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In this book, we analyze the psycho-social consequences faced by Indian American children after exposure to the school textbook discourse on Hinduism and ancient India. We demonstrate that there is an intimate connection—an almost exact correspondence—between James Mill’s colonial-racist discourse (Mill was the head of the British East India Company) and the current school textbook discourse. This racist discourse, camouflaged under the cover of political correctness, produces the same psychological impacts on Indian American children that racism typically causes: shame, inferiority, embarrassment, identity confusion, assimilation, and a phenomenon akin to racelessness, where children dissociate from the traditions and culture of their ancestors.


This book is the result of four years of rigorous research and academic peer-review, reflecting our ongoing commitment at Hindupedia to challenge the representation of Hindu Dharma within academia.

Aṅkurārpaṇa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Aṅkurārpaṇa literally means ‘offering the germinated seeds’.

Building a temple is considered a pious act. Since the temple is a house of God, the construction must be done not only meticulously but also religiously. One of the important religious ceremonies connected with the various stages of construction is ‘aṅkurārpaṇa,’ the rite of offering the germinated seeds.

It is performed before the construction begins, before laying the last brick or stone (murdheṣṭakā) into the superstructure,prior to the installation of the main image, before the opening of the eyes of the image (akṣimocana) and so on.

The rite itself consists of placing the germinated seeds of different varieties of paddy, sesamum, mustard etc., in 16 copper vessels and placing them in front of Soma (the deity presiding over the process of germination). The main purpose of the rite is to facilitate the result of the work without obstacles.


References[edit]

  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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