03-20-2006, 11:44 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-20-2006, 11:49 PM by Bharatvarsh.)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://www.hinduvoice.co.uk/
3rd issue now online<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://www.shastarvidiya.org/<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think they changing the 2nd site but it was a good site giving an overview of Shastarvidya (primarily nowadays practiced by Nihang Singhs).
Saturday, March 25, 2006
PURPLE PATCH: Power of religion â Will Durant
Religion is the last subject that the intellect begins to understand. In our youth, we may have resented, with proud superiority, its cherished incredibilities; in our less confident years, we marvel at its prosperous survival in a secular and scientific age, its patient resurrections after whatever deadly blows by Epicurus, or Lucretius, or Lucian, or Machiavelli, or Hume, or Voltaire. What are the secrets of this resilience?
The wisest sage would need the perspective of a hundred lives to answer adequately. He might begin by recognising that, even in the heyday of science, there are innumerable phenomena for which no explanation seems forthcoming in terms of natural cause, quantitative measurement, and necessary effect. The mystery of mind still eludes the formulas of psychology, and in physics the same astonishing order of nature that makes science possible may reasonably sustain the religious faith in a cosmic intelligence. Our knowledge is a receding mirage in an expanding desert of ignorance. Now life is rarely agnostic; it assumes either a natural or a supernatural source for any unexplained phenomenon, and acts on the one assumption or other; only a small minority of minds can persistently suspend judgment in the face of contradictory evidence. The great majority of mankind feel compelled to ascribe mysterious entities or events to supernatural beings raised above ânatural lawâ.
Religion has been the worship of supernatural beings â their propitiation, solicitation, or adoration. Most men are harassed and buffeted by life, and crave supernatural assistance when natural forces fail them; they gratefully accept faiths that give dignity and hope to their existence, and order and meaning to the world; they could hardly condone so patiently the careless brutalities of nature, the bloodshed and chicaneries of history, or their own tribulations and bereavements, if they could not trust that these are parts of an inscrutable but divine design. A cosmos without known cause or fate is an intellectual prison; we long to believe that the great drama has a just author and a noble end.
Moreover, we covet survival, and find it hard to conceive that nature should so laboriously produce man, mind, and devotion only to snuff them out in the maturity of their development. Science gives man ever greater powers but ever less significance; it improves his tools and neglects his purposes; it is silent on ultimate origins, values, and aims; it gives life and history no meaning or worth that is not cancelled by death or omnivorous time. So men prefer the assurance of dogma to the diffidence of reason; weary of perplexed thought and uncertain judgment, they welcome the guidance of an authoritative church, the catharsis of the confessional, the stability of a long-established creed. Ashamed of failure, bereaved of those they loved, darkened with sin, and fearful of death, they feel themselves redeemed by divine aid, cleansed of guilt and terror, solaced and inspired with hope, and raised to a godlike and immortal destiny.
Meanwhile, religion brings subtle and pervasive gifts to society and the state. Traditional rituals soothe the spirit and bind the generations. The parish church becomes a collective home, weaving individuals into a community. The cathedral rises as the product and pride of the unified municipality. Life is embellished with sacred art, and religious music pours its mollifying harmony into the soul and the group. To a moral code uncongenial to our nature and yet indispensable to civilisation, religion offers supernatural sanctions and supports: an all-seeing deity, the threat of eternal punishment, the promise of eternal bliss, and commandments of no precariously human authority but of divine origin and imperative force.
Our instincts were formed during a thousand centuries of insecurity and the chase; they fit us to be violent hunters and voracious polygamists rather than peaceable citizens; their once necessary vigour exceeds present social need; they must be checked a hundred times a day, consciously or not, to make society and civilisation possible. Families and states, from ages before history, have enlisted the aid of religion to moderate the barbarous impulses of men. Parents found religion helpful in taming the wilful child to modesty and self-restraint; educators valued it as a precious means of disciplining and refining youth; governments long since sought its cooperation in forging social order out of the disruptive egoism and natural anarchism of men. If religion had not existed, the great legislators â Hammurabi, Moses, Lycurgus, Numa Pompilius â would have invented it. They did not have to, for it arises spontaneously and repeatedly from the needs and hopes of men.
As we look back, we can understand the anger of Luther at Roman corruption and dominance, the reluctance of German princes to see German collections fatten Italy, the resolve of Calvin and Knox to build model moral communities, the desire of Henry VIII for an heir, and for authority in his own realm. But we can understand, too, the hopes of Erasmus for a reform that would not poison Christendom with hatred; and we can feel the dismay of devout Roman prelates like Contarini at the prospective dismemberment of a Church that for centuries had been the nurse and custodian of Western civilisation, and was still the strongest bulwark against immorality, chaos, and despair.
Nothing of all these efforts was lost. The individual succumbs, but he does not die if he has left something to mankind. Protestantism, in time, helped regenerate the moral life of Europe, and the Church purified herself into an organisation politically weaker but morally stronger than before. One lesson emerges above the smoke of the battle: a religion is at its best when it must live with competition; it tends to intolerance when and where it is unchallenged and supreme
The greatest gift of the Reformation was to provide Europe and America with that competition of faiths which puts each on its own mettle, cautions it to tolerance, and gives to our frail minds the zest and test of freedom.
Will Durant was one of the great teachers of history and philosophy in the last century. His highly acclaimed âThe Story of Civilizationâ is considered a masterpiece of narrative history. The above excerpt is from his essay âThe Power of Religionâ
Link<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Ragsdale: Historic prayer by Hindu priest touches on faith's growth in Iowa</b>SHIRLEY RAGSDALE
REGISTER RELIGION EDITOR
March 25, 2006
Although it didn't receive a lot of fanfare, something historic happened this month at the Capitol. For the first time, a Hindu priest offered the opening prayer at the legislative session in the Iowa House and Senate.
Pandit Krishna Pandey prayed in Sanskrit and English for brotherhood and peace in the universe.
That Pandey was invited and welcomed is a tribute to lawmakers' recognition of Iowa's growing religious diversity.
That it didn't cause a stir is an important signal that minority religions are respected and accepted in this predominantly Christian state.
The invitation extended to Pandey and Suren Gupta, chairman of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center, came from Sen. Herman Quirmbach and Rep. Lisa Heddens, Ames Democrats.
