Article/Essay
 24 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
“Whoever has entered rooms which used to house volumes, maybe over the course of centuries, is aware of the feeling of holding ancient documents and books, and can imagine the emotion to give a new life to works that a long sleep has laid still for years. Through the bookseller’s search there ... Read More
 24 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
Article:
18 Libraries Every Book Lover Should Visit In Their Lifetime
By Asta Thrastardottir
Business Insider

If you love books, libraries are some of the most spectacular buildings in the world.

To celebrate these monumentally important buildings, we've complied a list of the most magnificent ... Read More
 12 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
Article:
The Man Who Purchased Kashmir
By R.S.Gull
Published in Kashmir Life - June 2015

It was extraordinary for an illiterate man to evolve into a crafty warlord who worked for others to create his own empire. Promoted by Khalsa Durbar, he allied with the East India Company, and eventually rai... Read More
 11 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
Essay:
Colonial India - British versus Indian Views of Development
By Bipan Chandra

Two divergent theories of economic development were evolved by the British and Indians during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The two had divergent, rival perceptions of the nature of economic changes... Read More
 10 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
Book review:
The Inordinately Strange Life of Dyce Sombre by Michael H Fisher.
By William Dalrymple
The Guardian - 2010

William Dalrymple marvels at the tragic and extraordinary life of Britain's first Anglo-Indian MP.

At around 4am on 21 September 1843, a man recently certified as a lunatic es... Read More
 9 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
Essay:
England's First Non-European Civil Servant
By Jennifer Howes

This portrait is of Raja Ram Roy, the first non-European to be employed within the British Civil Service. When he arrived in Europe in 1831, it was never his intention to work in London. However, circumstances altered the fortun... Read More
 8 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
The Gayatri Mantra

The verse:
Om bhoor bhuvah svaha,
Tat Savitur varenyam,
Bhargo devasya dheemahi,
Dheeyo yonah prachodayat.

The translation:
"We meditate on the adorable glory of the radiant sun; may he inspire our intelligence."

What is mentioned, and what is not

Try a thought experiment. ... Read More
 8 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
Goddess Gayatri and History of Gayatri Mantra

Extract from: Hindu Gods and Goddesses
By Swami Harshananda
Published by Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Mysore - 1982

Gayatri Devi is an incarnation of Saraswati Devi, consort of Lord Brahma, symbolising the "shakti" (strength) and "dev" (quality) of Know... Read More
 6 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
Essay:
The ‘Evolution’ Of Hindu Gods
By Anil Kumar Suri
Swarajya

How did the current Hindu pantheon come to be? Given below is a brief introduction to an essay on the topic by Anil Kumar Suri. Link to full essay is given at the end of the introduction.

How did Hinduism come to have the deitie... Read More
 5 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
Article:
How Siva evolved over the years
By Rohini Bakshi
daily O

In truth the divine is unknowable, and to try and find his origins is a reckless task.

In part 1 of this series on Siva we touched upon the presence and development of Rudra as he appears in texts before the beginning of the comm... Read More
 5 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
Article:
Why Śiva is the most mysterious of all Hindu gods
By Rohini Bakshi
daily O

A lot of questions remain unanswered about the widely revered deity.

Of all the deities in the Hindu pantheon, by far the most complex and mysterious to me is Śiva. Devotees and scholars alike have attempted to ... Read More
 2 Aug 2015 Article/Essay
Essay:
The Pernicious Effects Of The Misinterpreted Greek Synchronism In Ancient Indian History.
By Kosla Vepa PhD
Paper presented at The ICIH 2009, Delhi, India

Read Online:

http://bit.ly/1MEcbLN

It was F E Pargiter, who introduced the notion of a Synchronism in Indian Historiography, in one ... Read More
 30 Jul 2015 Article/Essay
Article:
Buddhism: Origin, Spread and Decline
By Pankaj Jain
The Huffington Post

Contemporary Indian Society and Buddhism's origin

A keen observer of the world history may notice a pendulous motion. At one end of the pendulum's swing is the society immersed in crass materialism, Pravritti (lite... Read More
 27 Jul 2015 Article/Essay
History of the Somnath Temple, Gujarat

The Someshwar Mahadev temple stands tall among the temples of India. The construction of the present temple in Junagadh district began in 1947. It is the seventh temple built to commemorate the glory of Lord Somnath who is said to have known as Bhairaveshwa... Read More
 26 Jul 2015 Article/Essay
Article:
Nalanda and the pursuit of science
By Amartya Sen
The Hindu - 24 January 2011

‘Nalanda stood for the passion of propagating knowledge, understanding.' Amartya Sen's keynote address at the 98th Indian Science Congress in Chennai on January 4.

The subject of this talk is Nalanda and the ... Read More
 26 Jul 2015 Article/Essay
Essay:
The Nalanda debate - Grist to the reactionary mill
The above account mentions the fortress of Bihar as the target of Bakhtiyar’s attack.
By D.N.Jha
Indian Express - 9 July 2014

I was amused to read ‘How History was Made up at Nalanda’ by Arun Shourie who has dished out to readers his ign... Read More
 26 Jul 2015 Article/Essay
Essay:
How history was made up at Nalanda
The story behind a Marxist historian’s story of its destruction by ‘Hindu fanatics’.
By Arun Shourie
Indian Express - 28 June 2014

“The mine of learning, honoured Nalanda” — that is how the 16th-17th century Tibetan historian, Taranath, referred to the u... Read More
 25 Jul 2015 Article/Essay
An article on RBSI:
A rare kind of book club
By Shrabonti Bagchi
Times of India - 25 July 2015

"...there is a need for us to go to primary sources to know more about historical events and personalities and form an opinion. The intermediation of historians, who always bring their own set of biase... Read More
 26 Jun 2015 Article/Essay
Essay:
The Islamization of Yoga in the Amrtakunda Translations
By Professor Carl W. Ernst
Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Read and download pdf:

http://bit.ly/1LtZNgP Read More
 25 Jun 2015 Article/Essay
Essay:
Muslim Interpreters of Yoga
By Carl W. Ernst

Read more:

http://bit.ly/1Ls0Qhh

Yoga is perhaps the most successful Indian export in the global marketplace of spirituality. In terms of religious associations, it is most often juxtaposed with the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, though it is... Read More