Depictions of this mass impalement can
be seen in murals painted at the
Minakshi temple in Madurai—whose
construction far postdates the alleged
event—as well as in popular art of differ-
ent kinds.
Impurity
See ashaucha.
Inauspiciousness
This concept refers to events or condi-
tions that in their very essence hinder or
are inimical to life, prosperity, and gen-
eral well-being. Along with purityand
impurity (ashaucha), auspiciousness
and inauspiciousness are fundamental
categories in Hindu life.
Inauspicious conditions can be
caused by a variety of factors. At times
the inauspiciousness lies in the very
moment itself—in an hour or daycon-
sidered to be unlucky, in unusual
events such as eclipses, or in astrologi-
cal conjunctions that are considered
inherently unlucky. In such “danger-
ous” times, one’s activities should be
severely curtailed, except for things that
are absolutely necessary. Certain nor-
mally innocuous activities can become
inauspicious in conjunction with partic-
ular times, and at these times such activ-
ities should be avoided.
Inauspiciousness can also arise from
certain conjunctions in one’s natal
horoscope, or from erecting a home or
building in an inappropriate place. As a
quality, inauspiciousness is conceived of
as a physical entity that is generated
by certain conditions, and which then
attaches to individuals, families, or
larger communities.
Some of these inauspicious condi-
tions can be avoided by refraining
from certain activities at certain times,
yet there are certain conditions that
cannot be avoided—in particular, the
inauspiciousness arising from eclipses
or other astrological conjunctions.
Whereas impurity (ashaucha) can
be removed or destroyed through
purification, inauspiciousness can only
be transferred from one person to
another, most often through the medi-
um of gifts (dana). For more informa-
tion see Gloria Goodwin Raheja, The
Poison in the Gift,1988; and David F.
Pocock, “The Evil Eye,” in T. N. Madan
(ed.), Religion in India, 1991.Independence Day
Indian national holiday celebrated on
August 15—one of the few holidays cele-
brated according to the solar calendar—
which marks the date in 1947 on
which India gained independence from
Great Britain.Indigenous Aryan Theory
The theory that the Aryanswere indige-
nous to the Indian subcontinent, rather
than immigrants from other lands. The
word Arya (“noble”) is the name used for
themselves by the people who com-
posed the Vedas, the earliest Hindu reli-
gious texts.
Nineteenth-century European schol-
arship discovered structural relation-
ships between Sanskrit and classical
European languages and speculated
that all these languages came from a
common parent. Based on further
analysis, these researchers hypothesized
that people speaking this parent lan-
guage originated in central Asia, some-
where near the Caspian Sea. From there,
some went west to Europe, some went
southwest to Turkey, and some went
south toward Iran, and later to India.
The conclusion that these Indian pil-
grims came from Iran is based on com-
parisons between the Avesta and the
Veda, the Iranian and Indian religious
texts. These texts show broad linguistic
similarities, and thus indicate that the
people speaking the languages were
closely related. This entire theory is thus
based solely on the observed similarities
between languages, and assumptions
about how it changed.
Indigenous Aryan theory supporters
reject this claim and maintain that theImpurity