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http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?StoryId=5211
<b>The Dangers of Monotheism in the Age of Globalization</b>
by Jean-Pierre Lehmann
Is there a link between monetheistic religions and intolerance and hostility? As Jean-Pierre Lehmann argues, monotheistic religions have caused much turmoil throughout history and continue to do so today. What is needed is a new global ethical and spiritual role model, and in his opinion, the best candidate to fill that spot is India.
Many in the West and elsewhere were shocked that an Afghan man, Abdul Rahman, was facing possible execution for having converted to Christianity. This is a crime, we were told, punishable by death according to Shariah law, which is the law of the land in Afghanistan, as well as in a good number of other Muslim countries.
And even now that Mr. Rahman has safely arrived in Italy, where he was granted asylum, the episode is a telling example of the intolerance that is often the result of strict monotheism.
To be sure, Christianity was even worse in its own heyday, not only because heathens were exterminated in all sorts of diverse forms, but also those whose Christianity (for example, the Albigensians in the 12th and 13th centuries) was deemed to be heterodox.
Also, the Spanish conquistadores in Latin America, in collusion with the Church authorities, burned a good number of infidel American Indians.
<b>Declining hostility</b>
Generally speaking, however, over the course of the last couple of centuries or so, as the political clout and influence of the Christian churches has waned, the execution, torture and imprisonment of infidels and heretics has greatly decreased.
Today, there are a good number of converts to Islam living in Christian countries and they have encountered relatively little hostility.
<b>Religious collusion</b>
The idea that Christian civilization (a fairly loose term) renounced religious persecution simply because the power of the churches declined is, of course, belied by the Holocaust.
Despite being carried out by secular authorities, the Holocaust took place in Christian countries and with the silent connivance of the established Christian churches. A quite vivid illustration is that of the fascist Ustae movement in Croatia, which was in close cahoots with the Catholic Church.
The Jews who were brought to the concentration camps were far worse off than Abdul Rahman, who before he found refuge in Italy had been told he would not be executed if he converts back to Islam. The Jews at Auschwitz were not given a similar option.
<b>Violent records</b>
Although both Christianity and Islam each have their strong points, without doubt, on balance their historical record would show more liabilities, more warfare, more intolerance, more persecution, than truly positive assets.
The number of people killed in the name of these two religions must be far greater than the numbers killed for any other cause. Furthermore, in this first decade of the 21st century, religion plays a far more prominent role than it used to.
<b>Hijacking the faith</b>
In the case of the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam have all been hijacked by their respective fundamentalists.
I am a great believer that the progress of civilization requires the gradual eradication of all forms of established religion. Not by force, I hasten to add, but by the evidence of history, the rationality of man and the persuasion of humanist secularism.
In Western Europe, where the vast majority of the population is no longer Christian in anything but name, sadly humanism has not taken hold.
<b>Filling the void</b>
An addiction to money, or psychoanalysis or drugs or a combination of the three tends to prevail. Whatever has the upper hand, it is definitely not humanism.
So it would seem people have a natural desire for religion or something that can be substituted for it if not god, then mammon.
<b>Polytheistic acceptance</b>
In recognizing this reality, therefore, it would seem that perhaps rather than eradicating religion per se, we should instead eradicate monotheistic religion in favor of polytheistic religion.
If you have only one god, and you believe that god is all powerful and omniscient, and you come across someone who does not agree, then you may feel it is your duty to kill him.
If, on the other hand, you believe there are hundreds, indeed thousands of gods, and that none can be totally almighty or omniscient, then you are likely to be far more tolerant.
<b>Intolerant tendencies</b>
The great pre-Christian civilizations of Greece and Rome had no religious wars and had a far healthier view of their frolicking gods and goddesses than the intolerant monotheistic Christianity that later came to dominate Europe.
Polytheistic religions also tend to have a far more positive and healthier attitude to sex, which is seen as a good thing, than do the monotheistic faiths, where there is a much stronger tendency to equate sex with sin.
<b>Militant Christianity</b>
As concerns the United States, militant Christianity is clearly in ascendance, indeed it has one of its own in the White House. According to a recent Pew survey, 15, 14 and 20% of the U.S. population said they would have reasons not to vote for a presidential candidate who was Catholic, Jewish or Evangelical Christian.
However, when that candidate was an atheist, the percentage, at 41%, was substantially higher. This is extremely worrying and does not portend well for the future. While it would seem that religious Americans are more tolerant as concerns their respective religions, they remain brazenly intolerant of atheists.
Perhaps the most encouraging development in this early 21st century is the emergence of India as an increasingly global force, economically, politically and culturally.
<b>Managing multiculturalism</b>
There are many anomalies, problems and injustices in Indian society and some of these, such as the caste system, have been perpetrated by religion.
But India is a microcosmic reflection of how globalization can work, especially in its generally remarkable ability to have managed multiculturalism to such a brilliant extent.
<b>Diverse Unity</b>
Indias one billion plus population is the most heterogeneous in the world. There are far more ethnic, linguistic and religious groups than in, say, the European Union. Yet, a far greater degree of unity has been achieved among Indias disparate ethnicities than among the tribes of Western Europe.
Thus, though Fareed Zakaria in "The Rise of Illiberal Democracy" has rightly pointed out that democracy can more often than not be the problem rather than the solution in inter-communal relations witness Iraq!
Perhaps the greatest achievement of India is to have maintained a very robust democracy in an extremely multi-ethnic environment. Contrast that with Egypt, for example, which used to have a highly multi-ethnic make-up, but which has now been mostly dissipated.
<b>Hardly Utopia</b>
Of course India is not Utopia. No place is and no human is perfect. Against the remarkably inspirational preaching of non-violence of Mahatma Gandhi, India has opted to become a nuclear power.
Nehrus alleged egalitarianism notwithstanding, India has the dubious distinction of having the worlds greatest number of illiterates, especially among women. So, yes, there are failings galore and there are also, alas, Hindu fundamentalists.
<b>A global ethical role model?</b>
But in a global environment desperate for ideas, philosophy and religion, India is the most prolific birthplace of all three because of the great synergy of democracy and diversity, and the much greater degree of self-confidence that Indians now feel.
