Sati

Snapshots from Guwahati's Ambubachi Mela, a yearly festival marking the goddess Kamakhya's menstrual cycle

At the onset of the monsoons in Assam, for about four days, the doors of the Kamakhya Temple are closed in observance of the Ambubachi Mela. The fair marks the annual menstruation of the goddess at Kamakhya

Raja Ram Mohan Roy's 246th birth anniversary: Google Doodle honours 'Father of Indian Renaissance'

On the 246th birth anniversary of social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy — also known as the father of Indian Renaissance — Google honoured him with a doodle.

Padmaavat: Delhi High Court rejects plea alleging glorification of Sati in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film

The Delhi High Court today rejected a plea seeking penal action against the producers and director of Bollywood movie Padmaavat for alleged glorification of the practice of sati

Of sati, lore of queens confined to palaces, and the modern-day Rajasthani girls who dance

What a visit to Rajasthan's palaces, where reminders of the women who committed sati still exist, taught a writer about the way women are treated in the state | #FirstCulture

Padmaavat episode shows BJP has many Rajput leaders in its fold, but they don’t add up to one Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

The Padmaavat controversy has exposed BJP’s Rajput leaders who are blissfully ignorant of their own party’s history and remain woefully inadequate to measure up to the stature of Shekhawat.

Padmavati row: Rajput Sabha should focus on the real issues facing the community and its women

There is no dearth of real issues — the ones that affect the lives of Rajasthani women, especially Rajput — that need the community's attention and outrage

Jallikattu uprising is a spontaneous pushback against the tyranny of antiseptic western 'liberalism'

Far from being an expression of cruelty, jallikattu is pitting man and beast in a celebration of bonding.

Jallikattu: Humanity must safeguard principles of kindness, not fight for blood sport

So, why should Jallikattu stay? Just because the blood sport has been in vogue for ages — some claim it is 2500 years old — it doesn't entitle Tamilians to a lifetime of torturing bulls for a public spectacle.

Narendra Modi govt's stand on jallikattu re-establishes bias towards Tamil interests

Whether Jallikattu is right or wrong, should it be discontinued or continued or continued with modifications, is an out and out Tamil affair. That the Animal Welfare Board of India, which doesn’t exactly reflect Tamil opinion, gets to decide on this shows how Tamils are infantilised as being incapable of deciding their own affairs

Kerala’s U-turn on Sabarimala: Why Pinarayi Vijayan should leave faith to the devout, not court

The Kerala government’s U-turn in the Supreme Court on the issue of women’s entry to Sabarimala brings an old debate back to the table: How the law should deal with what is essentially a matter of faith.