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A Glorious Hindu Legacy: Indic influence in Southeast Asia.

Champa - Vietnam

Lord Shiva in Vietnam  

The Yang Mum Shiva: in high relief against an ogival stele was found in the early 1930's at Yang Mum. Lord Shiva with trishul in his hand, was regarded as the founder and protector of the Champa dynasties.

(image source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon p. 175).

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Champa, on the coast of Annam, was another Indianized state, about which more information is available. It constantly clashed with the nearby Chinese colonies established in Tonkin during the Han period, and hence Chinese historians frequently refer to Champa. The name Champa is clearly Indian whether it was named after the capital of the Anga country in the lower Ganges Valley, or after the Chola capital of the same name. Situated on the main sea routes from India and Java to China, and at the foot of spice-bearing mountains, Champa soon attracted the attention of Indian traders, and played a significant role in spreading Indian culture in eastern Asia. Sri Mara was the first Hindu king of Champa, and established his dynasty about 200 over an extensive area, including Tonkin and part of northern Annam.

Map of Ancient Champa, with Hindu names of Panduranga, Vijaya, Kauthara, Indrapura and Amravati.

(image source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon p. 15).

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The Kingdom of Champa in Vietnam, which flourished from the second to the 15th centuries, was strongly influenced by Hinduism. Hindu temples were constructed, Sanskrit was used as a sacred language, Indian art was idolized and Hindu Deities, especially Siva, were worshiped. In fact, Lord Siva was regarded as the founder and protector of the Champa dynasties. It first appeared around present-day Danang and later by 8th century spread south to what is now Nha Trang and Phan Rang. The Cham adopted Hinduism, employed Sanskrit as a sacred language and borrowed heavily from Indian art.  

One of the most stunning sights in Hoi An area is My Son, Vietnam's most important Cham site. During the centuries when Tra Kieu (then known as Simhapura) served as the political capital of Champa. Dong Dong (then known as Indrapura) served as the Cham's religious centre. Recent excavations in Tra-Kieu, the most ancient capital of Champa, have revealed ample evidence of Indian influence in the form of Sivaite and Vaisnavite shrines and bas-reliefs. 

The earliest inscriptions found in the region and possibly the whole of Southeast Asia, is the Vo-canh inscription written in a South Indian script and dating from the second or third century. Vo Canh inscription near Nha Trang, is the oldest evidence in the whole Indochina peninsula for the use of Sanskrit. It dates from the 3rd/4th centuries. All the evidence seems to point to a process of Indianization beginning on the southern shores and gradually spreading north-wards up to frontiers of the province near Chin. The most ancient bronze statue found in Champa is that of the Buddha of Dongduong which is one of the most beautiful specimens of Amaravati art; even a principality in that area was called Amaravati. Inscriptions of Kind Bhadravarman, both in Sanskrit and Cham, have been found; they belong to about 350 and are the earliest inscriptions found in Champa proper. 

Recumbent Lord Vishnu and the birth of Brahma.

Lord Vishnu reclines in meditation on the cosmic ocean, his eyelids closed, floating on the seven-headed serpent of Eternity.

(source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon).

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Champa was formed in AD 192, during the breakup of the Han dynasty of China. Although the territory was at first inhabited mainly by wild tribes involved in incessant struggles with the Chinese colonies in Tonkin, it gradually came under Indian cultural influence, evolving into a decentralized country composed of four small states, named after regions of India, Amaravati (Quang Nam), Vijaya (Binh Dinh), Kauthara (Nha Trang), and Panduranga (Phan Rang). The four states had a powerful fleet that was used for commerce and for piracy. The Cham people, of Malayo-Polynesian stock and Indianized culture, were finally united under the rule of King Bhadravarman around 400AD. He was noted commander and scholar. He dedicated a temple to Shiva at Mison which was called Bhadresvarasvami and became the centre of royal worship in later centuries. It is said that King Bhadravarman abdicated the throne to spend his last days on the banks of the Ganges. 

During this period, remarkable sculptures and original brick temples were created which are notable for their decoration and ornamentation. The doorways and pillars are adorned with an incredibly intricate stone foliation of leaves, buds and flowers, inset with medallions of anchorites and celestial dancers. These groups of temples, Mi-song, Po-nagar, and Dongduong, are very famous. In the days of their splendor the Chams were Shivaites, and Shiva, his Sakti, and his two sons, Ganesh and Skanda, were prominent amongst the gods worshipped. 

The Cham towers of Po Nagar, were built between the 7th and 12th centuries. The site was used for worship as early as 2nd century AD. 

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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The temple was built during the Hindu period of Champa, and the image of the goddess takes the form of Uma, wife of Shiva.

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Elaborate stonework and above the entrance to the North Tower, two musicians flak a dancing Shiva.

During this period, remarkable sculptures and original brick temples were created which are notable for their decoration and ornamentation. The doorways and pillars are adorned with an incredibly intricate stone foliation of leaves, buds and flowers, inset with medallions of anchorites and celestial dancers.  

Meditation pillars and intricately carved deities.

(image source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon)

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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Myson was the site of the most important Cham intellectual and religious centre, and also may have served as a burial place for Cham monarchs. My Son is considered to be Champa's counterpart to the grand cities of south-east Asia's other Indian-influenced civilsations: Agkor (Cambodia), Bagan (Myanmar), Aythaya (Thailand) and Borobudur (Java). 

Myson was a centre for spirituality and worship during the reign of the Champa Kingdom. The My Son Sanctuary, which exemplifies the height of Cham architectural achievement, is a large complex of religious monuments originally comprised of more than 70 structures; the vestiges of 25 of these structures remain today. The builders of Myson were the nobility of the Champa Kingdom who derived their cultural and spiritual influences almost exclusively from India. The Cham people worshiped the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, although Shiva was the central figure of worship for most people. Shiva was usually portrayed in one of two forms: as the figure of a man, and very often in his symbolic manifestation, the lingam, which was usually a stone embellished with incisions placed on a stone slab. The lingam represented both Shivaism and the divine authority Shiva bestowed upon the king. The Cham people erected monumental towers - the main component of Cham architectural design - to house the lingam. My Son was once a veritable forest of towers, many of which were destroyed by the ravages of time and war.

All of the Cham towers at Myson were built on square or rectangular foundations and were comprised of three parts; the tower base representing the world of humans, the tower body representing the world of spirits, and the tower head - usually built in the shape of a lotus - representing the realm between the two worlds. The structures were usually built of baked bricks and sandstone.

Most experts consider the main tower at My Son, dubbed A1 by archaeologists and researchers, a masterpiece of Cham architecture. Originally it spanned three storeys and reached a height of 24 metres. Inside, the walls were covered with reliefs; across from the entrance were reliefs depicting a dancing Shiva, on the first storey images of dancing females, and on the upper storeys elephants and lions were depicted. The tower is surrounded by six smaller towers. Unfortunately, tower A1 was severely damaged by US bombs in 1969. Apart from the main tower devoted to Shiva, there are numerous smaller towers and temples dedicated to the worship of lesser gods. For more refer to the Vietnam war.

This unique site is now in a state of significant disrepair. The monuments are covered with vegetation, which has grown unimpeded for years. Relics that have not already been relocated or stolen are strewn about, and lie exposed to the elements. 

(source: India and World Civilization  By D. P. Singhal Pan Macmillan Limited. 1993. part II p. 120 - 130).  (Note: Recently an Ancient statue of Lord Vishnu has been found in Russian town of the Volga region. For more refer to chapter on Suvarnabhumi). 

Hindu-Origin Ponagar Festival Opens in Vietnam 

The Ponagar fest, the biggest cultural event held by Cham people in the south of the central region, kicked off on Apr 30 in Khanh Hoa’s Nha Trang coastal city. 

The event also earned the recognition as an intangible national heritage the same day. From Apr 30 to May 2 when the festival takes place, the Ponagar tower is open free of charge to tourists. More than 100 groups from across the country have registered to take part in the event.

The festival features such rituals as dressing up the Ponagar goddess, requiems, floating flowers and colored lanterns, processions and offerings to the goddess and Cham traditional dances. Roughly 60,000 pilgrims and visitors, almost double last year’s number, are expected to join the four-day festival, as this year the event coincides with public holidays Apr 30 and May 1, said Le Van Hoa, from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

According to Tran Manh Cuong, vice head of the department, the 1,200-year-old Ponagar tower was recognized as a national historical relic in 1979.  

The fest, held annually in the third month of the lunar calendar, is to pay tribute to goddess Yan Po Nagar, or Thien Y Thanh Mau in Vietnamese, who is identified with the Hindu goddesses Bhagavati and Mahishasuramardini.  

As legend has it, Thien Y Thanh Mau taught locals how to do farming, weaving and knitting along with several other vocations to fend for themselves and safeguarded them from calamities and wars.

(source: Hindu-Origin Ponagar Festival Opens in Vietnam).

Follow Up History

American and Vatican involvement in Vietnam

Rev. Billy Graham (1918 - ) who had criticized the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. for speaking out against the war during the horrific Vietnam conflict, (1959-75), had urged the then-President, Richard M. Nixon, to bomb North Vietnam . In a 13-page letter, that Rev. Graham had forwarded to the White House in April, 1969, it was stated: 

“There are tens of thousands of North Vietnamese defectors to bomb and invade the North. Why should all the fighting be in the South?...Especially let them bomb the dikes which could over night destroy the economy of North Vietnam .”

(source: The Prince of War: Billy Graham’s Crusade for a Wholly Christian Empire -By Cecil Bothwell - baltimore.indymedia.org September 27, 2007). Refer to Nixon And Billy Graham Anti-Semitism Caught On Tape - rense.com

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When the French started to crumble under the relentless blows of the Communists of Indo-China, the Catholic Church welcomed the U.S. intervention, hopefully expecting that the American presence would help expedite the conquest of the entire province. The Church had already been in the field combating a retroactive campaign against Red expansionism.

In 1954 Vietnamese freedom fighters - the Viet Minh - had finally defeated the French colonial government in North Vietnam, which by then had been supported by U.S. funds amounting to more than $2 billion. Although the victorious assured religious freedom to all (most non Buddhist Vietnamese were Catholics), due to huge anticommunist propaganda campaigns many Catholics fled to the South. With the help of Catholic lobbies in Washington and Cardinal Spellman, the Vatican's spokesman in U.S. politics, who later on would call the U.S. forces in Vietnam "Soldiers of Christ", a scheme was concocted to prevent democratic elections which could have brought the communist Viet Minh to power in the South as well, and the fanatic Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem was made president of South Vietnam.

(source: The Vatican attempts to prevent peace and Victims of Christian Faith and Christianity's Criminal History - By Karlheinz Deschner. Refer to The Shocking Story of the Catholic "Church's" Role in Starting the Vietnam War - By Avro Manhattan.

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South Korea
India's 2000 year-old connection with South Korea

India’s early contacts with Korea date back more than 2000 years. Two thousand years ago, a 16 year old princess from Ayodhya, accompanied by her brother, sailed from India for Korea. We only know her by her Korean name, Huh Wang-Ock. There she wed King Kim Suro, founder of the ancient Korean kingdom of Karack. The King himself received her upon her arrival, and later built a temple at the place where they had first met. She is said to have died at the grand old age of 189. Her story is narrated in the ancient Korean history books, "Samkuksaki" and "Samkukyusa".

Her tomb is located in Kimhae and there is a stone pagoda in front of the tomb. The pagoda is built with stones, which the princess is said to have brought with her from Ayodhya. They have engravings and red patterns. They are believed to have a mysterious power to calm stormy seas. The Kimhae kingdom's influence is still felt in modern-day South Korea. Kimhae Kims and Kimhae Huhs trace their origins to this ancient kingdom and Korea's current President Kim Dae Jung and Prime Minister Jong Pil Kim are Kimhae Kims. In February, 2000, Kimhae Mayor Song Eun-Bok led a delegation to Ayodhya. The delegation proposed to develop Ayodhya as a sister city of Kimhae and there are plans to set up a memorial for Queen Huh. Note: Ayodhya is in Uttar Pradesh. It was the capital of the kingdom of Lord Ram, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. 

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Follow up History
Kristallnacht - Destruction of Native Culture in South Korea - Lessons for Hindus

"The US is one of the most extreme religious fundamentalist societies in the world. "

                                                                                          - Naom Chomksy is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer. He is an Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is author of several books including Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance - American Empire Project and Year 501: The Conquest Continues.

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Even though this region was once overwhelmingly Buddhist, aggressive American Christian evangelism after the Korean War converted South Korea into a region where politicians have to be Christian to get elected. This conversion was not without violence: during the 1990s, Buddhist temples were burned and Buddha statues were beheaded as the then-president, a Christian, openly equated Buddhist images with Satanism.

(source: Competing for Souls - crusadewatch.org). For more refer to chapter on Glimpses IV, Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor and Conversion.

Korean Buddhism under Siege

Christian groups in the West have always decried that they are persecuted in different parts of the world but now I am telling the Christian world to their face that their own extremist brethren are persecuting the Buddhists in Korea ! Buddhist groups have not fought back or taken revenge against these attacks by crazed extremists. 

I hope that Christian evangelists in Asia should set aside their pride and examine their conscience for what they are doing to the psyches and cultures of the peoples they wish to convert. They are creating seeds of deep and lasting unhappiness by inducing people to reject their own cultural roots and heritage.

(source: Korean Buddhism at the Crossroads - By Dr Frank M. Tedesco). Refer to Persecution of Buddhists in Korea

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Modern Yoga Migrates to China 

Google “Beijing Yoga” and, surprise – dozens of links to Yoga retreats and events in Beijing! Next, go to www.yogafinder.com, click on “Find Yoga classes” and city “Shanghai.” From the way the list reads you might think you were in California. What is compelling is not only the array of options but the degree of cross-national integration: Yoga teachers in California are holding programs in China in cooperation with Chinese yogis. China’s 1980’s policy to teach English in elementary schools, is paying off big time today. Political tensions still bristle between nations, but China’s youth are all open arms. 

While US-style holistic health jargon dominates the website blurbs, we were happy to note in one article from Beijing’s www.cityweekend.com.cn a “full disclosure” that the “Vedas of Hinduism are the source of other teachings, including Upanishads and Karma. Modern Yoga is based on the four Vedic texts, the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Arthava Veda.” 

(source: Hinduism Today - July/August/September 2005  p. 6).

Christian fundamentalists hostility to Yoga

(Note: Hostility to Yoga in the Church - Chanting Om can cause Moral Deviations? says The Vatican - The Vatican, in a letter approved by Pope John Paul II, warned Christians Thursday against spiritual dangers deriving from Eastern methods of contemplative meditation used in Yoga and Zen Buddhism.

It said the symbolism and body postures in such meditation ''can even become an idol and thus an obstacle to the raising up of the spirit of God.'' It warned that to give ''a symbolic significance typical of the mystical experience'' to sensations of well-being from meditation can lead to ''a kind of mental schizophrenia which could also lead to psychic disturbance and, at times, to moral deviations.''

(source: Pope in 1989 - Eastern Religions are Moral Deviations). For more refer to chapter on Yoga and Hindu Philosophy and Glimpses XV

Refer to Intolerance of Christians to Yoga in India - Don’t impose religious practices, Indian archbishop says of yoga measure - catholic.org).

Refer to Yoga Reaches the Great Wall - yogitimes.com and Yoga Revolutionaries - how yoga is making an impact in China - yogamagazine.co.uk).

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Euro centrism - By J M Blaut - excerpts  

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) first prime minister of free India, was more than a deeply moral human being. He yearned for spiritual light. He was particularly drawn to Swami Vivekananda and the Sri Ramakrishna Ashram. The Upanishads fascinated him.

Regarding Euro centrism, he wrote in his book The Discovery of India:  

"Till recently many European thinkers imagined that everything that was worthwhile had its origins in Greece or Rome."

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Euro centrism attributes historical superiority or priority to Europeans over all others. The fundamental assumption that progress is somehow permanent and natural in the European part of the world but not elsewhere, and progress elsewhere is mainly the result of the diffusion of innovative ideas and products from Europe and Europeans. 

Four kind of Eurocentric theory have been advanced to explain the fact that Europeans (or the West) grew richer and more powerful than all other societies. The are: 

1. Religion: Europeans (Christians) worship the True God and He guides them forward through history.
2. Race: White people have an inherited superiority over the people of other races.
3. Environment: The natural environment of Europe is superior to all others.
4. Culture: Europeans, long ago, invented a culture that is uniquely progressive and innovative.

These doctrines have been used in various combinations. Modern Euro centrism really began in 1492. When Columbus returned from his first voyage to America, he described a people who were heathens, and who, he believed, could be conquered easily. Moreover, the conquest of their land would provide gold and other wealth to Europeans. It seemed clear that Europeans were superior to these Americans and would profit from this superiority. Colonialism proved even more successful in later centuries, eventually reaching the level where Europeans were able to conquer and rule not only the Americas but also most of Asia and Africa. So Eurocentric beliefs seemed to be continually confirmed as both true and useful.  

Until recently, Western scholars believed that essentially all of the most important and progressive cultural advances since ancient times occurred somewhere in Greater Europe. In traditional European scholarship it was believed that Greater Europe naturally invents, innovates, progresses; the rest of the world remains stagnant and unchanging. Basically all of the history-making inventions and innovations were thought to have originated in Greater Europe, which supposedly invented agriculture, metallurgy, cities, states, social classes, democracy, science, most of the fine arts, and much more. 

Five historians – Eric Jones, Michael Mann, John A Hall, David S Landes, and Jared Diamond present entire, global, world-historical arguments, endeavoring to show that Europe had superiority over all other world regions throughout millennia of history. 

Max Weber’s history was tunnel history. The march toward ever rational society took place in Europe, among Europeans. Outside European tunnel of time, all societies were traditional and, in varying degrees, irrational. Like most European scholars of his time, Weber was a racist. Europe was genetically superior to non-Europeans. Europe’s superiority over everyone else is quite absolute. The matter stated baldly in the very beginning of Weber’s famous essay – The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. He believed that Africans were plainly inferior. The same hold true for Native Americans. Asians were unprogressive because their societies were “Oriental despotisms.”  

This theory has been woven into many modern arguments about the supposedly democratic character of European society throughout history – back to the Neolithic age – as against the supposedly undemocratic society of “Oriental despotisms.” 

(source: Eight Eurocentric Historians - By J M Blaut  p. 1 – 24). For more refer to chapter on First Indologists

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Watch the Bloody History of Communism - videogoogle.com.

