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Star Wars and the Hindu Tradition - By Steven J Rosen

‘I am telling an old myth in a new way’ – George Lucas, creator of Star Wars.

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The Jedi in the Lotus reveals how the wisdom of India permeates the Star film.

George Lucas (1944 -  ) was influenced by Joseph Campbell’s popular writings. Campbell’s affection for the myths of India saturates his extensive writings and clearly seized Lucas.

Campbell’s romance with India began on a ship called the S. S. Lotus.  It was on a crossing of the North Atlantic for a visit to Europe in 1924 that 20 year old Joseph Campbell became a good friend of Jiddu Krishnamurti who introduced the young American to the traditions of India.

George Lucas was influenced by the writing of Joseph Campbell who is turn became a student of German Indologist Heinrich Robert Zimmer and author of the book Philosophies of India.

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In 1941, Swami Nikhilananda introduced Campbell to Indologist Heinrich Zimmer, who had just arrived from Europe and was about to give a series of lectures at Columbia University on the myths of India. Zimmer was a longtime friend of Carl Jung. Campbell had read the Epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata and wrote his groundbreaking book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, where the main examples are the tales from India. This book provided the template for George Lucas to shape the Star Wars adventures.

Lucas maintains that The Hero with a Thousand Faces was the first book that began to focus what he had been doing intuitively. ‘It was all right there and had been there for thousands of years.’ Lucas went on to read other books by Campbell, including The Flight of the Wild Gander, and The Masks of God.

In Hinduism – The earliest strata of Vedic literature views ultimate reality as ‘Brahman’ an all-pervasive energy or force that sustains and interpenetrates the entire cosmos. In general, Hindu theological views are quite broad including notions of monism, dualism, pantheism, panentheism, animism, and also polytheism. Traditionally, this diversity is analogized as a single beam of light separated into colors of a prism – implying that the one light is the same, though manifesting variously. In relationship to God, all aspects of this ‘light’ are suitable for worship, though only under the guidance of one who knows the secrets of such worship i.e., under a qualified spiritual master (or guru).

‘I am telling an old myth in a new way’ – George Lucas, creator of Star Wars.

A beautiful princess is kidnapped by a powerful but evil warlord. A young hero, a prince comes to the princess’s rescue, aided by a noble creature that is half-human and half-animal. In the end, after a war that epitomizes the perennial battle between good and evil, the beautiful maiden returns home.

In the eastern part of the world, the story evokes memories of the Ramayana, an ancient epic from which many of India’s myths and religious traditions originate: the princess is Sita, kidnapped by the power mad Ravana. Her loving husband Rama, is Vishnu (God) in human form soon becomes aware of her plight and pursues her. How did he learn of Ravana’s nefarious deed? The good-hearted Jatayu, a vulture like creature with ability to speak, sworn to protect the princess, sees the demon-king forcibly abduct Sita. He attempts to rescue her on his own, but he is mercilessly cut down by Ravana.

A relief from Prambanan temple in Jave, Indonesia.

Aided by an army of Vanaras Rama rescues Sita from the evil Ravana.

Refer to chapters on Ethereal Prambanan, Suvarnabhumi, Pacific Waves, Sacred Angkor, and Seafaring in Ancient India.

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Rama engages his devoted half-human/half-monkey companion, Hanuman, in an elaborate search for the priness and after a complex series of events, a massive war breaks out to get her back. Aided by an army of Vanaras Rama rescues Sita from the evil Ravana.

And since Ramayana – as opposed to Star War – was written ‘long, long ago’, it is likely that the modern epic, to one degree or another, was based on the older one. Many other Indic texts are utilized in the Star Wars framework as well – the Upanishads, the Mahabharata (including the Bhagavad Gita), the Srimad Bhagavatam (also called the Bhagavata Puranas), and so on.

Some specific parallels:

Princess Leia’s full name is Leia Organa. The word ‘organa’ came from organic, which means ‘of the earth.’ Interestingly, Princess Sita is described in the Ramayana as being literally ‘born from the earth’ and at the epic’s end, the earth mysteriously opens up to her to return. Or consider Yoda, best of the great Jedi adepts in Star Wars, who is reminiscent of a yogi or spiritual master, his teachings quoted almost verbatim from the Bhagavad Gita. For example, Yoda tells Luke not to view him in terms of his size or outward appearance. He says that, in reality, we are ‘luminous beings’ – we are not the dull matter that we perceive with our crude senses. In short, he tells Luke that we are not our bodies but are instead a spiritual spark within. This is one of the Bhagavad Gita’s central teachings. That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy the imperishable soul.’ (BG 2.17). And further: ‘As the sun alone illuminates the entire universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminates the entire body by consciousness.’ (BG 13.34) Notice that the Gita also refers to the ‘luminosity’ so clearly expressed by Yoda.

Yoda’s name is closely linked to the Sanskrit Yuddha, which means war. Accordingly, he indeed teaches a chivalrous form of warfare, imbued with ethics and spirituality, to the Jedi knights. The aggressive but valiant ways of these knights are exactly like those of Kshatriyas, ancient Indian warriors who emphasized yogic codes and art of protective combat. In this, Yoda resembles Dronacharya from the Mahabharata, who, in the forest trains the Pandava heroes to be righteous protectors of the innocent. In the Ramayana, Vishvamitra Muni, as Rama’s spiritual master, teaches the great avatar, or incarnation of a deity, to be adept in the art of war, but he also teaches him that fighting must always be based on yogic principles – Both Dronacharya and Vishwamitra seem like earlier incarnations of Yoda.

In the first Star Wars prequel, Queen Amidala is also known as Padme, a word that comes from the Sanskrit padma, meaning lotus. Queen Veda is named after the sacred texts of the East – the Vedas. And Durga the Hutt is obviously named after the Goddess of the material sphere, whose name is Durga. The term Jedi might very well be related to the name of ancient Indian province known as ‘Chedi’ over which Shishupala, Krishna’s cousin and arch-enemy reigned.

Both Ramayana and Mahabharata for example, which are thousands of years old, refer to flying machines and weapons of destruction that not only rivals but surpass those of modern man. 

“The Ramayana , and its companion the Mahabharata, are something like a combination of George Lucas’s Star Wars and J R R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. In texts thousands of years old, the combatants fly around in metallic flying machines that run on some sort of ‘anti-gravity’ mechanism and battle each other with particle beam weapons and horrifying explosive devices.”

Even a scholar as respected as the late J.A. B van Buitenen (1828 - 1979)who was the George V. Bobrinskoy Distinguished Service Professor of Sanskrit and Indic Studies at the University of Chicago, recognizes, in his translation of the Mahabharata, that these ancient texts definitely refer to advanced technology, though he admits he is not quite sure what to make of it. In his commentary, he writes of the war of the Yakshas, where in the aerial city of Shalva, known as Saubha, is mentioned in picturesque detail – Saubha, according to van Buitenen, was ‘a huge flying machine.’

Author Erich von Daniken has pondered on how ancient Sanskrit literature could refer to spaceships, aircraft, or ‘aerial mansions.’

(source:  Jedi in the Lotus: Star Wars and Hindu Tradition - By Steven J Rosen). 

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In China, a rediscovery of Sanskrit

A class in session at Peking University with renowned Indian Sanskrit scholar Satyavrat Shastri teaching Chinese graduate students.

The Sanskrit programme at Peking University has a long history, set up in the 1960s and subsequently expanded by renowned Indologist Ji Xianlin, who translated dozens of works. Almost two millennia after the language first came to China through Buddhist scriptures, renewed interest in Buddhist studies and recent discoveries of long-forgotten manuscripts in Tibet have sparked a revival of the study of the ancient language among Chinese scholars. Beijing’s Peking University has now launched an ambitious programme to train more than 60 Chinese students in Sanskrit, with the hope of creating a team of researchers to help translate hundreds of manuscripts containing scriptures that have been found in Tibet and other centres of Buddhism, such as Hangzhou in China’s east.

“There is a rich manuscript collection in Tibet, particularly. Many of the originals have not been recovered, and are only available in Chinese and Tibetan, so it is important for us to find a way to render them back into Sanskrit,” said Satyavrat Shastri, a renowned New Delhi-based Sanskrit scholar and poet, who is in Beijing this week as a visiting lecturer to meet and advise students and teachers here. “What they are trying to do here is invaluable, and they are making great progress,” Mr. Shastri said, adding that he was pleasantly surprised by the students’ technical level.

“I was struck by the interest, of both teachers and scholars, in little details, such as getting the pronunciation perfect. They recited the Bhagavad Gita with me, and it was a unique experience. The pronunciation, the metre [of reciting the verses], was remarkable.”

The Sanskrit programme at Peking University has a long history, set up in the 1960s and subsequently expanded by renowned Indologist Ji Xianlin, who translated dozens of works and is seen by many here as single-handedly introducing classical Indian culture to a whole generation of Chinese. Today, the programme hopes to carry forward the legacy of Ji, who died in 2009.
The university’s efforts received a boost in 2005, when it was given support by the Ministry of Education to expand admissions, part of an effort to boost manuscript research. Now, for the first time, the programme has a regular annual intake of students at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels, currently training between 50 and 60 students. “We want to continue what Ji Xianlin started,” said Duan Qing, a professor in Sanskrit and Pali who once trained under Ji. “Our programme is quite mature now, and is the only complete Sanskrit programme in China.”

She attributed the recent boost in funding to increasing government support for the humanities, ignored during the People’s Republic’s first three decades when the country’s focus was on development alone.

“Sanskrit research is being viewed with importance now,” she said. “India and China were culturally connected. I don’t think there’s another country in the world where so many Sanskrit works were translated into another language, and this has been going on for more 1,000 years.”

Ms. Duan heads the Research Institute of Sanskrit Manuscripts and Buddhist Literature at Peking University, which is working with regional governments and hoping to create an archive for lost manuscripts and palm-leaves. Graduate students will work with the institute to help translate scriptures.

Yu Huaijin, a PhD student who is studying Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava, said she joined the programme because she believed it was playing the role of “a bridge between two cultures.” “India and China are neighbours, but they know little about each other, especially the younger generation. It is a big objective for me to introduce Indian culture and literature to a Chinese audience,” she said. Few Chinese students are interested in Indian culture, with much greater interest in Western literature.

Ms. Yu, too, was first a student of Western literature — until she happened to read a translation of the Mahabharata by Ji Xianlin. “It was a different world,” she said. “And one that few Chinese are aware of.”

Peking University has also begun working with Sanskrit programmes in universities in the West, particularly in Germany, to improve both teaching methods and archiving practices. Indian universities, have however, appeared to show little interest in taking forward cooperation. Mr. Shastri, who is an honorary professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, admitted there was “precious little” cooperation between the two countries. There was room for much more, he said, encouraged by the positive response to his teaching methods this past week.

“We want to learn Sanskrit through traditional methods,” one teacher told him. “Not from the West.”

(source: In China, a rediscovery of Sanskrit - forumforhinduawakening.com).

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European, American Museums: Fortified Havens For Plunder From India

Hate Crimes? Plunder of Ancient Cultures of the World

Should the people of India, Greece, Egypt and Africa, and Native American peoples succeed in getting American and European museums and libraries to return all objects which constitute the tangible roots of ancient civilisations, and thousands of years of history pre-dating the cults of Jesus and Mohammed, then the Louvre, British Museum, Smithsonian, Vatican and the Kunsthistoriches Museum to mention just five, would be emptied of all their prized possessions.

European and American museums and libraries are no more than fortified thieves’ dens and state-sponsored and supported safe havens for Abrahamic plunder; they house the spoils of Christian war and genocide against African peoples, against the nations of now extinct and almost extinct Native American peoples, colonial loot from Asia, and from archaeological and anthropological pseudo-science expeditions, which European marauders undertook across continents.

Refer to the chapter on European Imperialism and Hindu Art. Refer to Marco Polo’s epic journey to China was a big con – Team Folks

To the list of permanent exhibits and possessions officially declared by these museums and libraries must be added—objects which are never exhibited for public viewing, objects which are now in private collections of the rich and infamous, and objects which even people in the countries of their origin may not know about in some private collection and in the dark interiors of museums and libraries.

The only history to be spared the depredations of Christian vandals, which they could not uproot and cart away to Europe and America, and those which successive jihadi hordes could not destroy and reduce to rubble are the petroglyphs and pictograms in the caves of India.

India should demand that all such objects including the priceless Saraswati-Indus seals, temple pediments and colonnades and every murti of our gods and goddesses once worshipped in our temples and homes be returned to India where they belong.

Refer to The Plunder of Art - By Hamendar Bhisham Pal

In the British Museum alone the writer saw objects inscribed with Saraswati-Indus script. There are currently around 4200 such inscribed objects of which over 2500 are seals and sealings. According to Dr Subhash Kak, most of the sites of what is called the Indus civilisation are in the Saraswati valleys and some of the biggest sites in vivisected India are yet to be excavated. 

Several among the 4200 objects are scattered across major museums of the world and libraries. According to Dr Kak besides the 14 in the British Museum, there is one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and one in the Berkeley Museum, University of California.

The Saraswati-Indus script has not been deciphered conclusively and all work including that of some Hindu scholars and amateurs continues to remain at best in the domain of conjecture. All objects bearing the Saraswati-Indus script, currently located in foreign museums and libraries must therefore come back to India to enable future scholars to access them at one place without having to travel around the world; what belongs to the Indian people must be returned to India. Besides the 14 objects with the Saraswati-Indus script, the writer saw in the collection of colonial loot, a portion of the Mathura Lion Capital, the base of an exquisitely carved temple column from Dwarka, breathtakingly beautiful murtis from every corner of our country—of Vishnu, Shiva, Surya, Parvati, Rukmani, Vaishnavi, Kartikeya and Narthana (Dancing) Ganesha.  

The defilement of temples and sacred places was not confined to India. A magnificent wall torn down from the Memorial Temple of Rameses II in Abydos, Egypt, built of limestone and sandstone around 1250 BC, bearing precious hieroglyphs giving a detailed list of names of the kings and gods of Egypt in exquisitely carved cartouches also stands in the British Museum.

The memorial temple to Rameses II also had seven shrines dedicated to seven gods including Osiris, God of Death and the netherworld. Auguste Mariette was to Abydos what Lord Elgin was to the Acropolis. If Elgin vandalised the sacred Acropolis and brought home the plunder for the British Museum, Mariette vandalised the sacred city of Abydos and brought home the loot for the Egyptian Museum in the Louvre.

Temples which were plundered and destroyed by pre-Christian and pre-Islam kings and soldiers were always re-built and the gods were re-installed and worshipped again. Oftentimes some future king from the victor country would re-build the temple which had been destroyed earlier by his predecessor; but that which was destroyed by Christian crusaders, colonisers and archaeologists and Muslim jihadi armies remain to this day only as ruins.

White Christian countries built museums as truimphant monuments of this destruction and vandalism.

Pre-Christian and pre-Islam kings destroyed temples as an asuric act of victory but even they did not vandalise graves and tombs. Vandalising tombs and pyramids, digging up graves and mutilating the bodies of the dead is an Abrahamic trait and Native Americans are still fighting to get back the mortal remains of their forefathers displayed in American museums so that they can be respectfully laid back to rest.

If India, Greece and Egypt bore the brunt of western archaeologists, Native Americans suffered anthropologists.

While their historical precedent is uncertain, anthropologists can be readily identified on the Reservations. Go into any crowd of people. Pick out a tall gaunt white man wearing Bermuda shorts, a World war II Army Air Force flying jacket, an Australian bush hat, tennis shoes, and packing a large knapsack incorrectly strapped on his back. He will invariably have a thin wife with stringy hair, an IQ of 191, and a vocabulary in which even the prepositions have eleven syllables. This creature is an anthropologist. (Vine Deloria, JR., Custer Died For Your Sins, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1988, page 79)

While native American writer Vine Deloria’s biting satire may have reduced the anthropologist and Christian missionary to caricatures, the destruction wreaked on ancient civilisations and peoples is real; very real. The extent of destruction, vandalism, brazen appropriation of the wealth of other nations which these museums and libraries continue to hold on to and exhibit with scant regard for morality and justice, and the sensibilities of the nations to which this wealth belongs, has to be seen to be really understood.

Refer to chapter on Hindu Art

A museum, as conceived by what goes in the name of western civilisation is primarily a victory monument displaying the remains of dead and extinct or once conquered and enslaved civilisations; and they are dead because of the rise and expansion of the Abrahamic religions. One such museum was the Baghdad museum which housed the remains of the Mesopotamian civilisation. In an act of Abrahamic atavism, the Baghdad museum was made a precision target during the American invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003.

American tanks fired at the Baghdad museum leaving a gaping hole on the forehead; the attack on Baghdad museum facilitated the pre-planned vandalism and plunder of the magnificent wealth of the Mesopotamian civilisation. The world will never know how much was destroyed, how much was looted and where these precious objects are now.

By ordering the vaults of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple to be opened, the judges of the Supreme Court have only facilitated the possible destruction and loot of Hindu temple wealth which is the priceless wealth of the Hindu civilisation.

Christian fundamentalism vandalised the Acropolis, Abydos and now the Baghdad museum; while Islamic jihadi fundamentalism vandalised Belur, Halebid and now the Bamiyan Buddhas.

India’s Hindus must begin to think long and hard about how best to preserve and protect our history besides resisting all efforts to display parts of our living temples, including the wealth of our gods in museums. In the meanwhile we must begin to make serious and unrelenting efforts to bring back the civilisational wealth now flaunted in American and European museums and libraries.

This is the invaluable and priceless wealth, our history and heritage, objects which define national self-identity, which we must bring back. This is wealth which cannot be replicated, regenerated or renewed; black money, however big in monetary terms, is only a very small and negligible aspect of our national wealth.

India has to take the lead in this direction as only India can because India’s Hindu civilisation is still alive and vibrant.

More importantly, India has the moral authority as a non-aggressive and non-acquisitive civilisation to make the demand for the return of all objects of history and national self-identity to the nations of their origin.

(source: European, American Museums: Fortified Havens For Plunder From India - By Radha Rajan - organiser.org).

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8000-year-old advanced civilisation in Konkan Coast

The remains of an advanced ancient civilization have been discovered on the western coast of India.

Researchers have found a wall-like structure that is 24 kilometres long, 2.7 metres tall, and around 2.5 metres wide. The structure shows uniformity in its construction.

“We were actually studying the impacts of tsunamis and earthquakes on the western coast when we first found this structure in Valneshwar,” said Marathe. “Then we started talking with the locals and fisherfolks and we got news about more such structures below water.”

“It has been found three metres below the present sea level. It has been constructed on the ancient sand beach, which was taken as the base for the construction. Considering the uniformity of the structure, it was obvious that the structure is man-made and not natural.”

8000-year-old advanced civilisation in Konkan Coast

Considering the uniformity of the structure, it was obvious that the structure is man-made and not natural.”

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Did the coastline of the Konkan, from Shrivardhan in Raigad to Vengurla in Sindhudurg, have human habitation around 8,000 years ago? Did that population have well-developed engineering skills? Was there a unique Konkan culture in existence in 6,000BC? The latest discovery in the field of archaeology, below the sea waters of Konkan coast, could answer these questions with a big resounding‘Yes!’

In what could turn out to be a major discovery, researchers have found a wall-like structure, which is 24km long, 2.7m in height, and around 2.5m in width. The structure shows uniformity in construction. “The structure is not continuous from Shrivardhan to Raigad, but it is uniform. It has been found 3m below the present sea level. Considering the uniformity of the structure, it is obvious that the structure is man-made,” said Dr Ashok Marathe, department of archaeology, Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune.

This joint expedition carried out by Deccan College, Pune and Department of Science and Technology, Central Government, has been in progress since 2005.

However, the age of the structure was decided on the basis of sea level mapping. “There have been exhaustive studies about the sea water coming inside the land. Based on the calculations, experts from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) pegged the age of the wall at around 6,000 BC,” Marathe informed.

The discovery has raised a number of questions, such as how these huge stones were brought to the shore?

How were these huge stones of Laterite and Deccan Trap variety transported to the coast?

What exactly was the purpose behind building the wall?

How were these huge stones of Laterite and Deccan Trap variety transported to the coast?

What exactly was the purpose behind building the wall?

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What was the purpose behind building this wall? If the date of the wall is accurate, then is it the same age as the Indus civilisation? Why have none of the researchers till date, found or made any mention of this civilisation? Marathe, who will be retiring in July 2011, has asked more people to try to find answers to these questions. In the wake of power projects coming up on Konkan’s coastline and the growing discontent, this discovery could prove vital. Marathe, though, displays little faith in the government.

(source: 8000-year-old advanced civilisation in Konkan Coast).

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Lord Krishna and Rath Yatra in Egypt?

I am Amon-Ra…The waters of the Nile sprout from my sandals. Egyptian God Amun was always depicted in funerary art and temple inscriptions with a ‘blue skin colour’ and having two feathers in his headdress.” This can conjure up images of Vedic Creator God Vishnu - in Hindu iconography, the sacred river Ganges is always shown emerging from the toe of the Vishnu; and a blue skinned Krishna with two peacock feathers in his head.

Blue skinned Amun with two feathers in his headdress. Lord Krishna avatar of Lord Vishnu is blue skinned god with peacock feathers in his head.

Indian influence in the Vedic times.

For more refer to chapters on India and Egypt, Suvarnabhumi, Sacred Angkor, India on Pacific Waves and Ethereal Prambanan.

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The annual Opet festival was celebrated in Karnak, during the season of the flooding of the Nile. In this grand festival, the idols of Amun, Mut and Khonsu were placed on sacred barques, which were carried in a splendid, joyous procession down the Avenue of the Sphinxes, along the 2 mile road that connects the temples of Karnak and Luxor. The celebrations have been depicted in detail on the walls of the Great Colonnade at Luxor.

Amazingly an exactly similar festival is still celebrated every year in the tiny coastal town of Puri, in the state of Orissa in eastern India, after the onset of monsoon in the month of July. Here, in the yearly Rathayatra festival, the idols of Krishna (or Jagannath), his brother Balaram and his sister Subhadra are carried in three magnificent chariots pulled by thousands of devotees along the 2 km (1.5 mile) road that connects the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple. The entire celebration, starting from day of Jagannath’s bathing ceremony, till his return from the Gundicha Temple, lasts for 25-26 days, nearly the same as the Opet festival of Karnak and Luxor. The similarities between these two ancient festivals are obvious and striking. There was no doubt in my mind that the Opet festival of Karnak is identical in form and spirit to the Rathayatra festival of Puri.

The Sun temple of Konark is also located nearby.

As per Vedic accounts, the festival of Rathayatra has been celebrated in India for thousands of years, although the current Temple of Jagannath only dates from the 12th century CE. The festival has been mentioned in multiple Puranas, which are Vedic historical documents of unknown antiquity. The Skanda Purana states that the first Jagannath Temple was established in Puri in the Krita Yuga, which, as per the currently accepted Yuga Cycle doctrines, began at around 10,900 BC.

