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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.


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Mukuṭa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Mukuṭa literally means ‘that which decorates the head’.

Significance of Mukuṭa[edit]

Mukuṭa is also spelt as ‘makuṭa’. It is headwear or crown. In iconographical works, almost all the images, whether of gods or semi-gods or demons or human beings, are shown with some kind of mukuṭa.

Classification of Mukuṭa[edit]

There are varieties of the same. Some of them are:

  1. Kirītamukuta - It is a crown, usually 16 to 24 aṅgulas in height and cylindrical or conical in shape with details like a diadem or a lotus or studded with gems. It is shown on the heads of male deities like Viṣṇu and also the emperors. Sometimes devi images too have them.
  2. Karandamukuta - It is shaped like a pot or a bulb, it is shown as adorning the major feminine deities and also kings. The lower part of this crown may be studded with precious stones.
  3. Jatāmukuta - Here, the matted hair is done up like a crown. This is generally shown in the images of Śiva, his attendants and sages. It is even common in some forms of the Devi.
  4. Śirastraka - In the images of yakṣas and the nāgas, a turban-like headgear, called śirastraka, is provided.


References[edit]

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

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