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Eurocentrism of Hegel, Marx, Mueller, Monier Williams, Husserl - By Rajiv Malhotra

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) Few philosophers have had a more baleful influence on modern philosophy and politics than Hegel. He depicted the British colonialization of India as an inevitable stage in his process of "evolution".

He wrote: "The British, or rather the East India Company, are the masters of India because it is the fatal destiny of Asian empires to subject themselves to the Europeans."

Karl Marx (1818-1883) - The philosopher, social scientist, historian and revolutionary, Karl Marx, is without a doubt the most influential socialist thinker to emerge in the 19th century.

The false perception that India was a stagnant, ahistorical land was further perpetuated by Karl Marx. Marx described India as being caught in what he called the "Asiatic Mode of Production". He posited that India was trapped in a stagnant, unhistorical economic state in which "Oriental despots" wielding absolute power governed unchanging, stratified villages. His analysis was flawed by a serious ignorance of the actual economic history of India, and of the numerous underlying causes of decline. (This is why to this day, Marxists do not wish to encourage scholarship on India's Traditional Knowledge Systems, as the historical record clearly refutes the belief that there was no progress on the materialistic front from within the indigenous culture.) From a certain perspective, the greatest despots in India were not Oriental but Occidental, i.e., the British.

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) was the principal founder of phenomenology — and thus one of the most influential philosophers of the 20^th century. He has made important contributions to almost all areas of philosophy and anticipated central ideas of its neighboring disciplines such as linguistics, sociology and cognitive psychology.

He claimed: "Europe alone can provide other traditions with a universal framework of meaning and understanding. They will have to Europeanize themselves, whereas we, if we understand ourselves properly, will never, for example, Indianize ourselves. The Europeanization of all foreign parts of mankind is the destiny of the earth."

(source: Eurocentrism of Hegel, Marx, Mueller, Monier Williams, Husserl - By Rajiv Malhotra - infinityfoundation.com). For more refer to chapter on First Indologists

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Pinko (Communist) history is back, errors and all  

"You cannot be proud of a heritage you know nothing about, and in the name of secularism, we have spent 50 years in total denial of the Hindu roots of this civilisation. We have done nothing to change a colonial system of mass education founded on the principle that Indian civilisation had nothing to offer."

"As for me I would like to state clearly that I believe that the Indic religions have made much less trouble for the world than the Semitic ones and that Hindu civilisation is something I am very proud of."

                                                        - writes Indian columnist Tavleen Singh - The Indian Express June 13, 2004.

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"The history of all hitherto society is the history of class struggle," so said Karl Marx (1818-1883)  in his Communist Manifesto.

Watch the Bloody History of Communism - videogoogle.com.

Pinko (Communist) History is back, saffron is out - "detoxified" under HRD Minister Arjun Singh's orders. Last fortnight, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) brought back history books, which flourished in the CBSE system for 35 years before the NDA government banished them in 2002.  

Result: the revival of the old Left's catch-'em-young historiography.

In his zeal to please his communist backers, Mr Singh has ensured that the books by the eminent historians are reintroduced without even cosmetic changes in format and design. In fact the same typos, which were present in the last reprints are still there as are the pictures printed upside down. 

Also back is Brahmin baiting. The depiction of ancient India as a feudal nightmare. RS "beef" Sharma is at his incorrigible best at convincing youngsters that despite what their parents told them, there is no such thing as a sacred animal in Hinduism. The Sikhs are derided, the Rajputs belittled and the scourge of terrorism declared non-existent.

Bipin Chandra labours hard to convince that the Turks, Mughals and Persians who ruled India for nearly 800 years preceding the British were all Indians. 

The caste system of the Hindus is condemned at every opportunity. But there is careful concealment of the achievements of ancient India in the sciences. 

In her book for Class VI students, Ms Thapar makes only passing mention of Aryabhatta and Varamihira. There is not a line to inspire young India's realisation that their ancestors knew what Issac Newton and Galileo realised more than a millennium afterwards. "Books on medicine were also written," she says (page 81), but omits Shusruta, acknowledged as the father of surgery, Atreya and Charaka. Then, in her book for the next class, she simply says (under Education and Learning, page 27): 

"The discoveries of Aryabhatta in astronomy were not used in order to make further discoveries....Instead they were mixed up with ignorant and superstitious ideas about astrology." 

The genocide on Indians perpetrated by foreign invaders from West and Central Asia is given the miss. That, of course, is classical Nehruvianism.

The high priestess of secularist history, who shocked even her most committed cheerleaders last year with her apology of a book on Mahmud of Ghazni, not only glosses over Firoz's crimes but also calls the three centuries of Mughal domination as the "Age of Magnificence". 

She devotes 28 out of 120 pages with eulogies to the Mughals, but gives short shrift to Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Sikh Gurus. She gives a gush-gush account of Jahangir, sympathises with all his difficulties, but forgets to mention the murder of Sikh Guru Arjan Dev ordered by him. 

Aurgangzeb's persecution of Hindus and Sikhs is also glossed over. There is no mention of the murder of Guru Govind Singh's sons and the brutal executions of Guru Teg Bahadur and Banda Bahadur.

It is clear that propaganda is passing off as school level history in India. Instead of uniting Indians of today with their past and leaving them with impressions of their history, which would linger throughout their lives as inspiration (after all, 99 per cent of students will not pick up a history book after Class X), the "eminent" historians have sought to confuse and mislead.

(source: Pinko history is back, errors and all - By Udayan Namboodiri New Delhi May 23 2005). Refer to chapters on Hindu Culture, Islamic Onslaught and European Imperialism and Aryan Invasion Theory).  Refer to Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud. Also refer to The Myth of Aryan Invasion - By David Frawley and refer to chapter on First Indologists. (Note: Recently an Ancient statue of Lord Vishnu has been found in Russian town of the Volga region. For more refer to chapter on Suvarnabhumi). Watch the Bloody History of Communism - videogoogle.com. Watch History of Ayodhya - videogoogle.com.

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Swami Vivekananda, (1863-1902) was the foremost disciple of Ramakrishna and a world spokesperson for Vedanta. India's first spiritual and cultural ambassador to the West, came to represent the religions of India at the World Parliament of Religions, held at Chicago in connection with the World's Fair (Columbian Exposition) of 1893. 

He himself a staunch believer in Vedantic socialism, exhorted on the other hand:

"Before flooding India with socialistic and political ideas first deluge the land with spiritual ideas."

A Diabolic Inversion?

Arun Shourie 1941- ) is a Rajya Sabha member and among India's best known commentators on current and political affairs. His writings are backed by rigorous analysis and meticulous research. Shourie has been an economist with the World Bank, a consultant in the planning commission and the editor of Indian Express. Among the many honors and awards, he has received the Magsaysay Award, the International Editor of the Year, the Dadabhai Naoroji and the Astor Award. Author of several books, including Secular Agenda, Religions in Politics and Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud.

He has observed in his book:

"Eminent Historians," the ironic title of his latest book comes from the self-description a group of Marxist historians, most of them academics, arrogated for themselves while signing a newspaper petition during the Ayodhya controversy. The Marxist party line is to project Hindus as exploitative feudalists and Muslims as liberators! 

Arun Shourie's major thesis: During the past fifty years, "this bunch of Marxist historians have been suppressing facts, inventing lies, perverting discourse, and derailing public policy" by seizing control of institutions such as the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), the National Council of Educational Research Training (NCERT), large parts of Indian academia, and nearly all of the English-media newspapers and publishing houses."

Included as principals in this group of Marxist historians are Romila Thapar, Satish Chandra, K.M. Shrimali, K.M.Pannikar, R.S. Sharma, D. N. Jha, Gyanendra Pandey, and Irfan Habib. This group has, Shourie charges, "worked a diabolic inversion: the inclusive religion [Hinduism], the pluralist spiritual search of our people and land, they have projected as intolerant, narrow-minded, obscurantist; and the exclusivist, totalitarian, revelatory religions and ideologies -- Islam, Christianity, Marxism-Leninism-- they have made out to be the epitome of tolerance, open-mindedness, democracy, secularism!" By promoting each other's publications and puffing up their reputations, this group has long been "determining what is politically correct."

(source: Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud - Arun Shourie - customer reviews - amazon.com). For more refer to Christianity's Criminal History - By  Karlheinz Deschner). Watch the Bloody History of Communism - videogoogle.com.

So what, this is secular history
Modern India's greatest hero - Lenin?

NCERT's "secular" history text for Class VII students is called Modern India. It has dozens of photographs spread over its 273 pages. But there is only one famous personality who has deserved a full- page display. You may be entitled to think that only Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, or Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of modern India, or Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, modern India's greatest hero, deserves this respect.  

As if this was not enough, the text for Class IX students has devoted 11 pages to glorifying the so-called "Russian Revolution". Now, what is NCERT up to? What is the relevance of Lenin in a book for Indian children, and that too, in a book on "modern Indian history"? Of course, the authors, Indira and Arjun Dev, have strategically placed a discussion on "India and the modern world" in the opening chapter, ostensibly to give a global context and the larger backdrop shaping developments in India. But, what profound pedagogy justifies the inclusion of a character from Russian history, which the Russians themselves have discarded?

The Communist storming of the Winter Palace.

After making distortion and falsification a fine art, pinko history is set to enter the realm of "science" thanks to NCERT. To give their disingenuous strategy of turning schoolgoers into little commies, "secularism" has come in handy.

Watch the Bloody History of Communism - videogoogle.com.

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Romila Thapar, the most famous face of Marxist historiography, was reported by the CPI(M)'s mouthpiece, People's Democracy, in its December 9, 2001 issue as saying: "History has become a precise and analytical discipline and cannot be reduced to anybody's opinion".  

Contrast this with the Curriculum Framework developed in the NDA period. It placed a thrust on "helping learners understand and appreciate India's cultural heritage and learn about India's contribution to world civilisation" (page 66 of NCFSE-2000 document). Why this was considered "saffronisation" we will never know. But now, to ensure that a new generation of Indians come up with absolutely no idea about its heritage, NCERT is about to dumb down History altogether so that the sceptre of "saffronisation" never re-emerges.

(source: So what, this is secular history - By Udayan Namboodiri - dailypioneer.com May 25 2005). Refer to UPA attack on former NCERT boss Rajput full of sound, fury and some farce as well - By Diptosh Majumdar - indianexpress.com Saturday May 28 2005).

Hindu society is consistently portrayed as regressive, superstitious or stagnant while Islamic and Christian inputs receive much praise ; in fact, Islamic rulers are depicted as generally well-intentioned, progressive, broad-minded and tolerant, while their millions of victims are denied even the right to be remembered (contrast this with the way other nations zealously preserve the memories of such holocausts) ; Guru Tegh Bahaur, one learned, was a bandit ; some of India's freedom fighters were "terrorists," while spiritual leaders such as Swami Vivekananda or Sri Aurobindo were "communal."

(source: Distortion of Indian History and School Textbooks - petitiononline).  Refer to Communismwatch and cpmterro.  Watch the Bloody History of Communism - videogoogle.com.

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Demean Sri Ramakrishna to detoxify!

As he uttered “Sisters and Brothers of America” a thunderous applause hit the roof. This was Swami Vivekananda speaking to the ‘World Parliament of Religions’ at Chicago in 1893. In minutes the global audience turned his captive. Unstoppable thereafter, he spiritually conquered the colonial conquerors of India! The western media was in awe of the ‘silver-tongued’ monk.

Great freedom fighters — Gandhi and Tilak, Netaji and Rajaji, Nehru and the rest — acknowledged that Vivekananda sounded the bugle for freedom. 

Arrogance and elitism are the hallmarks of the India's leftist intellectuals.

Watch the Bloody History of Communism - videogoogle.com.

***

Back at home, his message raised a storm as he travelled from place to place, addressing thousands and arousing high national spirit and patriotism. His matchless intellect and oratory drew thousands of youths into freedom struggle and nation-building tasks. Some even turned revolutionaries to free the motherland. Great freedom fighters — Gandhi and Tilak, Netaji and Rajaji, Nehru and the rest — acknowledged that Vivekananda sounded the bugle for freedom. But Vivekananda himself dedicated all his work to his Guru, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He proclaimed that Ramakrishna took an avatar ‘‘to re-establish Sanatana Dharma, to revitalise India.’’ Hundreds of educated youths inspired by Ramakrishna joined Vivekananda to form the Sri Ramakrishna Mission for man-making and nation-building work.

Yet see how a textbook for children officially produced by Arjun Singh’s HRD Ministry, through National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), introduce Sri Ramakrishna to Indian children? It tells them that Sri Ramakrishna was ‘‘an illiterate and mentally unbalanced’’ person. Yes, Sri Ramakrishna is ‘illiterate’, ‘mentally unbalanced’! 

This book, written by Comrade Satish Deshpande is part of the new efforts to detoxify the students afflicted by saffronisation! This is not an individual’s perversion but driven by a philosophy.

Driven by habits that die-hard Left historians claim that Rama, the pride of crores of Indians, was not born in India; certainly not in Ayodhya; but may be he was born in Afghanistan!

Lord Ram returning to Ayodhya.  Prithviraj Chauhan, last of Hindu rulers of Delhi. Known for his bravery, chivalry and kindness, he has been immortalised in Prithvirajaraso.

According to marxists Rama, the pride of crores of Indians, was not born in India; certainly not in Ayodhya; but may be he was born in Afghanistan!

Watch History of Ayodhya - videogoogle.com. Watch the Bloody History of Communism - videogoogle.com.

***

So Rama was not even an Indian personality. Having banished Rama from India in the 1990s in their texts, they now write books to claim that there is no evidence of Krishna having existed in Mathura! More, Prithviraj Chauhan (last Hindu Ruler of Delhi at a crucial juncture of India’s history. Known for his bravery, chivalry and kindness, he has been immortalised in Prithvirajaraso) was no symbol of great courage and fight against foreign invaders but a coward! Still more, Jayachandra was no symbol of betrayal, but a brave fighter!

The detoxifying ‘truths’ are contained in textbooks to educate young India. Obviously, Secular India has accepted the Marxian view as its view of the timeless India. So the message is clear: deride revered symbols like Rama and Krishna, demean noble souls like Sri Ramakrishna and devalue great heroes like Prithviraj. So that young India does not look up to them, or to anyone within India, for inspiration and looks elsewhere.

Asked why a book in which Sri Ramakrishna is described in demeaning terms was permitted by NCERT, the HRD Minister Arjun Singh gave a lecture to the media on history writing. ‘‘History has to be written after carefully weighing all facts”. “Of course, I have not read the book in question. If it is so written we should look into it!” “Should look into it” — what a sober reply! He could afford to be sober as he knows that no mob will burn down government owned buses or buildings for vulgarising one of the greatest spiritualists of all time, Sri Ramakrishna. There will be no fatwas kill the writers, no bandh or violence. Thus goes on detoxification to save secularism. Notwithstanding that it corrupts, even destroys, the idea of India in the mind of young, unwary Indian.

(source: Demean Sri Ramakrishna to detoxify! - By S Gurumurthy - newindpress.com). Also refer to NCERT: Prithviraj coward, Jaichand hero

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Hindu Gods in Po Nagar Cham Tower (Vietnam)

Indrapura now known as Dong Dong served as the Cham's religious centre. 

(image source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon p. 175).

Sixteen armed dancing Shiva Nataraja.

The Cham people worshiped the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, although Shiva was the central figure of worship for most people.

(image source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon p. 175).

***
 

Gaja-simha (the elephant lions). Monumental Dvarpala bust: Of heroic proportions (the head alone is 60 cm high) and exhibits a high degree of stylization. 
The builders of Mison were the nobility of the Champa Kingdom who derived their cultural and spiritual influences almost exclusively from India. 

(image source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon p. 175).

***

The Hindu Kingdom of Champa flourished from the 2nd to the 15th centuries in Vietnam. One of the tallest Cham towers, it was built in 817 AD by Pangra, a minister of King Harivarman I.

(Note: Recently an Ancient statue of Lord Vishnu has been found in Russian town of the Volga region. For more refer to chapter on Suvarnabhumi).

***

The Cham towers of Po Nagar, were built between the 7th and 12th centuries. The site was used for worship as early as 2nd century AD.  There are many stone slabs found throughout the complexes, most of which relate history or religion proving great insight into the spiritual life and social structure of the Chams. Originally the complex covered an area of 500 sq. m. and there were seven or eight towers, four of which remain. All the temples face east, as did the original entrance to the complex, which is to the right as you ascend the hillock. In centuries past, a person coming to pray passed through the pillared mandapa (meditation hall), 10 pillars of which can still be seen, before proceeding up the staircase to the towers.  

Apsara (Divine Dancer) at Tra Kieu 

The sculpture is a masterpiece and is the most widely illustrated of all Champa sculptures, and rightly deserves its renown.

(source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon  p. 122 - 123).

***

The 23m high North Tower (Thap Chinh), with its terraced pyramidal roof, vaulted interior masonry and vestibule, is a superb example of Cham architecture. One of the tallest Cham towers, it was built in 817 AD by Pangra, a minister of King Harivarman I, after the original temples here were sacked and burned. the raiders also carried off a linga made of precious metal. In 918 AD King Indravaraman III placed a gold mukha-linga in the North Tower, but it too was taken, this time by the Khmers. This attern of statues being destroyed or stolen and then replaced continued for some time until 965 AD when King Jaya Indravarman I replaced the gold mukha-linga with a stone figure of Uma - a shakti, or feminine manifestation of Shiva - which remains to this day.

Above the entrance to the North Tower, two musicians flak a dancing Shiva. The sandstone door-posts covered with inscriptions, are parts of the walls of the vestibule. A gong and a drum stand under the pyramid-shaped ceiling of the antechamber. 

In the 28m high pyramidal main chamber there is a black stone statue of the Goddess Uma (in the shape of Bhagavati) with ten arms; two of which are hidden under her vest. The Central Tower (Thap Nam) was built partly of recycled bricks in the 12th century on the site of a structure dating the 7th century. It is less finely constructed than the other towers and has little ornamentation; the pyramidal roof lacks terracing or pilasters. The interior altars were once covered with silver.

The South Tower (Mieu Dong Nam), at one time dedicated to Shiva, still shelters a linga. The richly ornamented North-West Tower (Thap Tay Bac) was originally dedicated to Ganesha. The pyramid-shaped summit of the roof of the North-West Tower has disappeared. The West Tower, of which almost nothing remains, was constructed by King Vikrantavarman during the first half of the 9th century.

(source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon  p. 122 - 123).

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Hinduism is India’s future

Dharma inspired us in the early days - By Ram Swarup, Delhi

The early independence struggle had no teeth and had yet to learn to make any worthwhile demands. The approach was petitionary. Perhaps it had to be that way at the time; it provided a necessary protective cover. But something was happening at a deeper level. An ancient people were waking up from a deep slumber and long self-forgetfulness. A Hindu renaissance was taking place.

