'There is no doubt about the antiquity of Tamil Nadu.'
'It has the potential to sow seeds of furthering discord when the direction of the discourse is aimed at propagating the perceived supremacy of 'cultural nationalism' from a distant past over the prevailing dominance of 'Constitutional nationalism',' argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Archaeological sites like Keeladi, having remained buried for 2,500 years, have come out and speak now.'
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry carried out a review of municipal solid waste management in Indian cities in 2009, and found that only six of the 22 surveyed cities in the study had sanitary landfills, while 10 cities -- including major waste generators like New Delhi, Greater Mumbai (greatest generator of waste) and Kanpur -- did not have sanitary landfills.
'At Keeladi, we have not come across any evidence for organised religion.'
Nearly a week ahead of his Pakistan visit, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is upbeat and eager to visit historical places of the Indus valley civilization.
'India is a strange place.' 'On the one hand we have the most advanced science working on our origins and our ancestry.' 'On the other we are at war with ourselves over a temple to a god whom our first ancestors knew nothing of,' says Aakar Patel.
An IIT Delhi professor has been booked for alleged negligence following the death of a PhD student during excavation work near the archaeological site of Lothal in Gujarat. The incident occurred in November 2024 when the student, Surabhi Verma, died after a 10-foot deep excavation pit collapsed on her while she and her professor, Yama Dixit, were collecting soil samples. The FIR was registered based on a complaint by the student's father, alleging that Dixit's negligence led to Verma's death. Dixit has been charged with causing death by negligence and endangering life. The investigation revealed that the team was unaware of the high water level beneath the visible dry soil, and had not informed police or local authorities before starting the excavation.
Standing at the edge of Dholavira is witnessing history textbooks crammed in school coming to life. One is suddenly standing face to face with a 4,000-year-old civilisational site that is now but a ruin.
Take a look at Hrithik Roshan's film Mohenho Daro's poster.
Scientists have found that much of the Indus civilisation thrived around an extinct river, challenging ideas about how urbanisation in ancient cultures evolved.
Villages in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district are geared up to host Jallikattu, the controversial bull taming game, with many strict restrictions put in place following a Supreme Court order. A Ganesh Nadar takes a stock of the preparations.
'The Dancing Girl is only one of the many symbols they threaten today.' 'Our country is changing.' 'Elements that ought to have remained on the fringes have been handed power and control of a state on a platter.' 'With this, the party that persistently wooed us with its development agenda has arrogantly taken its mask off,' says Veenu Sandhu.
A Pakistani court on Thursday stopped the construction of a stage at the historic site of Mohenjodaro for an upcoming festival being spearheaded by Pakistan People's Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as a "cultural coup".
While Governor Ravi's speeches have put the local BJP supporters on the defensive in matters of religion and social justice, his add-on 'attack on the constitutional scheme' in the 'Senthil Balaji case', has been condemned squarely by many legal experts and editorial writers across the country, thus adding weight to CM Stalin's position -- at least until the courts come up with their binding views, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has collaborated with Grammy Award-winning Indian-American singer Falu for a special song to promote the benefits of millets and their potential to alleviate world hunger.
Stalin's personal intervention in the Adheenam row may have contained the avoidable political damage and social tensions at least for now, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
10 important things we've learned purely by watching Mohenjo Daro's extravagant trailer!
How should one billion Indians, for whom deprivation has become an inescapable way of life, join us in celebrating 75 years of Independence? And where do we go from here? asks Kalyan Singhal.
Sukanya Verma looks at all the movies he's made so far. Tell us your favourite in the poll.
The Indian high commission in London is making efforts to take the manuscript to India for display.
'Was there an element of orchestration between Mukherjee and Mohan Bhagwat about their speeches to the effect that the former would leave out any reference to Muslims while the RSS chief will not talk about a Hindu rashtra?' asks Amulya Ganguli.
'Ashutosh Gowariker's Mohenjo Daro does what many history books could not have done.' 'He awakens interest in the ancient civilisation of Harapppa and Mohenjo Daro,' says Asim Siddiqui.
All those of us who care about books should welcome the appointment, as head of the Indian Council of Historical Research, of Yellapragada Sudarshan Rao. This is not because Rao has so far distinguished himself as a writer about "history and tourism management", which is the department of Kakatiya University in Warangal he headed before retiring to head an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed project to "write history from a nationalist perspective and popularise Sanskrit", two aims which naturally go together for the RSS.
Modi hasn't raised or encouraged the raising of slogans such as 'Jai Sri Ram' at public meetings
'There is enough proof of science-driven research in the India of early centuries,' argues Kumar Abhishek.
This Haryana village believes it has 'found' the Saraswati river of the Vedas.
The earliest ones included whistles shaped like birds, toy monkeys that could slide down a string and small carts made from materials found in nature such as sticks, clay and rocks. While there might be no disputing India's rich toy-making tradition, the industry is languishing for lack of investment and technology, and also owing to competition from cheap imports. And though it has been listed among 24 key sectors under the government's Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, the question remains: will this push help place it in the global game? Currently, 80-odd per cent of the toys sold in India are imported - nearly 60 per cent of them from China.
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Akbar is rumoured to have once asked the navratnas of his court what the greatest pleasure in the world was. The stock answers came back: wealth, power, women, food, wine and so on, with the emperor's own contribution being hunting. Birbal was the outlier; he asserted that the greatest pleasure in the world was surely a good bowel movement.
Mohenjo Daro takes too long to get there and feels even longer than the time that's passed, feels Sukanya Verma.
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Looking for travel inspiration as you plan your summer vacation? Here's help.
Whether we flew aircraft or mastered plastic surgery is immaterial for modern India, what matters is if ancient Indians understood the science and art of settlement planning, architecture and governance of natural resources. This is the history we need to learn, says Sunita Narain
Sukanya Verma looks at some striking age gaps between the onscreen romantic couples of Hindi movies.
Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz emphasised that river Jhelum, on which the project is proposed to be built, is a 'symbol of our civilisation' and cannot lose the right of navigation on it.
But he has serious competition from Akshay Kumar, and Rustom.
'He was carrying his Indian passport. This seems like a very different sort of spy than the ones we see in movies, who carry fake passports and are highly trained,' says Aakar Patel.
In an age of patents and intellectual property rights, it would be improper to deny that yoga comes from the Hindu tradition, says Sankrant Sanu.
What better way to know a place than to learn its cuisine? Learn the art of working with terracotta and stoneware clay... ...If it's textiles that turn you on, a holiday in Jaipur could be just the thing for you.... ...Add an extra dimension to a holiday in spiritual Dharamsala by immersing yourself in Tibetan art...
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