City of Vijayanagara: November: 1442 A.D — in the words of Abdur Razzak “Having left this mountain and this forest behind me, I reached a town called Belour, the houses of which were like palaces…… …..The city of Bidjanagar is such that the pupil of the eye has never seen a place like it, and the ear... Continue Reading →
The Childhood of Sri Madhwacharya
Sri Madhwacharya, the great vedanta acharya, who propagated the siddanta of tattvavada, was born in the 13th Century at Pajaka, near Udupi, Karnataka. There are two dates — 1199 C.E and 1238 C.E — that is proposed by scholars as his date of birth. But 1238 C.E is the more widely accepted date. There is, however, no confusion over... Continue Reading →
Udupi Paryaya: A Unique Tradition
On the 18th of January 2018, Sri Sri Vidyadheesha Tirtha Swamiji of the Sri Palimaru Matha will be taking over the responsibility of worshipping the Lord Krishna murthy at Udupi. This occasion is known as the “paryaya” mahotsava and is a unique tradition in the entire world — and one that has survived for nearly 500 years!... Continue Reading →
Tradition as ‘Essential Religious Practice’ under Sanatana Dharma
Post independence, the Hindu religion, or more appropriately sanatana dharma, has been the focus of “reform” both by our ruling dispensation and by the judiciary. Our Constitution itself provides for such a reform by mandating it as a clause under the Right to Religion. Due to this attitude, the Hindu religion has been constantly targeted... Continue Reading →
The Aspirations of the Majority
Dear Narendra Modi ji and Amit Shah ji: Many congratulations on yet another fantastic electoral performance in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The BJP juggernaut just keeps on rolling. May it continue to do so for a long time. Many pundits are saying the reduced margin of victory this time in Gujarat is indicative of an... Continue Reading →
Agnipariksha is on; Rama shall soon reunite with Sita!
The erudite Sri @upanishadist has written a wonderful post on the ongoing Rama Janma Bhoomi issue, asking if Sri Rama shall return to his home at last. It is a very moving, emotional piece. Although a far lesser mortal, I too felt compelled to write a few words on this issue. Not because it is... Continue Reading →
Scriptural & Sculptural Evidences related to Rama in the Dvaita Tradition
In an earlier post, I had briefly mentioned about collating a list of scriptural and sculptural evidences in the Dvaita tradition of Sri Madhvacharya, in order to complement the exhaustive list of evidences compiled by Ms Meenakshi Jain, in her book “Rama and Ayodhya”. The present post is an attempt at the same. In the... Continue Reading →
Did Sri Vadiraja Tirtha hint about destruction of Rama Mandir at Ayodhya?
Introduction In her seminal work, “Rama & Ayodhya”, Ms Meenakshi Jain has given great details about the scriptural, sculptural and epigraphic evidences for Lord Rama. This was done to counter some absurd objections as part of the Rama Janmabhumi dispute where it was alleged that worship of Lord Rama as Vishnu’s avatara was an extremely... Continue Reading →
Festivities: Opening the Door to Moksha
The ultimate goal of every individual following the path of sanatana dharma is to obtain moksha — salvation — mukti. To be free from samsara — the cycle of birth and death. To be part of HIM. Or be a part of HIS abode. Or be like HIM. Or just be close to HIM. But then, not everyone gets moksha. Not... Continue Reading →
From Saifai to Ayodhya: The Right Shift
For decades now, the people of Uttar Pradesh have been under rulers who made it difficult, even shameful, to think of themselves as Hindus. The people of the land of Kashi, Mathura and Ayodhya used to wonder whether it was safe for them to even engage in their religious practices. The rulers spent Government money... Continue Reading →