<b>Indians and members of the enormous Indian Diaspora over which the sun never sets are the thought leaders in economics, business, philosophy, political science, religion and literature.
The planet needs quite desperately a sense of moral order, spirituality and an ethical compass. The Indian religious and philosophical traditions can provide a great deal of all three.
It was in a recent conversation with an Indian religious guru that I was also pleased to discover I could adhere to his religious tenets, while maintaining my secular convictions. No imam or priest would allow me that. </b>
<b>More than a global economic force</b>
The planet also needs an alternative geopolitical force to the American Christian fundamentalist brand of hegemonic thinking that the Bush Administration has generated and that is not likely to evaporate even after his departure from office.
Europe is an inward-looking and, in many ways, spent force. China is a dictatorship. The Islamic world is going through an awkward moment to put it mildly.
<b>Hence the importance of the role India must play in this respect both because of its innate qualities and because there is no other serious contender. The 21st century better become the century inspired by the virtues of Indian polytheism or else we are headed for disaster.</b>
Nathan Kumar
Email: nathankumar@yahoo.co.uk
Site:
Location: United Kingdom.
Comments: I am learning about Hinduism on a daily basis, which is great. I work in IT as a contractor and I am coming across a lot of outsourcing issues. My main worry is that India maybe blind to the ultimate reality of what is happening. Yes the labour is cheaper, the intelligence is undoubtedly far superior but we are still slaves and puppets to the west. A lot of companies are buying out or taking a big share in Indian owned companies and later they are just basically "raping and pillaging" and "leaving for dead". It is essentially a subtler way of colonization. The ills of western life are pervading every aspect of eastern society now. So please be aware of the reality. The material advantage is short lived and will lead to ultimate disaster for our Dharma. Pass the message on. As Mahatma Gandhi stated "there is enough for the needy but not for the greedy." Thank you. <!--emo&:clapping--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/clap.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='clap.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<img src='http://img421.imageshack.us/img421/9393/bdda2pu.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Girls wearing costumes attend a Tokyo parade to celebrate Buddha's birthday. (AFP / Kazuhiro Nogi)
<b>Now, read Mahabharata in Chinese</b> <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Beijing, Apr 20: Sanskrit scholars in China have translated the Mahabharata, one of India`s greatest epics, into Chinese language in a decade-long project as part of the effort to strengthen people-to-people understanding and cultural ties.
The Chinese experts, who are celebrating 2006 as the `Year of India-China Friendship Year`, said the voluminous publication will make s great contribution to the cultural exchange between China and India, both of which are ancient civilisations.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->epaper.hindustantimes.com
<b>Kabul's favourite Bahu</b>
SHREEVATSA Nevatia
Kabul
EVERY EVENING at 8.30, life in much of the Afghan capital is suspended for half an hour. Children take a break from homework, their parents and grandparents from the daily grind as Kabul follows the trials and tribulations of its favourite daughter-in-law, Tulsi Mihir Virani.
It would be an understatement to say Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is a rage in Afghanistan. Tolo TV, a local Afghani channel, has bought the rights and telecasts a dubbed version of the Ekta Kapoor production daily.
Abdul, a local doctor, says, "You will hardly find anyone going out of their houses at that time. Everyone here â from children to women to the aged â knows who Tulsi and Mihir are."
And Abdul does not seem to be off the mark. Twenty-five people, who were questioned in an impromptu survey, claimed to religiously follow the ups and downs of the Virani khaandan. Local observer Noor Rahman Rahmani explains this trend: "The kind of things that the serial shows is very similar to what goes on in our homes. Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law quarrelling with each other, it is a daily occurrence here."
At a recent wedding Rah mani attended, the music was turned off and the food put away at 8:30 p.m. so that guests could find the nearest television and get their daily dose of their favourite family saga.
And Kyunki is not the only 'K' product that has become popular in these parts. With cable TV entering many a home, people here have access to channels such as Zee TV and Star Plus. Most families are hooked on to shows such as Kasauti Zindagi Ki, Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and Kaavyanjali.
There are more reasons for any Indian to feel at home in Kabul. The latest Himesh Reshammiya chartbusters are used as ring-tones. Every third song played on local radio stations is a Bollywood number. Most cinemas here only offer Hindi flicks to their customers and even Afghani channels broadcast at least two to three Bollywood films a day. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Setting up a strawman which can knock down? Nice try "DR", but stay off this thread if you can't add to the discussion.
-Admin
<!--QuoteBegin-Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta+May 10 2006, 01:11 PM-->QUOTE(Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta @ May 10 2006, 01:11 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Setting up a strawman which can knock down? Nice try "DR", but stay off this thread if you can't add to the discussion.
-Admin
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Thank you for your comments.
But I think, phantasy as well as down to earth both are necessary qualties.
Regards
Dear Administrator,
I was expecting your reply by this time. May be that you have not noticed my post.
While posting and making one line comment on 10 incarnations, I had impliedly said that 9/10th of Indian culture is phantasy and 1/10th is down to earth. To set it right proper balance of phantasy and down to earth is necessary.
Do you disagree?
Regards
As a reaction to an adverse comment by Administrator on me ,I revisited the articles on this thread to discover what is the agenda to promote indan culture. What I found is lot of descriptions, lot of quotes of authorities but hardly there are interactions. Certain members have raised very vital issues but have gone unanswered. So honestly speaking I am not clear about the agenda to "Promote Indian culture".
I think, any culture devoid of harmony, health and happiness is not good enough. Virtually all these three depend upon in what type of culture we live.
The question is whether contemporary Indian culture ensures harmony, health and happiness. If not, can we discuss/interact to arrive at certain consensus? I find there are highly learned persons here? Can their wisdom be pooled for the betterment of Indian culture? What are the hurdles?
Regards
Dr Mahanta,
Your earlier post deleted by admin, dealt with your pretty low opinion of Indian culture, which was a very dishonest, you know it, so let's not go there. So rather than derail the thread explaining what Indian culture is, admins felt it was best nip this discussion. Such talk you can take to other forums, and I'm sure they'll oblige you (in fact you might even be welcomed with open arms there). We don't want to waste bandwidth here on the same.
