HINDU Terminal...!

More than a week ago when the nation was celebrating the success of the Mangalayan project, senior journalist Nikhil Wagle tweeted thus: The most obvious first question: Is it a crime for scientists to visit temples and to practice their faith?  Is bestowing honors to Balaji before Mangalyaan’s success equal to scoffing at rational enquiry which is the edifice of science research?  I don’t remember any ISRO scientist claiming that it was Balaji who put the space project to action so why the gibe? The point made by Wagle and many self-proclaimed rationalists and progressives is that Indians should not stick to their past heritage. This scientific temper business was initiated by the pioneer of Indian secularism, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as claimed in this piece . It is a known fact that Nehru was hugely influenced by ‘Fabian Socialism’ and intellectuals from the erstwhile Union of Socialist Soviet Republic. Following Mangalyaan’s success, many self-proclaime...

The Vedic Science behind Eating With Your hands Hands are considered our most precious organ of action. Our hands and feet are said to be the conduits of the five elements--space, air, fire, water and earth. One of the five elements courses through each finger. Through the thumb, angushtha, comes space; through the forefinger, tarjani, air; through the midfinger, madhyama, fire; through the ring finger, anamika, water and through the little finger, kanishtha, earth. In Vedi c tradition, we eat with our hands because the five elements within them begin to transform food and make it digestible even before it reaches the mouth. This transformation also heightens the senses so that we can smell, taste and feel the texture of the foods we are eating. We can also hear the sounds of eating. All of these sensations are a necessary prelude to beckoning agni, the fire of digestion, to ready itself for the meal to come. On the greater dimension, the act of eating is spiritual feasting. We...

  Ancient fire ritual has positive impact on environment: Scientists A 4,000 year old fire ritual conducted in the remote village in Kerala in April this year has a positive impact on the atmosphere, soil and other environment effects, according to scientists who are now ready with their findings. The “Athirathram” ritual held at Panjal village in Thrissur district was the focus of a detailed stud y by a team of scientists led by Prof V P N Nampoori, former director of the International School of Photonics, Cochin University of Science and Technology. The scientists had focused on the fire ritual’s scientific dimensions and impact on the atmosphere, soil and its micro—organisms and other potential environmental effects. The yagna seems to have accelerated the process of seed germination and also the microbial presence in air, water and soil in and around the region of the fire ritual is vastly diminished, according to a statement released by the Varthathe Trust, who organised ...