Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route from Europe to India by sailing around Africa, bypassing Arab intermediaries. He landed at Calicut (Kozhikode) with the help of a Gujarati pilot. His arrogance angered the Zamorin (ruler of Calicut) and local Muslim traders, pushing him toward alliances with their rivals in Cochin and Cannanore. The Portuguese later defeated an Egyptian Mamluk fleet at Chaul, near Mumbai in 1508, weakening Arab dominance over the Indian–Arab trade. Da Gama eventually became Portuguese viceroy after Goa was conquered. He thought Hindus were debased Christians and, like many of his contemporaries, carried deep hostility toward Muslims. His fleet even burnt pilgrims aboard a ship returning from Mecca. The Wikimedia image of a painting in National Library of Portugal shows Vasco da Gama before the King of Portugal.

‘Brahma’ implies ‘tapasya’ or penance, and ‘Charini’ means “female follower.” Devi Parvati went for severe tapasya to attain Shiva as her husband on the advice of Narada. She suffered many hazards from nature and, towards the end, refused to eat even a leaf. This probably explains the name Aparna. Parna means “leaf.” Watching her pitiable condition, her mother Mena was very pained. In Kalidasa’s Kumarsambhavam, Parvati’s mother tells her not to do penance anymore, or “U Ma.” Ma means “No.” U is for stressing the “No.” She is thus known as Uma.
She holds a rosary (aksharmala) and a water pot (kamandalam). Maa Brahmacharini brings good fortune and is an inspiration to move forward in life. She is energy that is not stagnant or inert but moving infinitely. Her hymn states, “Devi praseedatu mayi brahmacharinyanuttama” i.e. “O devi, Shower your bliss on me, Goddess Brahmacharini, the uncomparable or the highest one.”

Picture Credit: Kerala Mural by Swetha Sridharan

‘Shaila’ means “mountains,” and ‘Putri’ means “daughter.” She is the daughter of Himavan (Himalaya) & his wife Mena and is also called Parvati (from the mountain – Parvat). In her previous birth, she was Sati, the daughter of Daksha Prajapati. Sati married Shiva but immolated herself at her father’s yagna when Daksha humiliated Shiva. She is reincarnated as Shakti and needs to draw Shiva out from ascetic isolation for the sake of the universe.
Riding a bullock, the Devi has a lance in her right hand and a lotus flower in her left. On the path of Yoga, She represents the highest peak or the highest level of consciousness. When you reach the peak of any experience or feeling, you experience the emergence of the Divine consciousness. Her hymn states, “Vande vaanchitha labhaya…” i.e. “I Worship the one who can attain or fulfills one’s wishes.”

Picture Credit: Kerala Mural by Swetha Sridharan

British reformer Annie Besant (1847-1933) vigorously supported socialism, birth control, trade unionism, and rights of women. She was involved with the theosophical society, founded the home rule league and served as the first woman president of the Indian National congress. She explored the Gita through two translations and two lecture series. She used terms from Christian theology to establish Gita’s secret message that needs to be unveiled.
Besant presents yoga not as a specific philosophical-religious tradition (as it is treated classically) but as a universal method of spiritual development. Gita is a “scripture of Yoga which means harmony with the Divine Law, the becoming one with the Divine Life, harmony with the highest self.” Kurukṣetra represents the “battlefield of the soul,” Arjuna the struggling soul, and Krishna the “Logos of the Soul.” Gita is a lesson for all “aspiring souls” in East and West who have the same goal but approach it differently.
Source: Angelika Malinar, ‘ The Great Unveiling : Annie Besant and the Bhagvad Gita’, University of Zurich

