Aham

Julia Roberts practices Hinduism after “Eat Pray Love” while Catholics fume

Sooraj — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:07:57 +0000

After acting in a Westerner-discovers-Eastern-peace movie, Eat Pray Love, Julia Roberts the famous Hollywood actress is now a practicing Hindu. Eat, Pray, Love is a book by Liz Gilbert of her quest for peace and spirituality which takes her from the USA to Italy, India and Bali (Indonesia). Her quest matures in India and ends in Bali with the adoption of Hinduism. The movie follows the same plot with Julia Roberts in the lead. Synopsis of the movie: Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having – a husband, a house, a successful career – yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali. Source: IMDB. Amusingly enough, Julia Roberts also follows Liz Gilbert in her real life [...]

Kancha Ilaiah has renounced Hinduism and keeps denouncing it

Sooraj — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:33:19 +0000

Kancha Ilaiah is a joker – he appears to be a hate-monger in the garbs of an intellectual. Just reading the titles of his two books is evidence enough against his intellectual prowess. One of his books’ title: Why I am not a Hindu. Another of his books’ title: Post-Hindu India: A Discourse In Dalit-Bahujan, Socio-Spiritual And Scientific Revolution. Kancha Ilaiah is born into the so-called Dalit caste which are dubbed infamously, the untouchables. He has borne the brunt and ugliness of casteism. He therefore converted to Buddhism. But it’s an irony that he is so vehemently anti-Hindu more akin to the Abrahamic religions. Buddhism is but an offshoot of Hinduism with a twist in its philosophy. He has openly professed his hatred of Hinduism, but what is remarkable is his utter failure to articulate his opinions. For example, he says to why he hates Hinduism: Yes, I hate Hinduism. Hinduism is not ours, it is against us. If we have to become Hindus, the Brahmins will have to change the entire religious texts, our food habits, our gods and goddesses and images. I am angry at the Hindu gods. Source: Rediff He also claims that the all-respectful Namaste is [...]

Temple elephants catch Tuberculosis by blessing humans

Sooraj — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:39:44 +0000

Wow..that makes for one very sad headline. And what is she doing to the elephant? Tickling its nostril? (Image source.) Jokes aside, apparently it’s not just extremely disrespectful to confine an elephant, ruin its life and terrorize it into “blessing” people, but they can also contract tuberculosis from humans leading to a high rate of death in temple elephants. So if you believe in the Ahimsa principle of Hinduism, please discourage humans from having elephants in temples. The elephants are routinely forced to touch the heads of pilgrims with their trunks as a form of blessing. But officials say the practice could be putting the animals at risk of tuberculosis. They say the constant exposure to as many as 500pilgrims a day may be putting the elephants at risk of contracting diseases, including tuberculosis. In recent years, four temple elephants have died after contracting tuberculosis. Source: BBC If you’ve been a temple that houses an elephant for offering said blessings, you know that it is just another form of bribery. The mahouts strictly advise you against feeding it even bananas. And all they want is crisp currency notes. Next time, please say no to an elephant’s “blessings” and instead lodge [...]

Prince of Persia: Hindu imagery – Sands of time or Pillar of fire

Sooraj — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 05:23:52 +0000

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is a movie based on the game of the same title. It is littered with Hindu imagery and statues of Ganesha in the background of many scenes. The Persian army invades Alamut on suspicions of the latter harbouring weapons to be used against Persia (an analogy of the ongoing US-UK invasion of Iraq on unfounded suspicions of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction). As most movies from Hollywood, this is another good vs. evil story. Alamut is ruled by a benign princess and is shown as a spiritual, peaceful and wealthy city. It is scenes in Alamut that are peppered with background images of Ganesha as well as other Hindu icons – see gallery below. The high temple is also shown with smoke from burning incense. The story is entirely fictitious as is the game and the relevance of Hinduism to the movie is non-existent. There is hardly any interpretation to be made of Ganesha’s use in the movie except that He is God in Alamut, the side that is ‘good’ in the movie. The relevant part of the story, which as far as I know has no parallel in Hindu legends, goes: …the [...]