Since Jagannath refers to Vishnu i.e. the Lord of the Universe, he was worshipped in different forms in the different Yugas. In the Kali Yuga he is worshipped in the form of Krishna. The Skanda Purana also specifies the date of the Rathyatra festival. In many other Vedic documents such as the Narada Purana, Padma Purana and the Ramayana, the virtues of worshipping Jagannath have been extolled. The festival is, therefore, indubitably Vedic in origin.

That would imply that this ancient festival, along with the cult of Krishna, Balaram and Subhadra was transferred from India to Egypt, sometime prior to 2000 BC!

(source:  Krishna worship and Rathayatra Festival in Ancient Egypt? - By Bibhu Dev Misra). 

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Kali Yuga: Tragic End of Ancient Greeks - Lessons for Pagan Hindus

"I am the LORD your god. Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

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The Passion of the Greeks: Christianity and the Rape of the Hellenes – By Evaggelos G. Vallianatos - Reviewed by Christos C. Evangeliou.

“What happened to the Greeks? When did the Greek Gods become “myths” and their people, the most highly evolved in the Mediterranean “pagans”?

"Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones " - Exodus 34.13 Holy Bible

Why are their statues mutilated and their temples smashed? Why was so much of their knowledge destroyed?

This book tells the secret story of the Greek genocide at the hands of the Christians between the fourth to the sixth centuries CE… At a time of religious conflict between Christianity and Islam, this book highlights the intolerant nature of monotheism, the hidden history that plunged the West into the Dark Ages. This book is pleading for another Renaissance, another love affair with the Greeks, so as to reinvigorate our civilization with Greek values.”

Written with great passion, by a passionate Greek scholar, this impassioned book recounts with graphic details the historical “passion” of the pagan Greeks at the crucial time, when they encountered the fanatic hordes of missionary monks and Christianizing Roman Emperors. They tried to convert the remaining Greeks too to the new, fanatical, and fashionable faith at the time, willy-nilly.

This book is unlike other books, which present the Christianizing of Greece and of the Mediterranean region as some kind of felicitous meeting and mating of the philosophic spirit of Hellenism and the prophetic spirit of the new and ecumenical religion of love and peace. For it chronicles, with boldness and candor, the other and more hideous side of this tragic story. The meeting of Christianity and Hellenism was not peaceful and pious, in the eyes of the author, but bloody and brutal, and has been kept secret and hidden for a long time.

Chapter four, “The Treason of Christianity,” is one of the longest and most passionate. It narrates the failure of the Roman State to deal effectively with the serious danger that the rapidly growing, the “insidious and seditious,” Christian sect represented, although the authorities were aware of its devious, anti-social behavior. One Roman Emperor after another underestimated the threat of Christianity, until it was too late to stop it in the 4th century, when they embrace it and used it for their interests. Of course, “What happened to Rome eventually reached Greece: Tremors in Rome became earthquakes in Greece. [But] it took time for the cultist tremor of Christianity to become a political and cultural earthquake.”(p. 62)

Several pages of this chapter are devoted to Celsus or Kelsos’ sustained attack of the new religion, as well as the reactions to it of leading Platonic philosophers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE, such as, Ploutarchos, Plotinos, and Porphyrios.

Celsus, 2nd century Greek philosopher and was author of the work titled The True Word.

He objected to the exclusive claims of the Catholic Church and criticized much in biblical history for its miracles and absurdities, and expressed his repugnance to the Christian doctrines of the Incarnation and Crucifixion.

According to him:

“Christianity had nothing original or divine in its history and theology. It was a stolen piece of Judaism modified to fit the fiction of Jesus. This was a Jewish sorcerer whom the Jews rejected because he claimed to be their messiah. The Jews, however, expected a messiah-prince to free them of Roman rule, but Jesus had nothing to do with princes or revolution. The Christians, nevertheless, made Jesus, a secretive, untrustworthy sorcerer, into a god. …"

Christian teachers sought their converts among slaves, women, children and fools. This was no accident but a consistent policy because they feared educated people. They considered science and learning dangerous and evil, and thought of knowledge as a disease of the soul.” (p. 68) All these conclusions the author derives from Origenes’ response to Kelsos’ attack of the Christian Church. In the eyes of Hellenic philosophers and Roman authorities, the Christians appeared as “atheists and impious and criminal.” This is attested by Christian Eusebius, among other authors, in Preparatio Evangelica (1.2. 1-4).

The 3rd and 4th centuries were certainly stressed times intensified by ideological war between the new Christian thinkers, like Eusebius and Augustine, and traditional thinkers, like Plotinus and Porphyry. Porphyry in particular became the champion of Hellenism and Hellenic polytheism, so that he attracted the ire of the theologians. No crime made any difference as long as the hero was on the side of Christianity…. After all, they spent their entire lives trying to show the Jewish prophecies and the gospels were not fiction but the word of god…

Chapter five is titled, “Decline and Fall of Rome–Through Greek Eyes.” The author wants to look at the decline and fall of Rome through the eyes of two Greek historians, Zosimos and Ammianus, because: “To uncover what the Christians did to the Greeks, we need to turn to the Greeks themselves—that is, we must understand Roman imperial history from the perspective of the Greeks who witnessed the smashing and burning of their culture. That is the only way to get to the truth. The Christians… whether historians, philologists, translators, editors or theologians writing in the last several centuries, including the twentieth century, are unreliable: They no longer see the Greeks as Greeks but see them as idolaters, heathens and pagans…. That is the main reason we must consult the Greeks in order to reveal the truth.” (p. 87)

When we do consult the Greek historian Zosimos, we see that he identified the period 313-363 as the crucial time of Roman decline. Two related factors, Christianity and barbarity, combined to bring down Roman power. For the Barbarians “infiltrated the Roman world, and together with the Christians, barbarized it. Finally, the barbarians and the Christians became indistinguishable, destroying the integrity, and indeed the civilization, that had been Roman Empire.” (p. 88).

In the Bible, Jesus states, "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."

Refer to Laying the Sword - By Philip Jenkins and Leading Bible Scholar, Philip Jenkins, Reveals the Bloody Truth About the Bible in New Book 'Laying Down the Sword' and Reincarnation removed from Bible - beyondmefilm.com and Western Christian Imperialism vs. Non-Christian world – By Sandhya Jain

Chapter six is titled, “Julian the Great,” not surprisingly, since Julian was the champion of the “pagan” party and, in this regard, the opposite of Constantine and his pro-Christian policies. His rise to power, his short rule, and his tragic fall (362-363) are described in detail following Ammianus’ account. Julian was determined to restore the worship of the gods and the honored Greco-Roman traditions. Thus, he “declared religious freedom in the empire,” although he made it public that he was not a Christian, “but a faithful follower of the Greek and Roman gods.” He “immersed himself in Greek religion with the passion of a person who waited an entire life for that moment;” he “loved Greek philosophy and the gods, for the two were inseparable.” He made a distinction between Christianity and Judaism and showed more respect for the latter. He also considered rebuilding “the sacred city of Jerusalem.” But he always saw Christianity as “an illegal, treasonous and newfangled cult and ideology that destroyed Greek culture.” (pp. 106-112).

Refer to chapter on India and Greece and Crusade Watch and Christian Aggression and Spain's stolen babies and the Church Connection and NaMo & The Truth About US Visa - Mediacrooks.com

Refer to The Plunder of Art - By Hamendar Bhisham Pal and European, American Museums: Fortified Havens For Plunder From India – By Radha Rajan and Cultural Dacoity - 2ndlook.wordpress.com

“He, no more than I, had no choice in growing up Christian. We dumped Christianity because it had been imposed on us by the force of the church and the government in his case, and by the force of unexamined tradition in my case. In addition, and this is the real reason of abandoning Christianity, that religion had nothing to do with our Greek culture. In fact, it turned out to be a fatal enemy to that culture. With the assassination of young Julian (in 363, at the age of 32), and the intensified barbarian attacks on Rome, the Empire seemed as if abandoned by the gods, and doomed to follow “its Christian path of violent decline and fall.”

Refer to Andhra Jyothy : Proselytizing Unlimited! - centreright.in. Refer to Marco Polo’s epic journey to China was a big con – Team Folks

***

Amazon reviewer:

"Vallianatos reveals the censored history of the conflict between Christianity and ancient Greek culture (“Jerusalem versus Athens”) in late antiquity. Though the “conversion” of the Greeks is traditionally presented as peaceful and pious, in fact, it was a bloody and brutal conquest, where Christian monks (and even Goths) were funded by Christian Roman emperors in an attempt at forced assimilation of the Greeks into a Judaeacized Latin Empire. Per Vallianatos, the Greeks resisted Christianity for centuries. In the war against the Greeks, the Christians branded the Greeks as “pagans” and, in the guise of “fighting paganism,” defaced or destroyed their temples, academies, sculptures and art, in sum, their culture. Vallianatos makes a convincing case that the “conversion” of the Greeks was, in fact, a conquest and despoliation no less than the later Turkish conquest.

As Per Vallianatos, Greece today is still colonized by medieval Christian thinking. Christianity is the state religion in Greece. The clergy is a bureaucratic class, maintained by the taxpayer, who resist the educational and archaeological restoration of ancient Greek culture. "

(source: The Passion of the Greeks: Christianity and the Rape of the Hellenes – By Evaggelos G. Vallianatos - Reviewed by Christos C. Evangeliou - indianrealist.wordpress.com).

Refer to Canada's Genocide - By Kevin Arnett and Unrepentant: Kevin Arnett and Canada’s Genocide (documentary) and Modern day Genocide in Canada - By Gary G. Kohls and The Canadian Holocaust

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Foreigners Flock To Haridwar For Hinduism

They come here from Russia, Malaysia, Belarus, South Korea and the U.S., lured by Hinduism which they say answers questions that have plagued them for years.

The eclectic nature of the Hindu religion - one of the world's oldest - has attracted foreigners from time immemorial. However, those enticed by it now are no more the dope-smoking hippy variety of the 1970s.

Foreigners flocking to Haridwar, one of the holiest Hindu holy spots, are mostly the educated, both men and women, from all parts of the globe, and have a spiritual commitment that amazes many Indians.

"Today the Orthodox Church in Russia is like the old Communist rulers," said Moscow resident Victor Shevtsov.

"They don't allow questions. They don't reply to questions. You have to obey them. This repels many." "

Here, in India and in the East, religious leaders talk to you, they answer questions."

A fan of Indian religious philosophy, Shevtsov said in fluent English: "Many Russians are coming here because they don't have answers (to their questions) in Orthodox Christianity.

"Here, in India and in the East, religious leaders talk to you, they answer questions."

Fellow Russian Prokhor Bashkatov, a 37-year-old real estate agent, also blamed the Russian Church for his decision to embrace Hinduism. "The Church is too rigid," said the Russian who can't understand or speak English. "It is not keeping pace with the time. I feel that my coming here is going to improve relations between Russia and India."

Like so many foreigners, Dasom Her, a 22-year-old South Korean who studies here, was floored after reading "Autobiography of a Yogi", a gem in spiritual literature that Paramhansa Yogananda authored in 1946 and which still sells.

(source: Foreigners Flock To Haridwar For Hinduism - hinduismtoday.com).

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Hands off Deepawali

The Intolerance of Monotheism

Are Christians all worn out from Stealing Pagan holidays??

***

Fanatical Christian Missionaries seek to "subvert" Deepavali into a Christian festival

Denis Diderot, (1713-84) he was a prominent French figure in what became known as The Enlightenment, and was the editor-in-chief of the famous Encyclopédie. He was also a novelist, satirist, and dramatist. Diderot was enormously influential in shaping the rationalistic spirit of the 18th century. He wrote:

"Christian Missionaries come 'with crucifix in one hand and dagger in the other, to cut your throats or force you to accept their customs and opinions."

***

Vine Deloria author of the book, Red earth: White lies observes: "Christianity has been the curse of all cultures into which it has intruded.."

Hans Henning Atrott (1944 -  ) is the founder and first president of the German society for Humane Dying and former secretary (executive director) of the "World Federation of Right to Die Societies. He has written:

"In ancient Rome , there were only five per cent Christians when, backed by a Christian Emperor ( Constantine), this organized criminal group raped 95 per cent of the Romans to accept Christianity. This is what the fake religion of Christians (now making 6 per cent of Indian population) is going to perpetrate in India after the so-called “Mother Theresa” played the Trojan Horse and Sonia Gandhi is ready to play “Emperor Constantine” for the criminal spread of Christianity in India.

Refer to Andhra Jyothy : Proselytizing Unlimited! - centreright.in

The desperate Pope had partly admitted the criminality of Christianity in March 2000 for the first time. Demonstrably, the Christians needed about two millennia to admit their crimes … partly!"

(source: Jesus' Bluff - The universal Scandal of the World - By Hans Hanning Atrott). Watch Hans Henning Atrott - youtube.com.   Refer to The Indian Christian preacher (Michael Job) and the fake orphan scandal - telegraph.co.uk

Charles Francois Dupuis (1742 –1809) French scholar, a professor (from 1766) of rhetoric at the Collège de Lisieux, Paris, anti-clerical, branded Christianity as a religion of terror, in contrast to simple, beautiful pagan religions.  

With anti-clerical fervor typical of the Enlightenment, Dupuis castigated Christianity for its attempt to monopolize universal mythology — that is, to hijack the script for the human species. He argued that pagans were closer to the reality of the world because they saw divinity in the forces of natures and read the book of nature, and particularly the Zodiac, like a divinatory text.

Also refer to Christmas’ pagan origins - By Kelly Wittmann East Texas Review December 21, 2006).  Refer to The Plunder of Art - By Hamendar Bhisham Pal and European, American Museums: Fortified Havens For Plunder From India – By Radha Rajan and Cultural Dacoity - 2ndlook.wordpress.com

***

Fanatical Christian Missionaries seek to "subvert" Deepavali into a Christian festival

An Ohio ministry leader urges Christians to "redeem" Diwali's celebration of light

With this in mind Pramod Aghamkar, Executive Director of Satsang Ministries, started celebrating Christian Diwalis a few yeas ago in Dayton, Ohio. “The festival of Diwali provides the necessary framework, structure and organic occasion to proclaim Christ as the light of the world” said Aghamkar. 

Deepawali: The Festival of Lights
 

Refer to President Obama continues Diwali tradition, lights diya at White House and Intolerance in America - Hinduismtoday.com

Refer to chapters on Quotes, Hindu Scriptures, Symbolism in Hinduism.

Refer to NaMo & The Truth About US Visa - Mediacrooks.com

***

Drawing inspiration from those Christians who redeemed pagan festivals and symbols to make Easter (eggs, new life) and Christmas (the evergreen tree bedecked with lights) what they are today, Aghamkar hopes to redeem the symbols and practices of Diwali for the sake of Christian witness. For him Diwali “is a native tool that still remains undeveloped by Indian Christians.” To tap into this potential, Aghamkar hosts a Christian Diwali in Asian-Indian family settings each year and now encourages other Indian Christian leaders to do the same in other cities.

Refer to The Christians stole the winter solstice from the pagans and jesusneverexisted.com and chapter on Conversion and Christianaggression and Crusadewatch

Refer to Church now has visa power! Congress-led UPA makes travel to India easy for missionaries  - By Sandhya Jain

One city where Indian Christian leaders are not so receptive to this idea is Houston. Asked about the possibility of Christian Diwali celebrations in Houston, a local Indian pastor from The Woodlands demurred, “it is a major Hindu festival, Christ is not part of the celebration.” “Whenever possible I seek the Scriptures for knowledge and direction” said the pastor. “I am not sure there is any place in the Scriptures where it talks about redeeming a heathen idea.”  

Comments:

“Christian Diwali” sounds like an attempt to impose one religion’s beliefs onto another for the sake of conversion. It also sounds like a lack of real respect for anyone’s else’s beliefs except your own. Diwali has specific meaning to Hindus and attempting to bring Christ into it seems to be wrongheaded.

Would someone try to add Christ into the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca as their next step?"

"Deepavali or Diwali is a major festival for the adherents of Vedic Dharma (aka Hinduism for westeners), it has nothing to do with jesus christ and no Hindu would ever accept jesus as light of world. Please keep your christ and bible to yourself, we follow an ancient religion which believes in live and let live and really do not need this from you bible thumpers. Try your luck with the followers of the “Religion of Peace”.

"And Yes, Vedic Dharma is tolerant, one example: India had the longest running Holy Inquisition in a place called Goa courtesy an individual called Francis Xavier (not the X-Men character, a real historical scum), native Hindus were burnt on stakes, women and children were raped and killed before being “redeemed” and various similar festivities associated with Inquisition, that guy was made a saint by the catholic church and the local population have been kind enough to go along with that and afford him a posh resting place, awfully kind of us I would say. And one more thing, Hindus have accommodated and sheltered persecuted religious groups such as Jews and Zoroastrians, look it up."

Refer to Occupy the Vatican and Spain's Stolen Children by Catholic Church  and Residential school survivors protest in Canada and Pedophiles and Popes: Doing the Vatican Shuffle - by Michael Parenti and Stop the Missionary of Charity and chapter on European Imperialism

"Christians have no need to latch onto a pagan festival that emulates Star Wars theology. May the farce not be with us."

(source: Christian Missionaries seek to "subvert" Deepavali into a Christian festival - vivekajyoti.com). Refer to Church of England apologises to Charles Darwin over theory of evolution

Kentucky Republican David Williams criticizes Hindus as Idolaters "As a Christian, I hope their eyes are opened and they receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior" - Senator David Williams. 

Note to Ponder:  With such hostile attitude towards Hindus - it is no wonder that Bobby Jindal (Louisiana) and Nikki Haley (South Carolina) have switched their religions to make it big in American politics. 

(source: Intolerance in America - Hinduismtoday.com and Hindu American Foundation).

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1000-year-old Shiva temple craves for attention in Karnatka

The ruins of a 1000-year-old magnificent Shiva temple at Tenkal, a tiny village on the borders of Yellapur and Mundagod taluks in Uttara-Kannada district craves for attention of the Archaeological Department.

The monument is situated amidst dense forest. Historian Laxmish Hegde believes that the temple was built in Kalyani Chalukya style of architecture by Hangal Kadambas in the 11th century.

The dilapidated temple has a ‘sabhamantap’ (auditorium), a ‘mukhamantap’, a ‘dhwaja sthambha (flag pillar), a ‘bali peetha’ (sacrifice seat), a lalaata bimba, navaranga, faded scripts on stones and a sanctum sanctorum with idols of deities likes Karthikeya, Ganesha, Vishnu, Saptamatrikes and others.

There is evidence of repair work undertaken at the ancient temple around 250-300 years ago.

Stone inscriptions found earlier have clearly mentioned that Boppeshwar temple in Bedasagaon and Shiva temple in Inda Ooru, north of Mundagod were constructed by kings Kallayya and Tailapadev of Hangal Kadamba as mentioned by Gopalkrishna Naik in his book ‘Uttara-Kannada Darshan,’ recalled Hegde.

Research scholar and HoD of the History Department at MM College, Sirsi, speaking to The New Indian Express, said that though feudatories on many occasions maintained their own architectural style, it is worth noting that Hangal Kadambas and Kalyani Chalukyas were neither feudatories nor contemporaries as per the records.

Expressing almost similar views, historian Halemane pointed out that it was evident that many Shiva temples in the region were built by Hangal Kadambas.

The Shiva temple is in a completely dilapidated state and if the Archaeological Departments of the state and Central governments take interest in preserving these remains, it will be a historical asset to the country and a resource for the next generation, both suggested.

The temple is situated around 10 km from Umachagi in Yellapur taluk.

(source: 1000-year-old Shiva temple craves for attention in Karnatka - hinduismtoday.com). 

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Hindus laud re-opening of Cambodia's ancient Shiva temple after 50 yrs renovation

Hindus have applauded the re-opening of renowned 11th-century Baphoun Shiva temple in Angkor Thom complex of Cambodia after decades of reconstruction work. 

Described as world's largest puzzle, renovation work, which began in 1960s but was interrupted by Cambodia's civil war, involved dismantling monument's about 300,000 sandstone blocks and putting those back together. This great three-tiered intricately carved ancient temple, one of the largest monument of Cambodia, was said to be on the brink of collapse when reconstruction was undertaken and later on reassembling records got destroyed.  

Welcoming this historical reopening, esteemed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) on Sunday, said that more needed to be done to safeguard the Angkor temple complex and its surroundings and deteriorating bas-reliefs; save it from vandalism and looting; put some controls on unchecked tourism; check the demand for water table which could undermine the stability of sandy soils under the temples. 

Zed, who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, also urged UNESCO World Heritage Convention, Cambodia and other world governments to provide more funding for the upkeep of the temple complex and spend more than half the ticket revenue on the temples.  He commended France and China for bankrolling the restoration of historic Hindu temples. 

Angkor Archaeological Park contains magnificent remains of over 1000 temples going back to ninth century, spread over about 400 sq km, and receives about three million visitors annually.

(source: Cambodia’s Ancient Shiva Temple Reopens after 50 Years of Renovation and Solved puzzle reveals fabled Cambodian temple and Hindus laud re-opening of Cambodia's ancient Shiva temple after 50 yrs renovation).

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A Rich and Fabulous Hindu Heritage

Hands off temple treasures

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Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala -$10 billion worth of treasure trove

In one royal stroke, the new-found wealth in the abode of Sri Padmanabha shatters the myth assiduously nurtured and propagated by Christian missionaries and their Western Christian mentors that India is and has ever been a poor country.

***

Treasure, thought to be worth billions of rupees, has been unearthed from secret underground chambers in a temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Precious stones, gold and silver are among valuables found at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

The riches are thought to have been languishing in the temple vaults for more than a century, interred by the Maharajahs of Travancore over time. They have not been officially valued and inspectors are taking an inventory.

Inspectors say they will continue cataloguing the treasure for at least one more week. Unofficial estimates say that the treasure discovered so far over four days of inspections may be valued at more than 25 billion rupees ($500m). But historians say that assessing the true value of these objects is likely to be extremely difficult.

The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple was built in the 16th Century by the kings who ruled over the then kingdom of Travancore. Local legends say the Travancore kings sealed immense riches within the thick stone walls and vaults of the temple.

The current Maharajah of Travancore has been the managing trustee of the temple. Since Independence, the temple has been controlled by a trust run by the descendants of the Travancore royal family. After 1947 the kingdom of Travancore merged with the princely state of Cochin, which eventually became the present-day state of Kerala.

The inspections at the temple began after India's Supreme Court appointed a seven-member panel to enter and assess the value of the objects stored in its cellars, including two chambers last thought to have been opened about 130 years ago. The Supreme Court also stayed a ruling by the high court in Kerala, which ordered the state government to take over the temple and its assets from the royal trust. It also ordered the trust to hand over responsibility for the temple's security to the police.

The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

It was built in 16th Century by the kings who ruled over the then kingdom of Travancore.

In one royal stroke, the new-found wealth in the abode of Sri Padmanabha shatters the myth assiduously nurtured and propagated by Christian missionaries and their Western Christian mentors that India is and has ever been a poor country.

