Grateful2Gurus | Dr. Jeffery D. Long What happens when the study of Indian traditions becomes more than an academic pursuit — and grows into a lifelong engagement with their philosophical and spiritual dimensions? As part of #Grateful2Gurus 2026, INDICA USA honours Dr. Jeffery D. Long, Carl W. Zeigler Professor of Religion, Philosophy, and Asian Studies, whose scholarship has focused extensively on the religions and philosophies of India. An author of several books and numerous articles, Dr. Long has contributed significantly to the study of Hindu traditions and their contemporary expressions. His book Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds received the Rajinder and Jyoti Gandhi Book Award in 2022. The felicitation will also feature Mangalacharan and Guruvandana by Hindustani classical vocalist Ms. Mona Malhotra, and a keynote by Dr. Balaji Ganesh, Assistant Professor and Director, Flow Cytometry Core, University of Illinois at Chicago. At its heart, Grateful2Gurus is an offering of gratitude to those who preserve, embody and transmit India’s civilisational knowledge across generations. Since 2016, the initiative has honoured more than 154 Gurus across diverse fields of Indian Knowledge Systems. 📅 3 October 2026 ⏰ 3:00–5:00 PM CST 📍 National India Hub, Schaumburg, Illinois Join us in honouring Dr. Jeffery D. Long. Register / Event Details: indica.events/event/grateful… #Grateful2Gurus #INDICA #GuruShishyaParampara #IndianKnowledgeSystems JefferyDLong IndicStudies

What a serene and beautiful place to write! Hopefully this retreat would have kindled the creative fire and the commitment to continue.

Pitṛ Pakṣa is a time for remembrance. There are people in our family whom we may never have met, yet we know their names. We know their stories. Sometimes we have an old photograph, a favourite recipe, a story our grandmother told us, or simply a name that has been repeated across generations. This is the time given to remember them. During Pitṛ Pakṣa, families perform śrāddha, tarpana and piṇḍa-dāna for the Pitṛs. The word śrāddha itself comes from śraddhā — an offering made with faith and sincerity. These rites are part of the duties of a householder and are counted among the Pañca-mahāyajñas. There is a simple thought behind all this that is easy to understand. We did not begin with ourselves. Our life came through many lives before ours. The food we eat, the language we speak, the family we belong to, the values we received - so much has reached us because someone lived before us and handed something forward. Pitṛ Pakṣa gives us these days to stop and remember. To offer water. To offer food. To say their names. And to acknowledge a debt that cannot really be repaid, only honoured. We remember those who came before us, knowing that one day, we too will become someone's ancestors. Read more on the Importance of Pitṛ Karma by Rajarshi Nandy ( @TheRajarshi) indica.today/long-reads/impo… And the Overview of Mahālayapakṣa by Dr. Sriram Narainswamy Iyer (@SNarainswamy) indica.today/long-reads/the-… @indicatoday #Mahālayapakṣa #PitṛPakṣa

Ever grateful to @IndicaOrg for motivating me to write from day one. This platform was my silver lining through the dark pandemic cloud and has nurtured me as a writer and translator. The retreat gave me a renewed purpose: to write better and, most importantly, to keep writing. The cool, crisp air of Coonoor and joyous conversations with fellow writers were an added bonus. And oh! The views !!

Nilgiris Writing Retreat with Harini Srinivasan Smt Smitha HS, Author and Researcher, shares her experience at the recently concluded Writing Retreat at Conoor at the scenic Amani Villas. She points to the benefits of belonging to a writing tribe consisting of avid readers, deep thinkers and accomplished writers. @HSriniv12 @Sai_swaroopa @saraswatiblr #writingretreat #Nilgiris #amanivillas

And it is a wrap and yet, not so. Third edition of @IndicaOrg Nilgiris Writing Retreat came to an end after a marathon knowledge sharing by faculty @HSriniv12, intense writing sprints, peer feedback sessions and most importantly, a commitment undertaken by each of the writers to complete their manuscripts by a date of their own undertaking. So the journey does not stop over a weekend retreat. It continues, Honouring the timelessness of our civilisation. The path ahead is clear Charaiveti!

Hindu Parenting in association with @IndicaOrg is conducting a Yuva Shivir for teenagers - 2 day residential camp with fun and games while learning about IKS and bonding with a group of like-minded teens and families. Oct 23-25 at Indica Ritambhara, Bengaluru. Cost including facilities, games, accommodation and food is 7500/- per child. We have children coming from different cities. Register using the QR code in the poster and spread the word among friends and family!