In you are most recent post, there are multiple issue which you are addressing:
(a) what is culture? and
(b) why or how to best promote it?
We are dealing with part (b) here i.e., how to best promote it or why?
To your question on why promote culture? Frankly, we wouldn't want a racists Prof from Harvard like Witzel telling us that me and my family are "HiNA" and my culture represents having some oppressed class cleaning my toilets. We have always cleaned our own toilets and am sure it's same in your household, unless otherwise, this forum is not for you. So I'm surprised that you claim to have read articles on this forum but miss over 25 pages on this topic.
Would you want your kids to learn from some racists idologists from Emory or any other "prestigious" college that have a history of trashing our holy books or stating that or Gods are pedophiles. Would you like employ a jobless moonlighting consultant as Sanskrit expert given the fact his knowledge of India or Hinduism is limited to word "Om" and "Hindutva"? Would anyone here want to learn Hinduism from a racists managers of RISA forum?
I don't know about you, but I feel it's us Indians who should have a say in what our religion and heritage is. Not some hand-me downs from half literate bigots. As another member states here (in some other thread), it's not only *our* obligation, but a sacred duty to pass our culture to next generation.
If there are no interactions in this thread, please feel free to do so. If questions are unanswered, you can research answers and post it. If you feel there's no need to promote Indian culture, you can stay off this thread. I'd advise you to read this and other threads on this forum a bit more and be in lurk mode before you can start making any kind of meaningful contributions.
<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+May 12 2006, 07:09 PM-->QUOTE(Viren @ May 12 2006, 07:09 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dr Mahanta,
Your earlier post deleted by admin, dealt with your pretty low opinion of Indian culture, which was a very dishonest, you know it, so let's not go there. So rather than derail the thread explaining what Indian culture is, admins felt it was best nip this discussion. Such talk you can take to other forums, and I'm sure they'll oblige you (in fact you might even be welcomed with open arms there). We don't want to waste bandwidth here on the same.
In you are most recent post, there are multiple issue which you are addressing:
(a) what is culture? and
(b) why or how to best promote it?
We are dealing with part (b) here i.e., how to best promote it or why?
To your question on why promote culture? Frankly, we wouldn't want a racists Prof from Harvard like Witzel telling us that me and my family are "HiNA" and my culture represents having some oppressed class cleaning my toilets. We have always cleaned our own toilets and am sure it's same in your household, unless otherwise, this forum is not for you. So I'm surprised that you claim to have read articles on this forum but miss over 25 pages on this topic.
Would you want your kids to learn from some racists idologists from Emory or any other "prestigious" college that have a history of trashing our holy books or stating that or Gods are pedophiles. Would you like employ a jobless moonlighting consultant as Sanskrit expert given the fact his knowledge of India or Hinduism is limited to word "Om" and "Hindutva"? Would anyone here want to learn Hinduism from a racists managers of RISA forum?
I don't know about you, but I feel it's us Indians who should have a say in what our religion and heritage is. Not some hand-me downs from half literate bigots. As another member states here (in some other thread), it's not only *our* obligation, but a sacred duty to pass our culture to next generation.
If there are no interactions in this thread, please feel free to do so. If questions are unanswered, you can research answers and post it. If you feel there's no need to promote Indian culture, you can stay off this thread. I'd advise you to read this and other threads on this forum a bit more and be in lurk mode before you can start making any kind of meaningful contributions.
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Dear Mr Viren,
Om is the last straw. The world is going to have one religion and that is om religion. Incidentally, today more non-Hindus and more non-Indians are practicing Om meditation. It is hijacked from Hindus as well as Indians. This is the tragedy.
Thank you for inviting me to answer the unanswered vital issues. In fact, I was tempted to write rejoinders but stayed back for the reasons that these may cause all the more distress for you. Because these would have reflected independence and not sycophancy.
Regarding my introduction, I think we are not in proper context now. Only I let you know that daily we the members of Zero Pthology Ganga meet for about two hours in the morning. This includes chanting om, gayatri, mahamrityunjay, Tandav Nritya etc.
regards
<b>Tribute to Indian Culture.- S. Talageri</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"Indian culture is the greatest and richest in the world. India (i.e.
the Indian subcontinent) is the only place in the world which is rich in
all the fields of culture: natural (topography, climate, flora and
fauna), ethnic (races and languages), and civilizational (music, dance
and drama; lore and literature; art, sculpture and handicrafts;
architecture; costumes, ornaments and beauty culture; cuisine; games and
physical systems; religion; philosophy; social and material sciences,
etc.). Its greatness lies in both factors: the richness of its range and
variety, as well as its contributions to the world, in every single
field of culture.
To give just a glimpse: in climate, we have the hottest place in the
world, Jacobabad (in present-day Pakistan), but also, as per the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, we have, outside the Polar regions, ââ¬Åthe
largest area under permanent ice and snowââ¬Â. We have dry arid regions in
the west, which receive no rainfall at all, and at the same time the
area, around Cherapunji in the east, with the highest rainfall in the
world. And we have, in different parts of the land, a wide range of
shades of climatic conditions between these extremes. The topography of
India, from the most intriguing and diverse mountain system in the
world, the Himalayas, in the north, through the plains, plateaus,
mountains and valleys of the peninsula down to the Andaman-Nicobar and
Lakshadweep island clusters in the south, also seems to leave no
topographical feature unrepresented. Indiaââ¬â¢s forests and vegetation
also cover every range and variety from the coniferous and deciduous
types to the monsoon and tropical types to the desert and scrubland
types. And India has been one of the primary contributors to the world
in every kind of plant and forest product. To name only some of the most
prominent ones: rice, a variety of beans, a wide range of vegetables
including eggplants and a number of different types of gourds, fruits
like bananas, mangoes and a range of citrus fruits, oilseeds like
sesame, important woods including teak, ebony and sandalwood, spices
like black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and turmeric, dyes like
madder and indigo, important materials like cotton, jute, shellac and
India-rubber, a wide range of medicinal herbs, etc., etc. Moreover,
being strategically situated between, and sharing in, three different
ecological areas, India shares countless other important plants and
products with northern and western Asia on the one hand and Southeast
Asia on the other. And, as a detailed study will show, it has indigenous
equivalents, or potential equivalents, for a wide range of other
non-Indian plants and products.     Â
Indiaââ¬â¢s fauna is the richest in the world. Robert Wolff, in the
introduction to his book Animals of Asia, tells us that ââ¬ÅIndia has more
animal species than any other region of equal area in the worldââ¬Â. But
the richness is not only in comparison with regions of equal area. For
example, India is the only area in the world which has all seven
families of carnivora native to it. The whole of Africa has five (no
bears or procyonids), the whole of North and South America together have
five (no hyaenas or viverrids), the whole of Europe has five (no hyaenas
or procyonids), and, in Asia, the areas to the east and north have six
(no hyaenas) and the areas to the west have six (no procyonids). Within
the carnivora family of cats, India is the only area to have all six
genera. The whole of Africa has four (no uncia or neofelis), North and
South America together, and Europe, have four (no acinonyx, uncia or
neofelis), and, in Asia, the areas to the east and north have five (no
acinonyx) and the areas to the west have four (no uncia or neofelis).