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhay was an enigma. He was born in 1838 and had an English education. He served 30 years in the British administration in Bengal. During this time he wrote exquisite Bengali novels, mostly with a subtle anti-British message. The poem ‘Vande Mataram’ from his novel ‘Anand Math’ was the popular song of freedom fighters. It became the national song after independence and it has the same status as the national anthem. Ironically, he needed grace marks to pass the Bengali language paper for his graduation; but in his later years, he wrote scholarly works on our traditions.
A great devotee of Krishna, he wrote ‘Krishna Charitra’ to “discuss Krishna’s human nature.” He wrote, “what is hidden under the make-believe stories of my God is something pure, an ideal character as Krishna has no parallel in human history.” The methodology he used to unravel the ‘historical Krishna’ became a template for many future researchers.
Source: “Krishna Charitra,” Translated by Alo Shome
Picture from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68590649

The medal is of bronze and circular in shape. On its obverse ( front) side it carries four replicas of Indra’s Vajra ( Thunderbolt) with the State emblem including the motto embossed in the centre. On its Reverse side the words Param Vir Chakra are embossed both in Hindi and English with two lotus flowers between the words. It has a plane purple ribbon attached to it .

The choice of Vajra as the motif for the Param Vir Chakra is an appropriate one. It was the Amogh Astra (unfailing weapon) and is part of Rig Veda. It was used by Indra, the Lord of Rains. Vritra is the embodiment of drought. Vritra had arrested the rivers, stopped their flow and kept them captive in his fortress causing a drought. Indra used Vajra to kill Vritra.

Indradyumna was the King of Avanti. He was blessed to build the Puri Jagannath temple and to sculpt the deities. The making of the chariot for the Rath Yatra also starts on the Akshaya Tritiya day. The King Indradyumna appointed an acharya for the construction of the chariot on Akshaya Tritiya. The acharya himself will cut part of a tree and then ask a carpenter to carry out the rest of the work. Lord Jagannath also prescribed the festivals and rituals the King should follow at the temple and mentioned that on Akshaya Tritiya, the deity should be smeared with an abundance of sandalwood.

Interestingly, in another temple at Simhachalam (near Vishapakatnam), south of Puri, a different ritual related to sandalwood application takes place. The Narasimha deity is always covered with sandalwood and therefore full darshan is not possible at any day of the year. On Akshaya Tritiya day alone, the sandalwood paste is removed and the devotees can have the darshana of Narasimha Swamy. Source: Skanda Purana; MV Satyanarayana. Sri Jagannatha Kshetra Mahatyam.

Pictrue – Indradyumna Sarovar at Puri

Kempa Gowda was born in Yelahanka, now a suburb of Bengaluru. His family were vassals of Yelehanka for the Vijayanagara empire. In 1537, he erected a mud fort and started a township within it with the permission of the Vijayanagara emperor. He called it the Bengaluru Fort. Contrary to popular stories about the name Bengaluru being linked to Brinjal or Bengal gram, historical inscriptions refer to Bengaluru from 1200 years back.

The fort consisted of eight gates, referring to now popular areas such as Halsoor, Anekal, Kengeri and Yelehanka. He shifted his capital from Yelehanka to Bengaluru. Numerous “pete” areas came up within the fort dedicated to particular professions and goods. The fort is near the areas of Nagarathpet and Chikpet. Kempa Gowda made the mistake of minting his own coin which infuriated the Vijayanagar emperor. Kempa Gowda was imprisoned for five years as a result.

The fort was improved by Tipu Sultan and was eventually brought down the British. Shivaji’s father obtained a Jagir for the Fort and surrounding areas from the Bijapur sultanate. The area passed on to Shivaji’s stepbrother who then lost the Fort to Aurangzeb’s army. They later on sold it to the Wodeyar’s of Mysore.

Source: Fazlul Hasan, “Bangalore through the Centuries.”

The picture is of the remains of Bangalore Fort

Daksha was the Son of Brahma. His daughter Sati was married to Shiva, Rudra. Daksha was performing a great yagna lasting many many years. Daksha felt offended as Rudra did not pay respects to him during the yagna. Since then Rudra and Daksha were not in good terms. Daksha continued the Yagna.