Madurai Meenakshi Amman, the Goddess with a parrot [Photos]

Sooraj — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:31:39 +0000

The grand Meenakshi Amman temple forms the heart of the bustling southern city, Madurai. About 10 minutes walk from the railway station down dusty streets, the gopurams (towers) of this temple stand tall and proud having withstood centuries. The temple is an enormous complex of granite popular with locals and tourists. A huge Ganesha greets you. The image of Meenakshi is simply breathtaking. Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple or Meenakshi Amman Temple Tamil: மீனாட்சி அம்மன் கோவில் is an historic Hindu temple located in the holy city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva (in the form of Sundareswarar or Beautiful Lord) and his consort, Goddess Parvati (in the form of Meenakshi). The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 year old city of Madurai. The complex houses 14 magnificent Gopurams or towers including two golden Gopurams for the main deities, that are elaborately sculptured and painted. The temple is a significant symbol for the Tamil people, and has been mentioned since antiquity in Tamil literature, though the present structure is believed to have been built in 1600. The tallest temple tower is 51.9 metres (170 ft) high. Source: Wikipedia. Check out more photos at the Wikipedia entry. Have [...]

Moral police – Rise of the Hindu Taliban

Sooraj — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:11:19 +0000

Girls wearing jeans or mini skirts, girls smoking and drinking, Valentine’s day, girls talking to guys have all been of late victims of a growing moral police in India. This self-styled Indian Taliban claim their origins in Hindu culture such as Bajrang Dal and Sri Ram Sena. Their ludicrous motive – to preserve Indian culture! As I see it, culture is an evolving construct of a society defined by the society. It is certainly not harking back 500 years in history and claiming not to progress from there. It is not the prerogative of a few fringe groups to define or regulate culture. And lastly, smoking and drinking are not the privilege of males alone. The attack on the Mangalore pub, on Hindu girls talking to Muslim boys, and on establishments welcoming lovers on Valentine’s day is a modern phenomenon in India of perhaps the 21st Century. It is then ironic that these groups practicing violence and preaching intolerance claim historic foundations! Ashok Singhal, the president of VHP, while on the one side condemns violence and hooliganism on “western” culture, he advocates a rigid Taliban-style social code on the other. He is against recreational drugs, premarital sex and extramarital pregnancy. [...]

Karunanidhi criticizes Hindus because India is secular – what’s the logic?

Sooraj — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:44:08 +0000

Being the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, it is rather irresponsible of Karunanidhi to criticize only Hindus in the name of secularism. He has done it before. This time, he says that Hindus shouldn’t wear tilak or that the sacred thread of Brahmins is unnecessary. And his rationale is that India is secular where all religions are the same. The logic defies me. Because India is secular, Hindus should not practice their religion or their traditions? India is not against religion, it only treats all religions equally (in name only!). Now, even if we were to accept this logic, should only Hindus stop practicing their traditions? How about Muslims wearing skullcaps or Christians sporting a cross? I’m thankful that India is secular, but to me that means that each individual can practice her/his own beliefs and traditions without fear and especially state interference. It is quite obvious that Karunanidhi has targeted only Hindus in his poems because he can get away with impunity. Hindus don’t have any vote bank that will wither, whereas if he had criticized any Muslim practice, we all know what would have befallen him and his political party, the DMK. I really liked Jayasree’s thoughts and [...]

Dangerous Rise of the Religious Right in India

Sooraj — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:49:19 +0000

The religious right in India is fondly called the Sangh Parivar or Hindu fundamentalists by the media and increasingly by the common man. This Parivar or family consists of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad), Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and bits of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) as well as their sister organizations. Now, they don’t equate with the religious right in the West also called Christian fundamentalists because these Hindu organizations don’t preach or practice the Hindu scriptures literally, but take a self-made distorted view of them. Like the Christian fundamentalists in the West that also involve in a lot of charitable work, these Hindu right-wingers also do a lot of good in the community which go almost invisible. The RSS was probably the most organized group in helping victims of the 2006 tsunami. The VHP runs many one-teacher schools in rural areas educating millions of poor children. Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram works for the welfare of the tribals. But the religious right in India seem to be doing equal if not more harm. Firstly, they antagonize Western religions by saying not only hurtful things but also sometimes silly quips such as that Muslims to consider [...]