Swami Dayananda, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and later on Mahatma Gandhi provided its leadership. Some European friends of India, like Madame Blavatsky, Annie Besant and Sister Nivedita, played a noble role in this awakening.  

India was to them more than a geographic entity; it was a spiritual idea and power, a sacred trust, even a Deity. India was to rise for the truth it represented, for recovering its soul and svabhava, innate nature. 

The next most immediate and important influences were those unleashed by Europe. A new triumphant Europe was both our exploiter and also our teacher. Its products and creations were everywhere; its power and presence was felt in everything. It could not but impress our best people.

But a self-conscious imperialism was not satisfied with making merely a psychological impression. It waged a regular ideological offensive, an offensive in which missionary Christianity was already engaged. The white man's burden of civilizing the world and the Biblical command to go out and make converts became one single task--a task both profitable and meritorious. A new colonial-missionary view came into being which taught the superiority of Europe and Christianity over all.

With some modifications here and there, this view became specially attractive in its Marxist garb. Marx said about the same things, though he put it in radical and even in anti-colonial and anti-religious language. Marxism attracted many intellectuals, for it seemed to explain every nook and corner of the world, every notch and fold of history. It attracted many young men because they could now be radical without taking a part in the great national struggle of the day and even by opposing it. It was attractive to the self-alienated section, which was quite extensive, for it helped to justify their alienation from their country, people and religion.

These were the forces at work when India became free, the forces apathetic and antipathetic to Hindu awakening being very powerful and even more so after Independence.

Although Marxist parties were not important electorally, their ideas dominated and shaped India politics. Their one important function consisted in providing progressive labels to all reactionary and questionable politics. The same old forces worked under new labels. Separatism, Balkanization of the country and casteism became progressive politics. Under their influence, many parties adopted Leftist slogans to improve their image--at least they thought so. Hinduism is the principle of India's self-renewal, its capacity to play its great civilization role and to serve humanity.

(source: Hinduism is India’s future - By Ram Swarup - hinduismtoday.com).

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Finding my Religion: The Doctor is Out

Life was working out as planned for Alka Patel, a 36-year-old assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California, who had dreamed about becoming a doctor since childhood.

Her family was thrilled when Patel, who was born in England and lived in her parent's native India for two years before moving to the Bay Area at the age of 7, returned to San Francisco two years ago for her job at UCSF.  

On your trip you visited an ashram in Rishikesh, the same one you're going to live in starting next month. What happened there?

We attended a ceremony called Ganga Aarti, which takes place around 6 p.m. on the banks of the holy river, the Ganges. It's sort of like a spiritual party, a joyous and wonderful time. You feel like everyone is this giant family coming together. Pujya Swamiji, the spiritual head and president of the organization, leads the Aarti. He has a wonderful, very peaceful voice. I just closed my eyes and suddenly I felt a feeling of complete tranquility come over me. It was like every lock that I'd ever had on my heart just came flying open. I could literally feel them coming off, one by one. And tears came trickling down my face. That night I did not sleep a wink. 

I felt like the river kept calling me all night long. It was like this energy was flowing past me and through me.

(source: Finding my Religion: The Doctor is Out - sfgate.com).

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Chennai’s Own Holocaust Deniers

"The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power themselves...these clergy, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ."

 - wrote Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826) Third President of US -  "Notes on Virginia" 

***

All eminent historians writing on colonial India describe the devastation of Mylapore and its environs by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The respected Mylapore archaeologist Dr. R. Nagaswami, who has worked on San Thome Cathedral with the Jesuits, tells of the destruction of Jain and Buddhist temples along with all of the buildings of the Kapaleeswarar Temple on the Mylapore beach. Before him the Portuguese historian Gaspar Correa describes a holocaust that extended from Mylapore to Big Mount, south of the Adyar River. Even the St. Thomas protagonist Archbishop Arulappa admitted that Hindu temples once stood on the sites now occupied by St. Thomas–related churches in Madras, at Mylapore, Saidapet, and Big Mount now called St. Thomas Mount.

But the true story about the annihilation of Mylapore, the ancient Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage town established long before the Christian era, is not to be told by today's self-appointed guardians of Chennai heritage. The truth is not overtly denied, it is simply not admitted, and is covertly replaced by a fabulous Christian tale about St. Thomas coming to Mylapore in 64 C.E. and getting himself killed eight years later on Big Mount. The tale turns the victims of a holocaust into the slayers of an important Christian saint, the doubting apostle of the Gospels, and–yes!–the twin brother of Jesus, no less. With this story to cover up the true story of Mylapore, Hindus can be made into “Christ killers” just like the Jews before them, and treated accordingly—damned and reviled by the Christian power then, the Portuguese, and damned and censored by the Christian power now, the Americans who, like the Portuguese, use Christianity to give them moral authority for their imperial expeditions, and as a means to gain influence and sympathy through converts in an India that they wish to dominate.  

Refer to Victims of Christian Faith.

The main champion of St. Thomas in Madras today, besides the Catholic Church who owns the shrines and collects the money, is the Sri Lanka-returned journalist and producer of picture books, S. Muthiah, who got his stripes sitting at the feet of the notorious Indian Express columnist Harry Miller, Muthiah's current patron is The Hindu, an obloquial communist rag that is known up and down Mount Road as “The Dinosaur” because it is big and old and dumb, and makes so much noise as it lumbers along through the capitalist swamps of secular, socialist India. Its editor is an ideological Neanderthal called N. Ram. His forte is “secularism” which, in today's political parlance, means he is anti-national and anti-Hindu. He believes that China is the great leader and assiduously follows the Chinese two-systems system in his newspaper–economic freedom and political oppression for all. His opinion columns are filled with gloom and doom, and the rest of the paper is given over to the celebration of consumer goods for the urban rich. One of the special items for sale on January 7th, 2004, was the tale of St. Thomas in an article called “The Mount of Thomas” by S. Muthiah.

(source: Chennai’s Own Holocaust Deniers - christianaggression.com and The Myth of Saint Thomas and the Mylapore Shiva Temple - hamsa.org). Also refer to The Guilt of Christianity Towards the Jewish People and Catholic Priests Molest Third World Nuns to Avoid AIDS The Anti-Christ - Attempt at Critique of Christianity - By Friedrich Nietzsche [1895] Translated by Walter Kaufmann. For more refer to chapter on European Imperialism and Glimpses_XV and Christianity Dying In The West? - By M S N Menon - organiser.org.

Refer to The Swami Devananda Saraswati Interview with Rajeev Srinivasan - christianaggression.org.

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Indian Secularists in a rage?
Who Killed Australian Missionary Graham Staines? - By Arun Shourie 

Arun Shourie (1941- ) is India's best known and controversial commentators on current and political affairs. He backs his distinctive writing and his conscientiously independent perspective with rigorous analysis and meticulous research. He writes:

"On the face of it, the report of the Wadhwa Commission on the murder of the Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons should have been very welcome to our secular friends. Justice Wadhwa has concluded that the main person who organised the attack was Rabindra Kumar Pal alias Dara Singh, and that his motive in doing so was "misplaced fundamentalism", namely his conviction that conversions by missionaries were threatening Hinduism. He also records evidence to the effect that Dara Singh had been involved in an activity which, in the eyes of secularists, is as deplorable as an activity can get: protection of cows from slaughter.

But no, the secularists are all in rage. "A stained report," "A whitewash," "A politically tutored report" -- they have been shouting. Justice Wadhwa has failed the litmus test: if only he had included a sentence -- a single sentence! -- imputing -- howsoever obliquely -- that Dara Singh was in some way affiliated to some organization that can be linked to the RSS or the BJP, what applause would have greeted the Report!

But the Judge has stuck to evidence. Hence the fury! For our friends, a Commission of Inquiry is credible only if it is useful! 

Justice Wadhwa draws special attention to it: the press should not rush to conclusions before it has investigated the facts. The facts he has recorded urge that the caution be made specific: the press should be particularly wary of going by allegations of communalism-mongers.

It turns out that Staines and his wife, Gladys, regularly filed despatches for a journal in Australia, Tidings. This journal is run by the missionary organization in Australia which financed Staines and his activities in Manoharpur. When the Commission learned about the despatches, it requested the concerned persons for copies of the journal. None were supplied! The Commission had to obtain these from other sources. Justice Wadhwa reproduces several extracts from the despatches. 

"Graham and Gladys Staines, Mayurbhanj, 25 April, 1997: The first jungle camp in Ramchandrapur was a fruitful time and the Spirit of God worked among the people. About 100 attended and some were baptized at the camp. Praise God for answered prayer in the recent Jagannath car festival at Baripada. A good team of preachers came from the village churches and four OM workers helped in the second part of the festival. There were record book sales, so a lot of literature has gone into the people's hand...." (Incidentally, "OM" is a carefully chosen acronym: the organization it signifies is actually one of the largest publishers and distributors of missionary literature!)

However, it is the despatches sent by Staines to Australia in the newsletter 'Tidings' that make it clear that Staines was also involved in active propagation of his religion apart from his social work. It is also clear from the said despatches that conversions were taking place in jungle camps.

(source: Who Killed Australian Missionary Graham Staines? - By Arun Shourie). Also refer to Justice overwhelm politics - By Sanjaya Jena. Refer to Can Hinduism face the onslaught of Project Thessalonica? - By Alex Pomero. Refer to Bible thumpers: Americans are being increasingly stereotyped as stupid - By Arvind Kumar - indiareacts.com). Refer to Truth can kill the West - By M.S.N. Menon - Truth can kill the West—the truth about Christianity. It is all in the Dead Sea scrolls.

Why this war on Hinduism?- These two (Christianity and Islam) hostile ideologies, flawed because they are not based on human experience but on spurious and fantastic literature, are based on a priori illusion that human beings are genetically flawed and can be redeemed only by symbolic conversion and the acceptance of their bookish deity. For instance, if the Christian and Islamic clergy do not propagate and force their sterile ideologies down the throats of unsuspecting or helpless people through dubious means, or do not force them to stay on with censure and punishment, their religions would be wiped out in decades. Europe is a primary example.

(source: Why this war on Hinduism? - By George Thundiparambil - christianaggression.org). Refer to The Swami Devananda Saraswati Interview with Rajeev Srinivasan - christianaggression.org.

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Mahatma Gandhi and Confrontation with Christian missionaries  

As John Lennon (1940 - 1980) once said, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right, and I will be proved right.”

(source: Christianity’s Imminent Downfall - By Jason Long).  

***

Christian missionaries were greatly tempted to convert a man like Mahatma Gandhi. They thought that if Gandhi was converted millions of his followers in India will automatically follow suit. Christian missionaries came from all parts of the world, to discuss with him matters religious but often with the sole aim of converting him to Christianity. They argued with him. He listened to them patiently, argued with them and sometimes even rebuked them for mixing up social work with proselytising. What they had brought to sell did not appeal to the Mahatma. He used to tell the missionaries that he refused to believe that Jesus was the only son of God and that the salvation of a person lay in accepting Jesus Christ as the Saviour (in other words by becoming a Christians).

Gandhi’s first exposure to a Christian missionary, while studying in school, was not a very happy event. It left, it seems, a lasting impression on his mind as childhood impressions often do. Gandhi has described this incident in his Autobiography (1929) in the following words:  

" In those days Christian missionaries used to stand in a corner near the high school and hold forth, pouring abuse on Hindus and their gods. I could not endure this. I must have stood there to hear them once only, but that was enough to dissuade me from repeating the experiment. About the same time, I heard of a well-known Hindu having been converted to Christianity. It was the talk of the town that, when he was baptized, he had to eat beef and drink liquor, that he also had to change his clothes, and that thenceforth he began to go about in European costume including a hat. These things got on my nerves. Surely, thought I, a religion that compelled one to eat beef, drink liquor, and change one’s own clothes did not deserve the name. I also heard that the new convert had already begun abusing the religion of his ancestors, their customs and their country. All these things created in me a dislike for Christianity."

Gandhi was introduced to several other practicing Christians, including a family belonging to Plymouth Brethren, a Christian sect. One of the Plymouth Brethren confronted Gandhi with an argument for which he was not prepared. He said:  

“How can this ceaseless cycle of action bring you redemption? You can never have peace. You admit that we are all sinners. Now look at the perfection of our belief. Our attempts at improvement and atonement are futile. And yet redemption we must have. How can we bear the burden of sin? We can but throw it on Jesus. He is the only sinless son of God. It is His word that those who believe in Him shall have everlasting life. Therein lies God’s infinite mercy. And as we believe in the atonement of Jesus, our own sins do not bind us. Sin we must. It is impossible to five in this world sinless. And therefore Jesus suffered and atoned for all the sins of mankind. Only he who accepts His great redemption can have eternal peace. Think what a life of restless is yours, and what a promise of peace we have.”  

Gandhi’s reaction to this offer is typical of him and is oft quoted by his Western biographers like Erik Erikson and Geoffrey Ash:  

“The argument utterly failed to convince me. I humbly replied: If this be the Christianity acknowledged by all Christians, I cannot accept it. I do not seek redemption from the consequences of my sin. I seek to be redeemed from sin itself or rather from the very thought of sin. Until I have attained that end, I shall be content to be restless.”

Gandhi continues:

“My difficulties lay deeper. It was more than I could believe that Jesus was the only incarnate son of God, and that only he who believed in him would have everlasting life. If God could have sons, all of us were His sons. If Jesus was like God or God himself, then all men were like God and could be God himself. My reason was not ready to believe literally that Jesus by his death and by his blood redeemed the sins of the world. Metaphorically there might be some truth in it. Again according to Christianity only human beings had souls, and not other living beings, for whom death meant complete extinction; while I held a contrary belief. I could accept Jesus as a martyr, an embodiment of sacrifice, and a divine teacher, but not as the most perfect man ever born. His death on the cross was a great example to the world, but that there was anything like a mysterious or miraculous virtue in it my heart could not accept. The pious lives of Christians did not give me anything that the lives of men of other faiths had failed to give. I had seen in other lives just the same reformation that I had heard of among Christians. Philosophically there was nothing extraordinary in Christian principles. From the point of view of sacrifice, it seemed to me that the Hindus greatly surpassed the Christians. It was impossible for me to regard Christianity as a perfect religion or the greatest of all religions. "

Gandhi was only twenty-four when these skirmishes with Christian missionaries occurred. This shows an amazing maturity of thought at this young age.

During his life several Christian missionaries met him and tried relentlessly to convince him about the uniqueness of Christianity and the infallibility of the Bible. Gandhi was frank enough to tell them about their folly and the absurdity of their beliefs. 

***

Bihar Notes about Tribals

"How very nice it would be if the Christian missionaries rendered humanitarian service without the ulterior aim of conversion." 

***

"The Mundas are another tribe whom I met at Khunti on my way to Ranchi. The scope for work in their midst is inexhaustible. Christian missionaries have been doing valuable service for generations, but, in my humble opinion, their work suffers because at the end of it they expect conversion of these simple people to Christianity. I had the pleasure of seeing some of their schools in these places. It was all pleasing, but I could see the coming conflict between the missionaries and the Hindu workers. The latter have no difficulty in making their service commendable to the Hos, the Mundas and the others. How very nice it would be if the missionaries rendered humanitarian service without the ulterior aim of conversion." 

                                                                                                       - Vol.28 p. 295-96. (Young India 8-10-1925)

(source: Christianity and Conversion in India - By Indian Bibliographic Centre  (Research Wing) - indymedia.org). Refer to VINDICATED BY TIME: The Niyogi Committee Report  On Christian Missionary Activities - Christianity Missionary Activities Enquiry Committee 1956 and Christianity Dying In The West? - By M S N Menon - organiser.org an Catholic Priests Molest Third World Nuns to Avoid AIDS The Sunshine of Secularism. The Anti-Christ - Attempt at Critique of Christianity - By Friedrich Nietzsche [1895] Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Refer to Can Hinduism face the onslaught of Project Thessalonica? - By Alex Pomero. Refer to The Swami Devananda Saraswati Interview with Rajeev Srinivasan - christianaggression.org. Refer to Bible thumpers: Americans are being increasingly stereotyped as stupid - By Arvind Kumar - indiareacts.com).

Why this war on Hinduism?- These two (Christianity and Islam) hostile ideologies, flawed because they are not based on human experience but on spurious and fantastic literature, are based on a priori illusion that human beings are genetically flawed and can be redeemed only by symbolic conversion and the acceptance of their bookish deity. For instance, if the Christian and Islamic clergy do not propagate and force their sterile ideologies down the throats of unsuspecting or helpless people through dubious means, or do not force them to stay on with censure and punishment, their religions would be wiped out in decades. Europe is a primary example.

(source: Why this war on Hinduism? - By George Thundiparambil - christianaggression.org). Refer to Truth can kill the West - By M.S.N. Menon - Truth can kill the West—the truth about Christianity. It is all in the Dead Sea scrolls.

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Jules Verne was sympathetic to India: researcher
Translators drop anti-colonial pro-India references from Jules Verne 

Jules Gabriel Verne (1828-1905), French writer and pioneer of science fiction, whose best known works today are Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea(1870) and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). Well-known 19th century French author Jules Verne had a distinct sympathy towards the Indian people and this showed up in some of his writings.

Jules Verne, the famous far-sighted scientist and science fiction writer could not have imagined the colonial bias of the English writers who translated his books from French. Such was the bias that they left out the references to India in his books. Some of these references were critical of the British rule on India. He was against colonization by the British. 

Verne had written in a sympathetic vein about the 1857 Indian Sepoy Mutiny in two books, says researcher Swati Dasgupta.

The mutiny, the first war of independence by the Indians against British rule, figures in "The Mysterious Island" as well as in "The Steam House" where it forms the backdrop of the novel, Dasgupta said.

In "The Mysterious Island", Prince Dakkar, the central character is described by Verne as: "So it was that this Indian typified in himself all the fierce hatred of the vanquished against the conqueror". The prince, who had an "irresistible love for his poetic country burdened by English chains, never wanted to set foot on this cursed land to which India owed its enslavement." This account is present in the 1992 English translation by Sidney Kravitz, but is missing in the earlier translation of the book.

According to Dasgupta, who is doing her doctorate on Verne from Delhi University, the French author of "20,000 Leagues Under the Seas" and "Around the World in 80 Days" was "deliberately distorted by English translators" who apparently did not approve of the anti-colonial sentiments expressed in them. 

Indian pearl divers were exploited in the fisheries run by the English.

Mention of pearl may be traced in the literatures of two great oriental civilisations— ancient India and ancient China. In Vedic literature, the earliest one that flourished in India.

