The First Indian to become a Saint!

The Son of soil becomes a Saint!

A great hullabaloo in the district of Kanyakumari!

As a first step towards making a Saint out of one Devasahayam Pillai, the Pope declared him a 'martyr' on June 28, 2012. Frontline newspapers and magazines carried this news item as the day's headlines and celebrated this announcement as if the whole world has been made holy.

On Dec. 3rd The Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle, India’s widely circulated honorary Catholic newspapers, published an article on St. Francis Xavier by Fr. Francis Gonsalves, principal of the Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi. Vidyajyoti is a Jesuit theological school and Jesuits as Christian ideologues are known best for their casuistry and sophistry in moral reasoning. Therefore it was not difficult for Fr. Francis to describe Francis Xavier in the article as having “blended a kaleidoscopic collage of virtues: intelligence, faithfulness, perseverance, joy, warmth, devotion, loyalty, courage, generosity, sportsmanship, and an incredible capacity to love and serve.” In fact Xavier was an arch criminal filled with an obsessive hatred of Hindus and their Brahmin priests — Brahmins had defeated him in debate at Thiruchendur and laughed at him when he claimed to be the representative a “One True God”. He introduced forced conversions into India, often targeting children, and was a self-described gleeful breaker of temples and Hindu images. If he was alive and active today, he would be brought before the the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes against humanity. Yet the Catholic Church and Fr. Francis Gonsalves have the bare-faced audacity to hail this Spanish pirate in public as a saint. This tells us a lot about the values of Christianity and especially Indian Christianity which is known world-wide for its bigotry and religious intolerance. These values are best exemplified by the fact that the rotting corpse of the notorious temple-breaker, known as the Scourge of the Coromandal Coast, is kept in a shrine in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa, a church that replaces the great Shiva temple of Old Goa destroyed by the Portuguese in the 1590s. Readers are encouraged to go to the links and comments below this article by Sita Ram Goel for more information concerning Francis Xavier and the establishment of the Inquisition in Goa which Xavier demanded that King John III of Portugal send, in a letter dated May 16, 1545. – Editor

Source: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in

Centenary of Arthasastra’s Publication

The Maharaja of Mysore wanted to celebrate the golden jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen Victoria in 1891 and built a little beauty and named it Victoria Jubilee Institute. The building is a rare blend of classical European, Gothic, Corinthian and Romanesque architectural elements. Subsequently, the walls of this building were adorned by Hoysala sculptures brought from a destroyed Hoysala temple. There are some beautiful inscriptions in front of the building which give a heritage ambience to the structure.

Subsequently the building used to house thousands of rare palm leaf manuscripts and was called Mysore Oriental Library and now it is called Oriental Research Institute (ORI) and is a part of Mysore University. Queen Victoria is forgotten but this Research Institute is famous all over the world because it was here the first manuscript of Kautilya’s Arthasastra was discovered.

Read More at http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in

Source: http://www.rediff.com
Nitish Kumar's sneak attack on Narendra Modi [ Images ] is an attempt to wean away the Muslim vote from his state political rival Lalu Yadav [ Images ] as also a move to project himself as a PM candidate if the situation turns out favourable after the 2014 general election, says Sheela Bhatt.

Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com
The ongoing Plastic Cow project focuses on the impact of waste on bovines. Ila Sankrityayan reports