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UP’s syncretic warrior cults facing Hindutva challenge
Be it the attack on the Gogamedi shrine in the Hanumangarh district of northern Rajasthan or the Neja Mela in the Sambhal district of western Uttar Pradesh, Hindutva’s systemic attack on India’s syncretic traditions, past and present, reveals its rigid and Brahmanical ideological orientation: imposition of a strictly hierarchical, exclusionary and structured notion of faith and practice
Political Power & narrow vision demonising Muslims, destroying harmony & defaming Varkari tradition says Sant Suhas Maharaj Phadtare: Trimbakeshwar row
The dhoop arti tradition at the Trimbakeshwar mandir is being demonised by narrow vested political interests, a cruel Brahminical tradition that cannot tolerate social harmony and syncretic culture says the renowned Varkari saint-philosopher from Satara, Suhas Maharasj Phadtare
SIT to probe Muslims offering respect from steps of Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra ?
A controversy has been created over a ritual being...
Reflections on a newly opened ‘cultural centre’ by the Ambanis in Mumbai
A walk through the newly opened Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre leaves the author with more questions than answers
Eid Mubarak: Mussalmans & a United Nation- India
First published on: 11 Nov 2016The Musalmans and a United...
A Malyalee festival that is not about killing, one that connects us to the earth: Vishu
Vishu, a festival of harvest, celebrated world over by Malyalees (Malyalis), is also the first day according to the Malyalam month, Medam, when the Sun reached the equator
Freedom from Communalism & Religious Intolerance was Bhagat Singh’s Ideal, Never Hindu Rashtra
Hindu Communalists have forever sought to appropriate the young and fiery martyr in Goebbellsian ways perpetuating lies and falsehoods that include falsely promoting February 14 (Valentine’s Day) as his Death Anniversary rather than March 23, when he was actually hanged
Mallika’s changes inspires Kerala Kalamandalam to keep in step with times
“I told the girls that they are free to do anything. We will shed all kinds of discrimination in the name of gender or caste. But, we will go about it slowly,” she said as reported in The Indian Express
Now Kabir Is Also a Pariah to the Hindu India
A few years ago, a Muslim professor at a university in Uttar Pradesh, called Kabir, anti-Muslim. Now, Hindus are also calling him anti-Hindu.
Hindus, Muslims Play Holi at Sufi Shrine in UP
The only Sufi shrine in the country where Holi is played, Dewa Sharif is known for its Hindu-Muslim unity with the priests here wearing traditional Hindu yellow robes
Nazeer Banarasi: Muslim Urdu Poet From The 20th Century Who Celebrated Indian Festivals Like Holi
Festivals in India weren't events of a religious nature, but rather cultural celebrations. The divisive discourse concerning religious festivals was introduced by the colonial rulers
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