Indian cultures and civilizations
Indian civilization has had my interest since my teenage years. While many admirers of “Incredible India” focus on the various physical or spiritual aspects of yoga, I was always more interested in the philosophical harvest of the region, which in turn finds reflection in nearly all South-Asian religions. Tracking the development of Indian philosophical thought through space and time took me back to the obscure beginnings of the Vedic culture, the earliest origins of Sanskrit, and to the Proto-Indo-Europeans. On the other hand, and in spite of currently emerging politically correct versions of history, it was difficult not to notice and explore the deleterious effect that the early Vedic civilization had on the incredibly advanced Indus Valley civilizations of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro.
With religious cults, philosophy, literature, art, spiritual and physical practices so closely intertwined, my conjecture is that established knowledge has barely scratched what lies beneath the early superficial layers of indological research and study. From a utilitarian perspective, modern India has not even begun to tap into the deep well of potential that its multitude of cultures harbors and that its socio-ethnic and religious conflicts have continued to obstruct.
With religious cults, philosophy, literature, art, spiritual and physical practices so closely intertwined, my conjecture is that established knowledge has barely scratched what lies beneath the early superficial layers of indological research and study. From a utilitarian perspective, modern India has not even begun to tap into the deep well of potential that its multitude of cultures harbors and that its socio-ethnic and religious conflicts have continued to obstruct.
India in pictures
Mohenjo Daro
Khajuraho
Rajasthan in pictures
Udaipur
Jodhpur
Jaipur
Chittorgarh
Ranakpur
Bikaner
