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

Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children is now published after academic peer-review and available through open access.

In this book, we analyze the psycho-social consequences that Indian American children face after they are exposed to the school textbook discourse on Hinduism and ancient India. We show that there is an intimate connection―an almost exact correspondence―between James Mill’s ( a prominent politician in Britain and head of the British East India Company) colonial-racist discourse and the current school-textbook discourse. Consequently, this archaic and racist discourse, camouflaged under the cover of political correctness, produces in the Indian American children the same psychological impact as racism is known to produce: shame, inferiority, embarrassment, identity confusion, assimilation, and a phenomenon similar to racelessness where the children dissociate from the tradition and culture of their ancestors

This book is an outcome of 4 years of rigorous research as a part of our ongoing commitment at Hindupedia to challenge the representation of Hindu Dharma within Academia.

Jaṭā

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Jaṭā literally means ‘matted hair’. In order to be free from the botheration of maintaining the hair, the ascetics and yogis used to apply some milky exudation of the trees like banyan and twist the hair into convenient strands and coils. This is termed as Jaṭā. It prevents dirt and lice from settling on the head and even keeps the hair in order.

Deities having Jaṭā[edit]

The scriptures depict Śiva with such hair locks. Even some forms of Devī, Subrahmaṇya and Sāstā have the same hairdo.

Types of Jaṭās[edit]

Depending on the pattern of arrangement of hair, several names are given for the jaṭā and include:

  • Jatāmukuta - In this the hair is dressed like a crown and many deities (both gods and goddesses) are shown with this jatāmukuta
  • Jaṭābandha or Jaṭākalāpa - In this style the matted hair is wound around the head and tied as a knot on the top and the sages usually are shown with this type of hairdo
  • Jaṭāmaṇḍala - In this the strands of hair are arranged in a circular halo and different forms of Śiva generally exhibit this hairdo

References[edit]

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

Contributors to this article

Deval Sancheti, Apurva Mahendra Bhangdia

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