***

The initial court petition was brought by a local lawyer, Sundar Rajan, who filed a case in the Kerala High Court demanding the takeover of the temple, saying that the current controllers were incapable of protecting the wealth of the temple because it did not have its own security force. Anand Padmanaban, counsel for Sundar Rajan, was present when observers appointed by the Supreme Court opened the treasure chambers.

Thanks to the Maharajas who safe guarded this Treasure or it would have been looted by British.

Thanks to such high character and morals in the Travancore royalty, the wealth of the Lord remains intact.

The Travancore King deserves a Bharat Ratna for so sincerely safeguarding the entire wealth.

Can the political class today lay claim to the kind of honesty that the Padmanabha Dasas and the Baba trustees have shown?

The current Maharajah of Travancore, Uthradan Thirunaal Marthanda Varman

The members of the Travancore royal family consider themselves to be servants of the presiding deity at the temple, Padmanabhaswamy, which is an aspect of the Hindu God Vishnu in eternal sleep. This is why they historically entrusted their wealth to the temple. Thanks to the Maharajas who safe guarded this treasure and has stayed in India or it would ended up in Imperial Britain coffers.

Kerala Politicians inspired by the fabled wealth are eyeing with vulture like eyes, on the assets of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple. "Use the wealth for the poor", that is the standard slogan.

Are we not seeing how our politicans are using wealth for the poor ? Our newspapers, TV channels, magazines are full of stories of Scandals, loot and plunder and corruption.

Refer to Sonia Gandhi and Congress Secret Billions Exposed and Sonia Gandhi -World’s #9 Most Powerful Person Now Accused of Corruption — Will She Fall? and Sacrifice drama of Sonia Gandhi exposed - By Dr Subramanian Swamy  and The Three-ring Anti-corruption Circus in Town – By Atanu Dey and The Starving 800 million in India and Media Crooks

***

The current Maharajah of Travancore, Uthradan Thirunaal Marthanda Varma, who is also the managing trustee of the temple, appealed to the Supreme Court against Sundar Rajan's petition.

He said that as Maharajah he had every right to control the temple because of a special law enacted after Independence, which vested the management of the temple with the erstwhile ruler of Travancore. But the Supreme Court rejected the maharajah's contention that he has every right to control the temple as per the accession treaty - Maharajahs have no special status in India and they are treated like ordinary citizens.

The members of the Travancore royal family consider themselves to be servants of the presiding deity at the temple, Padmanabhaswamy, which is an aspect of the Hindu God Vishnu in eternal sleep. This is why they historically entrusted their wealth to the temple.

The thousands of necklaces, coins and precious stones have been kept in at least five underground vaults at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple which is renowned for its intricate sculptures. Apparently, devotees have been donating to the temple for centuries. Among the treasure in the find was what archeologists described to be an 18-foot necklace. Other pieces have included gold, silver, coins, and precious stones.

£12bn and counting: the treasure uncovered at Kerala temple

One vault is still left to open as scale of the offerings made to shrine in the past 500 years comes to light

It's like a scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Even before the unlocking of the last of six secret vaults at Kerala's largest temple, the centuries-old treasure in gold, silver and precious stones discovered in its cellars is already estimated to be worth around £12.6bn.

Its discovery has made the Hindu temple of Padmanabha Swamy in the state capital Thiruvanthapuram the richest in India.

The shrine dates back to the 10th century, but the present massive granite structure was built only in the 18th century after King Marthanda Varma expanded and consolidated the Travancore kingdom. It has historically been a royal temple, but offerings to the Lord Vishnu, in the form of gold and jewellery, have come not just from Travancore kings and other Kerala royalty but millions of ordinary devotees.

(source: online news articles).

Integrity: The Padmanabha dasas and today’s political class

“What has been missed in the discourse on the Lord’s wealth hijacked by hype and excitement is that even when the Travancore royals were in danger of losing their kingdom, they never thought of touching the Lord’s wealth. When Tipu was driving down southwards, the kingdom itself was at risk. And yet, the royalty had continued to keep it buried so that it ever remained the wealth of the Lord; they did not unseal it even after the danger had diminished. This shows the unmatched height of honesty and integrity of the trustees, the royal family.” - S. Gurumurthy

***

The wealth of Lord Padmanabhaswamy, kept unbelievably safe, so far counted is estimated at Rs1 lakh crore. The committee appointed by the Supreme Court has till July 2 so far opened five of the six closed chambers in the temple and inventoried the contents leaving one yet to be unsealed. Here is the brief history of the Lord’s wealth and its significance.

In 1750, King Marthanda Varma, the most powerful of the Travancore rulers, pledged that he and his descendents would serve the kingdom as servants of Lord Padmanabha (‘Padamanabha Dasa’) the Lord being the King.

The British had observed the tradition and honoured the Lord with a 21-gun salute.

When the Indian states were merged, independent India appointed the Travancore royal head as the Raj Pramukh; but he preferred to be known as Padmanabha Dasa, not as Raj Pramukh. The government had continued to honour the tradition of gun salute to the Lord till 1970 when, along with the abolition of princely titles, the honour to the Lord was withdrawn! Yet, even today Lord Padmanabha is regarded as the deity of Travancore. To cut a long story short, the Travancore royalty was the servant-trustee of the Lord. Gopalakrishnan, a historian of Kerala, says that Tipu Sultan, who had invaded Malabar and destroyed many temples, had conquered Thrissur in 1789 and made it his headquarters, posing a threat to Travancore.

This seems to have persuaded Dharma Raja, the then king of Travancore royalty to bury and seal the wealth of the Lord in secret chambers to keep it beyond the reach of the invader. But, in 1790, Tipu withdrew from Thrissur when the British raided Mysore, de-risking Travancore from invasion. Still Dharma Raja and his successors opted to keep the Lord’s treasure buried, safe from risk of loot.

Refer to The Plunder of Art - By Hamendar Bhisham Pal and European, American Museums: Fortified Havens For Plunder From India – By Radha Rajan.

This is how Justice C. S. Rajan, member of the committee to inventory the treasure, describes the Lord’s treasure which speaks for itself: “The secret cells were like a dream world, unbelievable and unexplainable. Huge stones, which a team of eight strong men had to struggle to remove, had been placed well to conceal the cells. The cells were small. They could accommodate only four-five persons. The invaluable treasure – gold, gems, stones – offered to the deity by the Travancore royalty, from time to time had been kept in teak wood boxes stacked one over the other. Whenever the kings or their friends or other kings had darshan of the Lord, they used to offer gold coins; one lakh such coins have been found. It is all temple property”.

The Justice is only saying the obvious, as does M. G. S. Narayanan, the historian. And this is precisely what the Indian Treasure Trove Act says, under which only unclaimed wealth discovered is declared as state property. Here the Lord, a juridical person under the law, is the owner of the wealth.

The stink of corruption in the UPA Congress Government

Can the political class today lay claim to the kind of honesty that the Padmanabha Dasas and the Baba trustees have shown?

Refer to Indian treasures, at home and abroad - By AJ Philip and Secular loot and plunder of Hindu temples - By OP Gupta and In 16 Years, Farm Suicides Cross A Quarter Million

Refer to Christian conversion in Arunachal Pradesh and NaMo & The Truth About US Visa - Mediacrooks.com

***

What has been missed in the discourse on the Lord’s wealth hijacked by hype and excitement is that even when the Travancore royals were in danger of losing their kingdom, they never thought of touching the Lord’s wealth. When Tipu was driving down southwards, the kingdom itself was at risk. And yet, the royalty had continued to keep it buried so that it ever remained the wealth of the Lord; they did not unseal it even after the danger had diminished. This shows the unmatched height of honesty and integrity of the trustees, the royal family.

Had any one of the several successors in the royal family been less than absolutely honest, the whole or part of the Lord’s wealth would have moved from the secret chambers to their personal chambers. Nothing of that sort happened for 158 years from 1789 to 1947. In 1947, when the Indian states merged into the Indian Union, the Travancore royalty totally lost its power and wealth. And yet the wealth of the Lord hidden by Dharma Raja remained untouched.

Thanks to such high character and morals in the Travancore royalty, the wealth of the Lord remains intact.

The nation should be grateful to the successive members of the Travancore royalty for maintaining such high standards of morality and trusteeship. But with the media hyping the Lord’s wealth wrongly as the treasure trove, some, whose right thinking seems to have left them, even began saying that it should be taken over by the state, and kept in exhibition!

Loot Lo India and Pirates of India: The Curse of Congress UPA Government.

The Stink of corruption in the government of India.

Refer to Church now has visa power! Congress-led UPA makes travel to India easy for missionaries  - By Sandhya Jain

Refer to Happy Banana Republic Day

***

Can the political class today lay claim to the kind of honesty that the Padmanabha Dasas and the Baba trustees have shown?

(source: Integrity: The Padmanabha dasas and today’s political class - By S Gurumurthy ).

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Temple Treasures reveal a richest Hindu Past. Who ruined this country ?

"It is shocking that the learned judges do not know that Museums are warehouses for the relics of DEAD cultures; they were created by the Christian world to house the destroyed icons and artifacts of the myriad civilisations, religions and peoples they had utterly annihilated, mostly through genocide. Museums are showrooms for the civilisational scalps collected by the White man. Is that the goal the Judges have for Hindu civilisation?"

                                                                      - Sandhya Jain,  Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy has been roused

The legend of El Dorado was definitely not set on the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. But the seven-member panel, which is drawing up a list of assets at the famed shrine here, had a feel of the lost city of gold as they set foot in one of the two secret vaults located inside the sprawling granite structure which gives the Kerala capital its name. 

On Thursday, the team assisted by personnel from the fire services and archeology department opened the locks of vault A to find a narrow flight of stairs leading down to an underground granite cellar. Oxygen was pumped frequently into the chamber and artificial lighting provided to enable the observers to work inside.

What they saw inside was startling, sources said. Gold coins dating back thousands of years, gold necklaces as long as nine feet and weighing about 2.5 kg, about one tonne of the yellow metal in the shape of rice trinkets, sticks made of the yellow metal, sack full of diamonds, gold ropes, thousands of pieces of antique jewellery studded with diamonds and emeralds, crowns and other precious stones lay scattered in the chamber marked 'A'.

Comments expressed on this subject

The Travancore kings safeguarded the treasures which were kept aside to use during famines .They never used it for their own extravagant purposes like many other Indian kings did as it was meant for the State. Firstly, the Indian ruling class, ruling by the norms of Bhararttantra never looted. This amount of wealth, left untouched for nearly 150 years, is a matter of great self-restraint. How many rulers, poor, rich, or anyone would have left this treasure untouched for 150 years.

These temples belongs to all those who are a party to its existence. The creators, those who have maintained it, and those who believe in it. Above all, to those who have NOT touched this treasure for 150 years. One should bow before the unselfish and god fearing Rajas of Travancore. They have diligently preserved the treasures, so that future generations could use them judiciously.

A Lesson in Humility to the Western World

Where bankers in connivance with unscrupulous politicians are busy robbing the common man so that the rich can continue their profligate ways, destroying all values of civilisation the world over.

Lord Vishnu floating on Ananata naga

The Travancore kings safeguarded the treasures that the devotees brought to the temple. This amount of wealth, left untouched for nearly 150 years, is a matter of great self-restraint. 

How many of today's corrupt rulers, poor, or rich, would have left this treasure untouched for 150 years?

The left leaning Marxists, Christian Mafia gang, Muslim rulers, phony secularists are busy coming up with false theories for taking over the Temple wealth. The wealth belongs to Hindu devotees and Hindus should now unite and demand for it for the preservation and propagation of Hindu culture.

***

A very well written article, people like us who underestimate our culture and origin should know that we had the most planned civilization , the most rich heritage and many things to be proud of. Our inclination towards westernization have caused misery and chaos , in the name of freedom and democracy, we have been degrading our values and Morales. You are ashamed of culture which our forefathers were proud of, We fail to understand that Sanatama Dharma is not just a religion but a way of life. Our Kings have worked hard over years protecting the integrity and harmony between us. Its time to give some respect. Time to adore our tradition which is considered to be the most scientific and flexible.

Kerala is on the top of the list of Christian missionaries and Islamic jihadis for internal subversion. I include the Nehru dynasty also in this ignoble agenda. And what a grand reply our Sanatana Dharma has accorded to this bunch of cynics. While Adi Sankara gave spiritual wealth and illumination to the people of India, the Travancore Maharaja has preserved the material wealth of our great nation totally away from the looting ones. And both hail from Kerala. Great sons of a great State indeed.

The wealth of temples should stay with the respective temples. To think otherwise is perversion. The ancient tradition of the Hindu society that the King is only a trustee of the wealth of the Kingdom comes out very clearly from this episode.

The king of Travancore had done mightiest job for a wisdom of our country otherwise this would have been looted by British who acts like termite and if ask about Kohinoor diamond, the Peacock throne, nasaka diamonds ,idols from Amravati and gold relings and precious ornaments even they had looted our swrajya so we have to revive it and it should be given in right hand either it has to be used royal trust to be use for development of our country to removed so called poverty by western society they will also know that they were nothing but had looted our wealth and they knew it that's why they come to India for trade and plunder every things India was "sone ki chiriya"

Refer to chapters on Islamic Onslaught and European Imperialism

It is the beginning of our fight against government taking over temples or temple's earnings. British took our wealth to Britain and now they proudly display some of the loots in museums. We have to get all of those invaluable treasures back. Our own rotten politicians together with foreign powers are now set to loot all that is remaining. It is time that all Hindu temples join hands to control and manage their own affairs. Temple managements should use the earnings and wealths for the welfare of society and build or repair temples elsewhere.

Hindu readers, please be aware that both the chief minister and finance ministers of Kerala are Christians. Their eyes will now be naturally on the wealth of Shree Padmanabha Swamy. And, don't forget their patron in Delhi, Antonia Maino, the biggest looter of our wealth today.

I am in Kerala with twenty American students. What we saw is mind boggling. The pseudo secular governments, Marxists, Muslims and Christians have been ruling Kerala for more than 65 years. Kerala has become a hell on earth. The entire forests had been destroyed. Rivers are flowing with limited water. Kerala has become the crime capital of the world. Hindu population has been reduced to 56.5%. Within the next ten years Hindus will become a minority and slaughter of Hindus will begin like in Kashmir.

Sri Padmananbha Swami Temple has become the richest Hindu Temple in the world with the discovery of hidden treasure in the Temple vault.

Marxists, Christian Mafia gang, Muslim rulers, phony secularists are busy coming up with false theories for taking over the Temple wealth. The wealth belongs to Hindu devotees and Hindus should now unite and demand for it for the preservation and propagation of Hindu culture.

There is a big difference of Money STASHED away by the Mandirs and the corruption by the politicians. [1] Politicians are elected by the people to serve the people. [2] Mandirs are entities that people decide to go to. [3] Corruption is illegal. Money at the mandirs are tax free by law. [4] Politicians force third party to pay them illegaly to get the job done. There is no option but to pay them if you want the contract. No one is forced to pay at the Mandirs or the religious "Gurus". It is absolutely voluntary. [5] The money stolen by the politicians is ultimately peoples money who elected them. Mandirs money, no matter how much they collect, is for the mandir, voluntarily given by the people, to manage the mandir.

All property of the temple belongs to the deity Padmanabha. Temples are the abode of the presiding deity and all offering made by the Royal family or devotes belong to him. It neither belongs to the nation(which includes non hindus) or to the secular Govt. or the public at large. All famous temples were built by the Roal families for the deity they worshipped and were offered for worship by the Hindu subjects(citizens) only. Intereference by the State or Central Govt. should be resisted. The wealth should be used for propagation of DHARAMA, restoration and maintenace of neglectd Vishnu Temples and consturction of new Temples.

(source:  Temple Treasures reveal a richest Hindu Past. Who ruined this country ?? - By Ananthakrishan G).

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Padmanabha Temple treasure and British loot

A Lesson in Humility to the Western World

We are rediscovering the wealth of India. And the immense beauty in which it was gathered and preserved and protected for the common good in times of trouble is truly uplifting to our tired spirits. Suddenly this seems an exciting country to live in …

This should serve as a lesson in humility to the Western world, where bankers in connivance with unscrupulous politicians are busy robbing the common man so that the rich can continue their profligate ways, destroying all values of civilisation the world over.

This should serve as an antidote to the arrogance of the Marxist and anti-Hindu parvenus that Nehruvian Stalinism imposed upon the nation as ‘intellectuals’ as part of its determined quest to deconstruct Hindu Dharma as the nation’s foundational ethos and engineer a rootless, culture-less entity that could satisfy the arid intellect of the country’s first prime minister. We may call this the quest for what a former Polish communist writer designates as Homo sovieticus, a soulless denudation of all the values of a nation and nullification of all its glories and triumphs.

Refer to Occupy Wall Street protests and London Riots 2011 and Violence in Rome 2011

The Hindu king was a critical pillar of Hindu Dharma, its mainstay and defender. Is it any wonder that independent [Nehruvian] India’s intellectuals – funded and feted by the State to the exclusion of all other thinkers – never found merit in any of our erstwhile rulers, even when the kingdoms that they managed to hold on to during the British Raj where in so many respects superior in administration to the Crown-ruled provinces, and the subjects happier?

As we see in the case of the Padmanabha Temple, even though the Travancore royal family had lost political power, the ruler remained the official king of the Padmanabha Temple, which is deeply revered by the people of the region. And when the king and his successor kings feared that the loss of political power could translate into the loss of economic control over the immense wealth of the kingdom to the British who had come only to plunder and loot the nation, they swiftly and wisely transferred huge parts of the royal treasury into secret chambers in the Padmanabha Temple, whose priests then served as guardians of this public treasure. To their credit, they have upheld this trust. Mind you, the wealth thus hidden by the king would have been the kingdom’s surplus after paying the handsome tributes extracted by the British Crown!

In one royal stroke, the new-found wealth in the abode of Sri Padmanabha shatters the myth assiduously nurtured and propagated by Christian missionaries and their Western Christian mentors that India is and has ever been a poor country. Were that true, the White Man would have taken his rapacious presence elsewhere. When a small princely state could accumulate so much wealth – that too, on the basis of an agricultural economy, mind you – even after 150 years of British loot, then how much wealth would we have had in the original? It is a question worth pondering over.

Refer to chapters on Islamic Onslaught and European Imperialism

A related issue that rises in my mind is that the missionaries always cite the “poverty of India” as their justification for conversion. This stands exposed. And as the assets of the Christian missionaries are products of the loot of India by the British colonial regime (and the continuing neo-colonial world order), we may safely say that the wealth of missionaries rightfully belongs to Hindus.

The gold and precious jewels now being unearthed from underground chambers of the Padmanabha Temple have conservatively been estimated at around Rs one lakh crore; their antique value will take much more time to evaluate. The temple is privately owned by the royal family of Travancore, just one of the small Princely states of India.

The question naturally arises – if this is just a portion of the wealth of one small, albeit immensely wealthy, state, what would be the true estimate of how much the British Raj had looted India? At independence there were more than 500 princely states, with some major kingdoms like Mysore, Jaipur, Gwalior, Jodhpur, and so on.

So when small princely states like Travancore had so much of wealth, how much would the British looted from all other princely states, and the regions they governed directly under what they called British India? If we assume that on an average, 1/10th of this treasure (10,000 crore) was possessed by each of the 500 small princely states, it comes around 500 x 10,000 crore = 50,00,000 crore. This is just as per current market value of the valuables; the antique value is unlimited. The temple jewels fall under the category of antiques, and hence the values are far, far higher.

In 1857, the British destroyed innumerable rajyams and took over their treasuries. The estimate of this loot is beyond comprehension, and is not included in this article. What we may do well to remember, however, is that the British created a class of civil servants whose main responsibility was to extract revenue from our thriving agriculture (hence, Collectors), and levy tax on everything else they could think of, like the humble salt. So the loot from British India would closely parallel the loot from Princely India.

Some pertinent questions arise:

- The temple is under the control of the Travancore royal family. It would prima facie seem that the treasure found in the temple belongs to them. If the Government of India forcefully acquires these treasures, what is the difference between colonial loot and the present government loot?

- Or did the royal family transfer the wealth considering it as state wealth, a trust held on behalf of the subjects as it derived from the tax revenues of the subjects?

- Was there a clear distinction between the royal treasury as an institution of the kingdom and the personal property of the ruler? Did members of the royal family derive specific monthly or annual incomes from the treasury, which could be called their personal money? (I recall that in the larger princely kingdoms, certain articles of jewellery were the private property of the royal queens and princesses; but large quantities of very precious jewellery were not assigned to individuals, but held in the treasury separately. The reigning king’s spouse could select items to wear by signing a register, and these had to be scrupulously returned to the treasury thereafter).

- Then, who is Sunderrajan who has filed a petition before Supreme Court seeking Government takeover of the wealth. This seems malicious, and it would be interesting to know the religious denomination and locus standi of the petitioner, and the motives behind filing the petition.

- Given the fact that the wealth has resided for over a century in the safe possession and custody of the Padmanabha Temple, should not this wealth now be considered the legitimate possession of the Temple?

- Can we protect this wealth as owned by the temple but belonging to the people of state and indeed the entire nation by declaring that it cannot be sold under any circumstances?

- Can we use it to generate wealth for the Hindu people to whom it ultimately belongs by housing it in a special ultra-safe museum and earning income from the proceeds of the display?
- Can we ensure that the wealth is not misused to benefit non-Hindu communities with the agenda to destroy the Hindu nation and its religion, culture and customs?

- The petitioner before the Supreme Court has alleged that the temple management is not proper. I think the irony today is that the Government and the Judiciary are scam-ridden and tainted with corruption. What makes them better custodians of wealth that they did not even know existed? Historically, we have always found that native Indian kings governed their region more efficiently than any colonial or national government.

- Padmanabha Temple presents a perfect case study to judge who is the rightful owner of a temple. Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple belongs to the royal family, and it is they who have been maintaining this rajya temple for generations. It is they who decide whom to allow and whom NOT allow inside the temple. The temple is NOT public property. The public can worship there, but cannot claim any rights over it.

- It must be clarified here that a temple is NOT like a church. While a church is a place of gathering for worship [the Christian god lives in heaven], a temple is the residence of the God Himself; hence the sanctity of the temple has to be maintained. Neither Government nor courts have any business to meddle in its affairs.

In non-monotheist cultures, the king is the protector of dharma. Kings always governed our country far, far better than the rest of the world. As distinct from western culture, the king is subservient to the presiding deity of the kingdom, as we find at places like Puri and also the Padmanabha Temple. The Travancore kings calls themselves Padmanabha dasa (Servant of Padmanabha). When they commit wrong, the presiding deity will restore dharma. Thus, they are not absolute monarchs, nor dictators of the kind we commonly find in the West. This is true of most Indian kings; we find instances of such rajya temples in all desams. Modern Indian intellectuals need to understand that there is no dharma without a king.