***

Verne, in his popular "20,000 Leagues Under the Seas", had written about the way Indian pearl divers were exploited in the fisheries run by the English, she said. However, the account of the poor health and poverty of the pearl divers was not included in the book’s English translation.

In "the Steam House", Verne had devoted an entire chapter to the Indian Mutiny. English translator I. O Evans "omitted the entire chapter" and explained in the footnote that he did it because it "holds up the story and lacks interest"!  In that chapter, Verne had looked at both sides of the Mutiny, said Dasgupta. "He finds that the English exacted the fullest revenge for all the cruelty perpetrated by the Sepoys". Dasgupta translated the "expunged" chapter from Verne’s original for a private website of the free international Jules Verne Forum. The site is run by Verne enthusiast Zvi Har’El. 

(source: Jules Verne was sympathetic to India: researcher and Translators drop anti-colonial pro-India references from Jules Verne).

The massacre at Cawnpore; tinted lithograph by T. Packer. The First War of Independence. 

When General Sir James Neil reached the shambles of Cawnpore not long after it was over, he was seized with an Old Testamental vision of revenge. Captured mutineers were to be executed of course, but first they must be made to pay. Each one was made to lick clean a portion of bloody ground. Then he was hanged. Some were blown from field guns. Very few of the British protested at the sickening toll, missionaries and chaplains being as loud as anyone in their clamor for vengence.

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For more refer to chapter on European Imperialism

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A Semitic faith condemned to idolatry

It is the case of the Christian missionaries (of Benny Hinn, for example) that Hindus worship idols. They do. But they are free to go beyond idol worship to meditation (with eyes closed, dhyana)—from the worship of a personal God (monotheism) to meditation over a God without form or attributes (monism). This is Advaita.

But there is no way a Christian can bypass Jesus Christ and seek a formless God. (The very thought is blasphemous to Christians.) He is thus condemned to remain, with his idols and symbols, a monotheist. He is condemned to worship, to remain apart from God.

If you ask me which path I prefer, I say without hesitation: The Hindu path, for my goal is to be as perfect as God. Transform and transcend—this is the essence of the Hindu faith. Both are not open to Semitic faiths.

Early Christianity saw nothing wrong with idols and images. It was free from Jewish follies. In the Roman catacombs (underground places of Christian worship and burial) are to be found the first visual pictures of the Biblical story. (Frescoes are also found and artwork portraying scenes from the Old and New Testaments. In many cases, too, this is where we see some of the most Christian funerary arts starting to develop; whole scenes of the family of Jesus or images from gospel stories or stories from the Hebrew Scriptures or the symbol of the orans and the good shepherd. All of these reflect a burgeoning Christian iconographic tradition). These were painted between the 2nd and 4th centuries A.D.

God is depicted here as an old man with a beard, but of powerful build, reaching out his hand to touch the extended hand of Adam.

***

This tradition must have continued, for the most famous painting of all—the ‘Creation of Man’ by Michelangelo—was done in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican in the 16th century under the direct supervision of a Pope. God is depicted here as an old man with a beard, but of powerful build, reaching out his hand to touch the extended hand of Adam.

In fact, no religion can rival Christianity in the multiplicity of images. In some of the largest Catholic churches of France, there are as many as 3,000-4,000 statues. Christian sailors got their hands tattooed with the figure of the Madonna for protection. Pope Gregory II defended the use of idols. These idols were never seriously challenged till the Reformation.

Christians also worship the cross. It is a symbol. According to the Christian tradition (contested by Islam), Jesus was crucified on a cross. Hence it became a religious symbol. The fact is: crosses were venerated even before the advent of Christianity by various pagan cults. It was a symbol of fire, which was obtained by rubbing two sticks against each other.

Early Christianity frowned upon it. But it gained acceptance after St. Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor, Constantine the Great, discovered the cross on which Jesus was crucified during her visit to the Holy Land in the 4th century A.D. Well, such is the tradition. But the shape of the cross which was used by various sects of Christianity was not uniform. This is rather curious, for once they accepted the cross discovered by Helena as the one on which Jesus was crucified, the Christian authorities should have standardised the shape of the cross. The fact that they did not calls for an explanation.

One is, therefore, forced to admit that the use of the cross too was one of the many pagan traditions adopted by Christianity. This also explains why some Christian sects are reluctant to use the cross. As in Judaism, so in Christianity, God is described in human terms. For example, the Common Prayer says: “Our Father, which art in Heaven.” The Apostles Creed says: “He (Jesus) ascended to Heaven and is sitting on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.”

The Reformation was a revolt against the Papacy. It was alleged that the Popes had Romanised and Paganised Christianity, that idol worship was a pagan practice and that it violated the Jewish tradition, which is why the Protestants gave up idols. Obviously, they knew not why the Jews hated idols. Times change. Concepts change. Gods change. Yahweh was an “old man with a white beard”. This image is no more acceptable to Christians. Pope John Paul II says that God “is not an old man with a white beard”. And he has referred to God as ‘mother’ too. 

The Hindus knew of these problems 3,000 years ago. They called God ‘It’. The Christians laughed at the Hindus. But did not Jesus himself call God his ‘Father’? Does it mean that the son did not know his ‘Father’? Christianity cannot go beyond its anthropomorphic images.

Today enlightened Christians do not take the Biblical story seriously. Almost the entire scientific community rejects the story of the Genesis. “The hypothesis of a pervading spirit co-eternal with the universe remains unshaken,” says the poet Shelley. And this is a pagan idea.

But, here, we are in the realm of Vedanta, the final reach of the Hindu mind in its quest for the nature of God, the final formulation. Christianity failed to reach out to Advaita. It opted for a personal God. But a personal God calls for images and symbols. Christianity is condemned to idol worship. Vedanta, the final reach of the Hindu mind in its quest for the nature of God, the final formulation. Christianity failed to reach out to Advaita. It opted for a personal God. But a personal God calls for images and symbols. Christianity is condemned to idol worship. Vedanta, the final reach of the Hindu mind in its quest for the nature of God, the final formulation. Christianity failed to reach out to Advaita. It opted for a personal God. But a personal God calls for images and symbols. Christianity is condemned to idol worship.

(source: A Semitic faith condemned to idolatry - By M.S.N. Menon - organiser.org).

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Ujjain - The Greenwich of Ancient India

Located on the tropic of Cancer, Ancient Ujjain (Ujjayini)  was the Greenwich of India, as far as astronomy is concerned. 

Ujjain is the modern name for Ujjayini. Legend has it that in the hoary past, the God like king Shiva of Avanti commemorated his victory over the demon-ruler of Tripura or Tripuri on the banks of the Narmada by changing the name of his capital, Avantipura to Ujjayini (one who conquers with pride). Ujjain has been a source of inspiration to ancient Indian sages, poets, dramatists, social commentators and scholars since times immemorial. The city has also nurtured cultural, literary, Vedic and educational institutions. 

"The town fallen from heaven to bring heaven on earth" wrote the great Sanskrit poet, Kalidasa about Ujjain. He added, "if heaven is a magnification of Ujjain, then it must be a very interesting place indeed. This is the home of Shiva as Mahakal, he who allocates the existential time of all cosmic manifestation". 

For more refer to Kalidasa and Ancient India – By B S V Prasad - sulekha.com).

According to an ancient Hindu calendar, the first meridian of the planet earth passes through Ujjain, making Ujjain time the universal time coordinate. The river Shipra that passes through Ujjain is held as sacred as the Ganges. Ujjain is also one of the sites of the Kumbh Mela, the greatest religious congregation of the Hindus.

Situated along the banks of the Sipra, the city has been eulogized by great poets like Vedavyasa and Kalidasa. 

Vikramaditya, the legendary emperor, ruled the city with his famous Navratnas (nine jewels) including Kalidasa, Shanku, Dhanvantari, Betalbhatta, Varruchi, Varahmihir, Kshapdak, Ghatkarpar and Amar Singh who epitomised different branches of knowledge.

Ujjain is located on the Tropic of Cancer, the prime meridian of India. The Vikram Samvatsar originated in this ancient city.

According to Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, “there is something very striking about the consistency of Ujjain’s dominance in Indian time accounting.” The city was an important centre of astronomy in the Gupta period. Varahmihir, the renowned astronomer, had worked in Ujjain. In the 18th century, Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur constructed the famous observatory at Ujjain to encourage astronomical studies and to popularize astronomy amongst the people.

The Holy Dip in Sipra - The significance of a bath in the Sipra can be gauged from a verse in the Skanda Purana. According to it “The holy bath of the Kumbh equals in piety to thousands of Kartik snans, hundred Magh snans and crores of Narmada snans during the month of Vaishakh. The fruits of Kumbh snan are equal to the fruits of thousands of Ashvamedh Yajna and lakhs of journeys around the earth”. Elaborate arrangements have been made for the convenience of pilgrims.

Places of interest

Bade Ganeshji Ka Mandir - This temple situated above the tank near the Mahakaleshwar temple, enshrines a huge artistic sculpture of Ganesh, the son of Shiva. An idol of this size and beauty is rarely to be found. The middle of the temple is adorned by an idol of the pancha-mukhi (five faced) Hanuman. There is provision for learning of Sanskrit and Astrology in the temple.

This temple situated above the tank near the Mahakaleshwar temple, enshrines a huge artistic sculpture of Ganesh, the son of Shiva. An idol of this size and beauty is rarely to be found. The middle of the temple is adorned by an idol of the pancha-mukhi (five faced) Hanuman. There is provision for learning of Sanskrit and Astrology in the temple.  

This temple situated above the tank near the Mahakaleshwar temple, enshrines a huge artistic sculpture of Ganesh, the son of Shiva. An idol of this size and beauty is rarely to be found.

The Ganesh idol enshrined here is supposed to be swayambhu - born of itself. Worshippers throng to this temple because the deity here is traditionally known as Chintaharan Ganesh meaning "the assurer of freedom from worldly anxieties".  

***

Chintaman Ganesh - The temple is built across the Shipra on the Fatehabad railway line. The Ganesh idol enshrined here is supposed to be swayambhu - born of itself. The temple itself is believed to be of considerable antiquity. Riddhi and Siddhi, the consorts of Ganesha, are seated on either side of Ganesha. The artistically carved pillars in the assembly hall date back to the Paramara period. Worshippers throng to this temple because the deity here is traditionally known as Chintaharan Ganesh meaning "the assurer of freedom from worldly anxieties".  

(For more refer to Ganesh, Dieu de l'Inde Symbole et présence   and Ganesh temples worldwide).

Bhartrihari Caves - These caves are situated just above the bank of the Shipra near the temple of Gadkalika. According to popular tradition, this is the spot where the great Sanskrit Poet Bhartrihari, who is said to have been the step brother of Vikramaditya, lived and meditated after renouncing worldly life. He is believed to have been a great scholar and poet. His famous works, Shringarshatak, Vairagyashatak, and Nitishatak, are known for the exquisite use of the Sanskrit meter. 

Mahakaleshwar - The presiding deity of time, Shiva, in all his splendour reigns eternal in Ujjain. The temple of Mahakaleshwar, its shikhara soaring into the skies, evokes primordial awe and reverence with its majesty. 

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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Mahakaleshwar - The presiding deity of time, Shiva, in all his splendour reigns eternal in Ujjain. The temple of Mahakaleshwar, its shikhara soaring into the skies, evokes primordial awe and reverence with its majesty. The Mahakal dominates the life of the city and its people, even in the midst of the busy routine of modern preoccupation's, and provides an unbreakable link with past traditions.

The Vedha Shala (Observatory) - Ujjain enjoyed a position of considerable importance in the field of astronomy. Great works on astronomy such as the Surya Siddhanta and the Panch Siddhanta were written in Ujjain. According to Indian astronomers, the Tropic of Cancer is supposed to pass through Ujjain. It is also the fist meridian of longitude of the Hindu geographers. From about the 4th century BC, Ujjain enjoyed the reputation of being India's Greenwich. The observatory extant today was built by Raja Jai Singh (1686-1743), who was a great scholar. He translated the works of Ptolemy and Euclid into Sanskrit from Arabic. Of the many observatories built by him at Jaipur, Delhi, Varanasi, Mathura, and Ujjain, the one at Ujjain is still in use actively. Astronomical studies are conducted through the Department of Education and the ephemeris is published every year. There is a small planetarium and a telescope to observe the moon, Mars, Jupiter and their satellites. The observatory is also used for weather forecasts.

Rishi Sandipani Ashram - The fact that ancient Ujjain apart from its political and religious importance, enjoyed the reputation of being a great seat of learning as early as the Mahabharata period is borne out by the fact that, Lord Krishna and Sudama received regular instruction in the ashram of Rishi Sandipani. The area near the ashram is known as Ankapata, popularly believed to have been the place used by Lord Krishna for washing his writing tablet. The numerals 1 to 100 found on a stone are believed to have been engraved by Guru Sandipani.

(source:

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John Lennon Sings India

Take me to your heart
Reveal your ancient mysteries to me
I’m searching for an answer
That’s somewhere deep inside
I know I’ll never find it here
It’s already in my mind
I’ve got to follow my heart
Wherever it takes me
I’ve got to follow my heart
Whenever it calls to me
I’ve got to follow my heart
And my heart is going home
Om

India, India
Listen to my plea
I sit here at your feet so patiently
I’m waiting by the river
But somewhere in my mind
I left my heart in England
With the girl I left behind
I’ve got to follow my heart
Wherever it takes me
I’ve got to follow my heart
Whenever it calls to me
I’ve got to follow my heart
And my heart is going home
India ah.

These are extracts of lyrics from John Lenon's (1940 - 1980) unpublished song India, India with which the legendary musician will make his Broadway debut, almost 25 years after his death. Along with another never-before heard number, I Don’t Want to Lose You , the song will be performed in public for the first time, making Lenon's unfulfilled dream of a musical come true. The songs feature in a new musical of the Beatle’s life, and have been heard only by few Beatles fans, that too muffled bootleg versions.

Lennon wrote India, India in the late 1970s for a musical he was writing named after his song The Ballad of John and Yoko , reports timesonline.co.uk. The musical never materialised and the track remained unheard, except on recordings smuggled out of Lenon’s flat.

The song, sung in a vocal style similar to that of Paul McCartney's Hey Jude, recalls a trip to India in search of spiritual enlightenment, says timesonline.co.uk. Lennon may have been writing about the Beatles' spiritual journey to India in 1968, when they spent time at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh, now in Uttaranchal.

According to Pete Nash, chairman of the British Beatles Fan Club, the lyrics were unique, but the melody had been from two other songs Lenon was working on at the time, Memories and Serve Yourself . The second track, I Don’t Want to Lose You , a melancholy ballad, had been given to the surviving Beatles in 1995 by Ono, to be released on the Anthology album. However, the producer was unable to remove a buzzing noise from the tape and it was left out. The song, known to Lennon enthusiasts as Now and Then , was composed in 1977 or 1978. Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow and guardian of his estate, has sanctioned the use of the tracks in the Broadway musical.

(source: Lenon Sings India - timesofindia.com).

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A Hindu cure for the "colonial hangover" By Mark Tully

The end of India's freedom struggle fifty years ago was only the end of one stage of India's struggle. India deserves by size and its ancient civilization a place at the top table of the nations of the world. But it does not. We have to see why it does not enjoy that position, where freedom has not worked in India, and where the next stages of the struggle have to go. I think there has been--and India is not unique in this--a fundamental problem in achieving real freedom: a colonial hangover which still exists in the minds of some leaders and in the political and institutional arrangements. 

One aspect of this colonial hangover is the vexed and controversial question of secularism. I think there is no doubt that the concept of secularism was inherited by Nehru from the West. It comes from a debased form of Enlightenment thinking which thought science and modern development had killed religion. Nehru's secularism was based to a large extent on the Western lack of concern, if I can put it like that, for religion. This secularism developed in India in such a way that they would say, "If you are a Christian and you go to church, you are communal. If you are a Hindu and you go to the temple, you are communal. If you are a Muslim and you say namaaz, you are communal." But if you look at the arrangements in Britain, you find the Queen is still the head of the Church of England--so you could say Britain is in theory a communally Christian country. India is unique in its variety of religions--every historic religion in the world has a home in India, and everyone is free to worship in their own way.

Now the extraordinary thing is that as soon as you talk about Hinduism in Bharat, you are immediately--and I have had this said to me many times--told that you are BJP, RSS or something like that.

But I do profoundly believe that India needs to be able to say with pride, "Yes, our civilization has a Hindu base to it." The genius of Hinduism, the very reason it has survived so long, is that it does not stand up and fight. It changes and adapts and modernizes and absorbs--that is the scientific and proper way of going about it.

Why is Christianity in so much trouble at the moment? Because it is so difficult for it to adapt, to face up to the scientific inventions of our times and the findings of history. It is also difficult for Christians to say that the most important thing about a religion is the myth that underlies it. That is the power. Anyone who thinks myth equals lie, as some people appear to do, is totally misled. Hinduism has this great strength. It is based on myth unashamedly. You do not have to run around trying to find historical evidence to say that Krishna was born in Mathura to understand the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Whether Krishna or Arjun ever stood in a chariot together or not is not, in my view, of great importance to tradition and right and proper Hindu thinking. So I believe very strongly that it is a mistake to become confrontational.

What is needed is the proper teaching of Hinduism and the study of ways in which Hindus should adapt to the latest circumstances. I believe that Hinduism may actually prove to be the religion of the next millennium, because it can adapt itself to change. It is not stuck in history. That is the problem of the Semitic religions. A Roman Catholic cardinal said he thought that an Eastern religion--Buddhism--would be the greatest challenge to the Church in the next millennium, not materialism, as so many people think. 

India must be able to be proud of Hinduism.

(source: A Hindu cure for the "colonial hangover" - By Mark Tully - hinduismtoday.com). For more refer to chapter on European Imperialism. Refer to Bible thumpers: Americans are being increasingly stereotyped as stupid - By Arvind Kumar - indiareacts.com).

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Anti-Brahminism - The biggest vilification campaign in world history started by the Christian missionaries

Forrest G Wood ( ? ) the author of Black Scare: The Racist Response to Emancipation and Reconstruction, is Professor of History at California State University. He has written: 

"Preaching at the ordination of six missionaries at Newburyport, MA, in 1815, the Reverend Samuel Worcester, pastor of the Tabernacle Church in Salem, MA, perceived the entire non-Christian world as lost in darkness. 

