The Battle of Bobbili – A British Account

It’s a small fort, a petty bickering between two local Zamindars. But, the valour of the defendants made it legendary. While Orme said four ordinary soldiers, legend says the stabbing work was done by Tandra Papa Rayudu, the brother-in-law of Ranga Rao and his commander of chief, who was based at Rajam. The soldiers of Vijaya Rama …

Hindi as National Language – Bulveristic Impositon or Voluntary Acceptance?

There was an image from somewhere in Karnataka where Hindi was struck on a distance marker, with only Hindi visible. A snide comment by a South Indian(lets call him SI) to a comment criticizing it, made by a Hindi Mother Tongue(lets call him HM) led to the usual acerbic cultural divide which is starkly visible …

Highway Liquor Ban and the likes – Who should decide?

Sometimes, you don’t exactly know whether the things happening around you are correct are wrong. The trigger for this article is one such news which a few days ago – Supreme Court bans liquor outlets within 500m from national highways and state highways. Today, there is another – Madras High Court orders asked Tamil Nadu …

Max Mueller’s comments on Dara Shikoh’s translation of the Upanishads

Well, they have got a penchant for spellings and then, they decide they are superiors for everything and it takes 200 long years for the Europeans to understand what Dara wrote? And the irony is, what they are reading is a Latin translation of the Persian translation of a Sanskrit book, that too a free …

Yayati Cursing Turu – Defining a Mlechcha

The story is all too known. Yayati summons his sons and asks them to give him their youth in lieu of the crown as a mollification of the curse Sukra gives him. All his sons reject and finally, Puru, the youngest, surrenders his youth. Sourced from Chapter 78, Bhumi Khanda of Padma Purana, below is what …

An account of Rudramahalaya Temple

From Hindu Temples – What happened to Them Well, the only liberality I took is appending the original poem quoted by Nainasiri in full from the book Munhata Nainsiri Khyat. The Note from the Government of Gujarat says that the Rudramahalaya was built by Siddharaja Jayasimha in the 12th century and that it had eleven …

Ghazni – Is he a Champion of Islam or is he a Just Another Conquer?

Below is what Tarikh-i-Sultan Mahmud-i-Ghaznavi(I don't know it's antecedents) says over Mahmud of Ghazni. 1. The father of the King was the Amir Sabaktagin, and his mother was the daughter of a noble of Zabalistan, for this reason he is (sometimes) called 'Zabali,” 2. Another time the Sultan again sent him a letter, and wrote …

Islamic Invasion of India or another Internecine Border War?

It's been long I saw this image and may be in the same location itself. This tells one very important thing, how the Muslims sweated to take over India. 550 long years to gain permanent foot hold in the country is no mean task if there is no external support. The graph shows there are three …

A Speech in support of Sanskrit by Pandit Lakshmi Kanta Maitra

Really, a sumptuous read. Very rarely, you come across such a powerful speech of a very good quality. Mr. President, at the very outset I must apologise to you and to the House for my absence from the House when it commenced its sitting and when you were pleased to call me to speak to …

Aurangzeb’s Will

So, he really knit caps and copied Quran…And wonder why be became that dejected - is it because he foresaw the failure of his behemoth of an empire or suddenly became repentent for his ten thousand sins? "Praise to be God and blessing on those servants [of Him] who have become sanctified and have given …