Tag: Mahabharata

MF Husain’s Idea of India as a ‘Museum without Walls’

M.F. Husain is one of India’s greatest artists, whose life and works have been as celebrated as controversial. On his death anniversary, Sahapedia and DAG offer a retrospective on his contribution to modern Indian art.

June 9, 2019

Ramdev files FIR against Sitaram Yechury for calling Ramayana, Mahabharata violent

Yechury has been accused of hurting the sentiments of Hindus.

May 5, 2019

Our mythological birds

The Homa bird, of Vedic times, lives and breeds in the air, lays eggs in the air, and, before the eggs reach the earth, they hatch and the baby bird flies upward to join its mother. Persian, Turkish and Sufi poets praise them as divine birds, and birds of paradise

March 13, 2019

Hanuman: A symbol of unity

Though Lord Hanuman is a popular Hindu deity, he is not confined to Hinduism alone and the legendary persona can be traced in Jainism and Buddhism as well. He is found in legends and arts even out side the Indian subcontinent such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand.

December 30, 2018

The dishonoured Air Chief

Is India a banana republic? The answer is an emphatic 'No'. Yet, why does a political stalwart, who and whose political party had the pleasure and privilege of ruling India for 55 years, publicly target and viciously denigrate the incumbent Indian Air Force chief? Why this humiliation? Especially, on a day, when the Chinese foreign minister, Wang, and a military delegation from Beijing are in town? How happy will the Chinese be? Will, they not celebrate? Elated to see helplessness of the dishonoured serving Air Chief.

December 29, 2018

Kangra Fort: History in stone

The Kangra Fort dates back to the period of the Mahabharata.

November 19, 2018

In Chautala battle, Ajay sees Duryodhana in brother

Ajay's two sons Dushyant Chautala and Digvijay Chautala were expelled from the party by their grandfather and INLD president Om Prakash Chautala for anti-party activities.

November 15, 2018

Riverine divinity to polluted lifeline

This river is no ordinary image in which the divine has come to dwell. She is celestial – unmediated and immediate. Whatever is holy, whatever is merciful, whatever is utterly auspicious is already there. (Ganga: The Goddess Ganges in Hindu Sacred Geography by Diana L. Eck) The Ganges, from being a riverine divinity to an...

October 18, 2018

New chapter of history

Fields during excavations at Sinauli village of Baghpat district has opened a new chapter for archaeologists and historians. These discoveries could be an important link between the period of second urbanisation and early time of cultural society in the Indian Subcontinent. Enthused by the discovery of chariot , swords, shields, etc., some historians believe that...

June 17, 2018

A vexed moral authority

A very fine point is made in analysing the presence of violent death in the epic. Akbar perceptively called it Razmnama — the Book of War. As in the Greek epics, its depiction is devoid of bodily pain. Death is the truth Bhishma encounters willingly... A review

June 3, 2018

Internet existed during Mahabharata era: Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb

  Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Tuesday claimed that Internet and satellite communication existed in the days of Mahabharata. “Internet and satellite communication had existed in the days of Mahabharata. Sanjaya (the charioteer of king Dhritarashtra) using the technology gave a detailed account and description to the blind king about the battle of...

April 18, 2018

Concept of universal sovereignty

This well-bound volume is essential reading for any indologist interested in the Harivamsha... A review

April 14, 2018

Indian film industry is citadel of secularism: Javed Akhtar

The Indian film industry is a citadel of secularism where there’s no scope for communal bias, says veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar. “I had joined the film industry in 1965 on a salary of 50 rupees a month. In these 53 years, not for a second, I have experienced or even seen any communal bias in...

March 28, 2018

Birthday Special: Shaheer Sheikh and his 5 different TV shades

Shaheer Sheikh is the heartthrob of Indian television and he has been a part of the industry for 13 years now. The dashing actor has wooed us with his sharp features and intense look. Shaheer won hearts with his acting in many TV serials like Navya and recently with Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi....

March 26, 2018

Aamir Khan gears up for Rs 1000-crore ‘Mahabharata’ after ‘Thugs…’

Superstar Aamir Khan is all set to star in Mahabharata, whose estimated cost is Rs 1000 crore, after completing Thugs of Hindostan. Yes, Mahabharata will be a Rs 1000-crore film and it will be backed by business tycoon Mukesh Ambani. The film will reportedly be the most expensive film of Bollywood and one of the most expensive...

March 21, 2018

Mahmood Farooqui returns to theatre after acquittal in rape case

After facing legal battles and incarceration for an alleged rape, theatre personality and “Peepli Live” co-producer Mahmood Farooqui is a free man and ready to return to his first love, theatre, with a play based on the “Mahabharata”. Farooqui’s wife and filmmaker Anusha Rizvi says the fight is not yet over. “We are slowly getting...

January 23, 2018

More about the epic battles

While Valmiki speaks of one Ravana, in subsequent tellings of Ramakatha, we find several Ravanas, each more powerful than the others, most of them more monstrous and gruesome, including a Ravana with one hundred thousand heads instead of the ten heads we are familiar with! One other major change we notice in these tellings is...

December 2, 2017