Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children Book Cover.webp

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.

Gaṅgāsāgara

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Gaṅgāsāgara literally means ‘the place where the river Gaṅgā joins the sāgara or ocean’.

The river Gaṅgā is the holiest river of India. Thus it has been revered for at least five millennia. Its origin (Gaṅgotri), the various places of pilgrimage on its banks, and the region where it joins the ocean in the Bay of Bengal are all considered as holy.

Gaṅgāsāgara (and also Guhyakṣetra) is one holy site on the banks of the Gaṅgā, was once the hermitage of the sage Kapila, who had reduced to ashes, the 60,000 sons of the King Sagara. The Pāṇḍavas, during their vanavāsa or sojourn through the forests had visited this place.

The place is situated about 144 kms. (90 miles) from Diamond Harbor which itself is 61 kms. (38 miles) from the metropolis of Kolkata. There are steamer or boat services from the harbor to the island. There are some old temples in the region known as Vāmankhal and Candan-pīḍi. One of them is that of the goddess Viśālākṣī. On the occasion of Makara Saṅkrānti (14th-15th January) thousands of pilgrims take bath here.


References[edit]

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

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