Hinduism Articles

 

Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands of which 7,000 are inhabited. Java is one of the larger islands with several volcanic peaks. These are considered sacred because the volcanic ash makes the land fertile. The mountains collect river water that irrigate the fields. Around Mount Merapi, we find great temples built here between the 8th and 9th century by the local Shailendra and Sanjay kings. They built the Prambanan Hindu temple. We know they are tantric because an aerial view reveals that they are built on radially symmetrical square-shaped mandalas with four doorways.  The Hindu site of Prambanan is designed like a court. There is a central court. The peripheral part is made of hundreds of small temples, arranged in four rows. These tiny temples house minor gods from around the universe, and the countryside, which pay obeisance to the central court. In the central court, we find a temple to Shiva. In this temple are also images of Ganesh, Durga, and Agastya, Shiva’s favourite

by  Shri Datta Swami There is a misunderstanding that women were suppressed in Hinduism without independence. People quote Manu Smruti in this context, which says that woman should not be independent (Na stree svatantryamarhati…). But, the same Manu says that women should be worshipped to please God (Yatranaryastu pujyante ramante tatra devatah…). Both these contradict each other. If you do not give even basic independence to somebody, how can you worship him or her? Will you worship a person without independence, put in prison? This means that the first statement of Manu is misinterpreted. The actual meaning of first statement is that women should not move independently without escort because she is weak in physical constitution to fight against anyone attacking her. Moreover, women are always associated with golden ornaments and there is every probability of attack on her by thieves. Therefore, she needs protection and hence, Manu said that the women must be accompanied by her father

Outlook Magzine Latest Issue P.A. Krishnan UPDATED: 29 OCT 2022 7:12 PM What indeed was the religion of the Tamil land during Rajaraja’s days, which were in the 10th and 11th centuries of the Common Era? What was its religion in earlier times, say, in the early centuries of the Common Era? The answers to these questions are easily available to all those who care to read some basic history books, written by real scholars. But Tamil Nadu is a strange place. In the popular imagination, its history is conjured, right out of thin air, by scores of regional and linguistic chauvinists.  But in the jejune world of media, chauvinism is often mistaken for serious scholarship and most in the media unerringly choose those who often make spectacular statements about the antiquity and the uniqueness of Tamil. Since these statements give Tamil a high, unapproachable and hoary pedestal, they are seldom questioned. Religion in the Sangam period Without doubt, Tamil is an ancient language with an enviab