The Dharma Dispatch

[PHOTOESSAY] The Multidimensional Maha Kumbha Mela A fundamental element in the Kumbha Mela is the fact that it is a Tirtha Yatra. Tirtha Yatra is the timeless expression of Hindu piety on two moving feet. Our national institution of Tirtha Yatra is a peerless and irreplacable illustration of order in chaos. It is an institution sans any headquarters or leader. The Kumbha Mela is in essence, a living, human miniature of the Sanatana civilisation itself. --- Do read this comprehensive essay exploring all the dimensions of the Kumbha Mela. 🛕🙏🕉🪔 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/culture/photoessay-the-multidimensional-maha-kumbha-mela

The Art of Reading - An Instructive Lesson from DVG THE FOLLOWING IS the full text of a marvelously instructive essay written by the iconic D.V. Gundappa way back in 1915. I think it is timely to revisit the essay given the heedless pursuit of Artificial Intelligence in our own time. I view the usage of dangerous tools like ChatGPT as Saraswati Droha — betrayal of Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning. In this essay, DVG beautifully delineates the method of transforming reading into an art. It is my ardent hope that the readers of The Dharma Dispatch will find value in this essay and pass it on, most importantly, to their children. 📑🛕🪔🙏 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/the-art-of-reading-an-instructive-lesson-from-dvg

[NEW COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT] The good folks at Vibhu Academy are launching a highly informative course titled Bharatiya Vijnanam: Studies in Ancient Indian Science. I highly recommend it. For details, click the link below. https://www.dharmadispatch.in/dispatches/new-course-announcement-bharatiya-vijnanam-introduction-to-ancient-indian-science-studies

Aurangzeb’s Death and Murshid Quli Khan’s Exile to the Dakkhan Murshid Quli Khan imports 14 of his relatives from Iran and gets them lucrative Mansabs in Bengal. This is another illustration of how large numbers of alien Muslims poured into India and usurped lands and got unearned wealth. After Aurangzeb's death, Azim-ud-din takes revenge on Murshid Quli Khan by banishing him to the Dakkhan. Read all about the sick power politics played in the Mughal Empire. https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/aurangzebs-death-and-murshid-quli-khans-exile-to-the-dakkhan

Murshidabad in Bengal was a city founded by a Shia Bigot named Murshid Quli Khan, the Governor of Aurangzeb. Its current pathetic state owes to this man. Read the full story! https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/murshidabad-the-city-founded-by-a-shia-bigot

The Best of The Dharma Dispatch: 2024 WISHING ALL OUR readers and patrons a very happy and prosperous Gregorian New Year, 2025. It has been our annual custom to curate a list of the ten most read articles on The Dharma Dispatch. And so, here's the list for 2024. Your readership and support have gone a long way in helping us continue to offer some of the most ennobling and rare stories and essays related to Hindu culture and history. Hope you all have a fabulous, happy and prosperous 2025! 🙏🛕🪔 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/dispatches/the-best-of-the-dharma-dispatch-2024-ce

Acharya Jadunath Sarkar’s Timeless Guidance should be Revisited by our Educationists The Mathematical Tripos of Cambridge is one of the toughest maths courses in the world. In this brilliant exposition, Acharya Jadunath Sarkar lays out his vision to elevate history courses in India to this standard. His mantra was originality of thought and rational study. The student would be evaluated on the basis of quality, not quantity - i.e., the number of questions answered. This is a gold-standard prescription, which will be of immense benefit to our educationists today if we are serious about education reform. Read the full, brilliant piece! 📑🪔🛕 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/acharya-jadunath-sarkars-timeless-guidance-should-be-revisited-by-our-educationists

[SUNDAY READING] Read this intriguing and delightful anecdote of how mass distribution of chapatis played a mysterious role during the first war of Indian independence. https://www.dharmadispatch.in/history/how-the-ubiquitous-chapati-forged-the-first-war-of-indian-independence-an-unsolved-mystery

How to Study and Write History: Excellent Tips from Acharya Jadunath Sarkar The students should he made to write their own summaries and, bring them to the teacher for correction. Summaries if made by a student himself serve many useful purposes; the exercise teaches him to separate the wheat from the chaff in what he reads, to marshal facts, in their natural sequence or in the order of their importance, and to practise terseness and accuracy of expression. Above all it calls forth his intellectual self-reliance. How many teachers of this calibre and vision exist in our universities today? And how infinitely fortunate were Sarkar's students, who studied directly under him? Read this highly inspirational essay! 📑🙏🪔 https://www.dharmadispatch.in/commentary/how-to-study-and-write-history-excellent-tips-from-acharya-jadunath-sarkar