Hindu-Christian tensions rising and are here to stay

Sooraj — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:35:14 +0000

With Christian missionaries invading India in hordes and converting Indians by deceitful and shameful means, tensions with the majority Hindu population were only waiting to happen. The trigger was the cowardly murder of four swamis in a Hindu ashram in Orissa this week. Understandably, all the pent-up anger against the mushrooming Christian population gave way to riots. Hindus went about burning prayer halls – the tiny, thatched-roof churches that missionaries build in every village as soon as they convert one villager. It was extremely disappointing to me when I was touring southern Tamil Nadu last year to see entire villages converted. I knew this because every house in these villages sport a prominent cross on their outer wall. The money for these decorations and building churches come from wealthy Western countries, of course. The rate at which these missionaries are changing India’s religious demography is not only alarming but also dangerous. It is only inevitable that riots will ensue, as they have in Orissa. Hardly five state governments have passed laws against unethical conversions. When such a law is passed, Christians protest in huge numbers decrying Indian secularism and the Hindu elite is only too supportive to better their personal [...]

Krishna was a playboy, but an AIDS activist He wasn’t

Sooraj — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:15:12 +0000

I’ve previously argued advocating absolute freedom of expression in art. But when religious imagery is used to convey a social message, responsibility is important to achieve the ends desired. If a particular religion’s imagery is used positively, the social message will at least reach the followers of that religion. This image looks alright at the outset, but it has a red ribbon for the AIDS campaign on the top right corner and is captioned: “For God’s sake, do not have multiple sex partners.” I don’t know of the origin or usage of this picture or if it is an online joke, but it is a topic for discussion nonetheless. But when the religious imagery is negative or portrayed in a potentially offensive light, then the social image is totally lost. The followers of the religion might be offended and will not absorb the message while those that are indifferent to the religion will only find it funny totally ignoring the message. So Krishna was a “playboy” in layman terms, an adorable one at that, and I don’t think anyone will disagree there. But He neither encouraged nor discouraged having “multiple sex partners”. If one wanted to use Krishna’s images in [...]

Shiva ashram/temple in Hawaii, the middle of Pacific Ocean

Sooraj — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:53:25 +0000

In Kauai, one of the islands of the Hawaii archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a sight to behold: a Shiva temple set amidst verdant hills, a landscaped garden with pond, a river, an ashram and a rudrashka forest. The temple and ashram are run by the sampradaya of Sivaya Subrahmanya Swami, the same organization that also runs the Himalayan Academy, the Hindu Heritage Endowment and gives us one of the best Hindu magazines, Hinduism Today. The temple was such a pleasant visit on my trip to Hawaii. I had to visit Kauai to see this temple as well as the beautiful scenery that provided the sets to many movies including Jurassic Park and King Kong. It is a short drive from Lihue airport, as is any other place in Kauai. The pujari, a tall Malaysian, was very welcoming and offered much information when I went there right from the airport. He told me to visit the next morning at 6 am to see the Ganesh homam and Shiva puja. The Ganapati homam and Shiva abhishekam on a giant crystal lingam were a sight to behold especially because they were conducted by white sannyasis and monks with [...]

A new Hindu encyclopedia – Hindupedia

Sooraj — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:21:43 +0000

It is wonderful to hear of the relaunch of Hindupedia, the Hindu encyclopedia already populated with many extensive articles on various aspects of Hinduism about the various philosophies, saints, Gods/Goddesses and festivals. They promise to provide all points of view on contentious issues, especially because we have many of those in Hinduism and by tradition, we consider the reader to be prudent enough to judge and decide for herself/himself. From their mission statement: Hindupedia is devoted to educating the public about all aspects of Hinduism ranging from history and philosophy to current events that impact Hindus. We will strive to hold ourselves to the highest level of integrity and provide a factual and neutral perspective on all topics. On contentious issues, we will strive to present the information from all sides and provide the reader with a holistic view of the issue. In case you’re wondering about the origins of Hinduism, according to Hindupedia, Hinduism has existed for at least 12,000 years: The first vernal equinox recorded in the Rig Veda is that of the star Ashwini, which is now known to have occurred around 10,000 B.C. Or, how deciphering a Sanskrit verse can give the value of the mathematical [...]

