Articles - Rik Amrit Articles
English August 27, 2025 14

Airavata's Head: Ganesha's Agricultural Connection

Parvati created a son from turmeric paste scraped from her body and ordered him to guard her cave. W...

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Airavata's Head: Ganesha's Agricultural Connection
English August 26, 2025 135

The Paradox of the Elephant-Headed God: How Ganesha Became Hinduism's Most Beloved Outsider

In a temple courtyard in Mumbai, a businessman touches his forehead to a clay elephant and whispers ...

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The Paradox of the Elephant-Headed God: How Ganesha Became Hinduism's Most Beloved Outsider
English August 15, 2025 92

Janmashtami Special: Rama and Krishna- The Dialectics of Dignity and Divine Play

Dividing life into two distinct perspectives is a natural characteristic of any religious philosophy...

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Janmashtami Special: Rama and Krishna- The Dialectics of Dignity and Divine Play
English July 17, 2025 52

Ancient Stories, Urgent Questions: Why I Wrote Two Plays

Some stories never really leave us. They return in new forms, wearing new clothes, speaking new lan...

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Ancient Stories, Urgent Questions: Why I Wrote Two Plays
English May 29, 2025 643

Whispers of Laughter and Tears: Tagore

The colours of my May are as yellow as the golden showers. The 7th of this month, the twenty-fifth d...

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Whispers of Laughter and Tears: Tagore

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Abhinavagupta & The Importance of Abhinavabhārati in Understanding the Nāṭyaśāstra

The cold winds of Kashmir carry whispers of an ancient time when its valleys were alive with philosophy, art, and the mystical teachings of Śaivism. ...
May 29, 2025
161

Bharata’s Doctrine and the Eleven Elements of Natya: A Dive into the Essence of Indian Classical Theatre

The Nāṭyaśāstra stands as a seminal treatise on Indian classical theater, encapsulating a comprehensive framework known as the Eleven Nāṭya Sa...
May 29, 2025
1,280

Exploring the Vedic Basis of Bharata's Natyashastra

According to Bharata, the Nāṭyaveda was divinely revealed by Brahmā himself, compiling the essence of all four Vedas and serving as the quintessen...
May 29, 2025
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Recent Articles

Airavata's Head: Ganesha's Agricultural Connection

Parvati created a son from turmeric paste scraped from her body and ordered him ...
Aug 27 14

The Paradox of the Elephant-Headed God: How Ganesha Became Hinduism's Most Beloved Outsider

In a temple courtyard in Mumbai, a businessman touches his forehead to a clay el...
Aug 26 135

Janmashtami Special: Rama and Krishna- The Dialectics of Dignity and Divine Play

Dividing life into two distinct perspectives is a natural characteristic of any ...
Aug 15 92

Ancient Stories, Urgent Questions: Why I Wrote Two Plays

Some stories never really leave us. They return in new forms, wearing new cloth...
Jul 17 52

Featured Quotes

We have no doubts left about the necessity of art.
— Whispers of Laughter and Tears: Entertainment
Airavata served as Indra's mount, helping the sky-god release rain by shattering clouds with thunderbolts. In agricultural societies dependent on monsoons, elephants naturally symbolized fertility and abundance. Only well-watered, vegetation-rich lands could sustain these massive creatures. By receiving Airavata's head, Ganesha inherited this rain-bringing power.
— Airavata's Head: Ganesha's Agricultural Connection
As our own global civilization struggles with questions of identity, belonging, and meaning across cultural boundaries, Ganesha's journey from local spirit to universal symbol offers unexpected insights. In an age of artificial intelligence and genetic engineering, when we're creating new forms of hybrid existence, the ancient wisdom embedded in the elephant-headed god's impossible form may prove more relevant than ever. The question isn't whether Ganesha exists, but whether we can learn to see ourselves—fractured, contradictory, yet somehow whole—reflected in his knowing smile.
— The Paradox of the Elephant-Headed God: How Ganesha Became Hinduism's Most Beloved Outsider
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