“Is the religion, or the morality better in Burma, - in China, in India,  - in Japan – in Tibet – in Tartary – in any part of pagan Asia? ….Are they not all in darkness, in the shadow of death? Have they not all changed the glory of the incorruptible God into images made like to corruptible man, and to bird, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.? "

(source: Arrogance of Faith - By Forrrest G Wood p. 9).

***

The true prophets of the anti-Brahmin message were no doubt the Christian missionaries. In the sixteenth century, Francis Xavier wrote that Hindus were under the spell of the Brahmanas, who were in league with evil spirits, and that the elimination of Brahminism was the first priority in the large operation of bringing Salvation to the wretched Pagans of India. In this endeavour, he strongly advocated and practiced the use of force. Unfortunately for him, the Portuguese government could not always spare the troops which he so passionately asked for. Still, the destruction wrought by Francis Xavier was impressive, and he has described the joy he felt on seeing idols being smashed and temples demolished.  

Within the Portuguese territories, physical persecution of Paganism naturally hit the Brahmins hardest. Treaties with Hindu kings had to stipulate explicitly that the Portuguese must not kill Brahmins. But in the case of Christian anti-Brahminism, these physical persecutions were a small matter compared to the systematic ideological and propagandistic attack on Brahminism, which has conditioned the views of many non-missionaries and has by now been amplified enormously because Secularists, Akalis, Marxists and Muslims have joined the chorus. In fact, apart from anti-Judaism, the anti-Brahmin campaign started by the missionaries is the biggest vilification campaign in world history.   

  Apart from anti-Judaism, the anti-Brahmin campaign started by the Christian missionaries is the biggest vilification campaign in world history.

(image source: http://www.indojudaic.com/).

The well-spring of anti-Brahminism is doubtlessly the Christian missionaries greedy design to rope in the souls of Hindus. From there onwards, it spread through the entire English-educated class and ultimately became an unquestionable dogma in India's political parlance. Communist historians and sociologists have been fortifying it by rewriting Indian history as a perennial struggle between Brahmin oppressors and the rest. 

***

While the Portuguese mission establishment was unanimous in branding the Brahmins as the chief obstacle to the Salvation of India, there was some dissent concerning the tactics to be employed against them. Robert de Nobili believed in fraud rather than force. He dressed as a Brahmin, and taught the Yesurveda, a fifth Veda which had been lost in India, but which the emigrant community of Romaka Brahmins had preserved. He seems to have had a few followers, but after his death, nothing remained of his infiltration movement. Recently he has been declared the patron saint of the theology of inculturation, and his method is being actualized and perfected in the Christian ashrams .

The well-spring of anti-Brahminism is doubtlessly the Christian missionaries greedy design to rope in the souls of Hindus. From there onwards, it spread through the entire English-educated class and ultimately became an unquestionable dogma in India's political parlance. Communist historians and sociologists have been fortifying it by rewriting Indian history as a perennial struggle between Brahmin oppressors and the rest. When defending the Mandal report in 1990, the then Prime Minister of India V.P. Singh could say that Brahmins have to do penance for the centuries of oppression which they inflicted on the Backwards, without anyone questioning his historical assumptions. Anti-Brahminism is now part of the official doctrine of the secular, socialist Republic of India.

(source: http://hamsa.org/StThomas_Chapt_4.htm). For more refer to chapter on European Imperialism and to Christianity Dying In The West? - By M S N Menon - organiser.org.

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Datura flower

Botanical Name :- Datura stramonium
Indian Name :- Dhatura  

Datura is referred to in ancient Indian literature as shivashekherea because the flowers are believed to be associated with Lord Siva. It was known to the ancient Hindu physicians. 

***

Datura is a bushy plant growing up to one metre in height. It has large egg-shaped leaves, very large white flowers and egg-shaped fruits covered with prickles. Datura is referred to in ancient Indian literature as Shivashekherea because the flowers are believed to be associated with Lord Siva. It was known to the ancient Hindu physicians. They find the drug as an intoxicant, with emetic, digestive and healing powers. Smoking for datura seeds as a treatment for asthma was known during the Vedic period. Datura is indigenous to India. The leaves of the plant contain alkaloids.

Datura is referred to in ancient Indian literature as shivashekherea because the flowers are believed to be associated with Lord Siva. It was known to the ancient Hindu physicians. 

***

In India Datura stramonium L., Solanaceae, (Syn. D. tatula L.), a native to Mexico, is known as dhatura (Bengali, Gujrati, and Marathi), dhattura, unmatta, kanaka, shivpriya (Sanskrit), and ummatta (Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese and Malyalam). In most parts of India it grows as a wasteland weed (Oudhia and Tripathi 2000a,b) but is cultivated for its alkaloids in some parts of India and in Europe (Chandra and Pandey 1989). Other species of Datura reported in India include Datura innoxia Mill. (syn. D. metel Sims), common name sadahdhatura; and Datura metel L. (syn. D. alba Nees Syn. D. fastuosa L. common name kaladhatur. In India, D. stramonium is considered a valuable medicine.

Datura was known to the ancient Hindu physicians who regarded it as intoxicant, emetic, digestive, and heating. The whole plant is considered as narcotic, anodyne, and antispasmodic. It has properties analogous to those of belladonna. Seed is considered to have a strong aphrodisiac effects. According to Ayurveda, seeds are acrid, bitter, tonic, febrifuge, anthelmintic, alexiteric, emetic, and useful in leucoderma, skin disorders, ulcers, bronchitis, jaundice and piles (Agharkar 1991). Dried leaves, flowering tops and seeds are used in indigenous medicine in the treatment of asthma. Leaves and seeds possess narcotic properties and sometimes used for criminal poisoning. Datura leaves are an integrated part of herbal cigarettes available in Indian markets Chief alkaloids of D. stramonium are hyoscyamine, scopolamine, and atropine. Alkaloid atropine is used as stimulant for central nervous system and in form of sulphate, to dilate the pupil. In homoeopathic cystem of medicine, a widely used drug named stramonium is prepared from mature seed of D. stramonium, and is considered to act on the human brain (Ghosh 1988).

(source: online sources). For more refer to chapter on Nature Worship.

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Swastika: The Hindu Symbol

The word Swastika is normally believed to be an amalgam of the words Su and Asati. Su means 'good' and Asati meant 'to exist'. A 5,000-year-old symbol that has been used for centuries by Hindus, Buddhists and many other traditions to denote good luck.

For many in the world a ban on the swastika would be quite bewildering - the equivalent of banning the cross or the crescent. And, in ignoring the sensitivities of people in the East, such a ban would itself be an act of Western arrogance - the very kind of attitude Hitler encouraged. 

***

The next religious symbol which is also revered by Hindu and ranks second only to OM is the Swastika. Today, the Swastika is know the world over not as a religious symbolism of the Hindus but as the Nazi emblem. Hitler's use of the Swastika on the flag of National-socialist Germany has besmirched the Swastika. But the Swastika continues to hold a religious significance for the Hindus. Like OM, the origins of Swastika are lost in the misty realms of the past and they can only be guessed by piecing together of the surviving clues.

Unlike OM, the Swastika is not a syllable or a letter. It appears to be decorative character which could have originated in a hieroglyphic (pictorial) script.

The word Swastika is normally believed to be an amalgam of the words Su and Asati. Su means 'good' and Asati meant 'to exist'. 

(source: Swastika - hindubooks.org). Refer to Hitler’s Christianity.

***

UK Hindus to 'redeem' Swastika

Hindus in the United Kingdom have launched a campaign to "redeem" the swastika from its Nazi past and reclaim it as the symbol of life and fortune it once was, reports The Times, London.

A 5,000-year-old symbol that has been used for centuries by Hindus, Buddhists and many other traditions to denote good luck, the swastika has come to symbolize hate, anti-Semitism, violence, death and murder because of the Nazi atrocities, the article said.

"A symbol we have used for more than 5,000 years is now on the verge of being banned because of association with the Nazis over which we had no control," the article quoted Kallidai as saying. "Hindus wish to continue to use this symbol as part of their religion, but they risk being labeled a Nazi or, in the case of a ban, risk breaking the law. We need to educate people about the historical context of the symbol, its wrong use by the Nazis and its importance to Hindus".

(source: UK Hindus to 'redeem' swastika - rediff.com).

Swastika is a symbol of Hindu Religion - By Brian Walters

The swastika is far older than Hitler's Germany and means much more. In the West, the swastika remains to this day an irredeemable symbol of the evil of Nazism. However, much of the East has merely shrugged off the Nazi association. After all, the word "swastika" is derived from a Sanskrit term meaning "being good" or "wellbeing". Even new Buddhist and Hindu temples are decorated with swastikas.

The swastika is a very ancient symbol. It has been found in the Ukraine carved on mammoth ivory 12,000 years old. The symbol figures on the oldest coins in India, Persia and Greece. The swastika has also been found on Jewish synagogues in Palestine of about 2000 years ago. It is found in many early Christian buildings, and was a sacred symbol to the Norse as well as to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. For more than 2000 years it has been a sacred symbol in China.

Stefan George Germany's greatest 20th-century poet, adopted the swastika as a symbol for all that is good in Germany, and of its ancient cultural roots. He had the symbol printed on his books. The swastika is far older than Hitler's Germany and means much more.

Historically more people have been exterminated under the Christian banner than under the Nazi swastika. If we are going to start banning symbols, why should we stop with the swastika? Let's ban the Christian cross and the confederate flag while we are at it. All three have been symbols of intolerance, oppression, and murder.

Refer to Hitler’s Christianity.

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In the late 19th century, as the different German kingdoms coalesced into the new nation of Germany, nationalists began using the swastika as a symbol of the new country. Stefan George (1868- 1933) perhaps Germany's greatest 20th-century poet, adopted the swastika as a symbol for all that is good in Germany, and of its ancient cultural roots. He had the symbol printed on his books.

It is illegal to display the swastika in Germany. After an exhibition of bad taste by Prince Harry, and a tantrum by far-right deputies in the German parliament, there is a motion before the European parliament to ban the swastika throughout Europe. There is no doubt the motion is well-intentioned. For many, the swastika today must continue to be a source of pain, a reminder of the unspeakable horrors perpetrated by Hitler's regime - a symbol of hatred, particularly of Jews. Use of it, in many contexts, can be insensitive and offensive. But should it be banned by law? This would concede to Hitler and his memory propriety over an ancient symbol of goodness. Why should we permit him that legacy?

A ban on the swastika would not in itself remove racism or silence those who wish to express such views. For many in the world a ban on the swastika would be quite bewildering - the equivalent of banning the cross or the crescent. And, in ignoring the sensitivities of people in the East, such a ban would itself be an act of Western arrogance - the very kind of attitude Hitler encouraged.

(source: Swastika's changing symbolism  - By Brian Walters).

The Holy Inquisition, the Communist Soviet subjugation and Genocide of European Roma Gypsies of Hindu descent.

Watch the Bloody History of Communism - videogoogle.com.

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A European banning of Swastika would immediately call to mind the Soviet era Hammer and sickle, symbol not only of the subjugation of their societies but a reminder of the countless and not yet fully explored historically, crimes of the Stalin era. Hindu Human Rights is concerned about the recent media coverage surrounding the Swastika symbol. We support all worldwide Hindu efforts to reclaim this ancient and sacred symbol. However, we understand and respect the sentiment of the Jewish community for whom the swastika is associated with the worst crime in European history, namely the Holocaust. It should be remembered that it is also associated with the forgotten Nazi genocide of the Roma or "Gypsies", a European people of Hindu descent. 

Colonizers have usurped the symbols of the colonized countries and have distorted those symbols for their advantage. Now people should know the true facts. The KKK uses the Cross as their symbol of Hate for non-whites.

Historically more people have been exterminated under the Christian banner than under the Nazi swastika. If we are going to start banning symbols, why should we stop with the swastika? 

Let's ban the Christian cross and the Confederate flag while we are at it. All three have been symbols of intolerance, oppression, and murder.

Censorship is a slippery slope!

(source: Swastika is a symbol of Hindu Religion and Why don't we ban the Christian cross while we are at it?). For more refer to Christianity's Criminal History - By  Karlheinz Deschner and The Inquisition and The Anti-Christ - Attempt at Critique of Christianity - By Friedrich Nietzsche [1895] Translated by Walter Kaufmann.

Refer to Can Hinduism face the onslaught of Project Thessalonica? - By Alex Pomero 

Refer to Bible thumpers: Americans are being increasingly stereotyped as stupid - By Arvind Kumar - indiareacts.com). Refer to The Swami Devananda Saraswati Interview with Rajeev Srinivasan - christianaggression.org.

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Vietnam to Preserve Champa Kingdom Temple Towers

Another US $ 812,000 has been invested in preserving a cluster of five Champa temple towers at My Son, the Hindu holy land of the old Champa Kingdom, 70 km southwest of central Da Nang City. The project is being jointly carried out by the Vietnamese government, UNESCO and the Italian University of Milan. The towers feature the most impressive and ornate decorations of all in the My Son complex, each with hundreds of brick God masks attached to its base.

Inscription on the oldest stela, dating back to the fourth century, reads that King Bhadresvara built the first temple in honor of God Siva-Bhadresvara

(image source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon).

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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Located in Duy Phu commune, Duy Xuyen district of central coastal Quang Nam province, with more than 70 architectural structures built of stone and bricks between the 7th and 13th centuries, My Son was considered the kingdom's largest center of architecture. Through studies of stelas and chronicles of the kingdom, historians have found that My Son used to be the most important holy land of the Champa between the 4th and 15th century. They also discovered the structure of the complex that included the central temple devoted to Lord Siva was surrounded by temples in honor of gods and kings. The major temples in the complex were all dedicated to Lord Siva -- the guardian of Champa kings and Bhadesvara who was the first king of the Amaravati region in the late 4th century.

Head of Shiva and Ganesha - sandstone. HCM Historical Museum.

(image source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon).

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Four armed dancing Shiva.

(source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon).

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Each temple group is characterized by a gate tower, a main tower symbolizing the heaven, a long tower, shaped like a house, providing lodging for pilgrims, a storage tower for objects of worship and smaller towers in honor of the Gods of direction and the stars. The towers are symmetrical and in the shape of a mountain, symbolic of Meru Mount, kingdom of God Siva. They also feature elaborate engravings of many Gods. Inscription on the oldest stela, dating back to the fourth century, reads that King Bhadresvara built the first temple in honor of God Siva-Bhadresvara. Two centuries later, the wooden temple was burned down. In the early 7th century, King Sambhuvarman rebuilt the temple with more durable materials and the remnants remain until today. The following dynasties restored the temple and added new ones.  

Polo players - My Son 10th century in Champa (Vietnam).

Horseman and chariot, pedestal fragment.

(image source: Hindu-Buddhist Art of Vietnam: Treasures from Champa - By Emmanuel Guillon).

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(source: Vietnam to Preserve Champa Kingdom Temple Towers - hinduismtoday.com).

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Hinduism in Ancient Armenia
Intolerance of Early Christianity with Paganism

Hinduism, although not a proselytizing religion, had also reached Western Asia. A Hindu settlement was established in Armenia in the Canton of Taron in the 2^nd century C. E. under the patronage of King Valarasaces of the Arsacidae dynasty. These Hindu built fine cities and temples, but the temples were destroyed early in the fourth century by St. Gregory the Illuminator.    

Zenob (Zenobius) Glak, who was a Syrian and one of the first disciples of St.Gregory the Illuminator-the Apostle of Armenia-wrote, at the instance of his master, a History of Taron and in that work he refers to the history of a Hindoo colony that had existed in Armenia since the middle of the second century before the commencement of the Christian era and going back to the prior beginning of the Hindoo colony on Armenian soil in the days of remote antiquity. 

Zenob states that two Hindu princes, conspired against Dinakspal (Dinaksi), the King of Kanauj. On the discovery of the plot they had to flee with their families and followers, and found refuge in Armenia in 149 B.C. The Hindu princes were granted a royal welcome by Armenian King Valarsaces who offered them some land in the province of Taron where they built a city and named it Veeshap (Armenian name for dragon. The city was named so, because those princes belonged to the Takshak house, Takshaka means Naga King) or Odz (snake) and put an idol like a snake there. Some time later the princes moved to Ashtishat (religious centre of ancient Armenia famous for its temples of national deities) and erected temples to their gods and goddesses which they used to worship in India, and these temples were served by the Hindu priests.  

Lord Krishna with the flute.

According to Zenob, the statues of these gods were entirely made of brass. Priests who were appointed for the service of these gods, were all Hindus.

***

Later on these three brothers succeeded to find a better place in the area of mountain Karki where they built two temples in memory of Gissaneh and Demeter, whom they used to deify and worship. According to Zenob, the statues of these gods were entirely made of brass. Priests who were appointed for the service of these gods, were all Hindus. In a short period of time the Indians built twenty towns, and in each of them they erected their temples. Some of these towns, mentioned by Zenob, retained their names and stood till the middle of the 19th century. Until the early 20th century one of the villages in Taron was called Hindkastan. The names Hindubek, Hindu, Hindukhanum, Hindumelik were often used by the Armenians of Taron. The fact of the existence of the Hindu colony in Armenia is proved by a very interesting ethnographic information. It states that the Armenians of those districts, where the Indians were settled, used to dance the dance of Demeter and sing Indian melodies. Some prominent scholars prove that the cult of Vahagen (Armenian god of fire, as well as conqueror of dragons) came to Armenians from the Indians (Indian god Agni).

St. Gregory, the Illuminator

Christianity was brought to Armenia, the religion which was imposed by fire and sword. The followers of Christianity and St. Gregory the Illuminator demolished heathen temples and erected churches on their site. The same fate was waiting for the Hindu temples.

***

Under the auspices of the Armenian government the Hindu colony flourished for a considerable time in Armenia. It was a fairly large one comprising over 15,000 members. However, things changed when Christianity was brought to Armenia, the religion which was imposed by fire and sword. The followers of Christianity demolished heathen temples and erected churches on their site. The same fate was waiting for the Hindu temples. On the site of the two Hindu temples in the town of Veeshap or Odz, St. Gregory the Illuminator built a monastery in A.D. 301 where he deposited the relics of St. John the Baptist and Athanagineh the Martyr which he had brought with him from Caesaria. This edifice exists till now and is known as St. Karapet of Moosh (a city at present located on the territory of Turkey, near the Lake Van) and has always been a great place of pilgrimage for Armenians from all parts of the world. It is noteworthy to mention that almost till the end of the 19th century, not far from this monastery there was a settlement, which used to be called Odz.

