]
(This year, 2017, Holi is on 12 th & 13th March) Holi is the most colourful and energetic religious festival in the world. It is a celebration of the arrival of spring as well as marking the death of the demoness Holika, from whom the festival gets its name. A large bonfire is lit, in […]
Intro Hinduism has traditionally regarded four basic aims of life. These are called “Purusharthas”, and are as follows: 1. Kama (pleasure and desire) 2. Artha (material wellbeing and wealth acquisition) 3. Dharma (righteousness, duty and order) 4. Moksha (spiritual liberation, union with the Supreme) This article gives an overview and further insight into the Four Purusharthas. Fulfilling and Balancing the Purusharthas The civilisation of the […]
If there’s one man who’s remembered as a Western hero par-excellence, surely it’s Winston Churchill. He has been promoted not only in Britain but also throughout much of the world as the symbol of resistance against the most hideous war criminals in history, the Nazis. This reputation may be deserved. However there was another side […]
The Upanishads – what (or who!) are they?”This would be the response of many Hindus of today if asked about the Upanishads!The Upanishads are in fact Hindu scriptures. They can be thought of as portions of the Vedas, but are also separate texts in their own right. They form the basis of what is known […]
Shivaratri is one of the most popular festivals in the Hindu world, celebrated with devotion and fervour by millions of Hindus each year. This year it falls on 27th Feb. In the Hindu view, the Divine Being transcends all human conceptualisation, yet can be approached in many ways. The deities of Hinduism reflect realizations of […]
Many years ago a young penniless man with barely a possession in the world sailed out to the West, armed only with the intense desire that the spiritual wisdom of his motherland should be known and respected throughout the world. He was the first Hindu in the modern age to travel to the West and […]
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This definitely holds true with the images of Hindu deities. Taking the image of Lord Shiva, this article investigates some aspects of Shiva’s image…the crescent moon near his head, the river Ganga flowing from his hair and the dark blue neck. What can we learn from […]
Recently(*) the Indian state of Rajasthan, supposedly the “Land of Kings”, was host to one of the worst bouts of “caste riots” that India has seen in recent years, leaving at least 9 dead and many more injured. Eventually the Indian armed forces had to be brought in to quell the situation. What is particularly […]
“The will of a single hero can breathe courage into the hearts of a million cowards “ (Sri Aurobindo, 1920) Sri Aurobindo was one of the greatest philosophers, mystics and visionaries of modern history. He was a major leader in India’s freedom movement. Later in life he became a sage and scholar. His teachings have […]
The ‘Aryan Invasion Theory’ Pick up any textbook on Hinduism, and chances are that the beginning of Hinduism is identified with the ‘Aryan invasion of India’, dated around 1500 BCE, and their composition of the Rig Veda. According to this viewpoint, the ‘Aryans’ were a tall, fair skinned people who originated from outside India, and […]
The idea that British rule over India was a force for good is not uncommon in Britain and even in certain sections of westernised Indian elite. Read right-of-centre British newspapers and you will regularly find articles and columns that glorify Britain’s colonial past, giving the impression that Britain was spreading the light of Western Civilisation […]
Hindu Perspective 