Unlike the modern westernised urban ghettos (which we call towns, cities, metros) the temple is the centre of our bharatiya nagaras, around which the nagara is designed and built. I do not know the old architecture of the city of Tiruvananthapuram, or even the history of the Padmanabha Temple, but the whole city was administered and regulated by the royal family before independence and Tiruvananthapuram seems to be a planned city. The present colonial Indian Government seized control from them after independence, and left the city to degrade itself. This is how our culture and our religion had declined, which Hindu (Marxist and fellow travellers) intellectuals are refusing to understand.

I strongly feel that the temple jewels should remain in the custody of the royal family and the royal temple. The wealth it generates must be used as per dharma. This means that Hindu temple wealth cannot be used to finance Hajj or repair churches, as in Karnataka. Any effort to seize the temple by the government must be strongly resisted.

We may recall that Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy and Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa have in the past publicly accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi of stealing antiques from India. The present move in the Supreme Court appears to be a grim conspiracy to steal the assets of Padmanabha Perumal. His devotees must resist with all their might.

(source: Padmanabha Temple treasure and British loot - By Senthil).

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Let’s respect our temples first, then argue about the wealth

The treasure found at the Lord Padmanabaswamy temple has amazed all sections of society. “I am not surprised. The Travancore Kings were known to be very wealthy and I presume they had kept this here to hide it from the British”, said my octogenarian grandmother emphatically.

The treasure in the temple right now is almost worth 1,000,000 crores. (That’s almost equivalent to what former telecom minister A. Raja looted from the country, and three times the size of Kerala’s deficit).

It’s run by a trust appointed by the lineage of the Travancore royalty who have been in charge of maintaining the temple all this while. The possessions include a gold sheaf weighing 500 kg, an 18 foot gold chain, 36 kg golden veil and a plethora of ornaments.

The buzz from media and readers alike is what one can do with such massive amounts of wealth. Do we deserve it or merit such money from religious institutions, considering how we treat them? 

Contempt for Hindu Temples in India under The UPA Government

First, Would we have given two hoots about the temple if the treasure was not found? Have we in the past really protected, or taken pride in temple architecture, history or heritage for us now to over-reach and claim a temple’s wealth be put to better use?

Without the treasure, the temple would just have been one among many poorly maintained run of the mill old monuments.

If you take a broader look at most ancient temples in Southern India, most of them are in bad shape. Take the case of the Srikalahsti Gopuram collapse in 2010 in Chettore, Nellore for instance. This 15th century tower was one of the holiest structures in modern India and was worshipped by millions of devotees. The Gopuram collapse was attributed to poor maintenance by government authorities in charge of the temple. Interestingly, a group of researchers from IIT Madras had earlier warned of the state of the gopuram, and criticized the maintenance of the temple. This warning was clearly ignored. In most temples, the exterior structures are barely maintained and the interiors are holding out only because of the strength of the original structures. The prime reason for this lack of maintenance is never the lack of funds.

In most states in India, temples come under government supervision. While there are some major temples that are well taken care of (like the Tirupathi Devastanam), most of the less popular but ancient temples are barely given any sort of attention in terms of maintenance. The money poured in by millions of devotees is lost in the corrupt mire of trustees and board members who ultimately report to a corrupt bureaucrat. The money is never really used for the welfare of the temple. Instead what happens is that the money goes into the pocket of the politician.

(source: Let’s respect our temples first, then argue about the wealth).
 

Hands off the treasures that belong to Lord Vishnu

“God’s own rationalists who claim the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple treasures belong to the public are only indulging in fashionable faithlessness. Voyeurism and schadenfreude play a part too: after CPM came to power in the 1950s, they decided Hinduism and god are safe targets. They brought temples under state control through politically appointed bodies—Travancore and Cochin dewasawom boards, followed by Malabar and Guruvayur devaswom boards—and appointing captive Hindus, much like Josef Stalin used state-sponsored priests to sabotage the Russian Orthodox Church”

                                                            – Ravi Shankar Etteth - Political correctness and the refuge of faith

***

The news has been splashed from Auckland to Alaska. The temples of India contain several billion dollars worth of treasures. The opening of the vaults in the Sri Padnamanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, according to a court order comes at a dangerous time for our polity.

The mainstream media continues to sensationalise the size of the treasure. One of them gushes that “treasures tumble out of the temple” — as though this is illegal money stashed in the Cayman Islands. Let’s be clear: these treasures were donated by the temple’s devotees over centuries, and rightfully belong to Lord Vishnu, who cannot even be fully seen from any angle by devotees. He is the true owner of this wealth and this truth should be internalised.

It is unfortunate that this discovery should take place in Kerala, where the percentage of idol-worshippers is a minority – if one excluded Muslims, Christians and Marxists from the fold. The mere act of opening up the vaults and tunnels is thus fraught with significant dangers for Hindu society and our ancient civilisation.

The present times are most inappropriate to try to list the billions of rupees worth of diamonds and rubies and sapphires owned by our temples. We all know that a significant portion of our politicians have a criminal background and even parts of the judiciary are corrupt. The bureaucracy is compromised by a saga of loot and plunder.

In this context, where government finances are completely out of alignment with revenue realities, the temptation will be to use these invaluable treasures to fulfill the insatiable personal and political greed of our politicians to fund populist schemes like “food security” for all with resources belonging to Lord Vishnu. Already more than 80% of the incomes of major temples is used for “secular” causes rather than for “sacred” purposes.

The opening of the vaults in the Sri Padnamanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, according to a court order comes at a dangerous time for our polity.

It is not improbable that some jholawala economist will calculate — by dividing his mobile number with the pin code — that more than 70% of the people below poverty line can be lifted out of poverty if only this money is available to the government. The unaccountable civil society group under Sonia Gandhi – also called the National Advisory Council —  might formulate a bill (since they are the law framers in the present dispensation) to open up all vaults from the Amarnath to Ayappa temples and from Somnath to Kamakhya.

There will be half-baked debates about using it for “social justice”. The only people who can have some say on this wealth are those who visit the temple on a daily basis and who can chant, in this case, the Vishnu Sahasranamam. I am not even sure if those who are counting these treasures are eligible to deal with the “sacred” on the orders of the “secular”. One can say that this is the last battle waged by Nehruvian secularists against the ‘sacred” even though, in this particular case, it might appear to be a simple case of counting.

Actually counting, enumerating and documenting are secular ways of dealing with sacred treasures in our temples, since the sacred is never documented but just observed and meditated upon. Some imported white or brown non-resident Indian expert will suggest a way of leveraging these billions and even propose investing a part of it in our stock markets to propel second generation reforms.

Wall Street bankers, with colorful ties and multiple lies, should be tremendously interested. The wealth seen in temples becomes a target for jehadi terrorists and Wall Street bankers – who are no different except for the kind of killing they go for.

The memories of the plunder of Somnath are embedded in the brain cells of every citizen of this country.

Let us be clear. The town and the temple are already marked by global terrorists. The Kerala home minister says he will increase the number of pot-bellied constables to protect the treasures, as if the global jehadis can be handled by them.

Quite clearly, this is the most inappropriate time to be listing the Lord’s wealth. When a street is full of thugs and dacoits, no woman would venture out wearing her jewels and finery. One wonders why the courts have got into this, when they should have been focusing on the Hasan Alis, Rajas and Kalmadis of the world.

It is puzzling why the acharya sabhas or Hindu organisations are silent on this issue. They may not have understood the full import of what is happening.

For the sake of Dharma and for God’s sake, our courts and powers should stop digging for treasures in our temples.

(source:  Hands off the treasures that belong to Lord Vishnu - By R Vaidyanathan). Refer to Christian conversion in Arunachal Pradesh

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We are not getting any Godly benefit by taking the wealth out of our temples

R Vaidyanathan, a professor of finance at Indian Institute of Management-Bengaluru, believes that the time is just not right to reveal details of the temple's treasures.

What do you suggest we should do with all this wealth? Let it lie idle?

It has been lying idle all these years. Why should we take it out now? We are not getting any Godly benefit by taking it out of the coffers at the moment.

When one talks about temple weath, which has been accumulated from the days of our maharajas, this present generation cannot assume that it belongs only to us.

It (the treaure) has inter-generational equity and hence my great grand children too have a right over this wealth. How can we pull it out and say let us build roads with this money?

But don't you think that wealth cannot lie idle all the time?

I am not saying that. Going by the present situation in the entire world, all I am saying is that the time is just not right to make such revealations.

Moreover this wealth does not belong only to this generation. The previous generation did not get its benefit, so how can we claim a right over it? As of now it would be best if that wealth is left alone.

These treasures were donated to the temple by devotees over centuries, and rightfully belong to Lord Vishnu, who cannot even be fully seen from any angle by devotees. He is the true owner of this wealth and this truth should be internalised.

So, who should handle this wealth?

Let it just remain there and be handled by the trust, as was being done all these years.

The time now is most inappropriate to try to list the billions of rupees worth of diamonds and rubies and sapphires owned by our temples. We all know that a significant portion of our politicians have a criminal background and even parts of the judiciary are corrupt.

The bureaucracy is also compromised. Hence where government finances are completely out of alignment with revenue realities, the temptation will be to use these invaluable treasures to fulfill the insatiable personal and political greed of our politicians to fund populist schemes like "food security" for all with resources belonging to Lord Vishnu.

Already more than 80 per cent of the incomes of major temples is used for 'secular' causes rather than for 'sacred' purposes.

Sorry to sound repetitive, but I would once again like to ask, what use is this wealth if it will lie idle?

During the days of the rajas, such money was in the reserve fund. It was used only at a time of natural calamity when the rest of the coffers went dry. The money belonging to the Lord should be used only when the Lord creates a calamity.

We must appreciate our kings who had kept this wealth safe for us. In the past, the kings have used this wealth to wriggle the society out of a crisis. We must keep the wealth for the same.

Do you mean that we have gained nothing by revealing the details of this wealth?

Absolutely nothing. Anti-State elements will eye our temples more. Other countries in distress will have their eyes on it.

As a result of all this we will have to pray in temples in the presence of gun-trotting security guards. The entire atmosphere in temples will be vitiated.

Could you explain further?

The temples of India contain several billion dollars worth of treasures and such details have been revealed at a time that is dangerous for our polity.

Given the economic depression in Europe and the acute unemployment situation in the United States, such news items could tempt such countries. Let us take note of the fact that the US had invaded Iraq on the ground that there were some weapons, which were ultimately not there.

If we open up the vaults of our temples then such factors could only tempt such countries.

So are you saying that the US like the British invade our temple wealth?

I am not saying they would, I am just saying they could. Moreover this is not just about them. Temples are targets of terrorists and they could invade them too.

Giving out such details to those terrorists could only attract them into our temples in order to loot our wealth. The Middle East too is under crisis and they could also prove dangerous to our temple wealth. Under such a situation we need to be cautious.

So what do you suppose be done now?

For the sake of dharma and for God's sake, our courts and government should stop digging for treasures in our temples.

We need to have a temple protection force and the responsibility should be shared between the central and state government.

We are speaking in terms of trillions over here and there is a need to protect this wealth from prying eyes. This is national treasure and hence the protection ought to be very high.

As the treasure chests open in Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, debate sparks on how to safeguard the treasure considering its immense historical and cultural values

Even as priceless treasures found from cellars of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala is estimated to be around Rs 90,000 crore, the discovery has sparked a debate on how to protect and preserve the royal legacy which has surpassed everyone's imagination.

The question nagging historians, academics and enthusiasts of temple culture, however, is how to safeguard the treasure considering its immense historical and cultural values.

Many of them say the treasure symbolised the honesty and simplicity of erstwhile Travancore kings, who did not take away a single item from the pile whose existence they were aware of.

(source:  We are not getting any Godly benefit by taking the wealth out of our temples - rediff.com).

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Hostages of fortune: Hindu deities and their wealth  - By George Augustine

The raid and plunder of Hindu temples, which would qualify as the oldest and still ongoing reality show in the world, took a thrilling turn recently by the surfacing of Lord Padmanabha’s wealth in a tele-tsunami, flooding living rooms all over the world with news ripples.

To a predominantly Mammon-worshipping, literally iconoclastic world which equates honour and even spirituality with money, the evidenced wealth seems to have bestowed a grudging admiration not only for Lord Padmanabha, but for temples and even for Hindus in general.

In the Forbes richest deities’ list, Lord Padmanabha would top the world. It should be a stark reminder of the age (kaliyuga) we live in, when values hang upside down. 

Probably for the same reason, what came to the fore in the latest episode is the overpowering haze of deliberate misinformation pervading the media, originating from the very guys who are supposed to tell us all what is what. Some reporters displayed such a feverish vigour in championing vested interests that they overlooked basic facts and their frenzied reports exuded an overall sense of being caught up in a sensational scandal.  

In a concerted bid, purportedly licensed temple raiders tried in vain to convert the wealth into a nidhi (treasure), which would have then brought the wealth under the purview of the Treasure Trove Act offering the government a firm grip on it. However, the temple’s wealth in unknown quantities was no secret treasure as it was known all along to all those who had anything to do with the temple, including its countless local devotees. The Mathilakam Records (1941) and the Palace Manual besides a news report in the Hindu dated December 6, 1931, mention the wealth stored beneath the temple in no uncertain terms. 

The bid was not entirely a foolish venture on the part of potential temple thieves, for there is legal precedence for raising rapacious hopes. As recent as 2007, the Kerala High Court had ruled that temple property unearthed while excavating a pit for a new nadapura for the ancient Sree Mullakkal Bhagavathy temple in Wadakkancherry was a “treasure trove” and therefore would belong to the government as per Section 3 of the Kerala Treasure Trove Act, 1968. The government’s clinching point was that nobody knew that the gold and silver coins (valued at Rs. 61,280) of antique value were lying in the soil under the temple at least for more than a hundred years. 

The Mullakkal Kshetra Seva Samithi lost the case and a compensation, as was due, was offered to the Cochin Devaswom Board which managed the temple. The judgement recognised the coins as the temple’s property, but it qualified as “treasure”. There is no doubt whatsoever that the buried coins were part of what escaped Kerala’s Indiana Jones, Tipu Sultan, who was meticulous in raiding and plundering most of the ancient temples of that region. All the coins (14th to 17th C) found here predated the time of Tipu. People who knew about this little “treasure” were in all likelihood killed or converted to Islam by the fiend. It is famously known that the consecrated murti of Lord Guruvayurappan, another current hostage of the Kerala government, had to be buried and the utsava moorthy take refuge in Travancore during Tipu’s raids in North Kerala. 

When the “treasure” tactic did not seem to work in Thiruvananthapuram, efforts got under way to establish the wealth beneath the temple as state wealth accumulated by the erstwhile Travancore State, which would then be the people’s wealth and liable to be taken over by the government. However, history proves that claim, too, to be bogus. Records show that the temple is much older than even the Travancore kingdom. Available records go back to 910 CE, whereas the kingdom was born in the mid-18th century. Even during the Travancore times, the state’s tax treasury known as “karuvalam” was separate from the temple treasury “ituveippu”, which was the deity’s treasury. So there is no doubt whatsoever as to who owns the unevaluated riches. 

In India, a Hindu deity is a legal entity and can own and enjoy properties, a legacy from another era of Indian history that is still kept alive in their new role of “hostage of fortune”. The temples manage their wealth through their representatives. So, to divert the deities’ riches, one needs only to become their legal caretakers, a role the Kerala government has been enjoying for sometime now for several rich deities in the state. The money, gold, gemstones and other riches that accumulate every year at Guruvayur and Sabarimala are diverted to the impoverished Kerala government coffers on a regular basis on their way to being distributed, among other things, as salaries to teachers of Christian and Muslim institutions who are privately appointed by their respective clergy. The wealth of these two temples alone appropriated by the Kerala governments in the past few decades would come to enormous sums – “nidhi” in current parlance. A revenue department official once told me years ago that without the Sabarimala season, the government treasury would never be able to break even. 
 

The myth of a civilising world 

***

The modern rendering of the world doesn’t necessarily tell us the truth. The transformation from barbarians to “civilised” citizens is a pure misconception. The glimpses into the past give us a different picture, as the history of temples in Kerala demonstrates. At least the ancient “barbarians” never stooped to hate crimes. In contrast, there has never been a time as vicious as today, when innocents are torn down by miscreants for the sake of their deity, personified Hate. For example, the 2008 Mumbai massacre was a pure hate crime. 

The ancient history of Kerala as far as we can unravel with any certainty is closely bound with its ancient temples and the Namboothiris who built them. Their origin and development are still inconclusive in terms of accurate dating, but there is no doubt that their origin is entangled with that of Parasurama, the Brahmin warrior who settled other Brahmins all along the West Coast of India, from Maharashtra downwards. Kerala is mentioned as “Bhargava (Parasurama) Kshetra” in puranic literature. However, the Namboothiris and their temples emerge in dated history only after the Kalabhra Interregnum (3rd to 6th centuries CE), which is termed the “dark ages” of South India. They also do not find mention in the Sangam literature (600 BCE to 300 CE). 

Christians in South India are at present burning the midnight oil trying to fabricate history by depicting the Kalabhra Interregnum as a “Christian golden age”, but it is justified only as far as the “darkness” of the age is considered. Marxists are trying in tandem to establish a pre-Hindu “Dravidian” Kerala, which the Aryans are supposed to have invaded after conquering and consolidating North India.

Refer to Marco Polo’s epic journey to China was a big con – Team Folks and Christian conversion in Arunachal Pradesh

They have picked Muziris, the port on the Malabar Coast mentioned in ancient books, which sold gemstones and peacocks besides spices and fragrance to ancient civilisations, for this project and were digging up a village on the coast named Pashanam after renaming it as Pattanam (town). These ventures will be dismissed by a serious historian without even a question mark only on the grounds that in terms of civilisational aspects (rationality), Kerala never had a history to start with, apart from its Brahmins and their temples. 

As a land ruled by the Brahmins, the temples and their deities were the de facto rulers of ancient Kerala. Every gramam (village) and every desam (region) had a temple which administered the day-to-day affairs of the village or region. These deities were the legal owners of the village. The Travancore Raja’s offering of the State to Lord Padmanabha (trichadidanam) in the 18th century can actually be traced to this ancient tradition. 

It was under the presiding deity that all spiritual, civil and criminal issues of the village or desam were settled. These temples with shadadhara prathishta (with the 6 yogic chakras) were built according to the Sanskrit treatise Tantrasamuchayam Silpabhagam and are easily distinguishable from those built for and by other communities in later times. The outer temples known as “valiambalam” in Malayalam were technically termed “sabha” indicating their original function. All offenders in the village were originally tried by the sabha at the temple in front of the presiding deity and punished according to the Vedic books for prayaschitta. 

It would be a hard exercise indeed to think of today’s people of Kerala, even by themselves, as truthful, pious and highly civilised. In recent days an epithet has even been coined: “God’s own country & the Devil’s own people”. But indications are indeed on the contrary. Despite the baseless modern-day accusations of oppression and class wars, the Kerala population seems to have been generally a peaceable and pious group of people characterised by simple living and high thinking. Seeing the satvic food they partook, it was a wonder for the Portuguese when they arrived that the natives ate so poorly. Even some of the despicable practices in ancient Kerala seem extremely civilised when compared to what went on in other lands during the same period, especially in the non-Hindu world. There is no evidence of a jail existing in Kerala before foreigners settled in this region. 

After the centralised Kulasekhara rule disappeared in Kerala at the beginning of the 12th century, the emboldened local Rajas also started attacking temples which were under the control of the Namboothiri sabhas, not for their hidden treasures, but because they were traditional power centres that challenged these Rajas. The destruction of Thrikanamathilakam (14th C) and Panniyur villages along with their temples, which challenged the dictates of the Kozhikode Samuthiri, are the most important events that signature the power shift taking place in Kerala.  

Guruvayur temple was a keezhedam (subordinate temple) of Thrikanamathilakam temple until the fall of the latter. But the Kerala Rajas, as can be evidenced by the present Travancore royal household, were not plunderers, but pious rulers who ruled their land according to the rajyadharma prescribed by the Hindu smrithis. It is a fact that Kerala Rajas started fighting each other only after the advent of foreigners (see Ibn Batuta’s accounts in the 14th C). Prior invasions always came from across the eastern hills. The donation of war loot to temples by Hindu Rajas as a common practice was a symbol of what they really thought any wealth was for – not for material aggrandisement, but for spiritual elevation. 

In Kerala, it was the Portuguese who first began the temple raids. There are several Portuguese accounts of these raiders, but their dependency on some of the Rajas curtailed an all-out enterprise in the region. Then came Tipu Sultan down the eastern hills. [For more details on Tipu’s raids, see Sandhya Jain’s article of 12 July “Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy has been roused” on this site]. In 1719, the Guruvayur temple came under attack by the Dutch who made away with most of the deity’s wealth including the gold of the flagstaff. They also set fire to the western gopuram before they left. It was rebuilt in 1747. This coincided with the rise of Raja Marthanda Varma of Venad who founded the Travancore kingdom and inflicted a severe defeat on the Dutch when they attacked Travancore. Had the Raja been defeated, we can all guess what the fate of Lord Padmanabha’s wealth would have been. 

While consolidating power for his kingdom, Raja Marthanda Varma also forcibly took over several temples from the Brahmins. The Sri Padmanabha temple was taken from the Pathillam Namboothiris (presumably 10 Brahman families) who were its traditional caretakers. Incidentally, two other famous temples similarly taken over from the Namboothiris by the Raja around the same time were Sri Vallabha temple of Thiruvalla and the Sthanumalayan temple in Suchindram. These temples even then were not only centres of wealth, but also power centres that challenged Kshatriya rule following the Parasurama tradition, and Raja Marthanda, in his attempt to break away from current tradition, was left with little choice. 

The takeover of temples for their wealths climaxed in Travancore after Colonel John Munroe took over as the British Resident in early 19th century. Simultaneously, he prevailed upon the Travancore royals to part with land and money for Christian missionaries and forest thieves. The takeover of temples entered a new phase after 1947 when the British left with whatever they could manage. Then entered the local thieves hiding under different imported ideologies, Nehruvian-Stalinism, Marxism, or whatever you may call it, their eyes fixed on the temple wealths. The temples were already bereft of all political power whatsoever, so all that was left was their wealth and their potential role as golden geese. 

Sri Padmanabha temple is the last of the old temples that has not been robbed or kidnapped, for which the whole world should be grateful to the Travancore royals not only for their honesty, but for their cleverness and agility in safeguarding this material symbol of immense spiritual wealth. These temples are a symbol of a bygone era in Kerala, when spirituality was the supreme ruler and everything else was subordinate to it. This was the case everywhere in India at one time or the other. It might have survived in Kerala a little longer due to its (relative) inaccessibility in those times to vandals and marauders. These temples being hostages of fortune under charlatans is the supreme evidence of the age we live in, when true spirituality is imprisoned by a criminal materialism as espoused by the world-dominating Abrahamic thought. 