There was no better end for ancient Armenian traditional symbols as well. The ancient Armenian books were burnt or thrown into the river. As Armenian historian of the 5th century Agathangueghos mentioned, the number of  books thrown into the river  were plentiful, so much so that the river changed its direction.  Many Armenians and Hindus headed by their priests, resisted gallantly against the rush of Christianity but were defeated due to superior numbers of the Christians. The Hindu priests, seeing the destruction of their gods and goddesses, pleaded with the Christians to kill them rather than destroy their sanctum. Many of these Hindu priests were killed on the spot during the course of action.

In A.D. 301 there was a bloody battle between heathen Armenians- Hindus, and Christians. According to Zenob, the Hindu army itself numbered 10,000 warriors. Most probably this figure has been deliberately exaggerated by the historian as he was in service of Christian church and, by showing the big number of the heathens, he might probably wanted to overemphasize the victory of Gregory the Illuminator and Armenian King Tiridates. It is also probable that besides the Hindus Zenob would have mentioned also the number of heathen Armenians. But in any case the Hindus were in large numbers as they had their own separate army.

According to Zenob, who was the eyewitness of the events, the Hindus that were baptized on the first day of Navasard (New Year of ancient Armenia which was celebrated in the middle of August) numbered five thousand fifty, and they were men and children only, while the women were baptized on another day. Some of these converted Hindus taunted the Armenian princes telling them that if they lived they would retaliate for the harsh treatment they had received at their hands, but if they died, the gods would wreak their vengeance on the Armenians on their behalf. For this, by the order of the Armenian prince these Hindus were imprisoned, and they numbered four hundred. Then Zenob continues:
        
“Gissaneh had long flowing hair and for that reason its priests allowed the hair of their head to grow, which the King ordered to be cut. This people were not, however, perfect in their faith after their conversion into the Christian faith and as they could not profess the religion of their pagan ancestors openly, they therefore practiced the deception of allowing their children to grow a plait of hair on the crown of their heads, so that they may, be seeing that, remember their idolatrous abominations.”

With this, the history of the Hindu colony, which had existed on the territory of Armenia for more than 450 years, came to an end. 

(source: India and World Civilization  By D. P. Singhal Pan Macmillan Limited. 1993 part I p. 92 and Hindus in Armenia: The Unknown Chapter in the History of Ancient India and Armenia - By Dr. Mesrob Jacob Seth

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Swami Ranganathananda on Christianity

Swami Ranganathananda (1908 - 2005) His thoughts on Jesus Christ and the role of the Church given in a special lecture at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Calcutta at the Christmas Eve meeting in 1954. So profound were his views that the lecture has already gone through nine editions.

“To teach the world faster than it can learn is to court disaster, as Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) has put it. The teachings of Jesus relating to the kingdom of God and resurrection were just incomprehensible to most of his hearers. There is the typical instance of the Pharisees demanding Jesus to state when the kingdom of God should come. Jesus answered: ‘The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, lo here! Or lo there! for, behold the kingdom of God is within you’. (Luke XVII. 20-21) This statement that the kingdom of God is within us can hardly be squared with the dogma of the innate vileness of human nature (projected by the Genesis.)...”

“The crucifixion was a tragedy of the first magnitude; but a greater tragedy was the way it was handled. Woven into the prevailing dogmas, it slowly became central to the new movement. The man of joy, which Jesus undoubtedly was in real life, became transformed into a man of sorrow, in dogma. We may find a forbidding austerity in John the Baptist; but the Son of Man, as he himself has said, came eating and drinking, trailing clouds of humour and laughter. By transforming him into a man of sorrow, dogma has helped to turn his religion into grim and cheerless aspects, with serious consequences for the emotional life of its followers. Only a few great saints have been able to penetrate through this spiritual heaviness. ‘A sad nun is a bad nun’, wrote St. Theresa; and she exclaimed: ‘O Lord, save us from sullen saints!’”

“The dogma of one man's sin affecting all humanity gave rise to its logical corollary of the dogma of one man's blood washing away the sins of all... The theory that the blood of the martyr is the seed of the church developed out of this dogma; and, in place of calm reason and generous love, frenzy, fanaticism, intolerance and bigotry gripped the propagation of the life-giving message of Jesus down the centuries, destroying as many lives as it undoubtedly helped to build.”

“It is interesting to speculate how the message would have spread... if the divine life and sublime teachings of Jesus had found the central place, instead of the popular and striking dogmas of ‘the scapegoat’ and ‘the atonement’, physical resurrection and the second advent, earthly kingdom, and the imminence of the Day of Judgement. These dogmas were purely tribal in their scope... They were the nurseries of contemporary Jewish patriotism and national cohesion, sectarian intolerance and political frenzy”...

“The history of Christianity in its twin records of persecution, violence and war, on the one side, and lofty mysticism, moral passion and humanitarianism on the other, bears the impress of this inner division which also explains its recurrent conflicts with science. A successful synthesis needs the guidance of an adequate Weltanschauung, which was not available at the time.”

(source: Swami Ranganathananda on Christianity

"In a recent Gallup poll it was found that half the adults in America believe that the earth is 6,000 years old. The reason they give for believing this is 'the Bible says so.' 

“There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance.” -- Goethe

“The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.”-- Thomas Jefferson.

(source: http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=00022DE1-0C15-11E6-B75283414B7F0000 and http://blog.nodvin.net/?p=93  and The Bible and Science in Conflict and Refer to Evolution vs. Creationism and Religion instead of Science in American public schools and Onward Christian soldiers and Creation terror in American Classrooms and The Anti-Christ - Attempt at Critique of Christianity - By Friedrich Nietzsche [1895] Translated by Walter Kaufmann.

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Pope Benedict's uncompromising reputation towards Hinduism and Buddhism

His reputation as unyielding springs from his conviction that the Roman Catholic Church is the living embodiment of Christ on Earth, that it was founded by Christ and is "the instrument for the salvation of all humanity."

"This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world," he wrote in a 1987 document, "Dominus Iesus. "But at the same time, it rules out ... religious relativism which leads to the belief that `one religion is as good as another.' Non-Christians, he declaimed, cannot get salvation because they don't accept Jesus Christ as the son of God.

"If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that, objectively speaking, they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation." Five years ago, for example, he caused a stir by writing in his book "God and the World," "We wait for the instant in which Israel will say yes to Christ."

The statement "is very offensive to Jewish ears," said the Rev. Francis Moloney, dean of theology and religious studies at Catholic University of America.

Pope Benedict is far more critical of Buddhism and Hinduism because they are not monotheisms.

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Pope Benedict is far more critical of Buddhism and Hinduism because they are not monotheisms.

In a 1997 interview with the French weekly L'Express, it was Cardinal Ratzinger who outraged many people when he denigrated Hinduism as a religion of “false hope” that guaranteed salvation based on a “morally cruel” concept of reincarnation resembling a “continuous circle of hell” and Buddhism as “autoerotic spirituality.”

(Note:  Hellfire of Eternal Damnation -  Burning in hell for all eternity with no chance for redemption is morally enlightened, while believing in a redemptive path towards eventually reuniting with the ultimate consciousness is 'morally cruel'. ?).

Lord Indra from Nepal

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But it was another line from that same interview that caused a sensation, when English-language publications quoted him as calling Buddhism an "auto-erotic spirituality."

"If Buddhism is attractive (to Westerners)," he said, "it's only because it suggests that by belonging to it you can touch the infinite, and you can have joy without concrete religious obligations. ... It's spiritually self-indulgent eroticism."

As Cardinal, Ratzinger made no secret of his resentment of Buddhism's growing popularity in the West. In France, for example, there are more men studying to be Buddhist monks than are studying to be Benedictines. Benedict is so worried about Buddhism, transcendental meditation and the like, said Seton Hall's Figueiredo, because of their belief "that `I reach nirvana without any mediation.' That is highly dangerous because it denies the existence of original sin and of the church and ultimately of Jesus Christ."

He was the mouthpiece of the Vatican's policy against homosexuality and gay marriage in 1986 and over the years, has professed clear opinions against other non-Christian and Christian religions. His defence of the document Dominus Iesus in 2000, which declared that Anglicanism and protest religions were deficient, and his statement that the "auto-erotic spirituality" of Buddhism, Hinduism and other Eastern religions created false hope, caused outrage.

(source: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and The Russian News Room). Refer to Pope Paul II in 1989 - Eastern Religions are "Moral Deviations). Also refer to Christianity in America and The Founding Fathers were Not Christians  - By Steven Morris, in Free Inquiry, Fall, 1995).

The Anti-Christ - Attempt at Critique of Christianity - By Friedrich Nietzsche [1895] Translated by Walter Kaufmann.  Refer to Can Hinduism face the onslaught of Project Thessalonica? - By Alex Pomero. Refer to Bible thumpers: Americans are being increasingly stereotyped as stupid - By Arvind Kumar - indiareacts.com).

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Vatican: White man's burden

As leaders of all Western nations descended upon Vatican City early last month, there was little doubt they had come as much to pay respects to the departed Pope as to ensure that a White European succeeded as Bishop of Rome. In the weeks preceding Joseph Ratzinger's elevation, some Cardinals hinted to religious correspondents of Western news agencies that they were under pressure. The surprise, if any, was that many Christians across the globe actually expected the election to reflect the numerical superiority of Catholic communities in other continents. 

Those seriously hoping for a Latin American or African Pope, something akin to a non-Arab becoming Grand Mufti of Mecca, simply failed to comprehend the relationship between faith and power. Misled by post-Second World War rhetoric of universalism, secularism and multi-culturalism, they could not see the abiding kinship between the Church and political power in all Christian nations, notwithstanding a formal separation of powers. Christianity powerfully undergirds Western civilisation, a fact its ruling elite never loses sight of, unlike India, where it is fashionable to use Euro-centric jargon to undermine the native ethos. 

Monotheistic traditions are definitionally religious imperialisms in which power is a tightly controlled affair, rarely, if ever, departing from the aims and ambitions of their core sponsors. In the West, the rise of secular authority took the Church to the far corners of the globe. From failed leader of the Crusades, the Church allied to secular power virtually wiped out the native populations of the Americas and Australia, enslaved large parts of Africa, and battled native resilience in countries like India and China. It is certainly no accident to always find the Church in close embrace with genocidal dictators like Adolf Hitler or Papa Doc. 

An European Pope was certainly reassuring to Western nations that use the Church as an instrument of political intervention, notable examples being Poland and East Timor. Paradoxically, this may make the Church more brittle and hasten its much-prophesied end, as the virus unleashed by liberation theology has mutated in a deeply unsettling manner.  

Unknown to most Indians, a growing body of theology in the West argues that non-Christian faiths are a legitimate part of the Divine scheme, and that the Church should curb its evangelical thrust. Rooted in the Greek philosophy of kinosis, this school argues that at Creation God emptied His powers into the universe and withdrew. The Church should similarly empty itself of its ambition for universal dominion, and care only for the flock already under its charge. 

To my mind, this view marks the beginning of the unravelling of the evangelical church, both Catholic and Protestant. Unsurprisingly, Western nations that use evangelisation as a tool to subvert nationalism in other countries wish to keep kinosis theology at bay. 

Ratzinger is their man because he condemned priests espousing this view. Protestant America favoured his ascension despite his calling other Christian denominations spiritually deficient, because a Catholic Church that accepts the doctrine of non-conversion for the sake of inter-faith harmony would amputate the right arm of Western political diplomacy. 

Predictably, at his very first Papal visit outside the Vatican to the Basilica of St Paul in southern Rome (once you leave St Peter's Square you are in Rome), Benedict XVI committed the Roman Catholic Church to a fresh conversion drive: "The Church is by its very nature missionary, its first task is evangelisation. the missionary mandate from Christ is more current than ever." 

We in India can expect Benedict XVI to go on the offensive. He is already on record calling Buddhism an "auto-erotic spirituality" that offers "transcendence without imposing concrete religious obligations". Hindu dharma, on the other hand, offers "false hope" as it guarantees "purification" based on a "morally cruel" concept of reincarnation resembling "a continuous circle of hell." Ironically, modern Christian scholars claim that the Church in the fourth century purged Christianity of a deeply held belief in reincarnation in order to impose totalitarian control upon the faithful!

(source:  Vatican: White man's burden – by Sandhya Jain - dailypioneer.com - Tuesday, May 03, 2005). For more refer to chapter on European Imperialism and Catholic Priests Molest Third World Nuns to Avoid AIDS The Anti-Christ - Attempt at Critique of Christianity - By Friedrich Nietzsche [1895] Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Refer to Can Hinduism face the onslaught of Project Thessalonica? - By Alex Pomero.  Refer to The Swami Devananda Saraswati Interview with Rajeev Srinivasan - christianaggression.org. Refer to Bible thumpers: Americans are being increasingly stereotyped as stupid - By Arvind Kumar - indiareacts.com). Refer to Truth can kill the West - By M.S.N. Menon - Truth can kill the West—the truth about Christianity. It is all in the Dead Sea scrolls.
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Meditation ‘leads to longer life’

The Beatles were right: researchers have found that hanging out with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi may make you live longer. 

The Beatles with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at Rishikesh.

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A new study shows that transcendental meditation, a relaxation technique developed by the Indian guru and made famous when the fab four dabbled with it in the late 60s, can reduce death rates by nearly a quarter.

Robert Schneider, who led the research, said: "The study found that in older people with mild high blood pressure, those practising transcendental meditation had a 23% lower risk of death from all causes."

The study was funded by the US government and the results appear in the American Journal of Cardiology. The study pooled the findings of two previous trials that followed 202 elderly people in the US over 18 years. Some practised transcendental meditation, while others tried different techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation.

The transcendental meditation group had 30% fewer deaths from heart disease and 49% fewer from cancer.

"Although the sample [size] was relatively modest, these preliminary results suggest that an effective stress reducing intervention may decrease mortality," researchers said.

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Ambedkar wanted Sanskrit as official language

Dr B R Ambedkar himself wanted to sponsor Sanskrit as the official language of the Indian union along with his supporters Dr BV Keskar, deputy minister for external affairs, and Naziruddin Ahmed. He moved an amendment draft on September 10, 1949. The resolution had to be withdrawn due to political pressure. Our demand is Sanskrit should be treated at par with modern Indian languages of the Eighth Schedule and not as a classical language.

(source: Ambedkar wanted Sanskrit as official language - tribuneindia.com).

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Somnath emerging as India’s Sanskrit capital

 With plans afoot to build a university for the promotion of Sanskrit, the temple town of Somnath in Gujarat may soon emerge as India’s Sanskrit capital. The town down the ages has been a place of religious importance. Now, with a Sanskrit school alreadyin place and a Sanskrit University in the pipeline, Somnath can turn itself around and become a centre of knowledge and learning.

One India’s most revered pilgrim spots, Somnath is located about 435 km from Gujarat’s capital of Gandhinagar. The holy town is known world wide for its magnificent shore temple.

Somnath is one of the twelve most sacred “Jyotirlingas” or Shiva shrines in India. According to legend, Somnath is as old as creation itself. Ransacked and destroyed by invaders during the medieval ages, the Somnath temple has been rebuilt several times.

Thousands of devotees throng to this place with abounding reverence. Besides being a centre of religious importance, Somnath is slowly establishing itself as a centre of knowledge and learning. There exists a Sanskrit Pathshala or school in which knowledge of Sanskrit and ancient scriptures and texts is imparted to students. Students from this school chant vedic hymns and prayers in the town temple.

Students feel that the opening up of a Sanskrit university would expose them to numerous avenues and would provide them with an opportunity to enhance their knowledge. “We would have a great future ahead if there is Sanskrit University. Also it is very important to have a University or a centre of higher education. No one becomes knowledgeable or a priest by learning just two three words or by donning the attire of a priest. One should know everything which can only be learnt at a University,” said Valmik Bhatt, a student of the Sanskrit Pathshala.

According to Ashok Sharma, the Secretary of the Somnath Trust, the government has already cleared the project of “Somnath Sanskrit University” and the trust would not leave any stone unturned to see that the plan gets materialized soon. A summer palace located in Veraval, five kilometers from Somnath, will be converted into the University and the additional 17-acres of land just adjacent to the palace would also be utilized for the same. Both the properties belong to the Somnath Trust.“Very soon a Sanskrit University would be established in Somnath. The state government has given its consent. Besides providing the site for the university along with 17 acres of land, we have also proposed to provide an aid of 50 lakh rupees for the same. Students would be taught Sanskrit and Indology in the University. In order to make the students self-reliant, they would be taught the disciplines of astrology, Vedic Mathmetics, “Karmakand” and so on. Such courses would help in boosting the confidence of the students,” said Sharma. (ANI)

(source:  Somnath emerging as India’s Sanskrit capital - newkerala.com).

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Netaji Bose: An Indian Revolutionary Gains Favor Posthumously

Like many Indians of his generation the turning point in Netaji's political education was the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre of April 1919 when hundreds of unarmed Indian civilians were shot dead at point blank range on the orders of a British general.

Unlike Gandhi who formulated his peaceful non co-operation movement as the preferred strategy for evicting the British from India, Netaji was increasingly of the view that a more direct and militant approach was required before India could gain its freedom.

***

Asha Pachiasia has a problem with Gandhi. Sure, she said, the frail, cotton-robed independence leader -- known as "the Mahatma" -- did his part and then some, leading the nonviolent rebellion that drove British colonial rulers from the subcontinent in 1947.

But as a hero and symbol of India's freedom movement, Pachiasia said, Mohandas K. Gandhi leaves something to be desired.

Subhas Bose. A Cambridge-educated aristocrat who launched his political career here in the capital of West Bengal state, Bose rejected Gandhi's pacifist ways in favor of violent revolution, to the point of forming a rebel army and joining forces with the Axis powers in World War II.

A controversial figure in the West, where his choice of allies won him few admirers, Bose is enjoying a surge of renewed interest and popularity in India. The new film -- "Bose: The Forgotten Hero" -- is the latest in a series of books, magazine articles and other tributes to "Netaji," or "the Leader," as Bose is generally known.

Directed by veteran Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal, the 3 1/2 hour, $5.5 million epic -- an exceptionally costly film by Indian standards -- focuses on Bose's war years, when he made a daring escape to Nazi Germany via Afghanistan and later led his ragtag followers in quixotic battle against British forces in the jungles of Burma.

But the biggest reason for Bose's renewed popularity, analysts say, probably has more to do with India's changing self-image, from an underdeveloped, aid-dependent champion of the Non-Aligned Movement to a rising economic power with nuclear weapons and an increasingly important role on the world stage. 

Bose -- a militant nationalist and revolutionary -- has become for many Indians a more compelling symbol of India's independence struggle than the ascetic and pacifist Gandhi

***

In that context, Bose -- a militant nationalist and revolutionary -- has become for many Indians a more compelling symbol of India's independence struggle than the ascetic and pacifist Gandhi, especially among the fast-growing middle class.