As the Yagna was nearing culmination, several Devas were headed there. Sati heard about this and wished to go to her father’s house. She told Rudra that the rightful place for a daughter then is to be at her father’s place. Rudra advised her against going citing that Daksha would not respect her. Sati did not pay heed and went to the Yagna without Rudra.

As predicted by Rudra, Sati was humiliated at the Yagna. Unable to bear this, she gave up her life in the Yagna. Rudra became ferocious on hearing this news. He took the form of Veerabhadra. His head touched the skies. His three eyes resembled three suns. He wore a garland of skulls. He reduced the place of Yagna to ashes. He then beheaded Daksha.

He picked up the body of Sati and started Tandava, the dance of destruction. Frightened by the Tandava the Devas pleaded to Vishnu to stop the destruction. Vishnu cut off the body of Sati into several parts with his Sudarshana Chakra so that Rudra would eventually stop the Tandava. The body parts of Sati fell into 51 sacred tirthas all over India which are called Shakti Peeths.

The site of Yagna is in Kankhal close to Haridwar in Uttarakhand. The picture is of the Daksheshwara temple in Kankhal.

Picture Credit: SR Ramanujam

Nataraja is the most aesthetic form of Shiva, blending force and grace. According to Hindu belief, all life is a part of the great rhythmic process of creation and destruction. Shiva”s dance symbolizes the eternal life-death rhythm going on in an endless cycle.

Shiva is the presiding deity of Bharatanatya, the art and science of dancing. He has danced all the hundred and eight kinds of dances the Bharatanatya talks about.

The most famous temple for Nataraja is in Chidambaram. Beautiful deities of Nataraja are also seen near Kancheepuram. Several temples in Tamil Nadu have a shrine dedicated to Nataraja.

This bronze sculpture is in Chennai Egmore museum. It is set against an artificial backdrop of the cosmos.

Picture Credit: SR Ramanujam

Yajnavalkya is credited with key sections of the Brhadaranyaka, the oldest Upanishad. He was the disciple of Vaishyampayana, who was himself a student of Ved Vyasa who first narrated the Mahabharata.

Yajnavalkya had a dispute with his Guru on the composition of the Yajur Veda. He left his Guru and implored Surya to become his preceptor instead. Surya advised Yajnavalkya to venerate Sarasvati, who then blessed him with the knowledge of the Vedas. After that, he composed his own version of the Yajur Veda called Shukla Yajur Veda. He did so by separating the prose portion of the original Yajur Veda (called Krishna Yajur Veda) into the Satapatha Brahmana and streamlining both portions. The whole story is narrated in the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata wherein Sarasvati is referred as Veda-mata.

By the time of the composition of Mahabharata, Sarasvati had transitioned from a river & Goddess of Speech to Goddess of Learning. The lives of the two sages also implies  that the events of Mahabharata war were at the same time as that of the oldest Upanishads.

The sculpture is Yajnavalkya teaching Brahma Vidya to King Janaka

Source: Source: Mahabharata Section CCCXIX, sacred-texts.com

The original copies of the Indian Constitution were meticulously handwritten in both English and Hindi. For legal purposes, the English version is considered the authoritative text. Calligrapher Prem Bihari Narain Raizada (Saxena) single-handedly wrote the entire Constitution in a flowing italic style, completing the monumental task over six months.

He worked in a dedicated room within the Constitution Hall (now the Constitution Club), using parchment sheets measuring 16 x 22 inches, designed to last a thousand years. The final manuscript comprised 251 pages, weighed 3.75 kilograms, and stands as a masterpiece of artistic craftsmanship.

Raizada declined any monetary compensation for his work but requested that his name, along with his grandfather’s (who was also his teacher), be inscribed in the document. This request was honored, and their names appear at the end of the original Constitution, forever linking his legacy to India’s founding document. The Hindi version of the Constitution was calligraphed by Vasant Krishan Vaidya. Both original copies are preserved in helium-filled cases in the Parliament Library, ensuring their protection and longevity.

Source: https://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/2021/Jan/engpdf/26-28.pdf