Neha Gohil, Editor
A London exhibition of paintings by Indian artist M. F. Hussain was cancelled after unidentified vandals defaced erotic paintings of Durga and Draupadi, which certain Hindu groups had been campaigning against. The attack caused an estimated £200,000 of damage. The closure of the art gallery sends a dangeous message to both the Hindu community as well as to the general British public…
With the start of the football World Cup there has been a lot of talk about how the fans from various countries are going to behave in Germany. In particular, there has been quite a bit of news about England fans singing and chanting about World War II and poking fun at Germany’s Nazi past. To glorify Nazism is illegal in Germany and people there still tend to be a bit cagey and reserved about expressing nationalism.
by David Frawley
Hindu images have been used for every sort of commercialism, from being put on shoes in France to even toilet seats in the US. Hindu sacred chants have been used as the background for erotic scenes in modern movies. Yet it was only after making significant protests that Hindu concerns have even registered in the media. This is largely because the world media, dominated by western religious views, did not even consider a Hindu point of view as existent until Hindus began their protests.
“Boys from good families don’t wear earrings,” I was told by my mum several years ago. I was determined to get my ears pierced, and my parents were equally determined not to let me. One day, while my family was watching an episode of the Mahabharata on TV, something struck me, that had slipped my notice up until then. Virtually all of the male characters had earrings, including the revered Shri Krishna. “Ha-ha,” I thought to myself, lets see how they argue against this one.
As time goes by, we are seeing more mandirs being built in Britain. These tend to be larger, fancier and costlier than the earlier ones - reflecting increased affluence and resolve on the part of temple builders. But is this really where our community should be placing our money and resources?
Kalarippayatt is one of the great martial arts of India. Not many people are aware of India’s vast heritage of armed and unarmed fighting arts, but in recent years Kalarippayatt has become better known.
Kalarippayatt (Kalari) literally means ‘battle ground training’. The foremost practitioner and teacher of Kalari in the UK is Paul Whitrod, who runs a full time martial arts centre in the busy Stratford area of London. Paul specialises in the ‘Tekkan’ or ‘Southern’ style of Kalari. The other famous style of Kalari is the ‘Vadakan’, or ‘Northern’ Kalari. According to traditional beliefs, the famous sage Agastya was the founder of the Tekkan system, while Parshuram (the wrathful Avatar of Lord Vishnu) founded the Vadakan style.
Although not born a Hindu, David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri) was to become one of the leading Hindu experts on the Vedas, and has authored a number of influential books on various facets of Hinduism, as well as Hindu social and political issues. He is currently director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies. It is with great pleasure that Hindu Voice UK bring to you this interview, the first interview that David Frawley has given for a long while.
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“The Upanishads - what (or who!) are they?”This would be the response of many Hindus of today if asked about the Upanishads!
The Upanishads are in fact Hindu scriptures. They can be thought of as portions of the Vedas, but are also separate texts in their own right. They form the basis of what is known as ‘Vedanta’, meaning ‘the end of the Vedas’, implying that the Upanishads can be thought of as the essence of the Vedas. They have a very important place in Hinduism, forming the basis of mainstream Hindu philosophy, and being accorded an authoritative status by most almost every sect.
Leaders of India’s Jain community are currently debating whether or not to accept the Central Government’s offer of being reclassified as a non-Hindu minority.
Post-Independence, the Supreme Court of India determined that the term ‘Hindu’ should cover any person following a religion which is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, because this was the historical meaning of the term Hindu. This definition naturally included Jains as Hindus. However, some Jains had argued for non-Hindu status, saying that they have a very distinct identity and belief system. Others had offered the opposing argument that Hinduism is so diverse in its beliefs and customs, that the individuality of any particular sect has never been threatened. The current Government of India has revived the issue by making an offer of non-Hindu status to Jains.
