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Showing posts from February 27, 2009


Q&A: I request you to stop using the term Hindu Mythology?

In a month, we get numerous requests from the readers of the Hindu blog to stop using the term ‘Mythology’ in matters related to Hinduism. They are of the opinion that when we use the term Hindu Mythology, it essentially means that we are referring to all our culture and stories of Gods as "MYTHS" and not real incidents. Some have also provided a solution instead of Myth and Mythology use Hindu Civilization or Hindu Religious History. Interestingly, The Oxford Dictionary describes the term Myth as a traditional story concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, typically involving the supernatural. Merriam Webster describes Myth as a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon. These two definitions clearly suggest that Myths contains History. But, the word Mythology and Myth has undergone a c