By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Kumbh Mela reveals a side of Hinduism that is often not talked about. There are no temples, no gods, no devotion, no songs, no saints. It is primarily a ritual, dominated by boisterous masculine energy embodied in naked ascetics (digambara), covered with ash (bhabhut), with matted…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Lions have long been symbols of royalty across the world. In India, kings sat on lion thrones (simha-asana) and Durga, the patron goddess of royal households, is shown riding into battle on a lion. Uniquely, in our country, lions are also linked with ascetics and their…

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist The four yugas of Hindu mythology (Krita, Treta, Dvapara, Kali) are based on the numbers on traditional four-sided dice: four, three, two, one. They refer to the four legs of the bull of dharma. In the ideal age, the bull stands on four legs, in the age…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist Once upon a time, there was a king called Trishanku who wanted access to Swarga, the paradise of the gods, located in the sky. But unfortunately, he was not good enough. Different versions give us different reasons: that he had committed adultery, that he had consumed…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist For nearly 2,000 years, Arab traders used the monsoon winds to travel across the sea to India. Along the Western coasts, in Kerala, Karnataka and Goa, they met people who allowed them to marry their daughters, but did not let them take these wives back home….

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist In the popular understanding of Ramayana, Sita gave birth to twins Luv and Kush who challenged their father and defeated him in battle and restored the dignity of Sita. However, in the many re-tellings of Ramayana found across the world, we learn Sita delivered only one…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist A king would visit the temple every morning to receive flowers offered to the deity at dawn, when the temple doors opened. But one day, the priest was so busy enjoying the company of the temple dancer that he forgot to perform the morning rituals. When…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist The word kushalava in Sanskrit literature like Manusmriti and Arthashastra refer to low-born travelling entertainers. This feels strange as Kusha and Lava are the names of Ram’s twin sons — Ram who is the greatest king of Indian lore. In Sikh folklore, endorsed by the 18th…

By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist The oldest Indian mythology of rice can be found among the Bonda tribal people, who live in Odisha, who are linked to the Munda and Austroasiatic communities who entered India from the Southeast, and brought rice growing technology with them over 4,000 years ago.  The Bonda…