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  NAVAGUNJARA     The concept of 'hybrid gods' may seem new, but gods with animalistic attributes have been present in world cultures for a long time. Archaeologists have discovered ritualistic evidence in settlements that worshipped such hybrid gods. For example, a burial site yielded skeletal remains of a cow, and a horse bound together, and other remains included a six-legged sheep.   Mythical composite gods appear in cultures around the world. For example, Anubis was popularly worshipped in ancient Egyptian civilization, while Narasimha is still worshipped in Hindu culture. One such mythical creature in Hindu mythology is the Navagunjara (also Nabagunjara ), introduced by the Oriya Adikavi Sarala Das in his version of the Hindu Epic, Mahabharata.  ( Sarala Das is a 15th-century poet contemporary to the Gajapathi King Kapiledra Dev)   In his poem, Sarala Das introduces the mythical creature as an avatar of Lord Krishna who emerged to test A...
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Hirebenakal: The Story of Rock Music and Art

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  Hirebenakal: The Story of Rock Music and Art For most of us, music was introduced as lullabies by our parents. It has had a lasting effect on us since then. Music has become a part of life from it being played in the background of elevators to weekend music raves. What might have initially started as a series of pleasing sounds has now become increasingly popular among every generation; each having varied playlists composed of several genres. Anthropologists and archaeologists have gathered enough evidence to prove the existence of music in pre-historic communities all over the world. Indeed, most traditional forms of music are associated with religious beliefs and spiritual practices. Many schools of music prospered around activities of worship and occult practice; their music praising the Deity’s beauty, valour, benevolence and love. In ancient Greece, the Greek god Apollo was worshipped as the God of music, healing, light and prophecy. In pre-historic Egypt, music and cha...
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CONNECTING THE DOTS: A CASE OF BANDHANI

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  CONNECTING THE DOTS: A CASE OF BANDHANI   Name of the article - Connecting the Dots: A case of Bandhani Name of Place - Jaisalmer Fort, Jaisalmer, and Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur Article written by - Ms. Radhika Malhotra Edited by - Mrs. Srishti  Safaya   The walls of various forts, havelis, and other buildings across Rajasthan are ornamented with paintings based on a myriad of themes which range from religious portraits to everyday life scenes to extravagant lives of royalties and the portraits of British officials. In few of the paintings found on the walls of Jaisalmer Fort, it can be noticed that the portraits of Goddess Radha, Goddess Parvati and of a lady painted on the walls of the Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur, are bound by a common factor which are the clothes of the subjects embellished with the tie-dye technique called bandhani. Bandhani is a type of patterned fabric that is crafted with expertise steeped in age-old traditions and knowledge sy...
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