(source: Hostages of fortune: Hindu deities and their wealth  - By George Augustine). Refer to The Vatican’s hidden property empire – By David Leigh, Jean Francois Tanda & Jessica Benhamou

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The Hindus of Kerala Are the Rightful Owners of the Wealth of Sri Padnabha Swami Temple- By Prof. C. I. Issac

When the underground vaults of the Sree Padnabha Swami Temple of Trivandrum were opened, the world was astounded. The value of the invaluable treasures found in the vaults cross millions and billions of rupees. More startling was the fact that this was the savings [surplus] of a small principality [Travancore] of the British India in a short duration of just 200 years. Instead of salute the royal family for their long cherished social commitment and accountability to their subjects, the news papers and visual media along with social hypocrites unleashed a flood of verbiage to defame the Travancore royal family and Hindu way of life.

A conspiracy is underway to declare the temple valuables as the vested property of the State; and end the rights of Hindus over the wealth. During the colonial period, Hindus met such a tragedy. In 1812 with the advice of British Resident, Col. Munro, ruler took over 378 cash-rich temples out of state’s 19524 temples. By 1891 its 10160 temples perished automatically. [C. M. Agur, Resident of Travancore “The Church History of Travancore, Trivandrum, 1902, pp 7, 8, 9].  Col. Munro was clever in his task of demolishing temples than medieval Muslim monarchs. Royal takeover of temples resulted in the mercy killing of economically non-sound temples by rupturing the age-old reciprocal relations between temples. The lessons of history are vital.

Hindus are advised to avert the repetition of history in the case of Sri Padnabha Swami Temple. If the history is repeated, it will further marginalize the Hindus of Kerala. Already in Kerala, education is a souring grape to non-minority communities. In such a scenario, who will ensure justice to the unorganized Hindus? [For details see: Dr. Fasal Gafoor, Kalakaumudi Weekly, 3 July 2011, No 1869]. 

The relevance of Hindu awareness over the valuables found in the temple vaults, and Hindu vigilance is imperative to protect the valuables. History teaches us that once valuables are allowed to shelter outside the temple, they will be lost forever to Hindu community. Kerala Hindus must acquire self-esteem and cultivate a new mood so that they are second to none.      

(source:  The Hindus of Kerala Are the Rightful Owners of the Wealth of Sri Padnabha Swami Temple - By Prof. C. I. Issac - haindavakeralam.com).

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Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy has been roused  

Can Bhagwan, rudely awakened from ‘ananta sayanam’ (divine sleep or yog-nidra on the divine serpent Anantha Seshanaga) during which He maintains the stability of the worlds, be forced, equally abruptly, to return to His repose because the Profane have developed cold feet? Thiruvananthapuram, sacred abode of Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy, now reverberates with this question. 

Even a genie cannot be returned to its old bottle. How then, can a God?  

An issue dodged by both the religious devout and the irreligious profane pertains to the status of the three-and-a-half feet tall gold pratima (image) of Mahavishnu (Vishnu reclining on Adi Naga) studded with rubies and emeralds, with ceremonial attire for adorning the deity in the form of 16-part gold anki (cloth) weighing nearly 30 kgs., together with gold coconut shells, one studded with rubies and emeralds. 

Also unveiled is a one foot high 5 kg. solid gold murti of Krishna playing the flute. The writer does not know if any more murtis cast of precious metals or carved out of precious stones (common in ancient Jaina temples) have been found in the temple cellars. 

To my mind, these cannot be considered as chadhava (offerings) to the Deity. These are distinct pratimas that a devotee or group of devotees had specially cast and offered to the temple for worship, as an act of piety, possibly on fulfillment of a fervent wish. This is a common practice in temples across the land even today, though the images are mostly marble or stone.  

Hence, within a reasonable time frame, satisfying the demands of security, all pratimas that have emerged with the hidden wealth must be ceremonially installed in the temple and worshipped in accordance with the sastras. Scholar pandits may be consulted to decide if they require separate temples of their own within the temple complex – most likely they do, and that would also be the best way to give them adequate protection. To my mind, it would be an ill-omen to return the deities to banishment in the stone cellars. Devotees also have the right to worship the murtis that have waited for so long to give darshan and receive homage. 

The golden images were likely hidden from public viewing and even access and knowledge on account of the political turbulence Hindu society suffered for centuries under successive Muslim and Christian assaults, and wholesale sack and loot of temple treasures. The hiding of precious images has been recorded throughout the country in Hindu and Jaina temples, and is the most painful, and least acknowledged, historical experience of the Hindu people. The Buddhist monasteries were completely sacked and ruined; the faith itself destroyed by the wholesale slaughter of monks.   

Barely two centuries ago, Sri Vishnu as Jagannath, was robbed of the valuable Kohinoor diamond by the British when this precious gift of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was en route to the temple at Puri.

Refer to The Plunder of Art - By Hamendar Bhisham Pal and European, American Museums: Fortified Havens For Plunder From India – By Radha Rajan.

Should it ever be recovered (if some miracle can compel the British royal family that thrived and still thrives on the loot and rape of nations, it must be understood that it is NOT a national asset, but the legitimate property of Sri Jagannath). This was the environment in which the priests and servitors of Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy considered it prudent to conceal the deity’s stupendous wealth in secret underground storerooms, known only to the ruling dynasty and temple priests. 

Closer to their own home, the depredations of Tipu Sultan would have reverberated all over the region. Tipu went to Guruvayoor Temple after destroying Mammiyoor Temple. In the face of the approaching danger, the sacred murti of Guruvayoor was dispatched to the Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple in Travancore State, under the protection of the current Royal Family. Only after Tipu’s reign ended was the murti ceremoniously reinstated in Guruvayoor Temple. To this day, Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple conducts daily pujas at the place where the pratima of Guruvayoor was temporarily lodged and worshipped; such is the nature of Hindu spirituality. 

According to the Mysore Gazetteer, Tipu Sultan destroyed over 8000 temples in South India, particularly in the Malabar and Cochin principalities.

(See The History of Cochin by K.P. Padmanabha Menon and History of Kerala by A. Sreedhara Menon).  

Among the more prominent among these are the Perumanam Temple and all temples between Trichur and Karuvannur river (August, 1786); Hemambika Temple of Kallekulangara, the Kula Devata of the royal family of Palakkad; Keraladhiswara Mahavishnu Temple, Tanur Town, Malappuram Dist.; the Jain Temple in Palghat; Irinjalakuda Tiruvilvamala Temple complex at Vilvadri Hill north of Thrissur town; Mammiyur Siva Temple in Guruvayoor town; Thiruvanchikulam Mahadeva Temple, in Methala Panchayat; Triprangode Siva Temple near Tirur; Thrichabaram Sri Krishna Temple near Taliparamba, Kannur dist; Taliparamba Siva Temple, Kannur district; Tiruvanjikulam Siva temple near Kodungallur; Vadakkum-Nathan Temple of Trichur; Varakkal Durga Temple, West Hill Kozhikode; Trikkandiyur Mahadeva Temple, Tirur town, Malappuram Dist; Sukapuram Dakshinaamoorthy Temple, near Edappal, Malappuram; Vadukunda Siva temple at Vengara village Kannur district; Pariharapuram Subrahmanya Temple, Ramanathakara, Kozhikode district; Vadukunda Siva Temple of Madai, Kannur district; and Thrikkavu Durga Temple of Ponnani (converted into a Military Garrison). 

Similarly, the Malabar Gazetteer lists, among the important temples destroyed by Tipu Sultan: the Tali Mahadeva Temple, Kozhikode; Sri Valayanadu Bhagavathy Temple, Govindapuram, Calicut; Tiruvannur Siva Temple, Kozhikode; Sri Thirpuraikal Bhadrakali Temple, Puthur, Palakkad district and Narayankannur temple at Ramantali, Kannur district. The Tirunavaya Temple, renowned all over India as a centre of Rig Veda teaching, was destroyed, as was Calicut, capital of the Zamorin Rajas.

The priests of Triprayar Temple concealed the main deity at Gnanappilly Mana in a remote village; it returned only after Tipu withdrew from the Malabar towards the end of 1790. Tipu destroyed two Sri Krishna Temples in the vicinity of Guruvayur, which were also subsequently recovered by the Hindus – the Parthasarathy Temple and the Tirupati Balaji Temple.

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Given this lived history of the Hindu people, the mega-publicity given to the stupendous wealth unveiled from the cellar-strongholds of the Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram has caused grave disquiet among the devotees of the Lord. Devotees still remember with agony that a stone harmonium of the Padmanabha Temple was stolen by the British and smuggled to Britain.

Dr R Nagaswamy, former Director of Archaeology, Tamil Nadu, who played a stellar role in the return of the famous (Simon Norton) Nataraja image to India, asserts that the treasures belong unambiguously to Sri Padmanabha, to whom the offerings were made. There are thousands of inscriptions from the second century BC onwards that attest to the fact that the offerings were made to the Deity and not to the temple. Pallava inscriptions of the 3rd and 4th century mention gifts made to the deity. Many inscriptions from Kerala from the 9th century onwards record gifts to deities.  

Hindu gods are a juristic entity and can legally own property, and act through representatives; in Siva temples transactions were made in the name of Chandikesvara; in Vishnu temples through Vishvaksena. In court cases in the 19th and 20th centuries, the courts accepted the main deity as a jurist entity. In the case of the London Nataraja, the trial judge of the London High court observed that so long as a single stone remained in situ, a temple was eternally a temple with the right to own property, and hence the metal image of Nataraja that belonged to the ruined Chola temple of Pattur must be returned to the temple.

Dr Nagaswamy shuns the view that the temple treasures should be displayed in a museum, pointing out that a sacred gift to a temple cannot be reduced to a museum exhibit. This is certainly the correct position, though given the kind of genuine interest that has also been excited by the discoveries the temple management could consider arranging small displays of heritage items within the precincts, with adequate security, against appropriate fees to defer costs. This would preserve the sanctity of the temple gifts and traditions, and would be a special feast to devotees. 

In no circumstances should Sri Padmanabha temple or any of the grand temples where non-Hindus are not permitted, open their doors to foreigners and reduce the temple to picnic spots or tourist sites – in the name of attracting tourism.

Even in a lenient State like Goa, temples have begun to impose a dress code on foreign visitors, and Delhi temples are beginning to follow suit. I think the ban on non-believers needs to be extended rigorously in all temples across the country if the dharma is to be saved from the increasing intrusion (and perversion) of so-called foreign bhaktas, who infiltrate as devotees and soon assume managerial control to the detriment of the dharma. This process, which was first confined to New Age globe trotters and Dollar Swamis, has shockingly been found to have degraded more hoary institutions as well.  

Devotees are in rage and grief at the rude fashion in which the Supreme Court ordered breach of the Lord’s sacred precincts to satisfy vicarious curiosity about the legendary wealth of hoary Hindu temples. The vacuous allegation by a busybody without locus standi or cultural sensitivity or personal devotion should have been dismissed with contempt and a hefty fine for being a nuisance petition.  

Ironically, the inventory of gold, silver, precious stones and priceless jewellery and utensils and what not – even without its heritage and antique value – has given a headache to the Supreme Court judges who will be held primarily responsible should covetous eyes endanger this precious and sacred trove. Having rushed in where angels fear to tread – on the toes of Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy and the divine Seshanaga – the judges have now beaten a hasty retreat, staying the order to force open the sixth and last stronghold, and mumbling variously about filming the treasure, to deciding what to keep in safe vaults (do they mean Swiss banks?), to deciding what to exhibit in a Museum.  

It is shocking that the learned judges do not know that Museums are warehouses for the relics of DEAD cultures; they were created by the Christian world to house the destroyed icons and artifacts of the myriad civilisations, religions and peoples they had utterly annihilated, mostly through genocide. Museums are showrooms for the civilisational scalps collected by the White man. Is that the goal the Judges have for Hindu civilisation? 

Honourable judges – please just back off and stay off. And take the Hon’ble V.R. Krishna Iyer with you. Please do some ‘poverty alleviation’ with the Provident and Pension Funds of the Supreme Court judges before you pontificate on what to do with the wealth of Hindu temples, which does not belong to you.

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Sri Anantha Padmanabha temple is one of 108 divya desams or holy abodes of Vishnu, and finds mention in the Divya Prabandha of the Tamil Alvar saints of the 6th-9th centuries CE. It was modified in the 16th century and its grand gopuram constructed, and again in the 18th century.  

Initially, the temple belonged to Tamil Ay kings who ruled the southern parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The kingdom of Venad emerged when the Ay’s declined and the first king Marthanda Varma (1729-1758) donated his kingdom to Sri Padmanabha and ruled as his servant. He brought 12,008 Salagrama stones from the Gandaki river of Nepal to fashion the 18-foot long deity – a grand testimony to the vastness of the Hindu civilisational frontier.  

Since then, the temple has been inextricably linked with the Travancore ruling family. It is run by a trust created by the royal house, currently headed by Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma, which retained control of the temple at independence vide a covenant at the time of signing the Instrument of Accession.  

Unlike other Indian royals, the Travancore family was deeply rooted in culture and shunned the life of ease. The palace financed itself through earnings from its Spice business and not from the state treasury. Shri Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma, next in line to head the family, runs the Aspinwall Company which supplies pepper to many European royal households.  

Travancore kingdom once extended from Kanyakumari (now in Tamil Nadu) in the south to Aluva (Ernakulam district) in the north. Padmanabhapuram (now in TN) was the first capital, but it was shifted to Thiruvananthapuram by Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma (Dharma Raja), who protected the refugees fleeing Malabar from Tipu Sultan’s assault.

The rulers always knew of the riches, but never touched them. There are references to the wealth in the Pradhanapetta Mathilakom Records (Important Mathilakom Records) compiled by the famous Malayalam poet Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer, 1941; and also in the 12-volume Kottaram (Palace) manual. So fastidious were the rulers in respecting the property as divine that there is a royal tradition of the royal family dusting the sand off their feet on leaving the shrine, so that not even a speck of dust is taken that belongs to Padmanabha.

Other important princes include Swathi Thirunal (1813-1846), the legendary Carnatic musician who promoted English education; and the last king Chithira Thirunal Bala Rama Varma (1912-1991) who abolished the death sentence, making Travancore the first Indian territory to do so. The last king issued the landmark Temple Entry Proclamation in 1936, which permitted the erstwhile “untouchables” to enter temples.  

Former ICHR chairman M.G.S. Narayanan says there is ample documentary evidence that the treasure belongs to the temple. The Travancore Manual prepared by Nagamayyah in the early 20th century mentions that the temple administration was controlled by “ettara yogam” (a group of eight-and-half persons), which is generally interpreted as meaning eight Brahmins and a member of the Travancore royal family. The manual showed that the temple then had an annual revenue of Rs.75,000, and was independent of the government. It indicated that its treasures included huge quantities of money, gold and precious stones, the “offerings of ages.”  

Scholars are generally agreed that nothing has been found in the vaults which could be war booty – a view that should debunk secularists who are doing their level best to taint the stupendous treasure trove. In fact, scholars should now speedily transcribe the palm leaf Mathilagam records, the royal records dealing with Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple. This would settle the details of the period to which the riches belong and who gifted them to the temple.

(source: Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy has been roused - By Sandhya Jain).

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Intolerance in America
Protest against Lord Ganesha in Idaho

"Ganesha," a blue-hued metal sculpture by Spokane, Washington artist Rick Davis, represents the multi-armed, elephant-headed Hindu God. It is one of 15 loaned artworks to be dedicated by Coeur d'Alene and arts commission officials Friday evening, the kickoff of a program that underwrites the year-long display in public spaces of sculptures that are available for purchase.

Officials in Coeur d'Alene, an affluent, lakeside resort of 44,000, said they are perplexed by the gnashing over Ganesha. They said it is an irony that professed constitutionalists were not prepared to honor First Amendment guarantees of religious freedom and would be met with a counter-protest.

Lord Ganesha - blue hued metal sculpture

Northern Idaho as the historic home of the white supremacy group Aryan Nations. The local Constitution Party's website says, "Christians of Kootenai County should be dismayed at the appearance of a Hindu demon, Ganesh statue."

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People are coming to protest the protesters," said Steve Anthony, city liaison to the Coeur d'Alene Arts Commission. "The majority of residents here are very tolerant," Anthony said, adding that citizen's committee was guided by criteria such as artistic merit in selecting 15 art works.

On its web site, the Kootenai Constitution Party welcomes "patriots" and describes its aim "to restore constitutionally limited government" in a nation founded "not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ."

The controversy is a blow for a city that promotes itself as a destination for international travelers and still smarts from the stigma associated with northern Idaho as the historic home of the white supremacy group Aryan Nations.

The local Constitution Party's website says, "Christians of Kootenai County should be dismayed at the appearance of a Hindu demon, Ganesh statue." The post urges Christians to protest at the art current's dedication Friday.

Fifteen sculptures have been placed around the city, including two of them with Christian references and another with a Native American reference.

Some people are a little surprised by this reaction from the Constitution Party. "To me, American values are tolerance of other people," Rick Silverman said.

(source:  Statue of Hindu Deity Sparks Protest in Northern Idaho  - hinduismtoday.com).

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Sadhus: India's Wandering Monks

There is absolutely no place on earth that can match India as a destination for those thirsting for "truth."

Writing in 1905 about The Mystics, Ascetics, and Saints of India, John Campbell Oman's observation about "sadhus" (wandering monks) in India is still relevant, a hundred years later. The existence of sadhus, Oman said, were "no recent importation, no modern excrescence, but has been flourishing in India, a veritable indigenous growth, from a time which dates many centuries before the advent of Christ, or even the preaching by Buddha of the eightfold path leading to enlightenment and deliverance . . ." Indeed sadhus have been a fixture of India from time immemorial, and Indian epics as well as the vast storehouse of Indian literature are rife with allusions to the exotic and the mundane aspects of the life of these men. (There was the rare woman "sadhvi," now estimated to be about 10 percent of ascetics.) Oman wrote that these men "command the respect and even the superstitious veneration of the vast multitude of their countrymen, who believe that they are often, if not always, possessed of almost unlimited supernatural power for good or evil."

No other people in the world can boast the number of ascetics in their midst than Indians do, and sadhus, estimated in the millions, wander around the country in all their habilatory or dishabilatory glory without getting more than a second glance from the ordinary Indian. Most Indians are used to the idea of "letting go" in the latter phases of his/her life, because as the great Adi Shankara promised, "through disciplined senses and controlled mind one shall come to experience the indwelling Lord of one's heart." Despite what some disenchanted Indians might think about these disheveled and semi-naked men or their more urbane versions who dole out soothing advice to their metropolitan audiences, India continues to be unmatched in quenching humanity's thirst for understanding what makes life and what troubles us. Not for them the cynical conclusion, "life is a bitch, and then you die," and but for them the lure of India would surely diminish.

Sant Tulsidas and Sant Surdas

"India is a country where saints and sages appeared at different times, succeeding one after another, in order to enlighten the people”   -  Hieun Tsang aka Xuanzang (603 - 664 CE) Chinese pilgrim who came to India

Yet today it has become the habit of those who label themselves "progressive" to write mockingly about whom and what Hindus think of as sacred.

"Unfortunately, some modern Indian historians and intellectuals, influenced by western culture and imported "isms", have attempted to demean the flow of ancient civilization by highlighting only its temporary negative aspects. But, as on many occasions in the past, the civilization, with its tremendous capacity to absorb the mudslinging, still continues its eternal flow." - Says S K Kulkarni.

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Of course, not everyone in India thinks so, and it has become the habit of those who label themselves "progressive" to write mockingly about whom and what Hindus think of as sacred.

Thus, taking pot shots at Indian gurus and godmen, sadhus and monks, Manu Joseph, the author of Serious Men, baits the reader saying, ". . . the branding of Indian spirituality is so powerful that the young and the old from the West continue to come here in search of the 'truth,'" and that if indeed anyone so searching came across "truth" to inform him first.

It is a strange challenge because Manu Joseph should know that men and women have traveled to India not just since the Beatles made the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi famous but for millennia past, in search of the exotic, the esoteric, and the enlightening. A story is told of Alexander the Great meeting a naked sadhu who declined all the riches offered by the world conqueror. Recounting this story in 1902 Swami Rama Thirtha told an audience in San Francisco that the enlightened ascetic gave a vision of the cosmic wonder to an emperor who thought he had conquered the world.

Refer to Andhra Jyothy : Proselytizing Unlimited! - centreright.in and Western Christian Imperialism vs. Non-Christian world – By Sandhya Jain

Sure, a surfeit of books and DVDs by well-known and little known gurus have turned this wisdom into treacly clichés, especially as some of the modern teachers and gurus try to reach out to the world through their Facebook pages. That is no reason, however, to dismiss those who travel to India in serious search of the truth as mistaken or naïve, and to mock either the naked or the partially clad sadhus as mere camera-fodder for tourists.

We know that Richard Alpert, aka Ram Dass, the psychology professor who famously turned Harvard into a LSD lab, was kicked out of Harvard, went to India, and found Neem Karoli Baba. Ram Dass, now venerable, continues to hold his followers enthralled in Hawaii. Of more recent vintage is Baba Rampuri, who went to India in the 1970s and has stayed there (and is now one of my Facebook friends!), becoming part of the Naga Sadhu clan. His book, Autobiography of a Sadhu: A Journey into Mystic India, could very easily be Hollywood material as he recounts his life journey in India and his transformation into a Naga Sadhu.

There is then my favorite, Patrick Levy, who begins his journey as a journalist seeking to document the life of sadhus, and ends up a student of Anand Baba, a wandering ascetic. The story, told in Sadhus: Going Beyond the Dreadlocks, is an antidote to the smug dismissal of the cynics, skeptics, and the reductionists who see the world as merely matter writ large. Levy is no starry-eyed romantic. He sees the dirt and squalor of India and describes them as any good journalist would. His description of Varanasi/Benares is scorching in its indictment of the mess and squalor, but if we stopped reading him there, we would miss him telling us that it is India that "bestows the title of saint on renunciants, where contemplation is a divine attitude, non-action a goal and idleness a vision," and that it is Indians who recognize "rapture in humility and the superiority of equanimity over the passions."

There is absolutely no place on earth that can match India as a destination for those thirsting for "truth." My friend, a student of Swami Rama, tells me of his esoteric experiences up in the Himalayas and down on the small campus of a little school he runs for village children near Bangalore. So, those in search of truth—with a capital 'T' or a small 't'—will continue to make their way to India, and one hopes that their deity of choice will bless them, and their choice of a guru will lead them to bliss.

(source: Sadhus: India's Wandering Monks - By Dr. Ramesh Rao - patheos.com).

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Oprah is a Dharma Seer

"I know that every thought that I think, every thought that I have, that moves into action is going to create an equal and opposite reaction. So everything that I put out into the world is going to come back. It's the golden rule on steroids."

"There are many paths to what you call God....there is not just one way..."

"The ego is the illusory Self!"

These reflections on karma, pluralism and enlightened self-realization are basic tenets--core beliefs--for the Dharma religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. The Holy Vedas or the Buddhist sutras are replete with insights into those understandings on the path of liberation. But the quotes above are not translations from the original Sanskrit or Pali, but rather the words and musings of the scriptures of Oprah.com.

Oprah Winfrey's phoenomenal success as an eponymous media conglomerate is a testament to incomparable gifts as an entertainer and even thought leader of our times. Her savvy as a business mogul is no less amazing. She is bold and brilliant, perhaps the most influential media personality ever. She wears many monikers very well, but if some are eager to burden her with another epithet--messiah--then let us be very clear: Oprah's message, her religion, is very much an iteration of the eternal teachings of the Dharma traditions.

