Author: Kumkum Roy
Kunal Chakrabarti/Tanika Sarkar
Illustrator: Soumik Nandy/Sanchayan Ghosh/Parvez Kabir
Publisher: Heinrich Boll Foundation
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 126
ISBN/UPC (if available): 81-902306-5-4
Description
Most of us have heard about the Vedas and some of us may even know or chant a few Vedic mantras. Of late we may have noticed that attempts are being made to trace everything is 'good' back to the Vedas and proclaim the Vedic people as the 'real' authors of the Harappan civilization. This strategy is used to argue that a whole range of religious traditions - especially Hinduism - are actually derived from the Vedic religion.
Is the Harrapan civilization Vedic? Should the Harappan civilization be renamed the Sarasvati civilization? How Vedic are our religious traditions? Is the Puranic religion the same as the Vedic religion? What features are unique to Hinduism? Is the Bhagavad Gita the sacred text of the Hindus? What is Hindutva? Is it synonymous with Hinduism? Is the Hindutva brigade trying to claim a monopoly on the religious beliefs and practices in India?
These claims have been examined by three leading historians for the curious reader and a well-researched visual text makes it come alive for them. The volume has a Foreword by Romila Thapar, one of India's most eminent historians.