In respect of snakes, India is the only area in the world to have all
twelve of the recognized families, while the whole of Africa has eight,
and both North and South America together have nine. Extra significant
is that one of the twelve families (Uropeltidae or shield-tailed snakes)
is found only in South India and Sri Lanka, so that India alone has
twelve families, while the whole rest of the world put together has
eleven. Of the three families of crocodilians, two (crocodiles and
gavials) are found in India, one of them (gavials) exclusively in India.
India is the richest area in the world in the variety of bovine species,
second only to Africa in variety of antelope species, and second only to
China in variety of deer species. The list is a long one. And India is
not only a primary wildlife destination, it is also one of the important
centres of domestication of animals. The most important of these being
the domestic buffalo, the domesticated elephant, one of the two races of
domestic cattle and the commercially most important bird in the world,
the domestic fowl. The most ornamental bird in the world, the peacock,
is also Indian.
There are three recognized races in the world (Caucasoid, Mongoloid and
Negroid), and India is the only area in the world which has all three
native to it: the Andaman islanders are the only true Negroids outside
Africa. Sometimes, a fourth race, Australoid, is postulated (otherwise
included among Caucasoids), and we have it among the Veddas of Sri
Lanka. As to languages, six of the nineteen language families in the
world are found in India, three of them only in India: Dravidian,
Andamanese and Burushaski. The numerically and politically most
important family of languages in the world, Indo-European, originated
(as I have argued in my books) in India.
18.5. Cultural nationalism: intellectual
As a civilization, India is the oldest continuous civilization still in
existence. As A.L. Basham puts it in his The Wonder That Was India: ââ¬ÅThe
ancient civilization of India differs from those of Egypt, Mesopotamia
and Greece, in that its traditions have been preserved without a break
down to the present day. Until the advent of the archaeologist, the
peasant of Egypt or Iraq had no knowledge of the culture of his
forefathers, and it is doubtful whether his Greek counterpart had any
but the vaguest ideas about the glory of Periclean Athens. In each case
there had been an almost complete break with the past. On the other
handââ¬Â¦ to this day legends known to the humblest Indian recall the names
of shadowy chieftains who lived nearly a thousand years before Christ,
and the orthodox Brahman in his daily worship repeats hymns composed
even earlier. India and China have, in fact, the oldest continuous
cultural traditions in the world.ââ¬Â
India has been one of the most important centres of civilization in the
world in practically every age. We need not refer here to Indian
traditions of fabled kingdoms going back into the extremely remote past.
Even in the perception of the world in general, and scholarly perception
at present, India was always a fabled wonderland. In (at least) the
third and second millenniums B.C., the Indus-Sarasvati sites represented
a relatively egalitarian and peaceful, highly organized, standardized
and developed civilization, with many features unparalleled elsewhere.
It covered a far larger area and remained constant and relatively
unchanging for a far longer period (nearly a millennium) than any other
civilization. In the first millennium B.C., the Arthashastra depicts an
extremely organized civilization which appears almost modern in many
respects, and India was idealized and mythicized by writers from China
to Greece. In the first millennium A.D., we had the golden period of
Indian civilization during the reign of the Guptas, at which point of
time, according to A.L. Basham, ââ¬ÅIndia was perhaps the happiest and most
civilized region of the worldââ¬Â. And in the second millennium A.D., India
was the desired land of dreams, in the quest for which half the world
had the misfortune of being ââ¬Ådiscoveredââ¬Â by Europe.
And this civilization has made primary contributions to the world in
every single field of culture. To begin with, religion: India is one of
the two centres of origin of the major world religions, the other being
West Asia. Buddhism was at one time the dominant religion not only in
East and Southeast Asia, but also in Central Asia and parts of West
Asia. It is increasingly being accepted as having been one of the major
influences on the initial formative stages of Christianity. With
Hinduism, it was the source of many religious trends (asceticism,
monasticism etc.) in the past, and even today, Hindu-Buddhist
philosophies are acquiring an ever-increasing following among thinkers
and intellectuals all over the world. Hindu religio-philosophical
concepts and terms (guru, nirvana, karma, etc.) have become basic
components of the international spiritual lexicon.
Science and the scientific temperament are among the defining points of
a civilized society, and Indiaââ¬â¢s contributions to the development of
science in the world have been more fundamental than that of any other
civilization then or since. India, to begin with, invented the
zero-based decimal system, without which no significant scientific
development and advancement beyond certain rudimentary levels would ever
have been possible in human society. This contribution is so very
important, and so well illustrates the level of scientific
thought-processes in India, that it needs to be elaborated in some
detail here.
To begin with, the first logical stage in the development of a numeral
system in any primitive society would be the very concept of numbers
(one, two, three, etc.). The second logical stage would be the
representation of these numbers in pictorial form, e.g. three pictures
or symbolic figures of cows and two of sheep would represent three cows
and two sheep. The third logical stage would be the shifting of the
concept of numbers from concrete objects to abstract ideas, e.g. by the
use of a simple symbol, usually a vertical line, to represent the number
one. Seven vertical lines followed by the picture or symbol of a cow
would represent seven cows. As the need for using bigger and bigger
numbers arose, attempts would be made to create groups, as in the common
method of keeping the score by drawing up to four vertical lines to
represent numbers up to four, and then a fifth line vertically across
the four to represent a full hand. The fourth logical stage would be the
development of a base number, usually ten, on the basis of the number of
fingers on the two hands used for counting.