What is obscene about art?

Sooraj — Sun, 11 May 2008 06:19:15 +0000

When we have laws against obscenity, then we certainly need courts’ interference. But it’s meaningless to have a law against obscenity. What is obscene to you need not be obscene to me. MF Hussain is the Indian painter notorious for painting Hindu Gods and Goddesses in the nude. This has, naturally, offended millions of Hindus leading to several court cases against him in India. Fearing Hindus, he has fled to and settled in Dubai. The High Court rightly decided in this case that Hussain’s paintings are not obscene. Indeed, Hussain claims that nudity in his paintings depict purity. The testing point for our purpose is not the intention of the artist, or freedom of expression. While the former ought to be irrelevant, freedom of expression should be absolute except for propagation of hatred or violence. The point is, why modern Hindus are so tetchy when it comes to Hinduism. Offended by nude imagery, offended by names of characters in the lesbian film “Fire” being Sita and Radha, and by a number of other trivial matters. Are we offended so easily today because of our turbulent history? Where Muslims marauded our temples and defaced our sculptures, where the British considered our [...]

But Hindus are already organized, multi-organized!

Sooraj — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:58:39 +0000

Diversity being quintessential to Hinduism, bringing the one billion Hindus under a single umbrella defies the Hindu ethos. But Christian missionaries pose a very organized threat to Hinduism – if you don’t believe me, try this Scandinavian lady. We don’t need a Pope, but perhaps we need some organization to defend ourselves and restore pride among the Hindus. When the threat is organized and united, we can’t be complacent about our diversity or be lackadaisical to unite, or rather, get organized. Each of the billion Hindus has his/her own perspective of being Hindu – this is a beautiful aspect that should not be crushed by the urge to unite. The last thing we need is uniformity as I’ve already argued. Thereby comes the aspect of being multi-organized. In other words, having multiple organizations with different or overlapping goals to satisfy all the myriad communities. This, we already are. We have numerous local religious organizations at the temples; spiritual organizations in the form of Bhajan groups, Veda paraayanam groups, meditation groups and cultural organizations for literature, music, dance, drama and other arts. Many of the above groups encourage social interactions amongst us. At a more global level, we have many other [...]

Videos: Christian Terror is real, large and looming

Sooraj — Sun, 04 May 2008 03:59:17 +0000

There are still many in India that do not believe in the villainy of Christian missionaries in India. But seeing is believing, so that population is fast decreasing because of what they see – missionaries knocking on their doors, housemaids suddenly wearing crosses and removing bindis… Christianity poses a serious threat all over the world, but more so in India because it seeks to crush the existing social fabric of India and replace it with something totally alien to her ethos. Especially for those that do not believe in this threat, this three-part video by a Scandinavian Christian might help open their eyes. She visits India seeking cultural exchange but is so disturbed by what she sees happen in the name of Christianity that in the end of the video she asks (paraphrased): Do we Christians really want to give our money to these kind of activities? It may also come as surprise to you that the video has been shot in its entirety in Gujarat, the supposedly “Hindu nationalist” stronghold. In the beginning of the video where India is being introduced, she mentions it as having 29 states and this should therefore be a recent production after Narendra Modi [...]

Do Hindus need unity?

