Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

Here is a seemingly balanced article on Hinduism scholarship, especially in the USA, Hinduism and its Culture Wars, by Prof. Vamsee Juluri, professor of media studies at the University of San Francisco, http://www.theindiasite.com/hinduism-and-its-culture-wars/ However, Prof. Vamsee Juluri too seems to view Rama and Krishna through the lens of history (as against scripture) and seems to be of the view that they are mythological/literary figures rather than real ones. BTW he was raised in Hyderabad and so is a Telugu Bidda. Some notes on the article (it is a long article and so there are quite a few notes): *) The Hindu-American community has, in recent years, raised concerns about errors/prejudices in works of Western scholars of Hinduism. *) Scholars like Wendy Doniger and Romila Thapar have argued against the Hindutva view that India has been a Hindu land since ancient times which was somewhat recently (from a historical perspective) invaded by Muslims and others. [Ravi: Rom...

Here's a very interesting interview of Rajiv Malhotra on rediff detailing how some US academic scholars of Hinduism including distinguished Prof. Wendy Doniger have grossly misrepresented Hinduism, http://m.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-when-westerners-make-fun-of-our-gods-theyre-instigating-trouble/20140217.htm Here are some salient points of the interview from my perspective. Rajiv Malhotra got involved with this topic in 2000 when one of the teachers of his kids' school in the USA informed him that some American scholar had advised a teacher not to teach Ramakrishna and Vivekananda due to some negative stuff associated them! Some US academic Hinduism scholars use Freudian psychoanalysis to analyze Hinduism. [Ravi: and come to some weird conclusions which they spread as the truth] Most of the other religions in the USA have seminaries whose products become scholars of that religion in US universities. Hinduism in the USA does not have an equivalent semin...

Last updated on March 13th 2014 Penguin India has decided to withdraw a book on Hinduism by an academic, Wendy Doniger, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Doniger . From http://www.legallyindia.com/201402114335/Bar-Bench-Litigation/penguin-pulps-hindu-book , "In settlement of a civil and two criminal suits brought by a religious group against Penguin Books India, the publisher has agreed to withdraw and destroy all copies of a history book on Hinduism." ... "The petition also claimed that Penguin has “hurt the religious feelings of millions of Hindus by declaring that Ramayana is a fiction”, breaching section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), citing the book’s line that “placing the Ramayan in its historical contexts demonstrates that it is a work of fiction, created by human authors, who lived at various times”." The book also depicts Lord Krishna in a poor light. I congratulate and thank the Shiksha Bachao Andolan Committee for taking the matter to co...