Aryans are the original inhabitants of
India, and as proof point to the artifacts
found in the Indus Valley civilization,
an ancient urban network in northeast-
ern India. Both of these claims are highly
tenuous and do not address the philo-
logical evidence behind the original
Aryan theory. The Indigenous Aryan
theory has political implications that
have helped to spur its growth. Some
supporters are reacting against the
Aryan migration theory’s perceived
colonialist bias, since the theory was
developed by Europeans and assumes
that the dominant groups in modern
India must have come from outside.
Other supporters of this theory are the
proponents of Hindutva, who claim
that all Indians are “really” Hindus, and
thus one social group, whatever their
particular religious beliefs. This asser-
tion has profound political implica-
tions in modern India, where Christians
and Muslims are not only religious com-
munities, but social and political ones.
By connecting Hindu identity and good
Indian citizenship, Hindutva propo-
nents are marginalizing Christians and
Muslims as outsiders.
Indira Ekadashi
Festival falling on the eleventh day
(ekadashi) of the dark (waning) half
of the lunar month of Ashvin
(September–October). As with all the
eleventh-day observances, this is dedi-
cated to the worshipof Vishnu, on this
day in his form as the Shalagram. Most
Hindu festivals have certain prescribed
rites, usually involving fasting (upavasa)
and worship, and often promise specific
benefits. This ekadashi falls during the
pitrpaksha, the fortnight dedicated to
the ancestors, and faithfully observing
this festival day is believed to result in
the rescue of millions of one’s forebears
from woeful incarnations and bring
them rebirth in heaven. The name
“Indira” is an epithet of Lakshmi,
Vishnu’s wife.
Indra
One of the oldest and most powerful
Hindu deities. His status has changed
over the years and this evolution shows
how Hinduism has transformed.
In the earliest Hindu scriptures, the
hymns in Rg Veda, Indra is the Vedic deity
par excellence. As with most Vedic deities,
Indra is associated with certain natural
phenomena, in this case the power of the
storm; he was seen as inhabiting the
region (antariksha) between the earth
and sky, the region where storms take
place. In many ways Indra seems a para-
digm for the virtues and powers cele-
brated in the Vedas, and (as many have
inferred) celebrated as virtues by the
Aryans themselves. Indra is the invincible
warrior and the performer of great deeds.
One of the central hymns in the Rg
Veda (1.32) describes Indra’s battle with
the serpent Vrtra, who is finally killed
and cut into pieces, allowing the pent-up
waters that Vrtra has blocked to flow
freely over the land.
Indra is a drinker of the intoxicating
beverage soma, whose influence leads
him to expanded reveries on his own
greatness; he is the ultimate man’s man
in a culture that is usually believed to
have stressed manly virtues. Of the 1,028
hymns in the Rg Veda, nearly a quarter
are devoted to Indra, who is described as
the power encircling the earth.IndraDepiction of the god Indra, king of heaven and
one of the eight guardians of the earth.