Egyptian civilization was at this stage of development in its numeral
system, which invented specific symbols for one, ten, hundred, thousand,
ten thousand, etc. So, instead of representing the number 542 with 542
vertical lines, the Egyptians represented it with five repetitions of
the symbol for hundred, four of the symbol for ten, and two of the
symbol for one. This still had the drawback of requiring symbols to be
repeated as many as nine times; and the Greeks, who borrowed the
Egyptian system, went off at a tangent, off the logical track, in their
attempt to remedy this. They invented halfway symbols: additional
symbols for five, fifty, five hundred, etc. The Romans, who borrowed the
Greek system, went even further off the logical track: they tried to
avoid even four repetitions by employing a minus principle. Thus, four,
nine, forty and ninety were not IIII, VIIII, XXXX and LXXXX, but IV, IX,
XL and XC. Going off at another tangent, the Ionian Greeks, the Arabs,
the Hebrews, and others, assigned numerical values to the letters of
their alphabet. The numbers one to nine were represented by the first
nine alphabets, the numbers ten to ninety by the next nine, and so on,
creating a more concise but highly illogical numeral system of limited
utility.       Â
The fifth logical stage would be the avoidance of repetition of the base
symbols by means of specific symbols to represent each number of
repetitions. Chinese civilization was at this stage of development in
its numeral system, which had base symbols for one, ten, hundred,
thousand and ten thousand, as well as symbols for the numbers from two
to nine. Thus, the Chinese represented 542 with the symbols for five,
hundred, four, ten, and two, in that order. The sixth and last logical
stage would be a numeral system with a rigid place system and a symbol
for zero. Indian civilization reached this last and highest logical
stage in its numeral system, with symbols for the numbers from one to
nine and a symbol for zero, and a rigid place system, which made it
possible to represent any and every number with only ten symbols.
Incidentally, the Mesopotamians and the Mayas of Central America had
also hit upon their own versions of zero. But, as they had gone off the
logical track in the earlier stages, their systems remained grossly
unwieldy and illogical. The Mesopotamian system had an unwieldy base of
sixty, but symbols only for one, ten and zero; and even a symbol to
incorporate a minus principle, as in the Roman system. And the Maya
system had a base of twenty, but symbols only for one, five and zero;
and, to accommodate the calendar, the second base was 360 instead of
400. Indiaââ¬â¢s contribution of the zero-based decimal system (and,
incidentally, also of most of the basic principles in the different
branches of Mathematics) represents a fundamental revolutionary landmark
in the history of world science on a par with the invention of fire or
the invention of the wheel. But this invention was no accident. The
scientific temperament in India was so developed that it such a
fundamental development should inevitably have taken place only in
India. As Alain Daniélou puts it in his Introduction to the Study of
Musical Scales (p.99): ââ¬ÅThe Hindu theory is not like other systems,
limited to experimental data: it does not consider arbitrarily as
natural certain modes or certain chords, but it takes as its starting
point the general laws common to all the aspects of the worldââ¬â¢s
creation...ââ¬Â Curt Sachs, on the same subject (in his monumental work The
Rise of Music in the Ancient World * East and West, p.171), refers to
the ââ¬Ånaïve belief of historically untrained minds that patterns usual in
the personââ¬â¢s own time and country are ââ¬Ënaturalââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬Â¦Ã¢â¬Â, and contrasts it with
classification in India which ââ¬Åstarts from actual facts, but is thorough
in its accomplishment regardless of practiceââ¬Â.
It was this scientific temperament which led the ancient Indians to go
deep into the study of any and every subject, and to produce detailed
texts on everything, whether on religious laws, rituals and customs (the
vast Vedic literature: Samhitas, Brahmanas, Kalpasutras, Dharmasutras,
etc.), philosophy (the Upanishads, and the sutras, commentaries, and
other texts of the six Darshanas and the Buddhist, Jain and heterodox
philosophies, etc.), linguistics (Panini, Yaska, and numerous Vedic and
post-Vedic texts on Grammar, Phonetics, Etymology, etc.), medicine (the
Samhitas of Charaka, Sushruta, Vagbhata, etc.), administration and
statecraft (Kautilyaââ¬â¢s Arthashastra, etc.), the performing arts
(Bharataââ¬â¢s Natyashastra, etc.), and every other possible art, craft,
technology and science, right down to the art of making love
(Vatsyayanaââ¬â¢s Kamasutra). No subject was beyond the detailed
investigations of the ancient Indians. And basic texts, on any subject,
themselves the culminations of long and rich traditions, were followed
by detailed commentaries, and by commentaries on the commentaries. And
there were well-established and regulated systems and forums all over
the country for objective debates on controversial points or subjects.
With all this, it is not surprising that Indian civilization should
have been the source of origin of so many things.
18.6. Cultural nationalism: health, beauty, pleasure
As an illustration of Indiaââ¬â¢s role on the world stage, consider the
performing arts, i.e. music, dance and drama. A.C. Scott writes (The
Theatre in Asia, p.1): ââ¬ÅIt will be seen that stage practice in Asia owes
a great deal to India as an ancestral source. Indian influence on dance
and theatre which are one and the same in Asia was like some great
subterranean river following a spreading course and forming new streams
on the wayââ¬Â. Curt Sachs tells us (The Rise of Music in the Ancient
World, p.192) that Indian music ââ¬Åhad a decisive part in forming the
musical style of the East, of China, Korea and Japan, andââ¬Â¦ what today is
called Indochina and the Malay Archipelago. There was a westward
exportation, tooââ¬Â¦ Indian influence on Islamic musicââ¬Â¦ the system of
melodic and rhythmic patterns, characteristic of the Persian, Turkish,
and Arabian world, had existed in India as the ragas and talas more than
a thousand years before it appeared in the sources of the Mohammedan
Orient.ââ¬Â Elsewhere, he goes into more specific details about this
fundamental Indian influence on the music and dance of China and Japan
(pp.139, 145), Bali (p.139), Siam (p.152), Burma (p.153), and Indonesia
(pp. 130-132).