Sooraj — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:53:49 +0000

There is a lot of talk about the nearly billion Hindus worldwide needing unity and coming under one umbrella. I think the whole beauty of Hindus lies in that we are such a diverse community and very comfortably so. We are diverse in the sense of different regions having specialized festivals and even celebrating the same festival with different customs. We like different Gods to various extents, our favourite deities could differ. We seek spiritual guidance under different saints and sampradayas helping all the myriad saints thrive. Hinduism has never been under one umbrella and that is what is beautiful about Hindus. Historically, it has led to the development of various schools of thought and different philosophies, each having its own following. The recent calls for Hindu unity arise from the threat of Western religions, especially Christianity. The invasion of Christian missionaries who are converting hordes of Hindus to Christianity by unethical means has alarmed India and the Hindus. This has increased the calls for Hindu unity, which in essence means, to institutionalize Hinduism. Hinduism has never had a single head or governing institution. Each of its myriad ashrams, sampradayas, paramparas and groups has its own head or institution set [...]

All new hi Hindu – Swagatam [OBSOLETE]

Sooraj — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:29:57 +0000

The previous entry was very long back – when Hindu blog which was a subsidiary of Indiblog. It later moved to its own site Hindupedia. This move entailed a shift from using WordPress as the publishing platform to Drupal, which is a lot more comprehensive coming with many features but an equally steep learning curve. I was approached by a group of Hindus asking if I would donate the domain name Hindupedia.com to their cause. Mine was a blog, an aspiring community blog. They wanted to create a more encyclopedia-like site on Hinduism. Their purpose more befitted the name Hindupedia and I readily agreed to donate the domain name. Do visit them at hindupedia.com. The name was just gaining popularity and other things in life beckoned my immediate attention, which led to my neglecting the site. That is, until now. Quite some time back, I bought the domain name hihindu.com and have been sitting on it until now. What has been keeping me busy – well, earning a doctorate degree. Having betrayed my writing ambitions for so long, I’ve been itching to write again. And the once hindublog, which was transiently hindupedia, is now hiHindu. Story’s over. Or, it just [...]

Merged with Hindupedia.com [evolution of website: OBSOLETE]

Sooraj — Tue, 16 May 2006 20:52:27 +0000

Dear friends – Namaste I wish to share a great and happy news with you all – Hindu blog has merged with Hindupedia! All the posts and most of the discussions have been transferred to Hindupedia.com You will discover that Hindupedia is a much more comprehensive website for Hinduism – not simply is it called “the global Hindu village”. It has apart from individual blogs, forums, books and much more. Please change your bookmarks to point to http://hindupedia.com and also change your RSS/XML and email subscriptions. I hope that you will continue to support us at Hindupedia.com. Why, you could even join there and start writing about Hinduism – fancy that? Head on over to Hindupedia. Love and Peace Sooraj Update: The domain name Hindupedia.com was donated to an organization that is now running a Hindu encyclopedia there – hence the new hiHindu.com

Silence

Sooraj — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 14:41:20 +0000

(This is a Guest column by Devi from Canada). In silence I listen: I listen to what others have to say; Their words are important to me. I listen to my heart; The wellspring of my heart overflows with deep Love. In silence I contemplate the meaning of existence; I contemplate Bhagvan; In silence I hear A U M……

Educating BBC on the use of God and god

Sooraj — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 07:44:52 +0000

For background, read the very interesting article on BBC about a highly efficient temple courier service. In the article, BBC refers to Maa Tarini as ‘goddess’ with a small ‘g’. Now, I don’t know who Maa Tarini is, but I’m pretty sure that She is a Goddess and not a ‘goddess’. So I wrote to the BBC explaining their error. Dear BBC I read your very interesting story titled, “The Temple Courier Service”. It made great reading especially because I can relate to it owing to my Indian origin. But I was appalled and distressed to see that Maa Tarini is referred to as “goddess” with a small “g” instead of capital “G”. It is inappropriate that small ‘g’ has been used and I shall explain why below. Hinduism is a religion that is both monotheistic and polytheistic at the same time; it may be very difficult to understand, but the dichotomy is a Western concept. Therefore our Gods and Goddesses are all the Absolute Almighty and all deserving of capital letters. It is only the demigods and demigoddesses that are given small ‘g’s; but even the now demigods like Indra, Agni etc. were once revered as the Gods. I [...]