Superb piece Subhash, thank you for sending it. It's sobering that we cannot laugh at their lunacy anymore ... warmly, Nagraj
On 20 October 2017 at 11:24, Subhash Gatade <[email protected]> wrote: > *Taj Mahal as Tej Mahal * > > *Once again "There is a Bee in the Bonnett"* > > *- subhash gatade* > > > > It was probably late sixties or early seventies – when a gentleman called > P N Oak started appearing in Marathi magazines peddling his weird theories > about well known monuments in and outside India. An article which made lot > of news then was centred around Taj Mahal where it was claimed that it was > ‘Tejo Maha Aalay’ or hindu god Shiva’s abode. It tried to establish through > various ‘explanations’ that a Shiva Temple was destroyed to build Taj Mahal > and if we dig deep we can find ‘remnants’ of the earlier structure. Mr > Vinay Katiyar's latest advice to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi > Adityanath that he "should go into the Taj Mahal and see the Hindu signs > inside it" reminded one of P N Oak. > > Looking at the fact that ideas of Hindutva had still not caught the > imagination of the people then, hardly anyone - apart from a minority of > Chitpavan Brahmins who believed in turning India into a Hindu Rashtra - > looked at Oak's 'theories' seriously. Definitely nobody could then have the > premonition that such claims – that their places of worship were buried > beneath the Mosques as a lame excuse to demolish them - would become order > of the day, in Hindutva politics. > > Definitely the article on Taj Mahal by Oak was not a one off affair. > Similar articles /books kept appearing here and there where Oak engaged in > rectifying what he believed to be "biased and distorted versions of India's > history produced by the invaders and colonizers" and a section of the > Marathi Brahminical elite - which always entertained sympathies towards the > idea of Hindu Rashtra - provided legitimacy to these ideas by their > reception. Oak argued that modern secular and Marxist historians have > fabricated "idealized versions" of India's past and drained it of its > "Vedic context and content". And he went on propagating his ideas writing > articles, publishing books and also initiating the work of 'Collecting > Local History' by forming 'Bharat Itihas Sankalan Samity' which also use to > bring out a journal in the 80s. A rough estimate tells us that he has > written nine books in English, 13 books in Marathi and 8 books in Hindi. > One of his books which according to a scholar summarises his life's work is > titled 'World Vedic Heritage: A History of Histories, Presenting a Unique > Unified Field Theory of History that from the Beginning of Time the World > Practised Vedic and Spoke Sanskrit.' > > For laypersons who have never heard of him it would be opportune to name > the list of few of his other books which appeared in English which can give > one an idea about his key argument : Christianity is Chrisn-nity, ISBN > 978-81-88388-77-6, Islamic Havoc in India (A. Ghosh Publisher, 5740 W. > Little York, Houston, Texas, 77091 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=5740+W.+Little+York,+Houston,+Texas,+77091&entry=gmail&source=g>), > The Taj Mahal Is a Temple Place (Alternate title, The Taj Mahal is a Hindu > Palace), Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi (online version: hindusarise.com), > Who Says Akbar Was Great? (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi), Agra Red Fort > is a Hindu Building (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi), Some Blunders of > Indian Historical Research (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi), Some Missing > Chapters of World History (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi), World Vedic > Heritage—A History of Histories (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi), Taj Mahal > — The True Story (ISBN 0-9611614-4-2), Was Kaaba a Hindu Temple?, Learning > Vedic Astrology etc > > Analysing Oak's work Srinivas Aravamudan noted that it typically resorts > to "deep punning" – associating Sanskrit sound-alikes with non-Sanskrit > religious terms such as Vatican=vatika "hermitage", > Christianity=Krishna-netti or Chrisn-nity "ethics of Krishna or the way of > Krishna" Islam=ishalayam "temple of God", Abraham as an aberration of > Brahma, and George as an aberration of Garg.Based on this, Oak claimed that > both Christianity and Islam allegedly originated as distortions of "Vedic" > beliefs. Aravamudan concluded that via "deep punning" Oak is "creative in > proliferating these delusional etymologies." (Srinivas Aravamudan, Guru > English: South Asian Religion in a Cosmopolitan Language Princeton > University Press (2005), ISBN 0-691-11828-0). > > While his weird theories like ‘Christianity and Islam being both > derivatives of Hinduism’ or ’Like Taj Mahal, Catholic Vatican, Kaaba, > Westminster Abbey were once Hindu temples to Shiva’ or ‘Vatican being > originally a Vedic creation called Vatika and that the Papacy was also > originally a Vedic Priesthood’ or his complete denial of Islamic > architecture in India could not find any takers in the mainstream, in fact > were rejected in academia, they gathered a popular following in the Hindu > Right which is still in search of a grand theory to further its agenda. > Interestingly the Belgian orientalist and Indologist Koenraad Elst- who is > sympathetic to Hindutva -seems to be an exception. Underlining Oak's > 'lasting popularity'in NRI/PIO circles and debunking Oak's varied > 'historical and linguistic theses' regarding Taj Mahal, Red Fort and > Vikramaditya he rather focusses his attention on the 'gross > immaturity'among Hindu activists : > > The popularity of PN Oak’s theses is a sign of gross immaturity among > contemporary Hindu activists. It indicates confusion regarding the facts of > religious conflict in Indian history, along with a narcissistic greed, a > morbid desire to lay ludicrous ownership claims to all manner of precious > objects produced by outsiders (as if Hindu Dharma’s genuine achievements > weren’t enough to be proud of) > > (http://koenraadelst.blogspot.in/2010/06/incurable-hindu- > fondness-for-pn-oak.html) > > Vinay Katiyar’s latest rant just goes to show the unending traction of > ‘Oakisms’( as Koenraad Elst says) among Hindutva followers. > > It is now history how Oak had even petitioned the Supreme Court to rewrite > the history of Taj Mahal as being built by a Hindu King during NDA’s first > stint of power at the centre. Perhaps the then conducive political > atmosphere might have prompted him to gain further legitimacy but he was > sadly mistaken. A two member division bench of the Supreme Court dismissed > the ‘misconceived’ petition with these remarks ‘Somebody has a bee in his > bonnet, hence this petition’. (2000) > > > > - > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "humanrights movement" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > . > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement. 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