Alain Daniélou tells us (Introduction to the Study of Musical Scales,
p.99) that the Indian ââ¬Åtheory of musical modesââ¬Â¦ seems to have been the
source from which all systems of modal music originatedââ¬Â. He goes so far
as to suggest that ââ¬ÅGreek music, like Egyptian music, most probably had
its roots in Hindu musicââ¬Â (pp.159-160). India first recognized the
division of the octave into seven notes, twelve semi-tones, and
twenty-two microtones (the world has still to progress towards, and
Indian music as it is practiced today has even regressed from, the
microtones). India was the land of origin of a wide range of musical
concepts and musical instruments, not only in respect of the musical
systems of Asia, but even beyond. According to the Guinness Book of
Facts and Feats, bagpipes (so characteristic of Scottish music), and
hourglass drums (the talking drums or message drums of Africa),
originated in India. The present classification of musical instruments
into four classes (idiophonic, membranophonic, aerophonic and
chordophonic) originated in India.
It was not only in respect of music, or of religion and sciences, that
Indian influence on Asia, and thereby on the rest of the world, was
ââ¬Ålike some great subterranean river following a spreading course and
forming new streams on the wayââ¬Â. This was the case in practically every
field of culture. Indian sculpture and architecture spread eastwards and
influenced the development of classical sculpture and architecture in
the East and Southeast: the biggest temple complex in the world, the
Hindu temple complex of Angkor Vat in Cambodia, is the most eloquent
example.
Indian lore and literature spread eastwards and westwards, leading to
the development of new genres of literature. The traditional lore and
literature of Southeast Asia are suffused with the spirit, themes and
vocabulary of Sanskrit epic literature, while (apart from the scientific
and technical literature on every subject). Indian literary techniques
and themes, like animal fables and the tale-within-a-tale technique,
among others, spread out westwards, and inspired the writing of classics
like The Arabian Nights and the Greek Aesopââ¬â¢s Fables. Indian board
games, like chess and ludo (pachisi), among others, likewise, spread out
east and west. The former became the national game of Asia (with local
varieties, all of them with local names derived from the Sanskrit
chaturang, in every country from Arabia to Korea and Vietnam), before
acquiring its present international status.
Physical culture of every kind, from systems of physical exercises and
martial arts, to comprehensive systems of health like Ayurveda
(including, apart from its varieties of oral medicines, also the
panchakarma techniques, theories of dietetics, etc.) and Hathayoga
(including, besides asanas, a range of breathing techniques,
concentration and meditation techniques, a wide range of internal and
external cleansing techniques, etc.), also spread east and west, giving
rise to similar techniques elsewhere. Greek medicine is acknowledged by
many scholars to owe much to Indian medicine, and the renowned martial
arts of the East acknowledge their Indian origin. Indian cuisine is
generally acknowledged to be one of the great cuisines of the world, and
the greatest when it comes to vegetarian cuisine, and is gaining
popularity worldwide. Food culture all over the world would have been
poor indeed without Indiaââ¬â¢s material contributions to the four tastes:
sweet (sugar), sour (lemons, tamarinds, kokam and amchur), pungent
(black pepper and ginger), and bitter (bitter gourds), as well as a wide
variety of other spices and flavourings.
In respect of clothes and ornaments, again, Indiaââ¬â¢s contributions are of
primary importance: cotton, the most important fabric in the world,
originated in India, along with numerous important techniques, of
weaving, dyeing and printing, basic to the textile industry. The use of
diamonds originated in India: till the eighteenth century, India was the
only source of diamonds, and the ornament and jewellery industry in
India was a world pioneer in many ways. Beauty culture, the art of
shringara, as described in great detail in the ancient texts, had
developed very highly in ancient India, and India was the source of a
great many kinds of clothing, ornaments, herbal cosmetics and
applications, aromatic oils and beauty techniques.Â
Our claim that Indian culture can be considered the greatest and richest
culture in the world, is not made only on the basis of past glories,--
although, as a civilization with the only continuous tradition, the past
is not a dead past but is an intrinsic part of our present identity. Nor
only on the basis of past contributions to the world,-- considerable,
and even unmatchable, as they are. Indian culture is the greatest and
richest culture in the world on the strength of its glorious present as
well.
18.7. Cultural nationalism: the widest range
India is a complete cultural world in itself. Firstly, it represents
every stage of development in culture from the most sophisticated, right
from ancient times, to the most primitive, even in modern times or as
late as the twentieth century. Secondly, the richness and variety of its
cultural wealth, in every respect, is so great that it need never look
beyond its own cultural frontiers for inspiration, innovation and
development in any field of culture.
To illustrate the first point, of the widest range between extremes,
consider the mathematical systems. Ancient India conceived and analyzed
the mathematical concepts of zero and infinity, achieved a fundamental
revolution by devising a numeral system which can represent any
conceivable number with only ten symbols, and coined names for numbers
of incredibly high denominations. (A Buddhist work, Lalitavistara, gives
the names for base-numbers up to 10 raised to the 421th power, i.e. one
followed by 421 zeroes.) And, at the same time, we have the Andamanese
languages, which have not developed the concept of numbers beyond two.
They have names only for ââ¬Åoneââ¬Â and ââ¬Åtwoââ¬Â, which is in effect ââ¬Åoneââ¬Â and
ââ¬Åmore than oneââ¬Â, which is no numeral system at all, and represents the
absolutely most primitive stage in any language in the world.
Likewise, in music, our Indian classical music has, since thousands of
years, developed a detailed theory of music, and used the richest range
of notes (twenty-two microtones as compared to the twelve notes of
western classical music), scales (every possible combination of the
basic notes), modes and rhythms (the most unimaginably wide range of
melodies and rhythms, from the simplest to the most complicated and
intricate, with e.g. rhythms having 11, 13, 17, 19 etc. beats per cycle,
unimaginable outside India), and musical instruments (with the most
intricate playing techniques in the world). And, at the same time, the
absolutely most primitive form of singing in the world is found among
the Veddas of Sri Lanka. Along with certain remote Patagonian tribes,
they are the only people in the world who ââ¬Ånot only do not possess any
musical instrument, but do not even clap their hands or stamp the
groundââ¬Â (Curt Sachs: The History of Musical Instruments, p.26).