Paraphrasing and then repackaging the wisdom of Hindu sages, Sikh gurus and Boddhisatvas into New Agey aphorisms is certainly not a new practice. I have written before and been queried, of course, by Deepak Chopra on my assertions against the appropriation and delinking of yoga from its Hindu origins. And while I had my own questions about Chopra's reluctance to acknowledge the "empire of wellness he has built on the foundations...of Hindu masters," Eckhart Tolle, the author whisked to international fame by Oprah's endorsement, comes in for similar criticism for a softer deceit in expounding on the Hindu school of nondualism, or Advaita Vedanta, albeit beautifully. Hindus read his book and realize that his concepts, embraced enthusiastically by Oprah's audience as novel revelatory insights, are something they know well as a retelling of the three thousand years old Upanishads.

So while Hindu Americans should be pleased and proud that their erstwhile esoteric and lofty ideals--long misunderstood and misinterpreted--are going very much mainstream, they are also undergoing their own awakening as to the dangers when appreciation and assimilation border on appropriation.

Hindu Americans realize now that they may have failed to shape the narrative of their faith and other dharma traditions, allowing its reductionist caricaturization while ceding the transcendent teachings of pluralism, inherent divinity of the soul, reincarnation, meditative contemplation and much more to be sanitized for mass marketing.

Oprah and charisma are synonymous, just as charisma and messiah are intertwined. She may not claim the mantle of a religious leader, but like any prophet, Oprah has her flock, her commandments and her scrolls. Her unabashed embrace of pluralism--many potential paths to one eternal Truth--is an urgent message for contemporary times.

But Oprah's is not a new message, a new commandment or new god, but rather a message heard over eons of time, reverberating from the Himalayas where ascetics passed on wisdom for the ages in an oral tradition continuing today. It is the eternal relevance of those verses that reverberate within, spiritually uplift and empower Oprah and her flock.

(source: Oprah is a Dharma Seer - By Dr. Aseem Shukla).

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Cultural Vandalism of Hinduism

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After Yoga, now Kathakali gets a catholic expression

Kathakali is no longer bound by Hindu mythologies or epics. It is set to make a foray into the heart of Christian religious beliefs.

For the first time, the message and essence of Holy Eucharist (Qurbana) will be recreated through Kathakali. Jesus Christ will be presented in the costumes of a sage. The 90minute performance titled 'Divya Karunya Charitam' (Story of Holy Eucharist) is based on the poem 'Ithu Ninakkai' (This is for you) written by lyricist Fr Joy Chencheril.

The first performance is scheduled to be held at the Pastoral Orientation Centre on July 21. Major Archbishop of SyroMalabar Church Mar George Alencherry will inaugurate the show. Apart from the concept, Fr Joy is giving consultation also. The script of the 'Divya Karunya Charitham' for the Kathalali form is written by Radha Madhavan and the choreography is by Kalamandalam Sajan. Eight dancers led by Sajan will give expression to the mystery of Holy Eucharist while Kottackal Madhu will sing the Kathakali songs.

Refer to Things They Don't Tell You about Christianity and Christianizing Bharatnatyam and Breaking India - By Rajiv Malhotra and and Andhra Jyothy : Proselytizing Unlimited! - centreright.in

Refer to Narendra Modi and the Leftist hijacking of the Wharton India Economic Forum – By Rajiv Malhotra - The Hijacking of Wharton and On Modi and Wharton. Asymmetric warfare against Hindus - By Dr. Gautam Sen and How Wharton Scored a Huge Self-Goal - By Sandeep and It was wrong to disinvite Modi, writes Upenn professor and Modi kicked the hornet’s nest – By Atanu Dey and As Europe goes down, we need to be prepared for consequences – By Prof. Vaidyanathan

"Holy Eucharist is the sum and substance of Christian faith. We hope that Kathakali too will find a place on the Catholic Church premises where programmes such as cinematic dance, mimicry and music programmes dominate during festivals,'' said Fr Joy.

"The performance seeks to communicate the selfgiving message of Jesus. Holy Eucharist epitomises the sharing of love. Kathakali, because of its poise and rhythm, can well express this spirit of sharing the selfemptying love,'' he said. Fr Joy and the team of artists led by Kalamandalam Sajan had begun their efforts for the innovative venture five months ago. A member of the Missionary Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (MCBS), Fr Joy has penned a number of popular Christian devotional songs. He has also won many awards for the best and popular Christian devotional song for his contributions to the devotional songs genre. Fr Joy is now working on a collection of songs for Bible dance.

"Art is important, not the religion,'' said noted Kathakali artiste FACT Padmanabhan. "It's good if the story presented through Kathakali is digestive for the viewers. Shakespearean plays have been presented in Kathakali form and the people have accepted it,'' he said.

(source: Now Kathakali gets a catholic expression -expressbuzz.com).

Refer to Vatican hideout will protect Benedict from sexual abuse prosecution – By Philip Pullella and Ever-tactful Bill Maher urges Catholics to quit, just like the pope and Refer to I trust you, God - yeah, that and 3 inches of bullet proof glass will keep the godman safe. Refer to The Vatican’s hidden property empire – By David Leigh, Jean Francois Tanda & Jessica Benhamou and From Hitler Youth to Ex-Pope: The Sordid Story of Ratzinger  and Catholic Church Fears Growing Vatican Bank Scandal and Make Pope accountable in this life. Read Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II - By Jason Berry and Why Priests?: A Failed Tradition - By Garry Wills and Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit - By Gary Wills

Kathakali makes Christian debut

After enthralling audiences for centuries with its undulating adaptation of Hindu folklore, Kerala's classical dance-drama, Kathakali, is all set to make its 'Christian debut' in the Catholic church premises here.

Kathakali, considered one of the oldest theatre forms of the world, is traditionally based on themes derived from Hindu epics Ramayana, Mahabaratha and other myths and legends of Hinduism.

For the first time, the classical dance will recreate through its well-defined 'mudras' the message and essence of the Holy Eucharist (Qurbana). The 90-minute performance titled 'Divyakarunyacharitam' (Story of Holy Eucharist), based on the poem 'Ithu Ninakkai' (This is given up for you) written by famous Christian lyricist Father Joy Chencheril, will be performed at Pastoral Orientation Centre here on July 21.

Chencheril said that the recital, based on the 'Last Supper of Christ', will portray the message of the "eucharastic love shown by Christ." "Performances will also be held in Kannur, Chenganassery, Pala and various other parts of Kerala before being staged at Delhi in January 2012," he said.

The Christian version will adhere to the original form with regard to costumes and presentation but Malayalam would replace Sanskrit shlokas and Christ would don the costume of a Rishi (sage), said the priest. Traditional Kathakali artistes from Kalamandalam will represent the eight characters included in the presentation. "Through this presentation, we hope Kathakali too will find a place in Church premises, now dominated by cinematic dances and mimics during festivals," said Chencheril.

(source: Kathakali makes Christian debut - deccanherald.com).

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Bhutanese Hindus Persecuted

Ignored by Indian Media and Press

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Ethnic Cleansing in Bhutan

In 1991-92, Bhutan expelled roughly 100,000 ethnic Nepalis (Lhotshampa), most of whom have been living in seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal ever since. The Lhotshampa are classified as Hindus.

The Lhotshampa, who live mainly in the south of the country, are the third largest group in Bhutan. Originally from Nepal, they speak Nepali and most practise Hinduism.

***

Is this Shangrila?

Bhutan’s beauty, its “difference” and the sense that one has of being privileged to be there make it attractive. Tourist literature speaks of Bhutan as the world’s last Shangrila, a living Eden, spectacular, sublime, the jewel of the Himalayas.    

However, tourists in Buddhist dominated Bhutan will not be made aware that thousands of Bhutanese people have had to flee from persecution in their own country, and that thousands more live in Bhutan in fear and insecurity.

We ask potential tourists to be curious about the hidden side of “Shangrila”.

(source: Bhutanese Refugees - A Story of Forgotten People).  Refer to Plight of the Lhotshampas - humanrightshouse.org

Refer to India gave refuge to Dalai Lama and fleeing Buddhist Tibetans in 1959 - The Dalai Lama was offered asylum in India and settled in Dharamsala, in northern India. He was followed into exile by about 80,000 Tibetans, most of whom settled in the same area, which has become known as "Little Lhasa" and is home to the Tibetan government-in-exile. 

***

Chased from Bhutan, 106,000 Hindus find homes abroad

As of September, 2009, 17,000 of an expected 60,000 Bhutanese Hindus have arrived in the United States as refugees. Another 40,000 are destined for resettlement in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

Life in the Camps

Nineteen years ago, one hundred thousand Hindus--one-sixth of the population of Bhutan--left that country in a massive exodus to escape vicious persecution. Bhutan's Drukpa majority, followers of Tibetan Buddhism, declared the Hindus, who migrated to Bhutan a hundred years ago, to be illegal immigrants. They were stripped of rights, then attacked and finally forced to leave the country.

Ignored by Indian Media and press

Refused sanctuary in neighboring India, the refugees reached Nepal and have been living ever since in "temporary" camps, ignored by the Indian press and knowing little but unfulfilled hope, anger and resignation.

Moving such a population, even at a rate of 1,500 per month, considering relocation to all countries, takes time. The first and bravest are already established in far-flung places like New York and Utah; while relatives remain in the camps, receiving letters with tales of the New World and anxiously--sometimes hesitantly--awaiting their turn. During the wait, they take classes on the various aspects of modern Western life, which is much different from anything most have ever known.

Exiled from Bhutan

Bhutan's ethnic purge began in 1990. Making wide use of intimidation, bureaucratic dead-ends and suspended rights, the government organized a massive migration of all families that could not meet the draconian requirements for citizenship--expelling fully one-sixth of the country's population. Forced to sign "voluntary migration forms," Bhutanese Hindus were taken to Nepal. Because the Nepalese government denied them citizenship status--most had no acquaintances or family they could trace back to Nepal--they became refugees, not legally bound to or welcomed by any nation.

Hinduism is intrinsically woven into the identity of the people here. It was one of the main factors that distinguished them from the dominant Drukpa Bhutanese. They are free to practice Hinduism in the camps, and conversion efforts are forbidden by the camp administrators. There are several small temples in Beldangi II. Sitaram Adhikari, priest of the Lakshmi Temple, shares, "Without the temple, none of us could feel blissful and peaceful." He worries that he will have trouble finding puja supplies in the US: "Kusha, till, au and tulsi are four things we must have for our puja, but we cannot take the seeds with us." He and a few other priests perform samskaras, blessings, marriages and cremation ceremonies. There are also a number of pundits in the camps, such as Adhikari and Pundit Kashi Nath Ghimere, who completed his education in Bhutan and studied Sanskrit in India. A pundit's functions overlap with the priests', but they focus more on providing sacraments than on ritual worship. Pundit Ghimere is busy working not only among the refugees but the local Nepalese population as well. Another pundit, Bhola Nath Sapkota, carries the degree of Acharaya in Sanskrit Grammar from Varanasi. He explains, "There are no differences in the Hindu dharma when it comes to Bhutanese Hindus; it is only a few traditional practices that might be unique."

Tragedy in Bhutan

One can only imagine what a hullabaloo there would be if America were to push out thousands of its naturalized citizens, stripping them of all rights, based simply on the language they spoke or the faith they practiced! Yet Bhutan has managed to do this with impunity, destroying the lives of thousands of its own citizens who thereafter languished in refugee camps, their lives disrupted and put on hold. Youth who were born in the camps have wasted the best years of their lives-up to 20 years-living in limbo, with no dreams and no future. Two decades have been spent as stateless people, belonging nowhere, allowed to have no allegiance, no sense of purpose.

American Hindus Step Up

The Bhutanese refugees present a new scenario for the American-Hindu community: how to help a largely uneducated group of Hindus settle down. Nearly all previous immigrants from the Indian region have been educated professionals for whom carving a niche in America was little challenge. But this group is different, and a number of Hindu temples and organizations have stepped in to help.

Religious Persecution Persists

The refugees' Hindu faith sees them through their tribulations. Yet it is this Hindu faith and culture which--almost outlawed by Bhutan--has, to a large extent, been responsible for their loss of homeland. And now, even in America, that same Hindu faith is under siege, as some refugees report coercion to embrace Christianity. On the line are jobs, material comforts and an easier life.

The resettlement agencies handling the refugees for the first eight months are expressly forbidden to proselytize among them. But such efforts have been an issue. Sreenath says, "All refugees tell us that the missionaries who visited them in the camps said that there are no Hindu temples in the US. Everyone is a Christian, and they will also have to become one, and it is better they do so right away because they will get better benefits. This kind of talk continues to be a problem in the southern states here. But wherever Sewa International is working, the missionary activities are low, if non-existent."

(source: Chased from Bhutan, 106,000 Hindus find homes abroad - hinduismtoday.com).

The King of Bhutan Celebrates with Hindus - The Hypocrisy?

The Hindus of Bhutan suffered cruel and widespread persecution under the King's still-living father. Exiled, they lived in sub-human conditions for decades, surviving in refugee camps until the USA, Australia and Europe welcomed them as expatriates. Their only crime was to be Hindus.

The newly wed Oxford educated King of Bhutan.

Refer to Gushing reports of King of Bhutan marries in elaborate ceremony in Western Media

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Until the Bhutanese government makes amends, gestures do not represent friendship, but hypocrisy.

BHUTAN, October 7, 2011 (Kuensel Online): His Majesty the King attended the Dasumi tikka ceremony at the Sivalaya Mandir yesterday, where a Hindu pundit offered a tikka. Celebrating for the first time the Dashain festival with the Hindu community in the southern district of Samtse, His Majesty exchanged tikka with members of Sivalaya committee.

The King said it was an auspicious occasion to offer prayers to overcome obstacles and misfortune, and bring peace and prosperity in the country. His Majesty also hosted a tokha for the people, who came in the thousands to celebrate Dashain with His Majesty.

The ceremony started on the first day of the new moon (September 28) and concluded on the 9th day, also known as Navami, which symbolises the end of war against evils. On Dasumi or the 10th day, Tikka is offered as victory of good over evil, Sivalaya committee's member secretary, PB Pradhan, explained.

(source: The King of Bhutan Celebrates with Hindus - hinduismtoday.com).

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Plight of Hindu Temples in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir

Islamic Fundamentalist destroying Ancient History of India

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Mirpur has a special place in sub-continent’s history. The famous battle between Alexandar and Porus was fought here in 323 BC.  A large number of Hindus lived in Mirpur once .

Today Mirpur doesnot have any Hindus living in there.

Lord Shiva temple and Lord Raghunath (Rama) temple in Mirpur.

Mirpur has a special place in sub-continent’s history. The famous battle between Alexandar and Porus was fought here in 323 BC.  A large number of Hindus lived in Mirpur once . Today Mirpur doesnot have any Hindus living in there.

(image source:  Plight of Hindu Temples in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir - thekashmir.wordpres.com).  Refer to the book - Our Moon Has Blood Clots: The Exodus of The Kashmiri Pandits - By Rahul Pandita (Random House India)

Refer to chapters on Ethereal Prambanan, Suvarnabhumi, Pacific Waves, Sacred Angkor, and Seafaring in Ancient India.

Refer to Plight of the exiled Kashmiri Pandits – By Sandeep Koul

Watch video - Secret Pakistan - informationclearinghouse.info and Killings in Kashmir: The Real Figures and Pakistan schools teach Hindu hatred: US commission

***

170 J&K temples vandalised in 20 years, admits Government

The Jammu & Kashmir Government has on record admitted that 170 temples were damaged in militancy-related violence in the Valley over the last 20 years.

Compared to the 1990s, however, the situation has normalised to a large extent and many temples have been thrown open to visitors and Kashmiri Pandits for carrying out daily rituals. But the majority of emigrant Pandits is still not satisfied with the pace of renovation and wants the State Government to allocate more funds and expedite the ongoing works.

Several prominent Kashmiri Pandits feel that the State Government organs have failed to take proper care of the Valley's temples, which has left many heritage buildings and religious structures in a state of ruin. State Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla himself admitted in the Assembly that of the 170 damaged temples, the Government had renovated only 90 to date. In reply to a question by BJP legislator Jugal Kishore Bhalla, the Minister said there were 430 temples before the Valley fell into the grip of militancy.

While 266 temples are still intact, 170 were damaged and 90 of these have been renovated at a cost of Rs 33 lakh. At least 17 temples in sensitive areas have been provided with a security cover, he added.

(source: 170 J&K temples vandalised in 20 years, admits Government - dailypioneer.com).

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Indian yoga icon finds following in China

B.K.S. Iyengar's  visit to China has underscored growing popularity of yoga here among young Chinese. On Tuesday, B.K.S. Iyengar held a yoga demonstration in Beijing, attended by more than 700 people.

B.K.S. Iyengar's visit to China has underscored growing popularity of yoga here among young Chinese. On  Tuesday, B.K.S. Iyengar held a yoga demonstration in Beijing, attended by more than 700 people. Photo: Ananth Krishnan

On his first visit to China, renowned yoga guru B.K.S. Iyengar discovers a passionate response in a country where he has more than 30,000 followers. China, he says, “could overtake India in yoga”. When B.K.S. Iyengar arrived in China last week on his first visit here, he did not know what to expect.

He had vaguely heard of Chinese interest in yoga, and expected, at most, mild curiosity about his work when he reached the far-away southern industrial city of Guangzhou, where the 93-year-old yoga guru was billed as the star attraction in China’s first ever “Yoga Summit”.

Mr. Iyengar, instead, arrived here to a passionate reception, and was left stunned by the wide interest in his teachings in a nation where he can now count more than 30,000 people as followers of his yoga philosophy. “The response here,” Mr. Iyengar said, “has been unbelievable. I only came to realise after I came to China that even all my books have been translated and widely read.”

Yoga schools inspired by Mr. Iyengar’s famous writings on the discipline have sprouted up across 57 Chinese cities in 17 provinces, from Beijing and Shanghai to Harbin in the north and Chengdu in western Sichuan. Last week, Mr. Iyengar lectured an audience of more than a thousand yoga practiotioners in Guangzhou, where the Indian and Chinese governments organised a first-ever joint yoga summit.

“There were 1,300 students who listened with one ear,” Mr. Iyengar said. “It was a great success. They performed honestly, sincerely and with dedication.” “I will not be surprised,” he added, “if China even overtakes India in yoga.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Iyengar's students performed demonstrations of yoga asanas before a crowd of more than 700 in Beijing, while he engaged them in a two-hour interaction that covered philosophy and even the mechanics of breathing.

Questions from the Chinese audience ranged from the technical — “Can yoga help fight against schizophrenia?” asked one doctor — to the practical — “Why do I get dizziness when I meditate?” One yoga student complained: “I’ve been practising for seven years, but feel I can’t improve.” Mr. Iyengar had little comfort for her.

“I’ve been practising yoga for 76 years,” he said. “And I’m still learning.” Among the crowd was Liu Yuan (22), a student who “got hooked” on yoga after coming across a Chinese translation of Mr. Iyengar’s widely-read book “Light on Yoga”. The popularity of yoga in China, she said, was, in part, because it was “fashionable” among young Chinese. “But once I started learning seriously,” she said, “I began to enjoy it, and felt there were benefits both spiritually and physically.”

In Beijing, Mr. Iyengar found that a student of his had even set up a thriving yoga business. YogiYoga, a school founded by Manmohan Singh Bhandari, who had studied under one of Mr. Iyengar’s students in Rishikesh, teaches his yoga philosophy in 57 centres across China.

“There is tremendous following here for Guruji,” Mr. Bhandari said. On Tuesday, Mr. Iyengar was presented with a commemorative stamp issued in his honour by the Beijing branch of China Post – an honour, he noted, that he hadn’t even been given back in India. “What an honor for me that my country has not recognised me [in this way], but this country has. I express my gratitude of treating me as an icon of China, and I will cherish this throughout my life,” he told his Beijing audience.

Yoga, he said, could bring the two countries together by creating a common bond and changing perceptions. “I have created friendship through yoga,” he said. “If you practise yoga, your way of thinking becomes different. If you stand on your feet, you see the world one way. But if you are standing on your head, and are topsy-turvy, the world will look a whole lot different.”

(source: Indian yoga icon finds following in China).

Refer to How Yoga is helping calm prison inmates in California's overcrowded San Quentin prison

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Chinese dam on Brahmaputra

River Brahmaputra - Son of Brahma

A vast and densely populated region of North-east India that depends on water from Brahmaputra and its tributaries is feeling agitated over China’s ambitious efforts to redraw its water map. China’s reported plan to divert the Brahmaputra from its upper reaches is being seen as a direct affront to India and a violation of International norms of sharing river waters. Once the construction of dam is complete, the control on the water of Brahmaputra will be in the hands of China. As the Brahmaputra is the lifeline of North East India, the life and environment in the region will be adversely affected by this development.

The term Brahmaputra means “son of Brahma” and in the early days of Indus valley civilizations Brahmaputra River is the subject of faith and legends of Bharat.
 

Lord Brahma.

Since the early days of Sindhu Saraswati civilizations Brahmaputra River is the subject of faith and legends of Bharat.

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The Brahmaputra flows for about 1,625- km inside the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and for a further 918-km inside India. This is not the first time that tension is building up between India and China over Brahmaputra projects, which could affect the flow of water into India.

The BJP was quick to react to these reports and demanded that if there is fresh evidence of China’s intentions then India should immediately take up this matter with the Chinese authority. “These reports are of real concern to India. Since the last two years, there are reports that China wants to divert Brahmaputra waters from the Himalayas. If it is diverted, we will have real problems which will affect the economy of the whole region,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.The BJP MP had raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha last year.

Besides India, which raised the construction of a 510 MW dam on the Brahmaputra in talks with the Chinese leadership for many times. Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia had expressed similar concerns over eight dams being built on the Mekong river. The blame game, voiced in vulnerable river towns and Asian capitals from Pakistan to Vietnam, is rooted in fear that China’s accelerating programme of damming every major river flowing from the Tibetan plateau will trigger environmental imbalance, natural disasters, degrade fragile ecologies, divert vital water supplies.

A few analysts and environmental advocates even speak of water as a future trigger for war or diplomatic strong-arming, though others strongly doubt it will come to that. Still, the remapping of the water flow in the world’s most heavily populated and thirstiest region is happening on a gigantic scale, with potentially strategic implications. On the eight great Tibetan rivers alone, almost 20 dams have been built or are under construction while some 40 more are planned or proposed.

China is not alone in disrupting the region’s water flows. Others are doing it with even worse consequences. But China’s vast thirst for power and water, its control over the sources of the rivers and its ever-growing political clout make it a singular target of criticism and suspicion. “Whether China intends to use water as a political weapon or not, it is acquiring the capability to turn off the tap if it wants to — a leverage it can use to keep any riparian neighbours on good behaviour,” says Brahma Chellaney, an analyst at New Delhi’s Center for Policy Research and author of the forthcoming book Water: Asia’s New Battlefield.

