🌸 Inherited Edition 04

THE BIG FEATURE

Experience the grandeur and divinity of Mahakal

Mahakaleshwar or the great lord of Kala (Time), perhaps time itself who, if ancient Sanskrit astronomical treatises are to be believed, sits at the navel of the earth.

After Varanasi’s Vishwanath temple and Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath shrine, Mahakal temple is the third ‘jyotirlingam’ (Lord Shiva's sacred abodes, twelve in total) temple to undergo extensive renovations.

The Rs 800-crore Mahakal corridor is four times the size of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, which was inaugurated late last year.

❤ The Mahakal project started in 2017 with the aim of re-invoking the ancient splendor of the historic city of Ujjain through the use of ancient temple architecture, while using cutting-edge technology to improve its physical and cultural value.

What is Mahakal ki Nagri?

What is the spiritual significance of Mahakaleshwar?

What is the 21st-century masterplan for this?

All this and more...

🙏 सुप्रभात Sorted

Roundup of the remarkable.

🕊 The Hornbill Festival: The onset of winter in the picturesque state of Nagaland also flags off the grand Hornbill festival - which is all set to return for its 23rd edition! So it's time to pack up a lot of warm clothes and fly over to explore the rich cultural tapestry of the 16 Naga Tribes.

📙 International Gita Mahotsav:  Held at the famed land of Kurukshetra, International Gita Mahotsav is an annual festival with life-transforming surreal events to take you on a trip down the serpentine lanes of history, through which we received the invaluable wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita.

👸 Resplendent Rasika: How does one become a smitten Rasika - from a mere enjoyer to an informed connoisseur? Tune in to the one and only Carnatic Maestro Bombay Jayshree as she deconstructs her creative process & puts forward a beautifully constructed thesis to inspire anyone involved with arts and culture.

🕰 World's first Vedic clock is coming! The foundation stone of the world’s first Vedic Clock was laid at the 300-year-old Jiwaji Observatory constructed by Maharaja Sawai Raja Jaisingh of Jaipur in 1719. Get ready to talk about time in muhurtas!

🧐 HOLD MY CHAI

A re-take on cultural narratives

There's a reason why movies do better than documentaries. No one gets as excited by facts as they do by sharp & polarising opinions.

The state of reportage by self-attested Western Think Tanks and their corroborators within India is not just inaccurate but mendacious, says Salvatore Babones, Associate Professor of Sociology & Statistics at University of Sydney :

If a journalist does that I’d forgive them. But an independent think tank should not be engaging in that kind of cherry picking. They picked the number from an academic NGO report, and they didn’t say to themselves - should I take their word or take just a deeper look at the numbers…they didn’t exercise their editorial oversight!

In short, foreign think tanks rank Indian democracy poorly because of cultural bias and subjective opinion, not objective truth.

And Salvatore's right to say that. Skepticism should not drive impartial academic studies of democracy. Think thanks should be absolutely free of ideological biases, and purely focused on data. Economist Sanjeev Sanyal articulates this better for Twitter:

Shorn of all the hoopla, we’d love to hear your opinion on those who have taken it upon themselves to educate the world of India's ills.

🤨 Conspiracy or Ignorance?

👌 ATI SUNDAR !

That which caught the eye.

Flower Power

India generates as much as eight million tonnes of floral waste dumped into rivers and water bodies leading to water clogging and environmental degradation.

Phool is a digital-first brand born out of an inherently Indian impulse that sells beautifully packaged, organic fragrance products made from upcycled, temple floral waste.

|| द्वितीय अध्याय ||

📚Tour of literary Avanti: 5 literary classics set in this ancient metropolis

Ujjain, formerly Avanti, is of course the undisputed capital of Sanskrit literature. As one of the oldest occupied city-states of ancient India, there is no shortage of books set in this Moksha Puri.

Here are our Top 5 picks that will transport you to the ancient capital, or perhaps even accompany you on a visit!

Meghaduta: Kalidasa's Meghaduta, composed in the 5th century CE  narrates the story of a Yaksha or a nature spirit who is separated from his wife and implores a Megha (cloud) to deliver a message to his beloved in Alkapuri nestled in the ranges of Upper Himalayas.

Composed during the high noon of Sanskrit literature, Kalidasa’s love for his hometown comes through when the protagonist asks the cloud to take a detour as the picturesque city of Ujjayini cannot be missed.

Mrcchakatika: The story of the play follows a young nobleman named Charudatta and his romantic rendezvous with a wealthy courtesan Basantsena in the fabled city of Avanti.

Laced with nail-biting court intrigue, mistaken identities & passionate chronicling, the plot keeps you at the edge of your seat with several twists and turns.

DOWN MEMORY LANE 🙃

Because everyone needs nostalgia

Remember someone patting on your back shouting ‘KHO’ and you rushed to chase the opponents?

In the nail-biting televised world of the extravagant ‘Ultimate Kho-Kho’, where no record is safe and no feat seems impossible on the mat, one little initiative back in 1914 by the Deccan Gymkhana of the Pune proved to be a vision of the future.

Since then Kho-Kho has been a rage growing from strength to strength, in various formats across the Indian landmass. One can hardly skip the cheerful running, pushing & clamoring of this recess sport when reminiscing about the good old playground memories.

How many of you got your first lessons of team spirit & athletics while playing this quintessentially Indian game?

🧘‍♂️THE MENTAL WORKOUT

Take a deep breath and reflect upon the greatness of our rishis.

This week's shloka:

Nitishatakam of Bhartrihari

Meaning:
It is not armlets that adorn a man, Nor necklaces all crammed with moon bright pearls, Nor baths, nor ointments nor arranged curls. 'Tis the art of excellent speech that alone can Adorn him: jewels perish, garlands fade; This only abides and glitters undecayed.

🌈  IN YOUR OWN TIME

And that's a wrap!

⏭ Next edition out in a fortnight.

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