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  MAHATMA GANDHI MEMORIAL MEETING   On February 10th, 1948, a few days after the martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi, a Memorial Meeting was held at the Indian Institute of Culture under the chairmanship of Rajadharmaprasakta Shri T. Singaravelu Mudaliar. Prof. N. A. Nikam, Prof. Marcus Ward, Shri K. Habibullah Khan and Shri D. V. Gundappa spoke on the occasion and a Condolence Resolution was passed by the 300 to 400 people present on behalf of the public of Bangalore.   The message sent by Shri B. P. Wadia was read by Dr. L. Dorasami, the Honorary Secretary of the Indian Institute of Culture:   'The world is mourning the passing of Gandhiji. But those who hold the cause of Culture dear, and especially those who assign the highest place to Soul-culture, have greater reason to bemoan the event of the tragic passing.   “It is but meet that the Indian Institute of Culture should gather the public to reflect upon the death of India's great Leader. In his person and ...

  One of the oldest surviving historical accounts of India was written by this Korean Buddhist monk Hyecho arrived in India in 724 CE and travelled extensively, closely observing the culture, customs and geographical features of the country. A section of Memoir of the Pilgrimage to the Five Kingdoms of India. Among the numerous treasures in its vast collection, the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris holds a valuable 8th century manuscript. Handwritten on a scroll, the manuscript has about 6,000 classical Chinese characters spread over 227 lines and is one of the oldest surviving historical accounts of India. The scroll, measuring 28.5 centimetres in width, ended up in the possession of France’s national library thanks to French archaeologist and Sinologist Paul Pelliot. Pelliot purchased it – along with thousands of other ancient scrolls in Chinese, Sanskrit, Prakrit and other languages – from the caretaker of the Mogao Caves in Dunhang, China, in 1908. A rare record...

  THE SAINT - POETS OF MAHARASHTRA by M.D. Atlekar   ( Source :   The Aryan Path, July 1939) Contribution by a lover of Ancient Wisdom Part I Marathi Literature is rich in what may be called spiritual poetry; it is even believed by some that the old poets, who were rather saints than poets, neglected this world in order to be perfectly happy in the next. One school of thought holds that excepting Ramdas, an eminent saint of shivaji's time who was the spiritual preceptor of the great Maratha hero, none of the old Marathi poets taught anything useful to national progress or to worldly success. In opposition to this stands the verdict of the Late Mahadev Govind Ranade, by common consent the most profound thinker of nineteenth-century India; he held that the success of Shivaji was made possible by the pioneer work of the great saint-poets of Maharashtra from Mukundraj and Dnyaneshwar to Tukaram and Ramadas and that, but for the inspiration these poets supplied a...

  BIRTH OF Lord JESUS   The times were right for the birth Of the promised Messiah To again redeem the Jews from Sins Who were subjugated by Romans. Divided in tribes and sects Deep in dialectic dry debates Steeped in usury, deception Fraud, crafty cunningness. Sans love and brotherhood, fairness The sun had set on Israel The chosen race had fallen to decay An empty shell sans Kernel.   The star of Bethlehem was sighted The wise men of the East followed it To witness the birth of the “Son of Man” Mary the virgin in severe pain In total submission with tears flowing Clinging fists, holding the branch Of the flowering fragrant tree. The child had spoken from the womb Testifying the innocence of Mary Of her purity and saintliness Of her virtuous, clean living. The child spoke from the cradle Warned humanity to hold their tongues For the heavenly God had blessed Virgin Mary with Lord’s spirit. Blown into her by the A...