Tibet’s spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, has also warned of looming dangers stemming from the Tibetan plateau. “It’s something very, very essential. So, since millions of Indians use water coming from the Himalayan glaciers... I think you (India) should express more serious concern. This is nothing to do with politics, just everybody’s interests, including Chinese people,” he said about the talking of Chinese intentions over the redrawing water map.

Although China is saying that it is constructing the dam to produce power but actually some hidden agendas are also associated with it.  The water resources of Brahmaputra will be a strong point to blackmail India. If China blocks the water in Brahmaputra, it will lead to famine in the whole NE region. India needs to take this issue seriously. The attention of international community needs to be attracted. But the problem here is that China does not care for anyone. It is trying an act of international bully. India needs a totally different tactic to tackle China. But can it handle.

India outraged. But the government reacts meekly

Thus, the important concern is that whether the Indian policy makers will wake up before it’s too late. India lose its dignity in past because of sleeping diplomacy of Jawaharlal Nehru. When China started to build the Sinkiang to Ali highway in 1951 than our diplomats showed their concerned about the highway in written on October 18, 1958. In his conversation with Henry Kissinger , the than Chinese premier Zhou Enlai quoted “ even three years after the road was built, Nehru didn’t know about it. In my discussion with Nehru on the Sino–Indian boundary in 1956, he suddenly raised the issue of the road. I said, ‘you didn’t even know we were building a road for the last three years, and now you suddenly say that is your territory, I remarked upon how strange this was” (The National Security Archive). Although if it did not happen in the case of Brahmputra, in the case of highway projects and railway projects, we all know the GoI failed the nation. Indian government always wake up after the happening of policy disaster.

(source: Chinese dam on Brahmaputra - By Saurabh Dubey).

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Mastery of Sacred Temple Building Is Alive, and in Expert Hands

"There is actually no difference between a temple and a house in terms of vaasthu," begins R. Selvanathan, Chief Executive Sthapati, Sri Vaidyanatha Sthapati Associates and Panchami Associates. The architect of many well-known temples in India and abroad, Selvanathan is the nephew of veteran V. Ganapathy Sthapati, with whom he worked for over 20 years, after graduating in temple architecture.

Selvanathan's heart lies in restoring ancient temples on the verge of collapse. "These temples represent our heritage, a testimony to the expertise of our ancestors. Besides, they are reference points. It is fine to build a new temple but in Tamil Nadu, a place of over 40,000 temples, resurrecting and renovating old ones would be more appropriate," says the master craftsman.

It is the Palani Baladandayuthapani idol of which the sthapati makes special mention in the context of restoration. Made of navapashanam, a concoction of nine herbs by siddhars, the statue was coming apart due to erosion and handling. "What with the controversy surrounding it, I was all nerves when I started on the project," recalls Selvanathan. He stayed at the temple with his team of architects and they succeeded in repairing the damage done. "It was an unforgettable experience, as though a divine hand guided us through the work," he observes.

"Prasadam Purusham matva poojayet mantra vittamaha" quotes Selvanathan from "Sirpa Rathnam" and explains the meaning: The temple is a form of God; hence mantras are to be chanted for the temple that is considered as a living organism. "Manena nirmite bimbhe swayam aabhati daivatam": Divinity is automatically revealed in the chiseled form that is based on shastrical measurement. "The norms laid down in the Agama have to be faithfully followed," he affirms.

"The energy in space converges inside the sanctum sanctorum with the gopuram and the kalasam acting as the medium. Location and direction are vital factors here. There are thousands of ancient temples waiting to be resurrected, saved and maintained. Let's protect them, our heritage," concludes Selvanathan, who has been showered with awards and titles here and abroad.

The sthapati has come across many people during his career, remarkable among them being the late Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami of Hawaii, publisher of Hinduism Today. "An American-born Hindu, who loved India, he studied Hinduism and became a guru. He envisaged Iraivan Temple, a massive temple of granite in Hawaii, with a five-tonne panchalokha avudaiyar and a crystal Sivalinga." The mantle has fallen on his disciple, Satguru Bodinatha Veylanswami.

(source:  Mastery of Sacred Temple Building Is Alive, and in Expert Hands - hinduismtoday.com).

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Narada Falls

There are "Narada Falls" in the Washington state of USA. This most popular horsetail type waterfall in Mount Rainier National Park in Lewis County near Paradise, where waterfall drops 188 feet, was named by Arthur F. Knight in 1893. Upper part of this waterfall freezes in winter and becomes icicles, which attracts many ice climbers from afar. Its source is glacier and it flows year round.

Esteemed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, admiring the fascination of West with Hindu names, urged it also to explore the rich philosophical thought which Hinduism offered.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that some formations in world famous Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona, USA) were named as Shiva Temple, Krishna Shrine, Vishnu Temple, Rama Shrine, Brahma Temple (7851 feet), and Hindu Amphitheater.

Legendary Narada maharishi was mentioned in Atharva-Veda. He was said to be the author of various texts of Hinduism, Brahma's son, chief of Gandharvas, inventor of vina; and was known as messenger between gods and men, mischief maker, a great wanderer, etc.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

(source: Narada Falls - yahoo.news.com).

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After Controversy, Baptists Affirm Belief In "Eternal Hell"

Discrimination at Heavens Gate for non-believers?

“For two thousand years man has done penance for something he never should have had to feel guilty about in the first place.”- Anton LaVey 

***

Southern Baptists on Wednesday (June 14) called hell an "eternal, conscious punishment" for those who do not accept Jesus, rebutting a controversial book from Michigan pastor Rob Bell that questions traditional views of hell.

Citing Bell's book "Love Wins," the resolution urges Southern Baptists "to proclaim faithfully the depth and gravity of sin against a holy God, the reality of hell, and the salvation of sinners by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, to the glory of God alone."

Bell's book, released in March, criticizes the "misguided" view that "select Christians" will live forever in heaven while the rest of humanity will suffer eternal torment in a punishing hell.

Earlier this year, the Southern Baptist-affiliated Lifeway Christian Stores quietly removed warning labels from certain books -- including Bell's -- that "could be considered inconsistent with historical evangelical theology."

(source: After Controversy, Baptists Affirm Belief In "Eternal Hell"). Refer to Church of England apologises to Charles Darwin over theory of evolution

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India’s pampered minority?
Global warming and Kerala churches reward big families?

Hindu groups have said the two child policy should be imposed as there are limited resources

Several Christian parishes in the Indian state of Kerala have begun offering incentives to couples who produce more children, officials say. One church of the Syro-Malabar denomination in Kerala's Wayanad district has offered 10,000 rupees ($200) for a couple's fifth child.

The move comes after a report submitted to Kerala's chief minister proposed imposing a strict two-child policy. But church groups have aired concerns about dwindling numbers of Christians. Census statistics show that the number of Christians has been in steady decline. Unofficial estimates say they could slip below 18% of Kerala's population in the latest census. But the figures also show that the Hindu population in Kerala may be declining faster than the Christian one. Muslims are increasing in numbers.

Although the church hasn't announced rewards statewide, Fr Thelakkat says individual parishes have been offering incentives to have more children. Some have even offered free treatment at their hospitals for large families.  Kerala's Catholic church has also mounted campaigns promoting larger families.

But the leader of the Hindu United Front in the state said "the two-child norm should be strictly enforced in India as we have limited resources to share among us". Kummanam Rajashekharan added that the spate of church campaigns encouraging procreation only serve to create tensions between the religious communities.

According to the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Conference (KCBC), a family trend to have only one child or none at all would imperil the Catholic community. As per the 2001 census, Christians made up 19 percent of Kerala’s population of over 31 million, showing a drop from the 1991 census finding of 19.5 percent.

Refer to Andhra Jyothy : Proselytizing Unlimited! - centreright.in

The larger family concept was mooted by the Church in the context of the fall in the population growth at a rate of -0.40 percent per decade. Church sources say that Hindus also should view the situation seriously as their rate of fall of population growth, at 1.55 percent a decade, is far more critical in the context of a growth in the Muslim population at a rate of 1.75 percent.

In Kerala, Hindus constitute 55 percent of the total population, while Muslims form 24.7 percent. Christians constitute 19 percent or less. A church source said the demographic studies were showing an alarming trend in Kerala where Muslim families alone were showing increase in the number of children.

(source:  Kerala churches reward big families - BBC news and haindavakeralam.com). Refer to Christian conversion in Arunachal Pradesh

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The Myth of Saint Thomas and the Mylapore Temple

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"A salesman and a preacher never tell the bad side of their product."

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“The god of the Holy Bible – so much adored in the United States and elsewhere – is ferociously vindictive, neurotically jealous, intolerant, vainglorious, punitive, wrathful, sexist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, sadistic, and homicidal. As they say, it’s all in the Bible.”

                                 -  Michael Parenti – God and His Demons p. 39. Refer to Church of England apologises to Charles Darwin over theory of evolution

“History is always written by the victors and whoever controls the writing of history books control the past. Without doubt, the most consistently powerful force in the last two thousand years has been the Roman Catholic Church and consequently history has often been what it wanted to be.”  

                        - George Orwell (1903 - 1915) English author and journalist.

"Religious freedom does not extend to having a planned program of conversion" - Swami Dayananda Saraswati

As rightly expressed in the immortal words of George Orwell, the Indians have been fed with distorted history by Western Christian Elite before Independence and the same has been continued even after independence a, thanks to the takeover of the nation’s history by the Marxists and Christian stooges, who continued the dark and sinister legacy of Max Mueller and Macaulay. An important part of the perverted history, which was planted by the western scholars, the so-called St. Thomas’s arrival, life, and death were thrust on South India. This thrust gave a solid foundation to the Church to claim as if Christianity was also an indigenous religion.

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Motive:  Why has the Myth of St. Thomas coming to India kept alive?

"The oriental ubiquity of St. Thomas's apostolate is explained by the fact that the geographical term 'India' included the lands washed by the Indian Ocean as far as the China Sea in the east and the Arabian peninsula, Ethiopia, and the African coast in the west." 

                           - Leonardo Olschki (1885 -1961) lecturer and professor at University of Heidelberg. He was German-Italian romance philologist, a scholar of medieval and renaissance.

Distinguished scholars like R. Garbe, a. Harnack and L. de la Vallee-Poussin have denied credibility to the Acts of Thomas, an apocryphal work on which the whole story is based. Some others, who accept the fourth century Catholic tradition about the travels of St. Thomas, point to the lack of evidence that he ever went east beyond Ethioopia and Arabia Felix. The confusion, according to them, has arisen because the ancient geographers often mistook these two countries for India.

Stephen Neill’s book History of Christianity in India: From the Beginnings to 1707 A.D. published by the Cambridge University Press, England, in 1984, as follows:

A number of scholars, among whom are to be mentioned with respect Bishop A.E. Medlycott, J.N. Farquhar and the Jesuit J. Dahlman, have built on slender foundations what may be called Thomas romances, such as reflect the vividness of their imaginations rather than the prudence of rigid historical critics.

***

Sita Ram Goel, the only Indian historian in the last hundred years who had a clear understanding of Christian theory and practice, in Papacy: Its Doctrine and History writes,

“The manufactures of this myth about St. Thomas may be asked a simple question: What difference does it make whether Christianity came to India in the first or the fourth century? Why raise such a squabble when no one denies that the Syrian Christians of Malabar are old immigrants to this country?

“The matter, however, is not so simple as it sounds at first. Nor can the scholarly exercise be understood easily by those who have not been initiated in the intricacies of Catholic theology.

“Firstly, it is one thing for some Christian refugee to come to a country and build some churches, and quite another for an apostle of Jesus Christ himself to appear in flesh and blood for spreading the Good News. If it can be established that Christianity is as ancient in India as the prevailing forms of Hinduism, no one can nail it down as an imported creed brought in by Western imperialism.

“Secondly, the Catholic Church in India stands badly in need of a spectacular martyr of its own. Unfortunately for it, St. Francis Xavier died a natural death and that, too, in a distant place. Hindus, too have persistently refused to oblige the Church in this respect, in spite of all provocations. The Church has to use its resources and churn out something. St. Thomas about whom nobody knows anything offers a ready-made martyr.

“Thirdly, the Catholic Church can malign the Brahmins more confidently. Brahmins have been the main target of its attack from the very beginning. Now it can be shown that the Brahmins have always been a vicious brood, so much so that they would not stop from murdering a holy man who was only telling God’s own truth to a tormented people.  At the same time, the religion of the Brahmins can be held responsible for their depravity.”

“Fourthly, the Catholics in India need not feel more uncomfortable when faced with historical evidence about their Church’s close cooperation with the Portuguese pirates, in committing abominable crimes against the Indian people. The commencement of the Church can be disentangled from the advent of the Portuguese by dating the Church to some distant past. The Church was here long before the Portuguese arrived. It was a mere coincidence that the Portuguese also called themselves Catholics. Guilt by association is groundless.

“Lastly, it is quite within the ken of Catholic theology to claim that a land which has been honored by the visit of an apostle has become a patrimony of the Catholic Church. India might have been a Hindu homeland from times immemorial, but since that auspicious moment when St. Thomas stepped on her soil, the Hindu claim stands cancelled. The country has belonged to the Catholic Church from the first century onwards, no matter how long the Church takes to conquer it completely for Christ.”

"What India gives us about Christianity in its midst is indeed nothing but pure fables." 

             - Alphonse Mingana, (1878 - 1937) was an Assyrian theologian, historian, and orientalist

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Pope Benedict XVI Denies St. Thomas Evangelized South India

A highly recommended book on The Myth of St. Thomas and the Mylapore Shiva Temple - By Ishwar Sharan.

 Ishwar Sharan also known as Swami Devananda Saraswati is the pen name of Canadian author, a Smarta Dasanani sannyasi who took his Vedic initiation from a renowned mahamandaleswar at Prayag in 1977.  He was brought in the foothills of western Canada in a God-fearing Protestant Christian family. 

Refer to Andhra Jyothy : Proselytizing Unlimited! - centreright.in. Refer to Christian conversion in Arunachal Pradesh

Refer to Church now has visa power! Congress-led UPA makes travel to India easy for missionaries  - By Sandhya Jain

***

Knowingly or unknowingly, he had in one stroke challenged the basis of Christianity in India and demolished long-held views of the Church here that St Thomas landed in Kerala, where he spread the gospel among Hindus. The comments were especially a letdown for the Syrian Christians of Kerala, who proudly trace their ancestry to upper-caste Hindus said to have been evangelized by St. Thomas upon his arrival in 52 AD.

The Pope’s original statement given out at St. Peter’s, was factually correct and reflected the geography of the Acts of Thomas, i.e. Syria, Parthia (Persia/Iran) and Gandhara (Western India/Pakistan). There is no historical evidence to support the tradition that St. Thomas came to South India, and on 13 November 1952 Vatican officials sent a message to Kerala Christians stating that the landing of St. Thomas at Muziris (Cranganore now Kodungallur) on 21 November 52 AD was “unverified”.

(source: The Myth of Saint Thomas and the Mylapore Shiva Temple - By Ishwar Sharan  p. 88- 89 and  185 - 197).  Refer to The Vatican’s hidden property empire – By David Leigh, Jean Francois Tanda & Jessica Benhamou

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Why Indians Should Reject St. Thomas And Christianity - says Koenraad Elst

Abandoning the lessons of a 5000year old Asian Civilization and accepting a 500 year old Western Civilization is illogical and foolish.

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Why Indians Should Reject St. Thomas And Christianity - By Koenraad Elst

Christians must acknowledge the historical fact that from Bethlehem to Madras, most of their sacred sites are booty won in campaigns of fraud and destruction

In the West we don’t hear much about it, and even in India it doesn’t make many headlines, but Hindu society is faced with a Christian problem besides the better known Muslim problem. One focus of this conflict is the history of Christian iconoclasm, which is not entirely finished, and which past history has crystallized into some hundreds of churches standing on the ruins of purposely demolished Hindu temples. This history of iconoclasm is not an accident: it is the logical outcome of Christian theology, particularly of its deep hostility towards non-Christian forms of worship.

Christian sacred places in Palestine

A book well worth reading for those engaged in controversies over sacred sites, in particular concerning Christian churches in South India, is Christians and the Holy Places by Joan Taylor, a historian from New Zealand. It shows that the places where Christians commemorate the birth and death of Jesus have nothing to do with Jesus, historically.

The Nativity Church in Bethlehem was built in the fourth century AD in forcible replacement of a Pagan place of worship, dedicated to the God Tammuz-Adonis. Until then, it had had no special significance for Christians, who considered pilgrimages to sacred places a Pagan practice anyway: you cannot concentrate in one place (hence, go on pilgrimage to) the Omnipresent. The concept of “sacred place” was introduced into Christianity by converts, especially at the time of Emperor Constantine’s switch to a pro-Christian state policy.

The Christian claim to Bethlehem as Jesus’s birthplace was a fraud from the beginning, as Cambridge historian Michael Arnheim has shown: through numerous contradictions and factual inaccuracies, the Gospel writers betray their intention to locate Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem at any cost, against all information available to them. The reason is that they had to make Jesus live up to an Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah was to be born there.

Constantine had the Venus temple demolished and the ground searched, and yes, his experts duly found the cross on which Jesus had died. They somehow assumed that their forebears of 33 AD had a habit of leaving or even burying crucifixion crosses at the places where they had been used, quod non. The Christian claim to the site of the Holy Cross is based on the dream of a gullible but fanatical woman, and fortified with a faked excavation.

Remember the Ayodhya debate, where Hindu scholars were challenged to produce ever more solid proof of the traditions underlying the sacredness of the controversial site? Whatever proof they came up with was automatically, without any inspection, dismissed by the high priests of secularism as “myth” and “faked evidence”. It was alleged that there was a “lack of proof” for the assumption that Rama ever lived there. But in the case of the Christian sacred places, we do not just have lack of proof that the religion’s claim is true, but we have positive proof that its claim is untrue, and that it was historically part of a campaign of fraud and destruction.

The stories of the Nativity and Holy Cross sites were trend setters in a huge campaign of christianization of Pagan sacred sites. Joan Taylor also mentions how the Aphrodite temple in Ein Karim near Jerusalem was demolished and replaced with the Nativity Church of John the Baptist. In the same period, all over the Roman Empire, Pagan places of worship were demolished, sacred groves chopped down and idols smashed by Christian preachers who replaced them with Christian relics which they themselves posted or “discovered” there, like the twenty-odd “only real” instances of Jesus’s venerable foreskin.

Pagan symbols and characters were superficially christianized. For example, Saint George and the archangel Michael, both depicted as slaying a dragon, are nothing but Christian names for the Indo-European myth of the dragon-slayer (in the Vedic version: Indra slaying Vrtra). The Pagan festivals of the winter solstice (Yuletide) and the spring equinox were deformed into the Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter. The Egyptian icon of the Mother Goddess Isis with her son Horus in her lap, very popular throughout the Roman Empire, was turned into the Madonna with the Babe Jesus. At the same time, devotees of the genuine Mother Goddess and enthusiasts of the genuine winter solstice festival were persecuted, their temples demolished or turned into churches.

This massive campaign of fraud and destruction was subsequently extended to the Germanic, Slavic and Baltic countries. Numerous ancient churches across Europe are so many Babri Masjids, containing or standing on the left-overs of so many Rama Janmabhoomi temples. Just after the christianization of Europe was completed with the forced conversion of Lithuania in the fifteenth century, the iconoclastic zeal was taken to America, and finally to Africa and Asia.

Christian impositions on India

India too has had its share of Christian iconoclasm.  (Refer to The Goa Inquisition - chapter on European Imperialism. Refer to Christian conversion in Arunachal Pradesh

The Holy Inquisition of Goa, India in all its glory

The Goa Inquisition

Saint” Francis Xavier described with glee the joy he felt when he saw the Hindu idols smashed and temples demolished.

Refer to The Goa Inquisition, Jalianwala Bagh Massacre and Puputan in Hindu Bali.

Refer to Yoga is evil - says the Vatican - telegraph.co.uk

Refer to 'Goa Inquisition was most merciless and cruel' and An account of the Inquisition at Goa, in India -  By Gabriel Dellon, Archibald Bower

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After the Portuguese settlement, hundreds of temples in and around the Portuguese-held territories were demolished, often to be replaced with Catholic churches. “Saint” Francis Xavier described with glee the joy he felt when he saw the Hindu idols smashed and temples demolished.

Most sixteenth and seventeenth century churches in India contain the rubble of demolished Hindu temples.

The French-held pockets witnessed some instances of Catholic fanaticism as well. Under British rule, Hindu places of worship in the population centres were generally left alone (some exceptions notwithstanding), but the tribal areas became the scene of culture murder by Catholic and Protestant missionaries. There are recent instances of desecration of tribal village shrines and sacred groves by Christians, assaults on Hindu processions both in the tribal belts and in the south, and attempts to turn the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari into a Virgin Mary shrine.

A Fraud on Hindus - Myth of St.Thomas

In South India, the myth of St. Thomas provided the background for a few instances of temple destruction at places falsely associated with his life and alleged martyrdom, especially the St. Thomas Church replacing the Mylapore Shiva Temple in Madras. In this case, the campaign of fraud is still continuing: till today, Christian writers continue to claim historical validity for the long-refuted story of the apostle Thomas coming to India and getting killed by jealous Brahmins.

The story is parallel to that of Jesus getting killed by the Jews, and it has indeed served as an argument in an elaborate Christian doctrine of anti-Brahminism which resembles Christian anti-Semitism to the detail. At any rate, it is a fraud.

Like the Native Americans, Hindu society will not be satisfied with a few cheap words.

As Hindu spokesman Arun Shourie writes: “By an accounting [of the calumnies heaped upon India and Hinduism] I do not of course mean some declaration saying, ‘Sorry’. By an accounting I mean that the calumnies would be listed; the grounds on which they were based would be listed, and the Church would declare whether, in the light of what is known now, the grounds were justified or not; and the motives which impelled those calumnies would be exhumed.”[10] This is actually an application of the rules of confession, one of the Catholic sacraments: it is not enough to ask for absolution from your sins, you first have to confess what sins you have actually committed.

The Church now claims that it is no longer the aggressive Church Militant of the old days, that its whole outlook has profoundly changed. Shourie lists five criteria by which we will know whether these changes are genuine:

• an honest accounting of the calumnies which the Church has heaped on India and Hinduism; informing Indian Christians and non-Christians about the findings of Bible scholarship;
• informing them about the impact of scientific progress on Church doctrine;
• acceptance that reality is multi-layered and that there are many ways of perceiving it;
• bringing the zeal for conversion in line with the recent declarations that salvation is possible through other religions as well.

I expect Church leaders to reply: “You cannot ask of the Indian Church to commit suicide like that!” But let us give them a chance.

Christian hostilities today

The Christian Churches in India are still continuing on a course of self-righteous aggression against the native society and culture.

