In this essay, Dr. Koenraad Elst explores the profound symbolic importance of the number 12 across cultures, from the 12 Ādityas in the Vedas to the Olympian gods and the 12-starred EU flag. In ancient India, it represented cosmic order, as seen in the Ṛg-Vedic 'Riddle Hymn' describing a twelve-spoked wheel of Ṛta. Mathematically and geometrically unique, the twelvefold division underlies the structure of the Zodiac and the ancient Yajur-Vedic seasonal cycle.
On 12 September, Dr Koenraad Elst sent the following open letter to archaeologist Kristian Kristiansen, linguist Guus Kroonen and geneticist Eske Willerslev, editors of the research collection The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited, 2023, and their publisher, Cambridge University Press.
Dr. Koenraad Elst recounts his recent trip to Ayodhya, while analysing its historicity and devotional zeal; and takes an evaluative look at the road ahead for Hindus to preserve important dharmik sites from the tourism-driven, possibly unnecessary beautification and commercialisation.
In this article, Koenraad Elst calls upon the Indo-Europeanists to study the evidences for the Out of India (OIT) theory.
The recent upheaval about a Hindu temple for Thalaivetti Muniyappan (“Muni Baba with the broken head”) in Salem TN, apparently a patched-up and restored Buddha statue, and therefore taken away from its worshippers by Court order with the prospect of giving it to the Buddhists , reminds us of a similar line of argument in the Ayodhya debate of 1990-91.
Places of pilgrimage are protected regardless of whether the reason for their sacredness can be proven.
Contrary to what Ramanuja’s statue’s name might suggest, his goal was not equality but Liberation.
The platform given by Hindus to pre-Christian and pre-Islamic traditions to rediscover their pagan roots is heartening to see.
Astronomical evidence that squarely places the dating of the Mahabharata to the 2nd millennium BCE is being ignored by those who rely on it to place the epic even earlier.
Nationalism in the study of Indian historiography is a useful tool to discover this ancient land.