'Even among scientists and technology mavens -- typically communities that tend to view the world through the lens of logos or reason and not mythos, there is a shiny-eyed enthusiasm for the mythical world,' says Arundhuti Dasgupta.
Five stories of rape and sexual assault from the epics are particularly useful in offering an insight into the way rape works in India, says Nilanjana S Roy
Director Sanjay Gupta talks about his latest release.
On Sunday, a swayamvaram of the kind we have only heard of in ancient India took place at a college hall in Tamil Nadu. The participants choosing their own spouses were an unusual group of people. A Ganesh Nadar was present at the heart-warming occasion.
Terming the agitation for Ram temple the biggest since India's freedom movement, he said it was aimed at the outcome which the verdict has made possible.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi greeted people on the occasion of Dussehra and Eid-ul-Zuha.
VHP national working president Alok Kumar also rejected questions about the muhurta of the event, saying the 'best advice' has been taken including from the Head of the Jyotish Department of the Banaras Hindu University on timing of the ceremony.
Kumari, a lion-hearted 15-year-old, cycled all the way from Gurugram in Haryana to Bihar's Darbhanga district with her incapacitated father Mohan Paswan seated on the carrier. Now the father-daughter duo is at a quarantine centre near their village Sirhulli under Singhwara block of the district.
In an embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party which has spearheaded the Ram Temple movement and Hindutva agenda, the party's Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani today termed Ram, the protagonist of Ramayana, as a 'bad husband'.
The relative ranking of castes can vary across regions and localities and depends on a number of factors including control over land, wealth, and political power. Castes have often tried to 'upgrade' themselves (a process sociologists refer to as Sanskritization), and sometimes get 'downgraded'. A revealing excerpt from Upinder Singh's Ancient India: Culture Of Contradictions.
He also washed the feet of sanitation workers at the 'Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar' programme in Prayagraj.
Since 2015, Odisha has been embroiled in a bitter battle over the origin of the delicacy with West Bengal, which had in 2017 secured the GI tag for 'Banglar Rasogolla'.
Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament Maneka Gandhi on Saturday took out a leaf from Ramayana to support Team Anna's entry into electoral politics, saying a confident Ravana had dismissed Lord Rama's army as "monkeys and bears" but ended up vanquished.
For the idea called Arvind Kejriwal to succeed, it is important that he has a Rahul Dravid approach to the game. A Yusuf Pathan like pinch-hitter innings won't do, says TS Sudhir
Declaring that the right of reputation cannot be protected at the cost of right of life and dignity, a Delhi court on Wednesday threw out former Union minister and editor M J Akbar's criminal defamation suit against journalist Priya Ramani who has accused him of sexual harassment.
It further said that the epic Valmiki's Ramayana, whose composition dated back to the period Before Christ (BC), was the main source of knowledge of Lord Ram and his deeds.
'It is unfortunate that the Congress has always been apologetic when it came to respecting Hindu religion'
Mahendra Nath Pandeysaid that Gandhi has "no gotra", going by the traditional male lineage.
Congress is the only other horse in the race for national power, never mind how distant. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah know better than to take the Congress lightly, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Ravanayan, a graphic novel created by comic book writer Vijayendra Mohanty and artist Vivek Goel, attempts yet another re-telling of the timeless Ramayana, this time from Ravana's perspective, says Sanchari Bhattacharya.
We bring you a presentation of some of the best photos from around the world in the month gone by.
'The condition in Bengal is such that if you chant Jai Shri Ram, you would be put behind bars
'The administration was not ready for (my) release, but I have been released because of the prayers of people.'
Tiger Shroff has got the goods of a solid action hero but it's time to step out of the show reel space and shine under an actual script and a skilled hand, feels Sukanya Verma.
A day after calling Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi an "Amul baby", Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Monday described Defence Minister A K Antony as Kumbakarna, saying he was caught napping when terrorists attacked Mumbai.
'What is proposed is that we tax payers pay Rs 1,000 per month to selected JanDhan accounts of poor families.' 'I am sure there are at least 10 crore Indians for whom Rs 1,000 is no big deal.'
Leaders, including the President and Vice President, react to the bhoomi pujan of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Adityanath spent hours reviewing the arrangements for the ceremony at the Ram Janmabhoomi, where the temple will be constructed following the go-ahead last year by the Supreme Court.
At Ganesh Galli, one of Mumbai's oldest pandals, a team of more than 60 workers came together to create Ayodhya's Ram Mandir.
Kapil Mishra had been invited because he was an "anti-corruption crusader", one 'IIT B for Bharat' organiser said. But in his half hour-long speech, Mishra didn't mention corruption. His entire focus was on the long "battle" Hindus had fought for their identity.
Rahman stays true to the element of Ratnam's vision as there's never any attempt to show off or introduce unnecessary elements.
If there is anything that would convince world famous Hollywood director James Cameron to make a film in India, it would be its popular ancient epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
One of the popular legends behind Diwali is that it marks Lord Rama's return from exile. Sanjay Patel presents the story before from Ramayana: The Divine Loophole.
Count among The Light of Asia's many, many admirers over 132 years: Gandhi, Tagore, Vivekananda, Nehru and Ambedkar, Tolstoy and Kipling, Yeats and Eliot, Alfred Nobel, Dmitri Mendeleev and C V Raman. Jairam Ramesh reveals why he decided to write a book on Edwin Arnold, who wrote The Light of Asia.
How A R Rahman and writer Gulzar interpreted the film's central character.
The government on Wednesday named nine out of 15 members of the 'Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teertha Kshetra' trust constituted for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya as mandated by the Supreme Court. Here's all you need to know about the members of the trust who have been named so far.
Sakshi Khanna has been brushing up his acting skills.
Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said on Wednesday that Lord Ram during his 14-year exile helped tribals earn their rights and rejected criticism that he had equated the legendary figure with Naxalites in his epic Shree Ramayana Mahanveshanam.
