By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist We are familiar with that false idea that the left brain grants us logical thinking and mathematics and the right brain grants us creativity and abstract thinking, and that students of science and commerce have left brain orientation while students of the arts have right brain…

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Ravana-podi means burning effigies of Ravana. In the Gangetic plains, this happens at the end of autumn Navaratri after the rains on Vijaya Dashami. In Odisha’s Dasapalla, Nayagarh district, the same happens at the end of the spring Navaratri before the rains on Ram Navami. However, in…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In prehistoric times, people captured a hunting ground or agricultural land or pastures by claiming that is where the ancestor was buried. Burial was an important ritual invented by ancient people to claim rights over lands. Later, they invented stories to claim land. The Maori say…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Nationalists want to believe that Hinduism existed homogeneously across the Indian subcontinent (Akhand Bharat) since time immemorial. However, everyone who studies history knows this is not true. Harappan civilisation thrived 4,000 years ago only in NorthWest India. Vedic civilisation emerged 3,000 years ago only in Gangetic…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Giving in Hindu society can be categorised in three ways: dakshina, bhiksha and daan. Dakshina is repayment. Bhiksha is alms. Daan is charity. But meanings are often confusing, as people use the same term differently in different contexts. In Vedic times, poets were given daan. And…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist The story of Bhramari Devi comes to us from Andhra Pradesh’s Mallikarjuna temple. It is said that there was an asura called Arunasura. He had asked for protection from all creatures that have no legs, two legs or four legs. This meant he was protected from…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist A very common motif found in Indian art is the lion standing on top of the elephant, defeating it. These images are called the Gaja-Simha images, Gaja meaning the elephant and Simha meaning the lion. Some Orientalist scholars have tried to explain this image as the…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist The Rig Vedic hymns were composed over 3,000 years ago, most probably by children of men who migrated into India with horses from Central Asia, and married local women. The hymns mostly reveal the valours of the fathers, but occasionally the longings of the mother. The…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Sankhya and Yoga form the building blocks of Indian philosophy. Sankhya means “enumeration.” To understand this philosophy, we have to compare and contrast it with yoga. Yoga means “union” with “vi-yoga” meaning separation and “su-yoga” meaning “good alignment.” Now, when things are separated, you can list…

Ganesha, the elephant-headed God of Hindus, is renowned for his huge belly, which is a symbol of affluence and abundance. His elephant head evokes power. His vehicle, or vahana, is a tiny mouse, which is known to overcome barriers, and find its way into storehouses, find food and hoard it. Rats are notorious to catch….