2,500-year-old Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham gets 71st pontiff
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Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Indian Express
How buffalo is integral to India's cultural imagination
Buffaloes are found in ponds, rivers, marshes, and wetlands meant for rice cultivation. Cows, on the other hand, prefer drier jungle areas. India has both dry jungles and wet river basins. Dry areas are meant for wheat and millet cultivation, while wet areas are for rice cultivation. Cows and bulls thus represent two different ecosystems of India. Nomads move around with cows, while farmers are linked to buffaloes, who do not enjoy moving away from their watery habitat. Bulls are castrated and used as bullocks for pulling carts and for tilling hard soil. Male buffaloes do not need to be castrated. They can be controlled by nose rings. Some buffaloes can also be used as pack animals and used to till flooded rice fields. While most Indians focus on cows, we often overlook how important buffaloes are to India's economic ecosystem, and how they play a key role in rituals, art and culture. Buffaloes are depicted on Harappan seals, indicating they were domesticated and were part of the Harappan civilization over 4,500 years ago. This was the river buffalo, whose milk was curdled and churned into butter that was made into ghee. Buffaloes were also used for meat (even today India is a major exporter of buffalo meat), and their bones were used for making tools. The buffalo is found on the famous Pashupati seal facing the hermit who wears buffalo-horns on his head. Buffalo horns are also found on other seals, indicating power and virility. Around 3,500 years ago, in the Rig Veda (4.18.13), the mighty Indra, energised by the Soma drink, is equated with a wild buffalo. About 2,000 years ago, in Tamil Sangam poetry, Kuruntokai 65, the buffalo in a lotus pond is equated with an uncouth man who doesn't appreciate the refined girl he is about to marry. This indicates how integral the buffalo was to India's cultural imagination, from North to South India. The Mahisha Jataka, illustrated on the walls of Ajanta, speaks of a gentle buffalo who tolerates the mischief of a monkey. He refuses to punish the monkey for his irritating and incorrigible behaviour, even though he is advised to do so by the tree spirit or yaksha. One day, the gentle buffalo is away and his place is taken by another buffalo. The monkey, without realising it is another buffalo, plays the same tricks and is trampled to death. In Jain mythology, the buffalo is the emblem of the 12th Tirthankara Vasupujya. The Jain Yakshi Jwalamalini is shown riding a buffalo. As per one story, the Yakshi was a devout Jain in her previous life, who fed Jain monks, but her husband treated her badly. So she was reborn as a Yakshi and she rides a buffalo who was her husband reborn. The buffalo plays a very important role in Hindu mythology. It is the vahana (vehicle) of Yamraj, the god of death. The buffalo is also popular as the demon Mahisha who is slain by the many-armed goddess Durga. The oldest image of this goddess killing the demon was found in Rajasthan and dated to 100 BC. Many terracotta images from the Kushan age show the goddess killing the buffalo with her bare hands. Later, the image gets more elaborate. The goddess is shown riding her lion and killing the buffalo by pinning him down with her feet. Such images are found in the Gupta, Chalukya, and Pallava temples. Now they are part of the Navaratri celebrations held every autumn across India. In folk festivals across Deccan, a young male buffalo (reda) is offered to the goddess as a sacrifice. The offering of buffalo to the goddess is also meant to make her happy so that the children are safe from tiger attacks. When one buffalo is sacrificed, its leg is put in its mouth and presented to the goddess. This practice is found in Nepal, too. At the same time, a new male calf is chosen and fattened up the whole year to be offered to the goddess the following year. Such rituals ensure the fertility of the earth: with new life replacing old life. In Kerala, the local god Ayyappa, son of Hara (Shiva) and Hari (Vishnu), defeats Mahishi, the sister of Mahisa. In Maharashtra, there is worship of Mhaso-ba the buffalo-god, husband of the village goddess. It seems that while the buffalo suitor of the goddess is killed, she chooses the bull-riding Shiva as her husband. Many folk goddesses of the Deccan region have young male priests called Potraj or the buffalo king, who lead processions in honour of the goddess. The Potraj is dressed like a fierce man with whips, and found in processions such as Bonalu, celebrated in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. This figure is sometimes identified as the son of Kali, and sometimes as her husband, while he calls himself her servant. What does the depiction of buffaloes on Harappan seals and on the famous Pashupati seal indicate? How does the buffalo feature in Jain and Hindu mythologies, and how does it indicate that buffaloes are integral to India's cultural imagination? What does the changing depiction of the buffalo in Hindu mythology – from a demon killed by the many-armed goddess Durga to being part of Navaratri celebrations – tell us? How does the ritual of buffalo sacrifice in folk festivals across Deccan reflect beliefs about fertility and protection? How do the stories of Mahishi in Kerala and Mhasoba in Maharashtra reflect regional variations in the portrayal of buffalo? (Devdutt Pattanaik is a renowned mythologist who writes on art, culture and heritage.) Share your thoughts and ideas on UPSC Special articles with Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.
