The juggernaut yatra The English word ‘juggernauť, meaning a large overpowering object, gets its origin from the raths or chariots at the annual Rath Yatra in Puri, held every year in June. For centuries, thousands of pilgrims have pulled the three chariots of Jagannath, Subhadra,...
Heroes and heroines in Indian comics-expert exponents of Kalaripayattu Kalaripayattu, the 900-year-old combat art form from Kerala, is described as a “psychophysical” exercise because it uses physical rigour to discipline the mind. It has now inspired a graphic novel titled ‘Odayan’. It was conceived by...
First written account of the Kumbh Mela People of all faiths worldwide flock to the Kumbh Mela, a primarily Hindu congregation, which is also the world’s largest religious gathering. The ‘once every-144-year Maha Kumbh’ that last took place in 2013 saw 100 million pilgrims take...
The shastra to use astras Ashtavaidyan Vaidyamadham Cheriya Narayanan Namboodiri, who passed away in 2013, was very keen that the 1300 bundles of ancient manuscripts in his possession be digitised, so that knowledge about culture, history, customs, religion, environment, Ayurveda, and other sciences could be...
Handwritten and block-printed books Thiksay Gompa is the largest monastery in Ladakh. It is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Yellow Hat (Gelugpa) sect, set atop a hill, 19 km from Leh. It bears a remarkable resemblance to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. One...
An introduction to one of the translated poems reads 1932 at Shanti Niketan: While being a guest of a great Indian poet, with his personal help, I have prepared a small present for Lithuanians. This is a pearl of Tagore’s work called ‘Fruit Gathering’. This...
Tagore translations in Lithuanian A Lithuanian traveller, explorer and anthropologist, Antanas Poska travelled to India on a motorbike all the way from Vilnius, in Lithuania, in 1929! In the course of his stay in India, Poska became an ardent fan of Rabindranath Tagore and reportedly...
Most languages per state According to The People’s Linguistic Survey of India, Arunachal Pradesh tops the list of states with the most languages, with over 90 variations. Assam and Orissa feature next. Maharashtra ranks higher than the Hindi belt (made up of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,...
Languages in India: losses and gains in 50 years On September 5, 2013, a new survey of Indian languages, entitled The People’s Linguistic Survey of India (one of the largest in the world) was released. The enormous exercise was conducted under the supervision of the...
Utterly Butterly delicious Amul The story of Amul- Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) – and how its late chairperson, Dr. Verghese Kurien, made the cooperative a roaring success in the country, is well-known. Equally well-known and well-loved are its ‘utterly-butterly’ delightful advertisements and...
