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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.

Pañcopacāras

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Pañcopacāras literally means ‘the five upacāras or modes of service’.

Pañcopacāras Definition[edit]

In pujā or ritualistic worship of a deity, the upacāras or direct modes of offering are important. They may generally be five or ten or sixteen. When they are five, they are called ‘pañcopacāras’.[1]

Five Pujās in Pañcopacāras[edit]

The five pujās involved in it are:

  1. Gandha - sandal-paste
  2. Puṣpa - flowers along with bilva and tulasī leaves and also durva or grass
  3. Dhupa - incense
  4. Dipa - lighted lamp for waving before the deity
  5. Naivedya - food-offering


References[edit]

  1. ↑ Pañca means five.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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