But in recent years Indians have embraced a more muscular sort of nationalist hero. In 2002, audiences flocked to see "The Legend of Bhagat Singh," a historical drama about an Indian revolutionary who was hanged by the British in 1931 at age 24 after detonating a bomb in the British-controlled national assembly. Judging by appearances, Bose was a somewhat less swashbuckling figure. Plump and bespectacled, he was conversant in the works of Wordsworth and Hegel, spent several years at Cambridge and breezed through the entrance exam to the prestigious, British-run Indian Civil Service. But the fires of nationalism burned fiercely in Bose, who rejected a cushy government post in favor of joining the pro-independence Indian National Congress.

He was a frequent guest in British jails and eventually broke bitterly with Gandhi over the Mahatma's embrace of nonviolence. "Bose wrote that 'Gandhi wants to change human beings, and all I want to do is free India,' " recalled Benegal.

His movie picks up with Bose's daring escape from British India soon after the outbreak of World War II, when Bose makes his way to Kabul disguised as a mute Pashtun tribesman. He travels on to Berlin, where he lays the groundwork for an Indian national army composed of prisoners of war and deserters from the British Indian army. Before he went underground, Bose wrote admiringly of some aspects of European fascism, for which he has been criticized by leftist historians and communists in India. But he also made clear his distaste for Adolf Hitler's theories of racial superiority. But Bose's efforts were not in vain. As word of his army's exploits spread in postwar India, he and his followers became enormously popular. An attempt by the British to prosecute Bose's officers as traitors sparked nationwide protests and, by most accounts, hastened the British departure from India.

(source: An Indian Revolutionary Gains Favor Posthumously - washingtonpost.com - Monday, May 23, 2005). For more refer to chapters on European Imperialism and War in Ancient India). Refer to  British Foreign Office ordered Netaji’s murder’ - sify.com

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When Eddington snubbed Chandrasekhar

A new book by a famed science historian traces one of modern science's most written about and tragic standoffs between Nobel prize winning Indian physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and legendary English astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington.

"Empire Of The Stars" by Arthur I Miller is being hailed as a brilliant book about how a young Chandra, as the Indian scientist came to be known, was laid low by an abrasively arrogant Eddington over the former's postulation about the existence of black holes.

Eddington, considered one of a handful of physicists in the 1930s who really comprehended Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, ridiculed Chandra's postulation as "stellar buffoonery". An excerpt from the book on its US publisher Houghton Mifflin says Chandra's "flash of inspiration came when he was an unknown 19-year-old in the hot summer of 1930. In 10 minutes, sitting in a deck chair overlooking the Arabian Sea, Chandra (as he was universally known) carried out some calculations that augured a disturbing fate for the small, dense stars known as white dwarfs.  

An excerpt from the book on its US publisher Houghton Mifflin says Chandra's "flash of inspiration came when he was an unknown 19-year-old in the hot summer of 1930. In 10 minutes, sitting in a deck chair overlooking the Arabian Sea, Chandra (as he was universally known) carried out some calculations that augured a disturbing fate for the small, dense stars known as white dwarfs.

"At the time scientists assumed that white dwarfs were dead stars in their final resting state. Those that had been found had more or less the mass of the Sun but were no bigger than Earth. Chandra's calculations showed that there was an upper limit to the mass of these white dwarfs.

"Any star more massive than that when it burned out would not end its life as an inert rock but would begin an endless process of collapse, crunched by its own gravity into a singularity - a minuscule point of infinite density and zero volume, many trillions of times smaller than the period at the end of this sentence and many trillions of times denser than Earth."

The author says only one person understood the full implications of Chandra's discovery: Eddington, "the greatest astrophysicist in the world at that time."

"Eddington himself had flirted with the idea that a dead star might collapse indefinitely in this manner, so he should have been delighted with Chandra's mathematical verification. Instead, without any warning, he used a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society to savage Chandra's result cynically and unmercifully. The encounter cast a shadow over the lives of both men and hindered progress in astrophysics for nearly half a century," the book says.

"The more I discovered about Chandra's story, the more intriguing it became. For all his brilliance, his life was tinged with tragedy. After Eddington refused to take his idea seriously and subjected him to public ridicule, Chandra never really regained his confidence. Despite a long and incredibly productive scientific career, no amount of recognition could ever satisfy him. I wondered what other great discoveries he might have made, had his early life not been blighted by disappointment," the book says.

Chandra never missed an opportunity to recount the events of that fateful day at the Royal Astronomical Society, emphasizing that he had been right and Eddington wrong, even though Eddington refused ever to admit it, the books says. After being dormant for over three decades, Chandra's discovery was eventually vindicated when he won the Nobel Prize for it in 1983. "But he did not feel vindicated, for his achievement had been virtually ignored for almost 40 years," the author says. Chandra immigrated from India in 1937 and taught at the University of Chicago till his death in 1995 when he was 85 years old.

(source: When Eddington snubbed Chandrasekhar - hindustantimes.com).

Racism in America

Chandra, of course, faced a lot of racism in his early life in America, both in Williams Bay, Wisconsin (Yerkes Observatory) and in Chicago at the university, at the hands of other faculty members. For more on this, see his biography Chandrasekhar: The Man Behind the Legend - by Kameshwar Wali, and a later book edited by Wali that contains recollections by family, friends and colleagues.

(source: Yahoo groups - IndianCivilization).

Another Nobel laureate, astrophysicist Dr. S. Chandrashekar of the University of Chicago, confessed to biographer Kameshwar Wali that he was subjected to humiliating experiences in America because of the color of his skin. Chandrashekhar was born in India, educated in England, and lived all his professional life in the U.S until his death in 1991.

In the 1930s Chandrashekar taught, conducted research, and collaborated with the United States War Department on the atomic weapons research project. He became the first nonwhite person to be appointed to the faculty of the University of Chicago. According to Wali, the chairman of the physics department summarily opposed the appointment of Chandrashekhar to the faculty "because he was an Indian, and black". The dean, Henry G. Gale, also did not approve of the participation of the brilliant young Indian astronomer in teaching an elementary course in astronomy for precisely that reason. That objection was not lifted until the president of the university intervened.

(source: The Indian as "Black White" and as "Nigger" in USA - indolink.com). For more refer to chapter on Caste system.

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Odissi - Reviving and Reinventing an Ancient Art of India

There were many striking moments in the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble's program of Indian Odissi dance at the Joyce Theater on Tuesday, but the most striking came right after the intermission.

In a long solo devoted to the Hindu god Shiva, who mixes seductiveness with divine belligerence, Bijayini Satpathy came closer to the extraordinary allure of all forms of Indian dance than any other performer seen over the last two weeks in New York in what has amounted to a festival and survey of leading Indian dance styles.

Odissi comes from the northeastern Indian state Orissa, although Nrityagram is based in the south, near Bangalore. Odissi is like the southern Bharata Natyam form in that it derives from ancient temple dances and is mostly practiced by women (in the past boys and even royalty of both sexes danced it, too) and has similar costumes and music. All Indian dance seems to have fallen into decline under British rule, but Odissi fell further into disrepair. What we see today is more a reconstruction and elaboration than the product of a continuous lineage.

(source: Reviving and Reinventing an Ancient Art of India - By John Rockwell - nytimes.com).

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Lion dance at Hindu temple

The traditions of two ancient civilisations came together on Friday when a colourful lion dance took place at one of the country’s oldest Hindu temples in Pudu during the Chinese New Year period. 

As drums banged, cymbals clanged and three lions pranced amid the peal of temple bells, traffic stopped near the small but very popular temple (also known as Courthill Temple) dedicated to Lord Ganesha, believed by Hindus to be the remover of obstacles. 

Devotees and passers-by craned their necks and jostled to get a glimpse of the lions.  Instead of the usual two lions, there were three, symbolising love, truth and righteousness, according to Hindu beliefs.  One of the temple’s devotees, businessman Winston Lim, 33, had arranged the performance as thanksgiving after his prayers were answered.  

“It’s a small temple but it has a very powerful deity. I am so grateful that my family has been blessed.  “I go on vegetarian diet every Thursday when I visit the temple,” he said.  However, it was the first time for the 30-member dance troupe, which received a quick briefing on the right thing to do at a Hindu temple ahead of the performance. 

They took off their shoes and paid obeisance to the deity as a prayer was held before the show began. 

The lions circled the shrine three times as other devotees did. At the end of the dance, the lions placed fruits on a platter in the shape of a phoenix as an offering to the deity, bowed thrice and took their leave. According to a Chinese legend, the phoenix transformed into a rooster, the animal that represents this Chinese lunar year. The troupe then gave out mandarin oranges to the public. 

The Meng Kok Dragon and Lion Dance Association, which has won many international events, was surprised when it received Lim’s request.  “We felt honoured but didn’t know what to expect. We had performed before in Indian houses during Deepavali but never at a temple. So the priest told us what we were supposed to do,” association spokesman Lawrence Ng said. Head priest Sivakumar Battar was bemused.   

(source: Lion dance at Hindu temple  - thestar.com).

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Ancient Chinese Vedic carvings

This Vedic/Hindu carving was taken from a temple and inlaid into the wall of a house on the outskirts of Quanzhou. Local people worship it as an image of Guanyin, a Chinese Buddhist deity.

Vishnu/Garuda combination?

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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(source: yahoo groups - vedic culture). For more refer to chapter on India and China

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Semetic Intolerance in the West ?
Evangelist Pat Robertson on India: "Hindus are looking for the wrong God"

Last week, Pat Robertson preached in the world's largest democracy -- India. Robertson said, “I feel that these most beautiful people, they are so hungry for God. You know this is the largest democracy in the world, over a billion people, and perhaps this would be considered the most religious country on earth. But they are looking for the wrong God. I believe they are open to Jesus, and my hope is to see 100 million Indians come to the Lord Jesus Christ in the next few years.”

Regarding Robertson's statement " these [Hindus] are so hungry for God...But they are looking for the wrong God", one Hindu who was hurt by the comments remarked, "Don't Hindus know God? Can any Indian Hindu get away calling "Christian God" or a Muslim a false god? For a Hindu like me, a God is a God is a God! Why this myopic view from the so-called "enlightened", "chosen children of THE GOD"? Is God some kind of a faulty-TV set or a VCR that I can exchange over the "Christian" service counter ? Or is God some kind of a commodity that is to be "sold" over digitally enhanced sound-systems in large arenas?"  

Calling Hinduism Demonic, Roberston said: "Of all of India's problems, one stands out from the rest. That problem is idol worship. It is said there are hundreds of millions of Hindu deities. All this has put a nation in bondage to spiritual forces that have deceived many for thousands of years." Gordon Robertson (his son): "Wherever you find this type of idolatry, you'll find a grinding poverty."

(source: Pat Robertson in India: "Hindus are looking for the wrong God" - christianaggression.com and Using TV, Christian Pat Robertson Denounces Hinduism as "Demonic" - hinduismtoday.com - July 1995).

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White Mischief

The recent depiction of Lord Ganesh with a beer can in each hand and the trunk makes an oft-repeated three-step mischief quite clear to understand: First, choose the most repulsive of canvases to portray a Hindu symbol. Second, as the justifiable protests ensue, project Hinduism as a cult whose temper is perpetually on a short fuse. Third, withdraw the labels from the market hoodwinking the observers into believing how “considerate” the merchandiser has been towards the sentiments of the community.   

Earlier choices of tableaux were toilet seats, tissue papers, undergarment and bathroom slippers. Do such advertising agencies want the Hindus to believe that their visualisers and copywriters are so very intellectually challenged that they cannot figure out which fresco would be deemed inappropriate for the portrayal of a deity by the believers? 

And then, there are the jholawallahs crying foul over the interference in “creativity”. One wonders why creativity experiments with Hindu deities only; and why—if an artist must be daring—such ‘art’ develops cold feet when treading on the sensitivities of other religions?

(source: White Mischief - By Surajit Dasgupta  - dailypioneer.com May 27 2005).

Respect for All religions? The Myth of Religious Tolerance in the West?
Beer label a hate crime

A California man named Brij Dhir sued the brewery, along with other defendants such as the Safeway supermarket chain, claiming that it is offensive and intimidates Hindus from practicing their religion. "Dhir seeks at least $25,000 and his lawsuit mentions that $1 billion would be appropriate to compensate Hindus around the world." "It's a hate crime", Dhir told the Contra Costa Times.

(source: 

In US, with the VHP's support, sued a California brewery for daring to show Ganesh, a mug of beer in one of his four hands, on the label of its bottle. The damages he is claiming for this offence: one billion dollars. As Gopal Vyas, a retired engineer now in charge of the VHP's global operation from Delhi, says, "We're surrounded by intolerant faiths and if you want to live honourably, we must get organised and fight back.This is the only way to stop this kind of disrespect. Otherwise, we keep protesting, they keep apologising, but nothing changes because they know we will go on tolerating."

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Lord Rama now on French footwear

A pair of women's shoes showing Lord Rama made by French shoemaker Minelli has angered a pro-Hindu website, which has urged supporters to begin a letter-writing campaign to the shoemaker protesting against the product.

"It has come to the notice of Hindu Human Rights Group that you are currently marketing shoes with the pictures of our sacred and highly revered Hindu god Lord Rama printed on them," said a letter sent to Minelli by Web-based activist group Hindu Human Rights Group (www.hinduhumanrights.org) .

"We wish to point out to you that Lord Rama thus illustrated is actually worshipped by millions of Hindus across the world. It stands to reason that such a display of contempt for the spiritual beliefs and practices of a billion Hindus worldwide is causing a sense of fury and outrage in the Hindu community and we have received numerous complaints from Hindus in France."

The website also presents a photograph that shows a pair of women's shoes with faces drawn in the style of Hindu mythological art on their surface.

Expatriate attorney Brij Mohan Dhir has supported the bid, and is himself mobilizing opinion to protest production and marketing of the shoe.In a letter to Minelli, he wrote, "Your act and conduct showing Lord Rama on shoes is rather degrading, defaming, agitating, upsetting, intolerable, outraging our religious beliefs and emotions, spreading ill will and hate between the communities, and against the norms of democracy and fraternity or brotherhood and against law and order as it may cause breach of peace in the world."

(source: Lord Rama caught on wrong foot - timesofindia.com).

Announcement of Hindu Human Rights (HHR) Protest to the French Government

There once was a time when the personage of one of Hinduism's most revered Divine Incarnations, Shri Lord Rama, was so venerated that during the span of his forest exile, his footwear was placed as his substitute on the throne at Ayodhya. This was to personify his presence and splendour all over the land as well as signifying the love and respect of his people during his long absence.

Nowadays it is the measure of the decline of Hinduism's status and standing in the world that a French company is using the celestial features of this self same deity and plastering it over women's fashion shoes to be trodden into the pavements of France's modern metropolises. On its own, this may seem unimportant to non-Hindus. But France is a country that has had trouble even recognizing Hinduism as a valid religion. Indeed, the Hindu community finds it extremely difficult to even get planning permission to build and maintain their temples. We also have reports of an anti-Hindu bias in the French educational and media establishments. It is for this reason that we call on the French government to seriously look into discrimination against Hindus and Hinduism and take steps to rectify the situation because Defamation leads to Persecution.

(source: Announcement of Hindu Human Rights (HHR) Protest to the French Government - groups.yahoo.com).

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Hindu woman in US claims religious and sexual bias

A former Albright College religion Professor who is a practicing Hindu has filed a federal lawsuit accusing administrators of denying her tenure because of sexual and religious discrimination.

Roxanne Gupta said Provost David Stinebeck departed from standard procedure when he recommended that she be denied tenure during the 2002-03 school year, even though a faculty committee unanimously supported her application.

The college's president at the time, Henry A Zimon, agreed with Stinebeck, who allegedly based his recommendation on student evaluations of Gupta, according to the complaint filed on April 26.

Gupta, 51, was hired in 1988 to teach courses in Eastern religions at Albright, a Methodist liberal-arts college that enrolls about 1,500 students. She left a year ago after unsuccessfully appealing a May 2003 vote by the board of trustees to deny her tenure and a promotion from assistant professor to associate professor. 

Gupta, who now lives in Romulus, New York, said on Friday she was shocked when Stinebeck told her about his recommendation, because the administration has traditionally followed the recommendations of Albright's faculty rank-and-tenure committee. "My mouth dropped open," Gupta said. "No one on campus could remember a single time when something like this happened." 

Her complaint alleges that Zimon made countless sexist comments and had a reputation among the faculty for having different expectations of men and women. It also says he openly disdained non-Christian religious beliefs at college forums organised by Gupta, an American convert to Hinduism.

Gupta declined to elaborate on those allegations, but her complaint also notes that the position she sought was eventually filled by a man, and the only other faculty member to be denied tenure in the past 10 years was a Buddhist.

(source: Hindu woman in US claims religious and sexual bias - hindustantimes.com).

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Fear and Loathing: Hinduphobia in America

Fear and loathing towards Asians, towards people of Indian origin, towards Hindus -- this is a substratum of Indian American or Asian American history that has yet to find its way into American classrooms. I am, of course, referring to a period in American history when a Hindu, or any person of Asian origin in America, was condemned as an undesirable alien, as a lesser breed, or a benighted heathen.

Eugene Schmitz, (1864 - 1928) the mayor of San Francisco, wrote in 1908 urging congressional or diplomatic action. “This is no narrow sectional feeling or narrow prejudice against Hindus as a people any more than it is against other Asiatic,” he argued, adding that the Indians were “‘servile, enervated members of a degenerated race.”

The media as well as politicians had no hesitation in claiming that the people of India were undesirables of the worst kind – “the filth of Asia.” In early 20th century, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Boston was moved to state: “our people are determined not to admit Asiatic labor to this country, whether it is Chinese, Japanese, or Hindoo”.

A group of residents of Glen Park and Mission districts of San Francisco wrote: “The Pacific coast is fast becoming the dumping ground of the most undesirable people whose morals and customs make an assimilation with our citizens an impossibility.” They termed the Indians “the new pest from Asia”.

It was racism fuelled by fear and loathing towards people of a different color, a different religion, and a different culture. And though it happened nearly a hundred years ago, faint echoes of this Hinduphobia or Indiaphobia still resonate in the American psyche.

As author Harold Robert Isaacs reminds us, "The image of the very benighted heathen Hindu is perhaps the strongest of all that come to us out of India from the past and it retains its full sharpness up to the present day."

Missionary Views

The statements made by American missionaries in India in their letter, books, sermons, and lectures was in a large part dominated by a powerful sense of revulsion at Hindu practices. A mild example would be the complaint, in 1852, about "the deplorable ignorance and stubborn prejudices of the Hindus, together with the caste system, their entire absence of all correct principles, and finally their moral degradation."

