By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In the early days of Buddhism, Buddha was represented by a symbol: a footprint or a wheel or a pot or a tree. Later, less than 2,000 years ago, we see the earliest images of the Buddha in the Gandhara region (modern Pakistan and Afghanistan) as…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Have you noticed that Jesus Christ is thin and Santa Claus is fat? Have you noticed that Christmas is increasingly less about the birth of the Christian Saviour, and more about snow, reindeer and coniferous trees, none of which were around when Jesus was born in…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist One thing that often goes unnoticed in many traditional Hindu temples is that the walls of the shrine is made of a circle of women. Some of these are musicians, some dancers, some undressing, some adorning themselves for lovers, some clinging to trees, some being teased…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist A thousand years ago, India was very different from what it is today. North India had yet to face significant conquest by Muslim warlords from Central Asia. Sailors travelled from India’s coast to South East Asia taking advantage of the summer monsoon winds. When the winds…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist To the North of Iraq live the people known as Yazidis, roughly half a million in number, who have been mercilessly hunted down by the rabid hordes of the Islamic State (ISIS) on grounds that they are Devil-worshippers. In reality, Yazidis have a unique belief system…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist For the past 2,000 years, maybe even earlier, the Tuluva people have lived in Tulu Nadu, the coastal kingdom of Alva Kheda, once ruled by the Aupas, referred to in the writings of ancient Roman mariners. The symbol of this kingdom, with twin fishes, is very…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Hindus believe that knowledge (“veda” in Sanskrit) comes not from a human source, but from nature at large. This knowledge reveals itself to one who is clear in mind and pure of body. Such a person is called a rishi, which means ‘one who can see…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Come Diwali, everyone revisits the story of this festival. It is what people do during festivals, trying to understand their origin. Some seek rational explanations: it is harvest time, and so time to party, for example. Some are happy with narrative explanations that are indifferent to…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist It is curious that the practice of lighting lamps seems integral to Hinduism today, but it was not a dominant one in Vedic times, when the fire-altar of the yagna took centre-stage. Perhaps its entry as a ritual owes much to non-Vedic Hinduism.  Lamps slip into…