Hampi Continues to Live – Part 9

Continued from Part 8 Lotus Mahal, Queen's Bath, & Stables (Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Suhas and Beloo Mehra)   A little walk from behind the Hazara Rama temple brings you to the great Royal Quarters of the mighty Vijayanagara Emperors who ruled from Hampi. A visit to Hampi would not be complete without... Continue Reading →

Hampi Continues to Live – Part 8

Continued from Part 7 Hazara Rama temple (Photos by Suhas Mehra, text and quotes selection by Beloo Mehra)   यावत्स्थास्यन्ति गिरयः सरितश्च महीतले | तावद्रामायणकथा लोकेषु प्रचरिष्यति || "As long as the mountains and even rivers flourish on the surface of the earth, so long the legend of Ramayana will flourish in this world... [Valmiki... Continue Reading →

A Series Inspired by India’s Rebirth – 6

Author: Beloo Mehra (2019). Published under the title ‘When Young India Awakes’ in Sri Aurobindo’s Action, Vol. 50 (6), pp. 8-11 CONTINUED FROM Part 5 When Young India Awakes CHAPTER V The train was on time, 1:55am. And luckily, Aman was able to convince a fellow passenger to switch seats so that Yuvaan could stay... Continue Reading →

Hampi Continues to Live – Part 7

Continued from Part 6 Chakratirtha, Tungabhadra River and Kodandarama temple (Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo Mehra) Not far from Vittala temple, a short walk along some semi-paved/stepped rocks and you will soon find yourselves entering into a cave-like rock formation. A few minutes later as you come out out of this cool shady... Continue Reading →

Equality and Freedom: Reading What a Yogi Writes ‘About Woman’

A civilisation as ancient as Indian has well-developed perspectives on key questions of human existence, human development, aims of human life, culture, identity, womanhood, relation between individual and society, etc. which not only shape and contextualise women’s awareness of themselves and their experiences, but also facilitate a keener and deeper perception of the world around.... Continue Reading →

A Series Inspired by India’s Rebirth – 5

Author: Beloo Mehra (2019). Published under the title ‘When Young India Awakes’ in Sri Aurobindo’s Action, Vol. 50 (5), pp. 8-11 CONTINUED FROM Part 4   CHAPTER IV Yuvaan looked around the large but sparsely furnished, railway waiting room – some not-so-comfortable-looking wooden benches pushed against the two walls of the room, a few plastic... Continue Reading →

Hampi Continues to Live – Part 6

Continued from Part 5   Raghunatha Temple and Malyavanta Hill   One of the lesser-known but most beautiful places to visit in Hampi is the Raghunatha temple on top of the Malyavanta Hill. During our trip to Hampi in 2018, we spent some time on top of this hill. The 360-degree view from there is... Continue Reading →

Of Life, Mind and Progress

Author: Beloo Mehra, Published in Sri Aurobindo's Action, Vol. 50 (8 & 9, Aug-Sept 2019), pp. 5-6   “Western civilisation is proud of its successful modernism. But there is much that it has lost in the eagerness of its gains and much which men of old strove towards that it has not even attempted to... Continue Reading →

Notes on Reading ‘Abhaya’ in the Light of Sri Aurobindo

      “I revere Krishna today as one of the first architects of a unified India. Yes, I believe he did exist in the obscure history of India…. Abhaya has been my window to explore and experience Krishna Vaasudeva.” This is how Saiswaroopa Iyer introduces the second lead of her debut novel, Abhaya, in... Continue Reading →

The Narasimha Avatar: Optimisation Gone Astray

"The Avatar is necessary when a special work is to be done and in crises of the evolution." ~ Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 28, p. 485. The story goes like this: The demon-king Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted revenge on Lord Viṣṇu and his followers. He undertook many years of austere penance to fulfill his desire. Lord Brahma... Continue Reading →

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