The Hindus, one might more commonly have heard, were "lifetime liars and worshippers of a stupendous system of carnal idolatry." Their temples would be "ornamented with all the orders of infernal architecture, displaying all the sins in the human figure and exhibiting evil spirits under the significant emblems of serpents, toads, etc." Letters prepared for Sunday school children stressed "mountains of superstitions," "the heathens in darkness," and "the Hindu mind." The whole literature was filled, author Bernard Stern remarks, "with a positively morbid preoccupation with temple prostitutes and lingamites," with lurid illustrations, and in general with material more titillating than inspirational.

Nataraja - Lord of the Cosmic Dance.

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Indian religions, said a writer in the Christian Century in 1905, were "debauched with deeds of lust and blood...Many of the Indian deities, given to lustful amours, are especially worshipped by the people....It is not surprising that religion in India is not only divorced from morality but married to vice...much indecency exists in India under the guise of religion, many of the temple dancing girls are merely consecrated prostitutes, and in many cases respectable women are led to lives of shame."

Asiatic Exclusion League in San Francisco, on May 12 1912, a labor leader, himself an immigrant, rose up to speak: “But their ways are not as our ways and their gods are not as our god and never will be. They bring with them a degraded civilization and a debased religion of their own ages older, and to their minds far superior to ours. We look to the future with hope for improvement and strive to uplift our people; they look to the past, believing that perfection was attained by their ancestors centuries before our civilization began and before Jesus brought us the divine message from the Father. They profane this Christian land by erecting here among us their pagan shrines, set up their idols and practice their shocking heathen religious ceremonies."

The San Francisco Call stated: ‘We do not want to see the largest territory of the United States converted into an Asiatic colony... The Japanese, the Chinese and the Hindu cannot be made a part of the American civilization except in the capacity of servile labor. It would be better that the vineyards and orchards in California go untilled and unharvested, than that we should turn them over to a class of helots.

Charles F Curry, Secretary Of State (1899 - 1911) declared at a meeting of the Asiatic Exclusion League in 1908: “The bonds of the habitation of the Hindus did not, do not, and I pray to God never will, include America as a whole, or the paradise of America, our own California…If the surplus millions of the teeming hordes of India, China, and Japan were permitted to immigrate to the United States, they would soon outnumber and dominate our present population, subvert our form of government, degrade our standard of living and substitute the semi-barbarous heathen civilization of Shintoism and Brahma, Buddha and Confucius, for our Christian civilization…..the Hindu Asiatic ought to be excluded from American soil.”

He went on: “It is essential that the blood of the American-Europeans of this country, who together with their ancestors developed civilization to its present state, should be kept pure and free from the taint of the decadent Orientalism of China, Japan and India. We have no quarrel with those people. We wish them well in their own countries, but we do not want them in ours.” He further explained: “As a matter of fact, we, the people of the United States, are cousins, far removed, of the Hindus, but our forefathers pressed to the west, in the everlasting march of conquest, progress and civilization. The forefathers of the Hindus went east and became enslaved, effeminate, cast-ridden and degraded, until today we have a spectacle of the Western Aryan, the ‘Lords of Creation,’ if we may use the simile, while on the other hand the Eastern Aryans have become the ‘Slaves of Creation.’ And now we, the people of the United States, are asked to receive these members of a degraded race on terms of equality. Or if they come under the law they may become citizens, and what would be the condition in California if this horde of fanatics should be received in our midst.” This was the picture that was presented to the general public when just a trickle of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent began to join the larger numbers of Chinese and Japanese already in the U.S.

The idea was to generate fear and loathing towards people of Indian origin.

(source: Fear and Loathing: Hinduphobia in America -  By Francis C. Assisi - Indolink). For more refer to Asiatic Coolie Invasion

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Arjun, Maya popular Indian baby names in USA

Arjun, the warrior-prince of the Mahabharata, and Maya were the most popular names given to baby boys and girls respectively by Indians in the United States. The name Arjun was given to 247 boys last year, ranking it 741 in the list of 1,000 most popular baby names in the US, compiled by the Department of Social Security Administration.

The popularity of the name has been increasing steadily since 2001 when it was ranked 977.Aditya, the most popular name for the year 2003, ranked 743 as the second most popular Indian choice. The name was chosen for 246 babies. Other male names that found a place in the list of 1000 are Pranav, Samir, Nikhil, Arnav, Rishi and Rahul. Among female Indian names, Maya ranked first (85 overall rank), followed by Tara (323) and Shreya (853).

(source: Arjun, Maya popular Indian baby names in USA - hindustantimes.com).

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The epic retold in comic form! 

The epic retold. The Ramayana of 2005. It's a project that stays true to the original by integrating the relationships between the main protagonists amid the themes of dharma, karma, maya and moksha. Yet, a modern-day project with the contemporary avatars of Ram, Ravana and Sita, plus a few additional characters. All this, in comic-book form. A sneak peek at the reinvented Ramayana - the comic book creation of Shekhar Kapur and Deepak Chopra which is being billed as Asia's Lord Of The Rings.

New Age guru Deepak Chopra and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, along with Chopra's son Gotham and Sharad Devarajan of the Gotham Entertainment group, have created a global content development company, Gotham Studios, which will churn out a number of comic book projects, the first being Kapur and Chopra's interpretation of the Ramayana .   

Ramayana , one of the most profound and legendary of epics.

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My whole life's work has been about the telling of good stories. In fact, throughout my career, I have been bringing some of the best traditions of the East -- mostly in healing and spirituality -- to the doorstep of the West. I feel that India is culturally driven by myth and mythological stories -- something that lends itself well to the art of the comic book. The reinterpretation of the Ramayana , one of the most profound and legendary of epics, will be satisfying," says Chopra.

Kapur reveals how he grew up on comics as a kid. "In fact, comics or the visual telling of stories through pictures, is what led me to film. I feel the art of storytelling is to turn mythology into simple stories that children and the child in adults can enjoy. Considering that there are only so many hours in the day, it is impossible for me to make all of my story ideas into movies. I am really excited at having these ideas converted into comics," he says.   

(source: The epic retold in comic form!  - timesofindia.com).

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World's first Hindu theme park 

Its backers describe it as the "world's biggest ever mythological theme park". Hindu gods such as Ram, Hanuman and Krishna will be the central attractions for a 'Disneyland on the Ganges' in India.

The aim of the 25 acre park, called Gangadham, is to recreate great moments in Hindu mythology through hi-tech rides, an animated mythological museum, a "temple city", food courts and a sound and light show. The park is to be on the banks of the Ganges, in the north Indian pilgrimage town of Haridwar. It is where the Hindu god Vishnu is said to have left his footprint. The town attracts more than 18 million visitors a year. "There is a huge amount of pilgrim traffic in Haridwar," says Shiv Sagar, the project's chief executive. "People come to take a bath on the bank of the Ganga river because it is a Hindu belief that this cleanses a person."

Gangadham is a spiritual theme park where children and families can go and have a good time, while learning about stories from Hindu mythology," Mr Sagar says 

The dramatisations of Hindu mythology were broadcast around the world in 60 different languages. An estimated 650 million people tuned in to watch. "Gangadham is based on the work of my granddad. The idea has been so popular because people already know Dr Sagar's work and know he shows the Gods in a respectful and devotional way," Mr Sagar told the BBC.

Shiv has also enlisted the help of Alice Coltrane, the wife of legendary Jazz musician John Coltrane. "Alice is a very spiritual person and runs an ashram in [Los Angeles]. She knows our family well and stays with us when she is in India. She is one of the main investors in the park," he said. Mr Sagar argues that Hinduism is a religion versatile enough to adapt to theme parks and TV shows.

"The Hindu religion is well suited to something like this, religions like Islam are not allowed to depict forms but we have many different forms and representations of Gods," he said. "We have the full support of the government of [the state of] Uttaranchal in terms of all the regulations and other such aspects. They are very keen that this project comes to Haridwar," Mr Sagar says.

(source: World's first Hindu theme park - BBC).

Watch History of Ayodhya - videogoogle.com.

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Lost city 'found in jungles'

A 1000-year-old lost city possibly older than Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobudur in Indonesia, is believed to have been located in the dense jungles of Johor.

He said the discovery of “unusual formations” from the air had led him to believe that the site could be the first capital of the Sri Vijaya Malay empire dating back to 650AD. The discovery of what could be the site of the first capital of the Sri Vijaya Malay empire dating back to the seventh century will be investigated by Malaysia's Department of Museums and Antiquities, The Star newspaper said.

The Srivijaya maritime and commercial kingdom flourished between the seventh and the 13th centuries in the Malay archipelago. The manuscript narrated an account of the devastating raids by Raja Rajendra Cholavarman I, who after destroying the city of Ganga Negara (now Beruas in Lower Perak) turned his attention to Kota Gelanggi. 

The kingdom, which originated in Palembang on Indonesia's Sumatra island, soon extended its influence and based its power on control of the international sea trade. 

(source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12136269-13762,00.html ).

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New Hindu Temple Discovered in the Salt Range in Pakistan

The archaeological excavations undertaken in the northern Kafirkot fortress in northern Pakistan this winter (1997) by Michael W. Meister and his colleagues Professors Abdur Rehman and Farid Khan of the Pakistan Heritage Society have revealed a completely unknown new temple (now designated temple E). 

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This shows clear evidence of two phases of construction - one probably early in the seventh century A.D., the other a reappropriation of this structure by the newly established Hindu Shahi dynasty in the ninth century A.D. (A similar phasing was found last season in the excavation of temple C.) The most remarkable features of this new structure are the bold cusped niches in the first-phase platform that were revealed when part of the fabric of the second-phase construction was taken away. Excavations continue.

(source: New Hindu Temple Discovered in the Salt Range in Pakistan).

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Gayatri Devi scores among 100 beauties of last century 

Rajmata of Jaipur, Gayatri Devi, is high up in the Harpers and Queen magazine's compiled list of 100 most beautiful women of the past century. Her inclusion is no surprise. The Vogue called her as one of the most beautiful woman, while a famous celebrity photographer had included her in his list of 10 world beauties in the 60s.

The style magazine said the list was compiled from the natural, womanly ideal of Russian royalty to the sex goddesses of Hollywood. The result encompasses such icons a Greta Garbo, Hepburn, and Monroe as well as less familiar names such as Dolores Del Rio, "a woman so exquisite that it was rumoured she dined on rose petals and the resplendent Ayesha (as Gaytri Devi was known within her family) of Cooch Behar.

(source:  

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Indians form the cream of Israeli lab 

Indian scientists at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, which is working with India in the field of biotechnology, are precious contributors to its growing reputation as a premier institute of scientific research. Indian scientists form one of the three largest overseas communities at the institute. 

"The community is a precious contributor to the growing reputation of the institute as the premier institution for scientific research," Ilan Chet, president of the Weizmann Institute, told the agency.

Chet told Indian Ambassador, Arun Kumar Singh, at a meeting on Thursday that the institute has been cooperating with India in various research fields, especially in the field of biotechnology. He lauded the efforts of the Indian scientists in various areas of research at the institute, mostly as post-doctoral fellows. 

Chet has been recently put on the Board of Directors at Dr Reddy's Institute of Life Sciences in Hyderabad.

"There has always been a large presence of scientists from India at the institute and they compete with the Chinese and the Germans for the top slot in terms of numbers," an institute official said. 

The strength of the community is such that they celebrate major Indian festivals like Diwali, Durga Puja and even popularise cricket in a big way at the institute, some of the post-doctoral fellows said.

(source:  Indians form the cream of Israeli lab - hindustantimes.com).

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First Hindu-Maya cultural dialogue in Guatemala 

The Mayans of Guatemala - representative of the Maya civilization that flourished during the first millennium AD in Central America - believe their ancestors came to this part of the globe 20,000 years ago from the East.

One of the most dominant ethnic groups, Kekichi Maya, has always had special attraction for India in the past as their forefathers have told them that the "Naga tribes of Nagaland" were one of the four original branches of the Maya civilization.

(For more refer to chapter on India on Pacific Waves?).

It is for these reasons and the similarities between the Aryan and Mayan civilizations, the people of Guatemala for long have been trying to establish contact with Indians and have a cultural dialogue.

The first such dialogue formally gets going at Maya Village, Lake Atitlan in Guatemala on May 29. Lake Atitlan is famous for its natural beauty and colourful Mayan villages. A 16-member delegation of intellectuals, academicians and scholars from six countries - mainly people of Indian origin - left Houston in Texas for the Guatemala City on May 27 to participate in the two day conference on "Hindu -Maya Cultural Similarities". The conference is organized by the Council of Elders of the Sacred Mayas, Guatemala in collaboration with the International Centre for Cultural Studies, a non-profit organization based in the US.

The Council of Elders is an umbrella organization of all the 23 different Maya groups in Guatemala and is responsible for controlling the tribal life of the people. "The conference would look at similarities in these cultures and traditions, besides conducting workshops on ceremonies of these traditions," Yashwant Pathak, global coordinator of International Centre for Cultural Studies.

Giving details of the conference, Pathak said on May 29 the Hindu delegation comprising of members from countries like India, the US, Britain, Trinidad and Guyana would be given a traditional Mayan welcome followed by lecture on the culture and tradition of their civilization.

"On the second day, we would present our papers, besides show them how a traditional Hindu welcome is with tilak  and aarti. Later in the afternoon, we would also conduct a Vedic Yagna. We are taking all the necessary things with us for the conference," Pathak said.

Before the conclusion of the two-day conference, members of the two delegations would tie "Rakhi" to each other. "This would represent the permanent brotherhood between the two ancient civilizations of the world and also that we would protect tradition and culture of each other," Pathak said. The Hindu-delegation is also scheduled to meet the Noble peace prize winner, Rigoberta Menchu, a Mayan Indian. In 1992, she won the prize in recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for rights of indigenous people.  

God on the lion throne from India, and Mayan jaguar throne - Heine-Geldern and G.F. Ekholm).

(image source: India and World Civilization - By D. P. Singhal p  58-59).

***

After the conference, the Hindu delegation would proceed on a five day tour of the Guatemala Mayan attractions, he said. Pathak said the Hindu and the Maya traditions and cultures are one of the ancient in the world. "There are many similarities in these two great traditions. While, they date back thousands of years; they believe in One God with manifestations in different forms. Both believe in philosophy for human being in totality and total humanity," he said.

(source: First Hindu-Maya cultural dialogue in Guatemala  - By Lalit Jha - hindustantimes.com May 27 2005).  The repeating cycles of creation and destruction are like the Hindu yugas.

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Rare Vishnu sculpture found

A rare piece of beautifully executed sculpture, depicting Vishnu seated on a Naga coil under the five hoods of the serpent deity, was unearthed a couple of days ago at the Nithyakalyanaswamy temple at Thiruvidanthai, about 45 km from here.

Workers found the sculpture below the ground at the "yagasala mantapa". "Kumbhabhishekam" at the temple is scheduled for June 10.

At the bottom of the one-metre-high "Naga stone sculpture is a decorated pedestal with several components. Above this pedestal is a peeta (pedestal) in the form of a "koorma" (tortoise) and above this is the Naga in five coils. Vishnu is seated on the topmost coil. The five hoods spread out like an umbrella over him.

The sculpture belongs to the 17th century Vijayanagara period. The temple was built in the 7th century A.D.

T. Satyamurthy, superintending archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Chennai Circle, said it was "a unique Naga stone". Such stones were generally found in Siva temples, with the linga seated on the Naga coils. The Naga stones were offered as votives for boons granted. But the Nithyakalyanaswamy temple was a Vishnu temple, and this Naga stone had a Vishnu at the centre. Besides it was found at the yagasala mantapa, where it could have been given as an offering.

Vishnu is seen seated in a "sukhasana" (relaxed posture). He has four arms, holding a chanku (conch), `chakra' (wheel), a stylised `gatha' and a `padma' (lotus). His cylindrical "kreeta", elaborate ornaments and the posture of holding the weapons indicated that the sculpture belonged to the Vijayanagara period. The serpent's five hoods had "mukhapattika" — ornaments on the forehead. The hoods had prominent eyes. "It is a beautiful and finely executed sculpture. The finish is excellent," Dr. Satyamurthy said on Friday. It was a made out of a single piece of greenish granite.

The temple is one of the earliest on the east coast. The sanctum has a big Varahamurthy (boar deity), with Bhudevi at his left. Varaha is more than seven feet tall. The temple, celebrated in the hymns of Thirumangai Alwar, is protected by the ASI. It has been conserving the temple for the past several months, ahead of the kumbhabhishekam.

G. Thirumoorthy, Assistant Archaeologist, ASI, said the temple had several inscriptions, including that of the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III of the 10th century A.D. and the Chola emperor Raja Raja I. The inscriptions were in Tamil. One of them mentioned a donation made by 12 fishermen families for conducting a seven-day festival in honour of Raja Raja I.

"The sculpture of a Naga, depicting Vishnu at the centre — that too, seated on a koorma pedestal — is rare," Mr. Thirumoorthy said.

(source: Rare Vishnu sculpture found - hindu.com).

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Did You Know? 

Manichaeism  

From the third century C.E. up till just a few centuries ago, Manichaeism was one of the great world religions, practiced from Europe to China. It taught that we are beings of light who must purge ourselves of association with matter in order to merge back into the divine light. (Both Christian and Muslim authorities made the extermination of Manichaeism a top priority, which is why you don’t see Manichaeans hanging around anymore.) It’s startling to find Manichaean literature filled with Sanskrit terminology. This is because Mani, the founder of that religion, traveled to India to study the Buddhist and Hindu Masters. Mani, who was born in Bayblon in 216 C.E. helped introduce many Eastern ideas into Europe, where they still echo in Europe’s Gnostic underground. 

(source: Hinduism - By Linda Johnsen p. 205).

Mani, the founder of Manichaeanism, who preached his doctrine during the third century, speaks of the Buddha as a messenger of God in his work Shaburqan (Shapurakhan). That Manichaeanism was influenced by Buddhism is further supported by the fact that a Manichaean treatise written in the style of a Buddhist sutra, speaks of Mani as the Tathagata, an attribute of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. There are close resemblances between certain Manichaean works and the Buddhist Suttas and the Patimokhhha, and, according to Cyril of Jerusalem, the Manichaean scriptures were written by one Scythianus and revised by his disciple Terebinthus who changed his name to Buddhas.

(source: India and World Civilization  By D. P. Singhal Pan Macmillan Limited. 1993 part I p. 92). (For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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Updated - October 28, 2008