Its existence had been inferred for long, but now archaeologists using airborne laser technology have confirmed the discovery of a lost city on the slopes of a mountain in Cambodia, a Machu Picchu of sorts, that could have an even greater impact on the Southeast Asian nation's already booming tourist industry. A team of French and Australian archaeologists peeled away layers of jungle foliage to trace the contours of the ancient temple city of Mahendraparvat that existed some 1,200 years ago, Read more [...]

Charles Allen's aim in writing a biography of Ashoka is laudable. However, although we know Ashoka as the benevolent, paternalistic Emperor who respected all religions while promoting Buddhism, we still don't know enough about his life to fill 400 pages. So instead of being a biography of Ashoka, Allen's latest book is mainly about the British men-and they are all men-who rediscovered his existence. In fact, Ashoka is a companion volume to two of Allen's earlier works on the history of archaeology Read more [...]

Hindus have rejected “end of the world” proclamations saying that time is considered cyclical in Hinduism and not linear. One of such declaration said that “God will destroy the world” on May 21, 2011. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that ancient Hindu scriptures Upanishads pointed to cyclical/non-ending nature of time through the principle of rebirth and karma. Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, says that world travels through Read more [...]

Buddhist worshiper at a reclining Buddha statue in the Chaitya hall, or prayer hall, in Cave 26 at the Ajanta Caves in India Photograph: © Richard T. Nowitz/Corbis More than four millennia have passed since the many artefacts of the ancient Indus civilisation were fashioned. Yet one tiny sculpture, made by an unknown artist, still seems strikingly relevant to us today. The seal shows a seated figure on a low platform in a pose that is familiar to modern practitioners of yoga and meditation: the Read more [...]

Prior to the fourth century BC, most of the construction activities in India were done using wood. There are no surviving proofs of these wooden structures but the Rig-Veda has many names for such a house in its text.The Rig-Veda defines a house as "a place where men and animals live." According to another text,the Atharvaveda, most of the houses were made from wood. This text compares an ornamented wooden house with an ornamented female elephant. The palace of the great Mauryan emperor, Asoka, Read more [...]