7 Secrets of Shiva

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Myhindupage.org Review
Many people I know are enamored by this book on Shiva. This book reveals the mysticism of Shiva through the folklore or puranas that surround Lord Shiva, the most ancient form of God evolving out to the Indian Subcontinent. The writer, Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik has done an excellent job in easing readers into the philosophical mysticism through poignant narratives that uncover hidden philosophies and mysticism in entertaining and traditional myths of Shiva. I would recommend this book as an introduction for aspiring mystics and those looking for a more profound understanding of Lord Shiva.

Review on Amazon.com by Ujjwal Dey
Shiva is a God that has truly transcended time and space. He is Mahadeva - greatest of Gods. His legends exist and have survived since eons ago. This book is a treat for all who find mythologies and ancient legends fascinating. In the must-read introduction, the author Devdutt explains his approach. A reconcilliation between East and West. He mentions how Western scholars look at Hindu mythology through the lens of western thought and philosophy, often referring to Western stream of understanding and analysis. And Indians are shy of the explicit exploits of their Gods, a result of Victorian colonial propriety. In this book Devdutt explores the myth through research of Vedas, Puranas, legends and temples. He goes to the basic philosophy of Hinduism to explain and interpret the mythology in its more accurate meaning.

For example, there are many Gods in Hindu mythology and many demons and a heaven and hell, but there is no equivalent of Satan. Lord Shiva is an ascetic and he also is a householder. He is worshiped in these 2 forms as well as a host of other forms - angry Rudra, united Ardhanareshwara, simpleton Bholenath, vengeful Kaal Bhairava, etc. So not only do we have more than one God, the God's themselves have myriad versions and avatars.

Shiva is eternal with no beginning and no end, he is infinite, no before no after, he grants boons and blessings to all who worship him. So even demons pray to him for benefiting from his benevolence. This is a unique thought process of a God who differentiates between no one and nothing. He has angry form, he has a compassionate form, he is a lover and husband, he is a father too, and he is formless divine. He can revive the dead, he can take away all fear of death. He provides for all his devotees and protects them from predation.

This book is insightful and at the same time simplified text of the vast pantheon and rich ancient culture of India. I was hooked from page one and read it withing 2 days. It pulls you in with indepth interpretation of symbols, stories and rituals. It is a must have for any beginner or professional who wishes to unravel the mysteries of Shiva and understand Hindu thought process. Apart from all this there are many images from paintings and temples and excavations and sculptures that illustrate the book along with the image's descriptions.

Other books by Devdutt I look forward to reading are "7 Secrets of Vishnu" and "Myth = Mithya". Hope these books entertain and educate you all and brings understanding and order out of chaos.

Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization by Graham Hancock

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Myhindupage.org Review
I was recommended this book by a friend who is an avid Hindu / Tamil civilization explorer. Many Indian historians have pointed out that the Indian subcontinent was at one point a continent of its own, just before Pangea. This continent is know by these Indian historians by an ancient name found in some scripture–Kumari Kandam. The connections during the time of Kumari Kandam was said to spread all the way to Central and South America, whence architectural and language technologies were shared. Graham Hancock sheds credible light on these postulations by his findings in this book. If you are intrigued by ancient civilization and the mystery of how they developed their technologies this is an enriching book to read.

Review on Amazon.com by Stephen A. Haines
Archaeologists have been pushing back the date of humanity's first attempts at agriculture and the civilization that follows it. An inexplicable commonality is seen in agriculture emerging in distant places at nearly the same time. Self-confessed - sorry, self-adulatory - Graham Hancock thinks there's an answer for that chronological similarity. He contends agriculture, and civilization reach even further back in time than evidence found in places like Iran or Turkey suggests. He thinks the legends and mythologies of India, Malta and South America point to a multitude of "Atlantis-like" urbanised cultures that have disappeared from view - under water.
"Underworld" is a collation of ancient legends, old maps, submerged evidence and innovative thinking that gives humanity much deeper roots than previously thought. Hancock dives into the world's offshore depths, trolls through a wealth of mythologies, views unusual and unexplained artefacts and comes up with a challenge to consensus archaeology. Was there a global sprinking of advanced civilizations at the end of the last Ice Age? Did the melting ice caps drown more than the various land bridges that connected the British Isles with Europe, Sri Lanka with India and Alaska with Siberia? If Hancock is correct, and he is not to be dismissed lightly, humanity achieved far greater social complexity during the glacial advances than just living in caves wrapped in bear skins. What appears to be a near simultaneous emergence of agriculture, he argues, is in reality what we see left over from much older societies.
Hancock has made dives in many of the sites revealed by fishermen, archaeologists and others, recording finds on video and still camera and maps. The images are impressive, as are the numbers of potential sites. Utilising computer generated maps of the sea's rise after the Great Meltdown of the glaciers, he shows the logic of his thesis with compelling evidence. He's careful to note where the data seems firm as well as lacking. Where lacking, he urges more scientific attention to these places.
Although he justifiably spends most of the account on locations in India, where in some places the sea has invaded over 700 kilometres since the last Last Glacial Maximum, his relation of Japanese sites makes the most compelling reading. There, some of the longest-lived legends indicate Japan's oldest settlers, the Jomon, preceded the West in the establishment of agriculture and settled communities. Where scholars once held these people were "simple hunter-gatherers", Hancock sees evidence of rice growing nearly twelve thousand years old. Temple styles found today are duplicated in undersea sites, in some places nearby as if the sea simply pushed the people and their culture inland. These people may have followed the "Black Current" across the Pacific to establish settlements along the western coast of South America.
Hancock is careful to separate the known from the speculative, and not all of the speculations are his. Scholars in the places he visits are contributers to this innovative idea. So many sites and such commonality of legend add up to a highly plausible notion. Regrettably, even while crediting these researchers with empirical methods, Hancock is a bit too full of himself. Long passages of his problems, illness, fright from daring pilots cruising mountain passes permeate the book. By restricting himself to the scholars, their evidence coupled with his own and other researchers' ideas, he could have made this account less tedious while recounting adventures and exploration. Even the computer-generated maps are often repeated unnecessarily. He raises serious questions which deserve serious study. Hancock makes a compelling introduction, but we await a less self-indulgent approach. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]