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Sugar – we all crave it, from children to adults. We indulge in it, from sodas, cakes, and assorted candies, during times of sadness and times of celebration. But crystallized sugar, first invented in India, has a dark history, involving conquest, secret societies, and exploitation.
Did you know that Mayapur was once the capital of the Eastern Empire of India, and that the king’s palace lies in ruins a short walk from ISKCON Mayapur?
Just behind Chand Kazi’s samadhi are the ruins known as Ballal Dhipi, which even today no one really knows much about. If you ask locals they have no idea what it is or what it was. Up until 1980 it was a giant earthen mound 30 feet high, covered in grass. No one knew what was underneath.
This is an ancient Vetala deity worshipped in Goa at the village of Loliem, who is over 8 feet tall. Vetala are a type of mystical ghostly species of beings. A famous example of them occurs in the book Kathasaritsagara, in which a king tries to capture a Vetala, but each time the Vetala tells him a story with a riddle at the end. This occurs 25 times, and those 25 stories are the basis of much of the world’s folklore (Arabian nights, Panchatantra, etc.).
For thousands of years India has had an ancient connection with all gemstones. We see this evident in the traditional name for the Indian Ocean – Ratnakara “the mine of gems”. But did you know that up until the early 18th Century the entire world’s supply of diamonds came exclusively from India?
The Sages inform us that once the entire world was ruled by a single Emperor. Then a great destruction occurred. All the kings of the earth gathered at a single place, a battlefield, in which the entire order was destroyed. This was the great transition between the Ages and the world entered a new Dark Age (Kali Yuga) in 3102 B.C. with no memory of what had come before.
“We have drunk Soma and become immortal; we have attained the light, the gods discovered. Now what may an enemy’s malice do to harm us? What, O Immortal, can mortal man’s deception do?” – Rig Veda 8.48.3
Perhaps the most re-occuring tradition found around the world is that of a man, forewarned of a coming destruction (pralaya) by water, who escapes by boat, and preserves the human race. In the Vedic tradition he is known as Manu, the father of mankind.
If I were to tell you, that once, no other country, save India, revered the cow as much as Japan, I could understand your disbelief. Today, we think of Japan as a meat-eating culture. However, this image is a product of the last 150 years of American influence. The traditional Japanese culture held the cow as the most sacred animal. What follows next is the true story of among the greatest protectors of the cow – the Samurai.
If you were to travel to Lithuania you might encounter some traditional houses adorned with the motif of two horse heads. You might take this as a simple design but it is in fact a small clue to Lithuania’s deep and ancient Vedic past.
Among Vedic practitioners, Tulasi “The Incomparable One”, is vital in the worship of Lord Vishnu. As Vrinda Devi she arranges the pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Krishna in the forests of Vrindavan. Devotees always offer food to the Lord accompanied by a leaf from Tulasi. In addition, Vaishnavas chant on and wear sacred beads made of her wood, and in some traditions anoint their body with sacred clay in the form of her leaf.
