“I am deeply, crazily passionate about Lord Shiva,” declares 50-year-old Indian author Amish Tripathi at the launch event of the ‘Legends of Shiva’ series. Narrating his experience travelling to different Shiva temples across India, he says, “Most Indians think they know Shiva, but as you discover through this documentary, actually may be we don’t know him as well”.
The banker-turned-author, who has written eleven books, including the highly-acclaimed ‘Meluha’ series, revealed that he re-married his wife Shivani at two temples during the course of shooting the documentary. “There is an Ardhanareeshwara temple in Tamil Nadu where the deity is half man, half woman and it is very auspicious to get married there. So me and Shivani got remarried there,” shares Amish. The duo also got re-hitched in an Uttarakhand temple (Triyuginarayan) where Lord Shiva is believed to have married his consort Parvati.
In a free-wheeling conversation with The Hindu, Amish Tripathi spoke about the ‘Legends of Shiva’ series, his thoughts on India’s caste system and his take on Sati
‘Legends of Shiva’ is your second collaboration with Discovery Plus after ‘Legends of Ramayan’. What aspects of Shiva are you discovering throughout the series, and where and all have you travelled?
We have travelled to all ends of the subcontinent. From Kedarnath ji in North to Pashupatinath ji and Kalin Chowk in Nepal and Varanasi. In the West, we went to Kailash temple, Mahakaleshwar temple, Khandoba in Central Maharashtra and in the East to Unakoti in Tripura. In Tamil Nadu, we went to Chidambaram, Arunachaleshwara, the Ardhanareshwara temple. We saw Lord Shiva in various forms including the Isha Ashram in Coimbatore which is a modern approach to the Mahadev.
We spoke to people across all social classes and age groups; not just temples which follow the Shastra approach but also those who follow the folklore. There are many transgender persons who are Shiva devotees and many local temples which have strong traditions.
What aspects of your books (the Meluha series) will be reflected in the show?
Lord Shiva in many ways is an inclusive God. On the surface, it appears that there are a lot of contradictions but my book series was in a linear story. What we are doing here is approaching him through his various forms – as the Lord of Time, as the Lord of Elements ,the Panchbhoothas, in Tamil Nadu temples, as the Lord of animals in Pashupatinath. It is approaching the same subject (as the books) but in a more non-fictional way.
Recently, you were involved in a debate about Sati as you said it was not widespread in the subcontinent and it doesn’t have a basis in Hinduism. Sanjay Leela Bhansali also faced similar criticism when he portrayed the Jauhar scene as a brave act in Padmaavat. It does diminish the helplessness and the fear of social banishment which these women faced.
Let’s approach it from different perspectives. The concept of Sati itself, if you look at our ancient scriptures, you don’t find that word. You make a list of widows in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and the truth stares us in the face.
But Madri (King Pandu’s wife) did kill herself…
In Mahabharata itself it is said, why she did it. She believed that she was the cause of her husband’s death. She felt guilty and even at that time, the sages who were around were telling her don’t do this because who will take care of your children. The term used for this ritual suicide was not Sati but Sagamana or Anugamana. It is worth asking when the British wrote their interpretation of this and why didn’t they use the term Sagamana or Anugamana, which is a gender neutral term.
Are you saying that husbands killed themselves after their wives’ death?
In Raj Tarangini, when the Queen died, her male attendants and bodyguards also died on fire because they felt that they didn’t do their duty. Even when Arjun felt he could not protect Abhimanyu, he was ready to enter the fire. This is Sagamana or Anugamana.
But that is mixing historical fiction with historical document…
Madri and Arjuna are the same example from Mahabharat. In Ramayana, Lord Rama left the mortal body via Jal Samadhi in the Sarayu river. Point is, like today, you have euthanasia in the West which both men and women do it. Does that mean all Westerners are monsters killing their elderly?
But that is by a court order and by choice. Sati, by historical fact, was a norm in pre-independence India.
I would like to have this debate and I sense the emotion, which is completely fair. I am not saying India was perfect. One of our biggest problems was the caste system, which I speak strongly against. But it almost feels like the white masters have done their job. When the slaves believe the lies they told us, they are victors. The entire history is written by them; that we were a barbaric people. Look at our epics themselves, where are the widows? In Abrahamic cultures, suicide was considered as a crime against God but in Dharmic cultures not so much. But it was actively discouraged.
Since you mention the caste system, in your books, you have suggested its source as an occupation-based categorisation system. In ‘Meluha’, the newborns are adopted by the state and then categorised based on merit, occupation, skill later on. However, this system got corrupted. Do you think this actually happened?
In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that he created four varnas, but does not mention birth. In Dr. Ambedkar’s book ‘Who are the Shudras?’, published in 1946, he posits a theory. Remember genetic study was not available at that time. So based on scriptural evidence, he shows that Shudras used to be rulers and over time the statuses of various ruling tribes fell. Like the Mauryas who ruled north India, but are now Scheduled Caste. He also posited that there was heavy intermingling i.e. inter-caste marriages among different groups till 1500 years ago. Then, for some reason, it stopped. Why did that happen? I think this hasn’t received enough research. Genetic evidence and Dr. Ambedkar’s theory prove that caste system was not as rigid but became rigid about 1,500 years ago.
‘Legends of Shiva with Amish’ premiered on 3rd March at 9pm on Discovery Channel and discovery+ app, with fresh episodes dropping every Monday.
Published – March 06, 2025 03:59 pm IST