Seldom have I seen such viper-like mischievousness as in the most recent strategies of the Christian mission in India. It is a viper with two teeth. On the one side, there is the gentle penetration through social and educational services, now compounded with a rhetoric of “inculturation”: glib talk of “dialogue”, “sharing”, “common ground”, fraudulent donning of Hindu robes by Christian monks, all calculated to fool Hindus about the continuity of the Christian striving to destroy Hinduism and replace it with the cult of Jesus. On the other side, there is a vicious attempt to delegitimize Hinduism as India’s native religion, and to mobilize the weaker sections of Hindu society against it with “blood and soil” slogans.

Therefore, “without any restriction”, Christians are teaching some sections of Hindu society hatred against other sections. You don’t normally try to create hostility between your friends, so the Church’s policy to pit sections of Hindu society against one another should be seen for what it is: an act of aggression, which warrants an active policy of self-defence and counter-attack. This counter-attack should take a proper form, adapted to the genius of Hinduism.

Why Christianity should be rejected

The Hindu response to Christian aggression should concentrate on consciousness-raising. Information should be widely disseminated on the two fundamental reasons why Christianity is totally unacceptable as an alternative to Hinduism.

The first is its historical record, with its destructive fanaticism as well as its opportunistic collaboration with whichever social force seemed most helpful to the Church’s expansion. Contrary to current propaganda, Christianity has historically supported feudalism, absolute kingship, slavery and apartheid, all properly justified with passages from the Bible. St. Peter and St. Paul gave a clear message to the oppressed of the world: “Slaves, accept with due submission the authority of your masters, not only if they are good and friendly, but even if they are harsh.” (1 Peter 2:18) And: “Slaves, be obedient to your earthly masters with devotion and simplicity, as if your obedience were directed to Christ Himself.” (Ephesians 6:5)

The other (and in my opinion the most important) fact about Christianity which ought to be the topic of an all-out education campaign, is the scientific certainty that its fundamental teachings are historically fraudulent, intellectually garbled, and psychologically morbid. Jesus was neither the son of a virgin mother nor the Only Begotten Son of God. Jesus’s perception of himself as the Messiah and the Son of God was a psycho-pathological condition, supported by hallucinations (especially the voice he heard during his baptism, the visions of the devil during his fast, the vision of Elijah and Moses on Mount Tabor), and partly caused by his most ordinary but traumatic shame of having been conceived out of wedlock. Numerous manipulations (interpolation, omission, antedating, deliberate mistakes of translation and interpretation) of the textual basis of Christian doctrine by the evangelists and other Church Fathers have been discovered, analyzed and explained in their historical context by competent Bible scholars, most of them working at Christian institutes

Its contorted and repressive attitude towards human sexuality is notoriously responsible for untold amounts of psychological suffering. Add the negative attitude towards worldly pursuits including science; the sentimental fixation on a single historical person with his idiosyncratic behaviour, extolled moreover to a divine status (Jews and Muslims have a point when they consider this the ultimate in “idolatry”); the concomitant depreciation of all other types of human character (artist, warrior, householder, humorist, renunciant) in favour of the pathetic antisocial type which Jesus represented; and the morbid love of martyrdom. Our list of Christianity’s failures is not complete, but is sufficient to justify the evaluation on which millions of Christian-born people have come to agree: Christianity is not true.

Historically, he was just one of the numerous antisocial preachers going around in troubled Palestine in the period of Roman rule.  He believed the End was near (definitely a failed prophecy, unless we redefine “near”), and had a rather high opinion of himself and of his role in the impending catastrophe. We can feel compassion for this thoroughly unhappy man with his miserably unsuccessful life, but we should not compensate him for his failure by elevating him to a super-human status; let alone worshipping him as Saviour and Son of God. Whatever the worth of values which Christians claim as theirs, nothing at all is gained by making people believe in a falsehood like the faith in Jesus Christ.

Life after Christianity

Let me speak from my own experience. I have grown up in a Catholic family, gone to Catholic schools, and am a member of Catholic social organizations, so in a sociological sense I belong to the Catholic community. Moreover, I publish articles defending the Christians against the Islamic onslaught in foreign countries as well as against cultural aggression by Left-secularists in my own country. I also like to point to the worthwhile contributions of the Church tradition and of Christian thinkers and artists against the sweeping anti-Christian positions of some of my atheist and Hindu friends. Yet, like most of my friends from the same background, I have gradually discovered that Christianity is an illusory belief system, and without any outside intellectual or other pressures, my attachment to it has dissolved.

Religion and morality still make sense after the demise of Christianity.

Back to pre-Christian roots

Though the decline of Christianity in the West brings a few problems with it, that is no reason to reverse the process. Instead, we are reconstructing religion and morality for ourselves. One of the sources of the post-Christian religious revival, numerically still marginal but of great symbolic significance, is the rediscovery of ancestral Paganism. Intellectually, this movement still lacks solidity and consistency, and finds itself associated with a variety of social and political concerns stretching across the ideological spectrum: ethnic revivalism, nationalism, ecologism, feminism, communitarianism, anarchism. Part of the reason is that in European Paganism, unlike in Hinduism, there is no historical continuity, so that (except for the well-documented Greek traditions) there is ample room for guessing and fantasizing about the historical contents of ancient Paganism: an open invitation to romantics and theosophists to project their own pet ideas onto the mute screen of the ancient religion. Perhaps that is why the most consistent neo-Pagan movement arose in Iceland, where the memory of ancient Paganism was best preserved.

The Goa Inquisition in India is regarded by all contemporary portrayals as the most violent inquisition ever executed by the Portuguese Catholic Church.

Part of Christianity’s appeal among Indian tribals and fishermen is the (waning, but still palpable) prestige of the West.

They should realize that the West is gradually opening up to the traditions of India and China, even while the elites of these countries are still spitting on their own heritage and pursuing westernization.

Refer to The Goa Inquisition, Jalianwala Bagh Massacre and Puputan in Hindu Bali.

Refer to Western Christian Imperialism vs. Non-Christian world – By Sandhya Jain

Refer to Church now has visa power! Congress-led UPA makes travel to India easy for missionaries  - By Sandhya Jain

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Meanwhile, the biggest actual challenge to Christianity in the West is the appeal of Oriental religions. Now long past the stage of beatnik experimentation with Zen Buddhism and hippie affectations of Indian lore, the Western daughter-schools of Asian schools of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism are gaining in authenticity and respectability as well as in attendance numbers. Some people formally convert and declare themselves followers of these religions; many more just practise the techniques they’ve learned and try to live according to the teachings, all while insisting on their individual non-attachment to any organized religion. Thus, in Germany (at least among natives, as opposed to the prolific Muslim immigrants), Buddhism is the fastest growing religion with some 300,000 practitioners. Even more far-reaching is the gradual penetration of small bits and pieces of Oriental heritage: most sportsmen as well as pregnant women preparing for birth now learn some elementary yogic breath control (prānāyāma) techniques, while even among Christian monks and nuns there is a substantial percentage who defy the Pope’s warnings and practise non-Christian forms of meditation.

Part of Christianity’s appeal among Indian tribals and fishermen is the (waning, but still palpable) prestige of the West. They should realize that the West is gradually opening up to the traditions of India and China, even while the elites of these countries are still spitting on their own heritage and pursuing westernization. Indians living in the middle of these traditions should have no problem finding a worthwhile alternative to Christianity. Even Dalits with a grudge against Hinduism should have no problem in rejecting the eager invitations of Christianity and Islam, and in following their leader Dr. Ambedkar onto the path of the Buddha. In time, closer study of the Buddha’s teachings may well reveal to them that, just as Jesus was a Jew, the Buddha was a Hindu.

Christianity against Paganism

It is interesting to see how the mild and harmless people who run the leftovers of the once powerful Churches in Europe suddenly show a streak of fanaticism when confronted with signs of life in the long-buried corpse of Paganism. In Iceland, the established Lutheran Church has intervened to stop the ongoing construction of a Pagan temple halfway; the government complied with the pressure and temporarily halted the construction work. In contemporary polemical publications from the Christian side, we see a boom in attacks on what is loosely called the New Age movement, meaning the mixed bag of feminist neo-witchcraft, ecologist philosophy (“deep ecology”), astrology, Pagan revivalism, Taoist health techniques and Hindu-Buddhist meditation.

The Pope himself has condemned yoga, and in January 1995, his derogatory utterances on Buddhism provoked an anti-Pope agitation during his visit to Sri Lanka.

By contrast, the Church leadership strongly opposes any serious criticism of Islam.

In India’s Hindu-Muslim conflict, the Christian media with their world-wide impact have thrown their weight completely behind the Islamic aggressor.

Churchmen have the (correct) impression that the Pagan alternative, though softer and weaker than Islam in a confrontational sense, ultimately has a stronger appeal to the educated Western mind.

Exclusivist revelations have no appeal among educated people, especially after they have acquainted themselves with the Vedantic or Buddhist philosophies.

Refer to the book - Our Moon Has Blood Clots: The Exodus of The Kashmiri Pandits - By Rahul Pandita (Random House India)

***

The reason for this uneven treatment of Paganism (in the broadest sense) and Islam is not merely the relative closeness of Islam as a fellow monotheist religion, nor just the fear which Islam inspires. Churchmen have the (correct) impression that the Pagan alternative, though softer and weaker than Islam in a confrontational sense, ultimately has a stronger appeal to the educated Western mind. They calculate that the better-educated mankind of the next century will typically go the way of today’s European intellectuals, rather than the way of today’s Black Muslims or Christian Dalits.

Islam’s money and muscle power may look impressive, certainly capable of doing some real damage to targeted countries and societies, but Islam has no chance of becoming the religion of a science-based, space-conquering world society.

Refer to Church of England apologises to Charles Darwin over theory of evolution and Vacating the Vatican: Ireland's diplomatic snub could make Vatican nightmares a reality - guardian.co.uk

Exclusivist revelations have no appeal among educated people, especially after they have acquainted themselves with the Vedantic or Buddhist philosophies.

That is why the Churches are investing huge resources in the battle for Asia’s mind, where they face their most formidable enemy.

That is why they are so active in India: not only is India’s atmosphere of religious freedom more hospitable to them than the conditions of Islamic countries, or even of non-Islamic countries where proselytization is prohibited (countries as divergent as China, Myanmar, Israel, and, at least formally, Nepal); but they also know and fear the intrinsic superiority of the Indian religion.

(source:  The Myth of Saint Thomas and the Mylapore Shiva Temple - By Ishwar Sharan).

Refer to What really happens inside a Catholic Church – says Sri K P Shibu and Things they don't tell you about Christianity and Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and Bishop Accountability.org

Refer to Details of Goa Inquisition – By  Dr. T. R. de Souza - At least from 1540 onwards, and in the island of Goa before that year, all the Hindu idols had been annihilated or had disappeared, all the temples had been destroyed and their sites and building material was in most cases utilized to erect new Christian Churches and chapels. Various viceregal and Church council decrees banished the Hindu priests from the Portuguese territories; the public practices of Hindu rites including marriage rites, were banned; the state took upon itself the task of bringing up Hindu orphan children; the Hindus were denied certain employments, while the Christians were preferred; it was ensured that the Hindus would not harass those who became Christians, and on the contrary, the Hindus were obliged to assemble periodically in Churches to listen to preaching or to the refutation of their religion."

The Goan inquisition is regarded by all contemporary portrayals as the most violent inquisition ever executed by the Portuguese Catholic Church.

It lasted from 1560 to 1812. The inquisition was set as a tribunal, headed by a judge, sent to Goa from Portugal and was assisted by two judicial henchmen. The judge was answerable to no one except to Lisbon and handed down punishments as he saw fit. The Inquisition Laws filled 230 pages and the palace where the Inquisition was conducted was known as the Big House and the Inquisition proceedings were always conducted behind closed shutters and closed doors. The screams of agony of the culprits (men, women, and children) could be heard in the streets, in the stillness of the night, as they were brutally interrogated, flogged, and slowly dismembered in front of their relatives. Eyelids were sliced off and extremities were amputated carefully, a person could remain conscious even though the only thing that remained was his torso and a head.

Refer to What famous people say about Christianity?

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Hastinapur, a Hindu Heaven in Argentina
India in South America

Hastinapur has a total area of twelve acres. Its population consists of a dozen Indian Gods and an equal number of Argentine human beings. Some of the Indian Gods reside in authentic temples filled with the scent of Indian agarbatties while others stay outdoor enjoying the fragrance of the flowers from the garden. Some are sitting or standing on the pedestals and others hang on the sides of walls and pillars. The Gods who have their own temples include Ganesh, Krishna, Surya, Narayana and Siva.

Since it is Hastinapur, there is a temple for Pandavas too. Hastinapur is clearly a place fit for the Gods, who should be pleased with the cleanliness of the place, the serene surroundings and the green garden with Rosewood trees. The only noise comes from the hundreds of birds nesting in the trees. Then there is the soft music of the devotees who sing Bhajans. It is indeed a divine place which inspires sacred thoughts and holy spirit.

Ganesh stands out in white against the greenery of the garden...

The Hastinapur temple and Lord Shiva statue in Argentina.

At the same time, there are thousands of Latin Americans who take Mahabharatha and Meditation more seriously than many Indians....

***

The dozen Argentines who live there look after the gods and the place. During weekend, the human population increases to over one hundred. The Argentines do not go there seeking favours as many Indians do in Tirupathi. They go there for wisdom. This is why Hastinapur is called as the City of Wisdom (ciudad de la sabiduria). Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning blesses the students through the sculptures all around the compound. The Argentines learn philosophy, read in the library, practise yoga and meditation and sing Bhajans.

Hastinapur does not have any godmen seeking fame and fortune and flaunting wealthy followers. It is an instituition to pursue pure wisdom, peace and divinity. Neither in the city nor in the website names of those who run the place are given. The founders and directors of the Hastinapura Foundation do not seek publicity. They are humble but devoted people. They have their professions as company managers, engineers or professors. They volunteer their time and talents for the foundation.

Hastinapur Foundation has published a number of books on Indian philosophy and translated Bhagwat Gita, Bhakti Sutras, Upanishads,Srimad Bhagwatam and Yoga Sutras. Their latest publication is Mahabharatha in Spanish.

Hastinapura Foundation was established by Ada Albrecht in 1981. She introduced Indian philosophy and became a Guru for the Argentines seeking wisdom. She wrote a number of books such as ¨The Saints and teachings of India¨ and ¨The teachings of the monks from Himalayas¨.

(source: Hastinapur, a Hindu Heaven in Argentina - hinduismtoday.com).

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Mahabharata in Chinese sold out, goes into second edition

Within months of its release, the first-ever Chinese version of the Mahabharata sold out last December. The second edition of the six-volume trans­lation of the epic is now under print and would be out in a few weeks.

There is a growing desire in China to learn about India's culture and traditions. "For a long time, Chinese scholars paid too much attention to the West. Now, there is a growing desire to know Indian civilisation and imbibe its wisdom," Huang Baosheng, who headed the five-member team of translators at Beijing University.

The Mahabharata's version comes several years after the Ramayana was translated into Chinese. Ji Xianlin, a Sanskrit scholar, secretly transla­ted the epic in 1976.

***

"The 5,000 sets released in the first edi­tion were bought not just by libraries ­as happens m the case of most such works - but also by ordinary readers," Huang, who is a teacher at the university's San­skrit department, said. The sets are mod­erately priced at 680 yuan (Rs 3,862) each.

Huang and his team worked for over 10 years translating the epic from the Sanskrit edition brought out by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune. The institute's version, Huang said, is the best of the epic in Sanskrit.

"The Chinese version has more than 30 illustrations taken from the original. The work has been appreciated by scholars around the world, including those from Harvard, who recently visit­ed us in Beijing."

The Mahabharata's version comes several years after the Ramayana was translated into Chinese. Ji Xianlin, a Sanskrit scholar, secretly transla­ted the epic in 1976.

Huang and most Sanskrit scholars in China are students of the 95-year-old Ji, who is now in hospital near the university. The other scholars involved in the Mahabharata project are Huang's wife Guo Liang Yun, and Ge Weijun, Li Nan and Duan Qin.

"In the beginning, we could not find a publisher as such works hardly earn profit," said Huang. But the team, was bailed out by the biggest government think-tank, the Chinese Academy of So­cial Sciences, which published it. "There are a lot of stories and philosophy in the Mahabharata and it is not easy to ren­der them in Chinese. That's why we took so long to translate the epic."

(source: Mahabharata in Chinese sold out, goes into second edition - timesofindia.com).

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Why Hinduism Is Science-proof

God is often a witness in court proceedings the world over. This is especially so when statements are made under oath with a hand on a holy book. But only in India , God can be both witness and litigant. That Ram Lalla filed a case claiming property in Ayodhya would have surprised secular societies elsewhere, but in India it is routine and unremarkable.

From this it might be tempting to argue that Christianity is intrinsically rational while Hinduism is not. That is not strictly true. Both depend ultimately on faith and, indeed, this is true of all religions. If Christianity looks different today it is not because it is inherently more reasonable, but that science forced it to become so. As Hinduism is an idol-centric religion, its core principles are of no consequence to science.

Christianity is a creation-centric religion. This is why it had to oppose modern science which, too, is creation-centric. The latter has taken strong positions on how life began, how day became night, and how our beings are energised. This is what compelled science and religion to go on a collision course in the western world. From the 16th century onwards, they were like two monster trucks driving in opposite directions on a one-way street.

Hinduism was spared all this. It worships divine heroes who step in and out of this world. They marry, procreate, win wars, and also have their share of losing. But at the end of the day they have the last word which is why their lives should be emulated. Hinduism makes no dogmatic declaration on how humans appeared on earth or on whether the sun is stationary or not. In India , our gods have never been challenged by science as they are not concerned about matters of creation.

This is why Hinduism has never felt the need to take on Newton, Galileo, Humphry Davy or Darwin, nor even Aryabhat or the Charvakyas. On the other hand, under science's onslaught, Christianity was in a doctrinal mess.

It had invested a lot in Aristotle-proofing the Bible, but that was beginning to fall apart. Adam and Eve and Noah's Ark soon began to appear as fables for the credible. Even our positioning on earth was now more about gravity than God.

Over time there were just too many bullets for Christianity to dodge. The Lutheran-inspired Reformation of the 16th century helped religion to make peace with science, but only after the Bible retreated on some of its principles. From then on Christianity had to accommodate reason in order to survive, but Hinduism never faced such compulsions. As it was idol-centric in character, faith in India could proceed unchecked by science; in fact, the twain need never meet.

Creation-centric Christianity could not ignore science. This is probably why, in retrospect, it was possible in Europe for the Renaissance to grow into the Reformation and finally into the Enlightenment. Protestant clerics soon became quite enthusiastic about science and believed with Michael Faraday that the work of God was just like science: neither irrational nor petulant, but orderly and dependable. Pascal from the Catholic side echoed a similar sentiment when he said that the Christian religion is not contrary to reason and, if it were, "our religion would be absurd, laughed at".

Many of the most remarkable western figures of science in the 17th and 18th centuries were trained by men of religion in their initial years. Humphry Davy was taught science in school by a Reverend J C Coryton; Robert Boyle by his village parson; Francis Bacon by John Whitgift, later to become Archbishop of Canterbury; Newton lucked in getting his lessons at home from his stepfather who was a minister and so did Robert Hooke from his father who was a curate. These scientists could now go to church and laboratory without a schism in their souls.

Indian Renaissance not only came 300 years later, but instead of questioning tradition it went about perfecting the Vedas. Thus, while the European Renaissance set the stage for the conflict between science and religion, no such thing happened here. Neither Swami Dayanand, nor Swami Vivekanand, nor the Brahmo Samajis are remembered for emphasising the scientific traditions of India 's past. Their most durable contribution is their skilful copy editing of Vedic texts.

This is why Hindus are not worried if their religion is "laughed at" by secularists. Ram Lalla can be a litigant as Hinduism's idol-centric nature protects it against physical and exact sciences. For this very reason though, Hinduism often runs afoul of history and the social sciences as these disciplines take issue with the idolised lifestyles of Hindu gods and goddesses, and with the veracity of their corporal presence on earth. Interestingly, while Christianity clashed with the physical and exact sciences in the West, in India , Hinduism has been threatened only by history and the social sciences. This conflict quickly takes on a political dimension as every layperson has a view on what is a good life. Social sciences, history included, thus lack the persuasive capacities of the natural sciences. If certain political compulsions arise, sociologists and historians can also be cast as subversive anti-nationals.

Consequently, the Hindu faith remains unchallenged by reason and Ram Lalla might even win his case someday.

(source: Why Hinduism Is Science-proof - timesofindia - November 8, 2010). Refer to Church of England apologises to Charles Darwin over theory of evolution

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Secularism is hailed from rooftops in India - by the Church - But is a threat in the West?

"The first inquisition was created 1184 annhialate the Cathar 'heresy' following a Crusade to do the same thing, not as a means of fighting witchcraft. All of the Inquisitions - e.g. the Medieval, the Episcopal, the Papal, the Roman, the Spanish and the Portugese - were created to eradicate differences in opinion among Christians; only the Roman way was permitted"

***

The recent Global survey based on Evangelical Christian leaders from 166 countries and territories invited to attend the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization (Cape Town, 2010) shows that Evangelical leaders in the Northern hemisphere consider secularism and popular culture a greater threat to Evangelical Christianity than Islam.

The Pew Research Center survey indicated that 47% of Evangelicals surveyed think that Islam is the main threat to Christianity, but 71% say that secularism is the biggest threat to Christianity. Two-thirds (67%) also agree that “too much emphasis on consumerism and material goods” is a major threat and 59% place “sex, violence and popular culture” alongside consumerism and materialism as major threats. About 64% agree that there is a “natural conflict” between being an evangelical and living in modern society, implying that many of them still look to pre-scientific agrarian societies as ideal religious society.

The Evangelical leaders display a pattern of religious intolerance. Most are generally more favorably disposed to belivers in othe Judeo-Christian religions like Judaism, Catholocism and Eastern Orthodoxy. But most are very unfavorable disposed to Buddhists (65%) Hindus (65%) and Muslims (67%). Theyare most unfavorably disposed to atheists (70%)

(source: Evangelical Leaders Think Secularism, not Islam, the Greatest Threat to Christianity).

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Did You Know?

First Sanskrit Manual in Romania

ROMANIA, April 13, 2011: Today the Dimitrie Cantemir Library hosts the launch of the first "Sanskrit Manual" in Romania, authored by Amita Bhose and released by the Cununi de stele Publishing House. Amita Bhose (Calcutta, 1933 - Bucharest,1992), a researcher of Eminescu's work, Doctor of Philology (1975, with the thesis "Indian Influences on Eminescu'sThought"), writer, translator and university professor, acted as a mediator between Romanian and Indian culture.

The "Sanskrit Manual" is the fruit of several years' work, based on her teaching experience at the University of Bucharest, where she taught optional courses of Bengali, Sanskrit and Indian Civilization.The manual, divided in three volumes, comprising nearly 600 pages in manuscript, is a pioneering work in the study of Sanskrit. In 1990 no such work existed in Romania or any other European language.Thus, the manual is a valuable instrument for all those interested in Sanskrit.

(source:  First Sanskrit Manual in Romania - hinduismtoday.com).    

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