This is the case in almost every field of culture. On the one hand,
India has the richest traditional cuisine in the world, one of the most
highly developed traditions of architecture in all its aspects, and an
incredibly wide range of costumes and ornaments, all of hoary antiquity.
On the other hand, we have tribes who are hunter-gatherers and subsist
only on wild berries, who live in caves, or who live almost in the nude.
As for the second point, of completeness, a glance at two representative
fields of civilizational culture, religion and music, will suffice to
make it clear. The range of Indian religion, both in respect of
philosophy and doctrines, as well as customs and rituals, is quite a
complete one. Every shade of thought and idea (theistic, atheistic and
agnostic), from the most materialistic to the most spiritual, from the
most rationalistic to the most irrational, from the most humane to the
most barbaric, and from the most puritanical or orthodox to the most
profane or heterodox, has been explored by the different schools of
philosophy, different sects and different individual writers. Every kind
and level of ritual and custom from the most primitive to the most
sophisticated, from the simplest to the most elaborate, and from the
most humane to the most ruthless, is found in one or the other part of
India.
The only common thread is the complete absence of intolerant
imperialistic tendencies: if such ever arose in the history of Hinduism,
they died out just as quickly. Therefore, also, Hindu India, before the
rise of modern liberalism in the west, was the only safe haven in the
civilized world for the followers of religions and sects persecuted
elsewhere: Jews, Zoroastrians, Syrian Christians, and in modern times,
Armenian Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Bahais and Ahmadiyas. (That this
sometimes proved costly in the long run because of the failure to
distinguish between religions and imperialist ideologies, is a different
matter.)
In music, between the extremes of complexity and simplicity, India has
also explored the scope for variety most thoroughly. Curt Sachs writes
(The Rise Of Music in the Ancient World, p.157): ââ¬ÅThe roots of music are
more exposed in India than anywhere else. The Vedda in Ceylon possess
the earliest stage of singing that we know, and the subsequent strata of
primitive music are represented by the numberless tribes that in valleys
and jungles took shelter from the raids of northern invaders. So far as
this primitive music is concerned, the records are complete or at least
could easily be completed if special attention were paid to the music of
the ââ¬Ëtribesââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬Â¦ hundreds of tribal stylesââ¬Â¦Ã¢â¬Â
Then there is the folk music, the range and variety of which is
mind-boggling. Every single part of India is rich in its own individual
range of styles of folk music. The folk music of even any one state of
India (say Maharashtra, Rajasthan or Karnataka, for example, or even
Sind, Baluchistan, Sri Lanka or Bhutan for that matter) would merit a
lifetime of study. And, right on top, we have the great tradition of
Indian classical music, which we have already referred to. Although the
oldest living form of classical music in the world, and although it has
evolved and developed over the centuries, losing and gaining in the
process, Curt Sachs points out (The Rise Of Music in the Ancient World,
p.157) that ââ¬Åthere is no reason to believe that Indiaââ¬â¢s ancient music
differed essentially from her modern musicââ¬Â. Many western musicologists
(Alain Daniélou, M.E. Cousins, Donald Lentz, etc.) have spoken about the
superiority of Indian classical music over western classical music, but
even without going that far, it is at least certain that Indian
Classical music is one of the two main classical traditions in the
world. And apart from classical music, we have the other great
tradition, of Vedic chanting and singing in its many varieties, best
preserved in South India, and different varieties of Sanskrit songs,
preserved in temples and abbeys all over India.
In all these varieties of music (classical, folk, popular and tribal),
we have the most unparalleled range of musical instruments in the world.
They are unique in their range from the most primitive and simple to the
most sophisticated and complicated in respect of techniques of making,
artistic appearance, techniques of playing, and qualities of sound, in
every type: idiophonic, membranophonic, aerophonic and chordophonic;
monophonic, pressurephonic, polyphonic and multiphonic.
All this music and all these musical instruments were preserved down the
ages by temple traditions, courts, courtesans, great masters and
professional castes, musical institutions, and tribal, caste and
community traditions. The twentieth century saw a consolidation of all
this rich musical wealth due, on the one hand, to the invention of
recording devices, and, on the other, to the enthusiasm natural in a
modern India in the atmosphere of an independence movement. New
generations of musicians and scholars, and government bodies like Films
Division, Akashwani and Doordarshan, did a herculean job in studying,
recording and popularizing all forms of Indian music. New trends in
classical music (eg. the Gharana system, new semi-classical forms,
including Marathi Natya Sangeet, etc.), new innovations (eg. the
ââ¬ÅVadyavrindââ¬Â orchestration of Indian melodic music, etc.), and new
genres of popular music (e.g. new forms of devotional music, of popular
music like the Bhavgeet genre in Marathi music, and film music) added to
Indiaââ¬â¢s incomparable musical wealth.
This was about music. The same is the case in respect of Indiaââ¬â¢s
cultural wealth in every other field. The same sources: ancient texts,
temple traditions, courts, courtesans, great masters and professional
castes, institutions, and tribal, caste and community traditions, have
combined to preserve lore and literature, dance forms, arts and crafts,
architectural forms, cuisine, games and physical systems, etc. etc. A
detailed study will confirm that Indian culture is among the greatest
and richest in the world in any and every individual field of culture,
and the greatest and richest in the world in the sum total of culture.Â
18.8. Cultural nationalism: Hindu civilization under siege
Today, this greatest and richest culture in the world, which survived
all kinds of challenges in the past, is being slowly and systematically
wiped out or turned into a caricature of itself. And, if systematic
steps are not taken on a war footing, it will soon be a faint and fading
memory of the past. And not only will that be the end of Hindu society
as we know it, but it will be a great tragedy for world culture as well.
By Shrikant Talageri from India's Only Communalist.. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Marma Shastra
http://web.mac.com/sevanti/iWeb/Sevanti/...ticle.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Please sign this petition ASAP.
Diwali Stamp:
USPS (US Postal Service) is considering issuing stamps for Diwali festival. USPS has stamps for other festivals too like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid, and Chinese New Year.
To do this, USPS needs 500,000 signatures to have a stamp release, and so far we have 294,000+ people who have signed the petition. Please go to the site below and support the release of the Diwali stamp.
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