The Masters of tens of millions of lives live here. They rule from a barrack-like building, set in grounds holding huge masonry structures that look like enormous versions of a child’s geometry set. And, in a way, that is what those edifices are. They were constructed over 275 years ago by Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur, governor of Ujjain.

For centuries, Hindus crowded the banks of the Yamuna for religious ceremonies. Today, no one can take a dip even on festivals because the river overflows with filth, effluents, dirt and even dead bodies. It is a sorry tale all the way from Haryana to Delhi to Uttar Pradesh, disappointing the religious minded in places like Vrindavan, Mathura and Agra in particular.

The temple of Lord Jagannath at Puri, a coastal town near Bay of Bengal popularly known "Mahodadhi" occupies a distinct place in the entire religious world. The word "Puri" has been derived from "Purusottam Puri", which is the fundamental and original essence of Hindu philosophy. Both the temple and the Lords have a deep impact on the social life of people.

India has a long, continuous and cumulative tradition of commentaries on seminal intellectual texts. Knowledge has always enjoyed a privileged status in India; the sheer amount of knowledgeliterature, text of knowledge available in Sanskrit, is amazing. There is (i) the availability of the text, (ii) the ability to understand the text, and (iii) the relevance of the text.

Nandinagari script is the western variety of the archaic Nagari script of northern India. Nandinagari is also found in the inscriptions and manuscripts available in the western part of a few southern states; for example, south Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. That is why Nandinagari is also known as southern variety of Nagari.

The Kumbh Mela, believed to be the largest religious gathering on earth, is held every 12 years on the banks of the Triveni Sangam - the confluence of the holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. Here, the pale yellow water of the Ganges merges with the brilliant blue-green of the Yamuna.

Agnihotra is one of the five great duties (pancamahayajna) of every householder. Even in the student life, a brahmacari is expected to perform the same in his/her gurukula. It has been an integral part of the Indian tradition that every marriage ceremony includes agnihotra. So much so that the young man and woman, as the bridegroom and the bride, conduct the same as their very first act together soon after taking the vows to live together.

Ayurveda, the Indian system of medicine, refers broadly to the ‘knowledge of life’ and is based on ‘life’ (ayus) and ‘knowledge’ (veda). During the last few centuries, although there have only been negligible changes in the philosophical background, theories and concepts of Ayurveda, a number of significant developments, modifications and additions have occurred in the applied aspects of Ayurveda.

As reported in an article by Charles Arthur in the June 8, 1999 edition of The Independent in England, new information has been gathered by scientists at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, India, regarding how the glaciers in the Himalayas are retreating. As we had explained, the glacier above Gangotri, from which the Ganges River starts, has retreated about one kilometer in the past 20 years or so.

"Ralph Waldo Emerson was the first American to pioneer the serious exploration of Indian philosophy, and as his own thinking grew over time, Indian philosophy profoundly influenced the course of that growth. This book thoroughly investigates the ways in which the scriptures of India shaped the maturing Transcendentalism of this great Amerian thinker.

Historians who are interested in democracy often insist it must be understood in context of a unique western tradition of political development beginning with the Greeks. The spread of democratic ideals and practice to other cultures, or their failure to spread, have many times been explained on the assumption that democracy or personal liberty are ideals foreign to the non-Western world  an assumption at least as old as Herodotus

Unlike the Ganesh Cult, the Kartikeya cult was confined to South India only. In the Vedic calendar, the sixth day of a lunar month (Sasthi) is considered sacred to Kartikeya. Tradition has it that he married Valli, a forest maid, and Devasena, the daughter of Indra. According to the Puranas, he was born as the son of Lord Siva and Devi Parvati to kill the demon Tarakasura.

Traditionally, vyakarana and nirukta are shared across all four Vedas, while each Veda has its own shiksha, chandas, kalpa and jyotiisha. The Vedangas are first mentioned in the Mundaka Upanishad as topics to be observed by students of the Vedas. Later, they developed into independent disciplines, each with its own corpus of Sutras. As described in Wikipedia, kalpa is one of the six disciplines of Vedanga, treating ritual.

The Goddess Mahalakshmi is connected with 'Mahat Lakshana', i.e. having noble characteristics. Lokamataa: 'World Mother'. She is the mother of all the people of the world, distributing affections and nourishment equally to everybody. Ramaa:  'Beautiful'. She likes to be connected with the beautiful (ramya) nature (prakrti) of human life.

The technology of Vastu architecture lays enormous emphasis on the selection of the building site for human habitation. Vastu science looks upon the Earth as a living organism with its origin in the primordial energy. The Vastu Shastras address the energy contained in the Earth as "Vastu Purusha" where "Purusha" means the subtle energy that permeates the Earth and "Vastu" is the material body of the Earth that evolved out of that energy.

In "Vyasa and Valmiki" Sri Aurobindo refers to a “recent article of the Indian Review” on the date of the Mahabharata war praising it as “an unusually able and searching (or almost conclusive) paper”. It was Velandai Gopala Aiyer’s “The Date of the Mahabharata War” published in Vol. II, January-December 1901 of this monthly journal (Indian Review) edited by G.A.Natesan. Sri Aurobindo was obviously fully convinced by Aiyer’s arguments, because elsewhere he writes, “It is now known beyond reasonable doubt that the Mahabharata war was fought out in or about 1190 B.C.”

The history and organization of the eight monasteries known as Ashta-Matts) in Udupi, Karnataka established by Sri Madhvacharya are most interesting. Udupi is one of the rarest Hindu religious centers, where the customs and routines as practiced by its founder have not been altered significantly for over seven centuries.In the late 13th century, Sri Madhvacharya established the Krishna temple and the eight monasteries in Udupi. For seven centuries the monasteries have served as the bastions of Vaishnavism in India.

Pushpaka Brahmins are a class of Brahmins in Kerala who show attributes of both the Brahmins and Kshatriyas. Hence this caste is generally considered as an intermediate caste between Brahmins and Kshatriyas. They are commonly known as Arddhabrahmanar, i.e. Semi-Brahmins. They carry on the various activities of the temple, though not the actual ceremonies. Pushpakas lived on the income of the temple and were under its care. They are generally clubbed under the Ambalavasi community in Kerala.

Some think that the name Namboothiri is derived from 'Nambu' meaning sacred (in Prakruta Tenugu) and 'Thiri', which is a suffix added to the names of certain upper castes in Kerala. Another view is that it is derived from Nam (Veda) and Poorayathi (who imparts).Brahmins are supposed to have migrated from North, however it is unclear if all of them migrated after various South Indian kingdoms started taking shape.

Lord Ram then ordered, "Matali, drive quickly to where Ravan is staying, but at the same time be very cautious." Then, remembering that He was speaking to Indra's charioteer, Lord Ram felt embarrassed and so He apologized, "I am very sorry to have instructed you as if I were your master. It is just that I am eager to kill Ravan, so please excuse My offense."