Time of India
22-07-2025
- Time of India
The Skyward Path: Resilience and Inner Ascent
In an age where constant notifications, instant opinions, and endless comparisons have become the norm, staying calm and detached isn't just a choice– it's a survival skill. More and more people today are realising that emotional detachment, when done right, can lead to greater peace, clarity, and long-term happiness. But detachment doesn't mean being cold or indifferent. It means knowing where to place your attention and where to hold back. It's about protecting your mental energy, choosing your battles, and not letting every outside opinion or outcome define your worth. Here's a look at how to practise this in your daily life, without disconnecting from what truly matters. In every human soul lies a longing, not merely to survive, but to live with divine purpose. Ancient Indian wisdom speaks of this as the upward movement of consciousness. The sky has always symbolised this higher aspiration, not as an object of admiration but as a metaphor for spiritual evolution . The journey of skyward soul mirrors the flight of the highflyers, not in wings, but in wisdom. The eagle's ascent becomes an inner template for the seeker. Not because of its physical might, but it embodies qualities revered in Indian spiritual tradition: vision, courage, and detachment . These qualities are not to be admired from afar, but to be internalised. Vision is the starting point. In the Katha Upanishad , Nachiketa seeks not transient pleasures, but truth that liberates. Similarly, the spiritual aspirant must develop an inner eye to see beyond circumstances and illusions. Like the eagle that surveys from above, we are called to live with heightened awareness. This means making decisions based on long-term wisdom, not short-term gratification. In daily life, it's as simple as pausing before reacting, listening before speaking, and asking, "Does this choice align with my dharm?" Resilience is next. Life is not without storms. But as Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible avers, "They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles." The Bhagwad Gita instructs, "Be steady in pain and pleasure." This steadiness is cultivated not in ashrams alone, but in the heart, thanks to everyday trials. The chaos of workplace, friction of relationships, pressures of deadlines; and every challenge becomes an invitation to rise, to respond with calmness and clarity instead of impulse. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Top 15 Most Beautiful Women in the World Undo Then comes solitude. In Indian wisdom, silence is not emptiness but presence, but is considered a spiritual practice because in quietude, the soul hears what noise conceals. The sages retreated to forests not to escape, but to listen. Today, solitude might mean a few minutes of mindful silence before dawn, as Rumi says, "The quieter you become, the more you can hear." The unknown too must be embraced. The Rigveda exhorts, "Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes." This is not poetic fantasy but practical spirituality. Eventually, the spiritual path lifts us beyond dualities. Fear, desire, comparison, ego; all begin to fall away. We stop identifying with the surface and start living from our essence. Tao Te Ching echoes this truth: "When you let go of what you are, you become what you might be." We move from ego identity to true Self. This is not renunciation of life, but the deepest embrace of it. We begin to live in the world in the spirit of karm yog with every breath as a step toward liberation. The symbol of Garud, the celestial mount of Vishnu, embodies this path. Garud does not fly aimlessly; he carries divine purpose. He is the fearless one, truth bearer, embodiment of dharm. The Garud Puran tells us that detachment, devotion and discernment are the wings of spiritual flight. The Gita says, "Withdraw your senses like a tortoise withdraws its limbs." This is not denial but mastery. In Garuda's soaring, we are reminded to carry the divine in all we do. The skyward path is not a distant ideal. It is a way of being accessible, practical, and profound. Authored by: Ullhas Pagey Can divine grace lead to lasting peace? Teachings of Bhagavad Gita from Chapter 2, Verse 65
New Indian Express
06-07-2025
- New Indian Express
Sanatan Dharma says life is not a problem to be solved
The word 'dharma' is a relatively minor word in Vedic times, appearing barely 70 times in Rig Veda, indicating something that is foundational and stable. The word for horses appears about 210 times, and the word for cows appears about 180 times. In one hymn (Rig Veda 3.3.1), there is a suggestion of gods being aware of the eternal (sanata) framework of rituals that creates stability. This indicates a belief that the rituals were seen as eternal, even performed by the gods, and so you have to keep performing them to keep order and rhythm in the world. Later, ritual belief turned into a more intellectual idea. The word 'dharma' and phrase 'sanatan dharma' became more important in the 2,000-year-old Mahabharata. By this time, even Buddhist and Jain scriptures were referring to their way (Buddha-Vachana, Jina-vani) as sanatan dharma which is the eternal path shown by the Buddhas and the Tirthankars.
