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.

Kañkaṇa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Kañkaṇa literally means ‘that which expresses auspiciousness’.

Images of gods and goddesses including the minor deities are often shown with several ornaments. One such ornament is the kaṅkaṇa. It is the bangle or bracelet. The number varies from two to seven on each hand. The material used for making the bangles may be gold (suvarṇa) or conch-shell studded with pearls.[1]

The shape of kaṅkaṇa may be round[2] or like a lotus-stem.[3] It is said to signify auspiciousness.[4]


References[edit]

  1. Pearls are known as maṇi-kaṅkaṇa.
  2. Valaya means round shape.
  3. Mṛṇālavalaya is the lotus stem.
  4. Kam means śubha or auspiciousness; kaṇa means to produce by sound.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore