Vyuha Doctrine of the Mahabharata: Ancient Indian Battle Formations and Their Modern Warfare Logic
At Kurukshetra, an army did not simply march as a crowd of warriors. It moved
Heritage
News, articles and Essays on Sanatana Dharma, Hinduism and Indian way of life.
Mullakkal Rajarajeswari Temple, Alappuzha: The Bhagavathy Shrine at the Heart of Alleppey
The presiding deity of the temple is Goddess Rajarajeswari, worshipped here as a powerful form of Bhagavathy/Durga. Kerala Tourism describes the temple as a grand Kerala-style shrine where Goddess Durga is the main deity, with other deities including Hanuman, Ganesha, Krishna, Ayyappa, Nagaraja and the Navagrahas also worshipped within the temple complex. The temple is believed to be around 500 years old, making it one of the important historic temples associated with Alappuzha’s religious landscape.
Command Under Dharma: Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Arjuna and Krishna as a Defence Study in Mahabharata Leadership
Krishna’s strategic brilliance begins before Kurukshetra. He reads personalities clearly: Duryodhana’s ambition, Yudhishthira’s moral hesitation, Arjuna’s sensitivity, Bhima’s force, Karna’s pride, Bhishma’s restraint and Drona’s emotional weakness. This is advanced strategic intelligence. Modern defence planning values the same ability through political assessment, adversary profiling, intelligence fusion and red-team analysis. A war is shaped by weapons, terrain and logistics, but also by temperament, ego, fear, legitimacy and morale.
Kanaikkal Irumporai: The Chera King Whose Defeat Became a Legend of Honour
The title “Irumporai” itself carried the weight of a Chera lineage known from Sangam poems. In that old Tamil world, dynastic legitimacy was expressed not only through ancestry but also through conduct. A king had to be brave in battle, generous to poets, fierce to enemies and dignified in hardship. Kanaikkal Irumporai’s story fits this ideal perfectly. He is remembered not for palaces, temples or inscriptions, but for war, captivity and a final act of royal self-respect.
From Akshauhini to Integrated Battle Groups: Army Organisation and Battlefield Structure in the Mahabharata
The Mahabharata repeatedly presents armies as mixed forces, and Adi Parva gives a precise mathematical structure for the Akshauhini, beginning with one chariot, one elephant, three horses and five foot soldiers as one Patti. This creates a battlefield system where mobility, shock power, speed and ground-holding capacity move together as one fighting organism.
Chengannur Mahadeva Temple: The Sacred Abode Where Shiva and Parvati Are Worshipped as One Living Presence
Thriputharattu is the temple’s defining ritual and one of the rarest Goddess festivals in India. During this observance, the Devi’s presence is treated with the tenderness and ritual seriousness given to a living mother. The temple’s special-festival page says that on the fourth day, the Devi’s idol is taken to the nearby river for Arattu, or ritual bathing, after which she is brought back to the temple in procession. When the procession returns to the nalambalam near the main entrance, Bhagavan Mahadeva is believed to be waiting there, and the divine pair together circumambulate the temple in procession.
Netherlands Returns Chola-Era Anaimangalam Copper Plates, Restoring a Priceless Chapter of Tamil Maritime History
The plates belong to the world of Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I, two rulers who transformed the Chola kingdom into one of Asia’s most influential maritime powers. Rajaraja Chola I, who ruled from 985 CE to 1014 CE, is remembered not only for military expansion and monumental temple-building, but also for creating a disciplined administrative state that recorded land, revenue and religious grants with remarkable precision.
Kudakko Nedum Cheralathan: The Early Chera King Remembered Through War, Poetry and Sangam Memory
The name “Kudakko” is important. It is often understood as a title connected with the western country or Kudanadu, suggesting authority over a western Chera region. “Nedum Cheralathan” itself carries the sense of a great or tall Chera ruler, a name that appears in Sangam tradition as a marker of royal prestige.
Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple: The Krishna Shrine Where Mahabharata, Pamba and Kerala’s Temple Culture Meet
Aranmula is associated with Arjuna. The legend says that Arjuna, burdened by the moral weight of the Kurukshetra war and especially by the killing of Karna, sought spiritual atonement. Though Karna was his enemy on the battlefield, the manner of his death — while he was struggling with his chariot wheel and was not in full fighting posture — created a dharmic unease in Arjuna’s mind. To purify himself and return to the higher path of devotion, Arjuna is believed to have installed the image of Krishna here.
Cheran Senguttuvan: The Chera King Who Turned Kannagi into a Goddess of Justice
As a ruler, Senguttuvan is said to have reigned for 55 years, a remarkably long reign in early South Indian political memory. A scholarly account in Chera Kings of the Sangam Period notes this 55-year reign and describes his consecration of a Pattini temple as an event of “international significance,” especially because the Sri Lankan king Gajabahu is traditionally said to have attended the ceremony.