PatnaDaily
A Journey of Faith and Realization
Shiva is one of the most popular gods in the Hindu pantheon. One can find a Shiva temple or at least a Shiva Chabutra (platform) in almost every village of India.
According to legend, when gods churned the ocean, alongside many good things, Garal or poison also appeared. This started to cause widespread destruction. To save the earth, Shiva consumed the poison, thereby earning the name Neelkanth ( the Blue throated god).
As a child, I had seen the multitudes of saffron clad Kanwarias at the Patna Junction railway station. I had read about it in the popular Hindi magazine Dharamyug during my school days in 70’s. But beyond that, it was a world quite different from my world.
History Writing to the Rescue against Sectarian Nationalism
Ram Puniyani
February 13, 2021
India currently is in the grip of ‘constructed Hate’. This in turn has led to violence against vulnerable sections of society, particularly religious minorities and dalits. As such one understands that love is a natural phenomenon and Hatred is generally a phenomenon constructed around misconceptions about the targeted sections of society. These targeted sections of society have to bear the brunt of the violence. The major source of misconceptions is the interpretation of history, which nationalism in the name of religion interprets in a way to suit is political agenda.
Photo: Wikipedia
A name-game has started with the onset of New Year. This time, there s a concerted and consolidated effort to rename Aurangabad in Maharashtra as Sambhaji Nagar. In fact, hardcore Shiv Sainiks have been using the name Sambhaji Nagar in lieu of Aurangabad for nearly two decades because their party founder Bal Thackeray had renamed it Sambhaji Nagar (after the name of Shivaji s son) a quarter of a century ago. Now the question is: Was Aurangzeb so bad and vicious as to be condemned as the Worst Mughal , to quote Indian (precisely, Hindu) historians Sacchidanand Sinha and Ishwari Prasad?