Notes on Culture

Illustration of the Telugu Poet Srinatha engaged in a debate
Read the thrilling tale of how Srinatha won the epithet, Kavisarvabhauma or the Emperor of Poets
Sita Devi in the Forest
Arjun Bharadwaj provides a rather profound and objective analysis of the much-debated episode of Sita Devi's abandonment by Sri Rama
Illustration of Srinatha engaged in a poetic debate
The Art of Intellectual Combat: Srinatha vs. Dindima in the Vijayanagara Court
Illustration of Mahakavi Srinatha in a Procession
Nori Narasimha Sastry fleshes out Mahakavi Srinatha's character as a feisty and talented poet who throws a deceptive poetic challenge to his counterpart, Arunagirinatha
Sanctifying Cinema: An Appreciation of K. Viswanath’s Artistry
The first part of a new series exploring the art, craft and aesthetics of K. Viswanath's acclaimed body of cinema. This is The Dharma Dispatch's tribute to the legend who joined the ranks of the immor ...
The Decree of Madhusudana and the Lessons for our Supreme Court Milords
The dispute between the Bhillamāladeva and Devi Bhagavati Temple was resolved by a profound appeal to the divinity of their respective devotees. This is a great model of how such cases can be resolved ...
Bangalore Nagaratnamma: A Life Dedicated to Tyagaraja
This is an abridged English translation of D.V. Gundappa's brilliant and moving profile of Bangalore Nagaratnamma, a musician par excellence who built a memorial for Tyagaraja in Tiruvayur.
The Delightful Story of the Cussword, “Moo Devi”
The Puranic roots and cultural metamorphosis of the expletive, "Moo Devi" prevalent in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
European and Indian Barbers and the Refined Culture of Indian Letter-Writing
In the fourth part of this series, we see Dr. Francis' minute observations on mundane things like waking up, the Hindu attitude to farming, efficiency of Hindu barbers, and the cultured art of letter- ...
Dr. Francis' User Manual of Behaving with the Natives: Abuse, Ablution and Oath-taking
In the third part of this series, Dr. Francis offers a user manual of sorts on how Englishmen who wish to come to India must behave with the "natives" here. His observations on the abuses in Indian l ...
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