As Mahālaya Pakṣa begins today, we completed a beautiful two-day class on Vande Mātaram by Dr Ramaa Kausalya's Marabu Foundation and INDICA, led by Madhuvanthi Badri. For a class predominantly attended by South Indians, Madhuvanthi opened up the Bengali world of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s hymn - its language, cultural memory, music and deeper movement between the native and the cosmic. The six stanzas trace an extraordinary arc. The Mother first appears as the living landscape: “sujalāṃ suphalāṃ,” “śasya-śyāmalāṃ,” “śubhra-jyotsnā.” She then becomes collective strength and resides as “vidyā,” “dharma” and “prāṇa.” Then comes the revelation: “Durgā daśa-praharaṇa-dhāriṇī,” “kamalā,” “vāṇī”— before the hymn returns to the gentle “śyāmalāṃ saralāṃ susmitāṃ.” Madhuvanthi also brought alive the musical journey of the hymn. While its earliest tune is associated with Jadunath Bhattacharya, the celebrated Tagore rendition is in Raag Desh. And then Madhuvanthi sang the stunning “Jago Durga Dashapraharanadharinee.” The iconic song of the All India Radio Calcutta broadcast Mahishasuramardini, heard at dawn on Mahālaya as Bengal awakens to Devi. Dwijen Mukherjee’s rendition became especially beloved and remains closely associated with the broadcast. So “Durgā daśa-praharaṇa-dhāriṇī” in Vande Mātaram suddenly acquires another layer of resonance. The ten-weaponed Devi of Bankim’s imagination meets the Devi awakened through song in Bengal every Mahālaya. Nearly 40 of us, including students of PSG Coimbatore and Avinashilingam University, were transported by the call to our Mother.

Fifth Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati Memorial Lecture

Fifth Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati Memorial Lecture Highlights Shri Rajiv Malhotra reflected on the intellectual and strategic influence of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati on his work and the broader Hindu Renaissance. Personal Influence Rajiv ji details how Swami Dayananda Saraswati acted as a "Brahmin Chhatriya" figure, providing the intellectual defense necessary to combat Western academic narratives and internal Hindu misconceptions. He credits Swami ji with supporting his development of several key frameworks, including: * The concept of "mutual respect" versus "tolerance." * The theory of "digestion" and "U-turners" in academic scholarship. * The non-translatability of Sanskrit terms. * The development of IKS (Indian Knowledge Systems) through long-term research into Indian science and technology. Rajiv ji also notes that Swami Ji provided critical mentorship during personal and professional challenges, such as defending against attacks by Western academics. @RajivMessage

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Listening to the lecture now!

I would go to Swamiji all the time, and he would give guidance on how to counter the challenges I was facing. Whenever he visited the Arsha Vidya in the US, on the same day, he would send people to me asking me to meet him - Rajiv Malhotra, Fifth Pujaya Swami Dayananda Sararaswati Memorial Lecture. Happening now. Register here: indica.events/event/fifth-pu…

This session has started- To participate, pls register here : indica.events/event/fifth-pu…

Beginning shortly The Fifth Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati Memorial Lecture 🎙️ Rajiv Malhotra, author, researcher and founder of Infinity Foundation, on "Swami Dayananda Saraswati: My Favourite Intellectual Kshatriya" Drawing on years of association and conversation with Pujya Swamiji, he reflects on the clarity, courage and commitment to representing Dharma on its own terms that made Swamiji's voice so consequential in our times. Instituted in 2019 as our Guru Dakshina, this lecture series honours one of the greatest Advaita Vedanta teachers of the modern era, founder of Arsha Vidya Gurukulams and AIM for Seva. Host: Hari Vadlamani, Founder, INDICA 🕠 5:30 PM IST, today Join live: indicacademy.zoom.us/webinar…

#Nilgiris Writing Retreat with Harini Srinivasan A picture is worth a thousand words. But what happens when the picture is full of writers? Perhaps, a thousand stories waiting to be written. From the misty Nilgiris, a frame from our writers’ retreat — where ideas, conversations and words found room to breathe. #Conoor #amanivillas #Nilgiris #WritingRetreat @HSriniv12 @Sai_swaroopa

The debate between Lokmanya Tilak and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was more than a disagreement over social reform. At its heart lay a deeper question: How should Bharat engage with modernity without losing the intellectual foundations of its own traditions? In this conversation, scholar Adwait Athawale revisits the Tilak–Agarkar debate through the lens of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), examining how their differing approaches to dharma, reform, education and Western thought emerged from fundamentally different epistemic frameworks. Tilak’s engagement with modernity, as Athawale argues, was neither a rejection of science nor an uncritical acceptance of Western frameworks. It was an attempt to study, compare and respond from within the intellectual resources of IKS. His Gītārahasya exemplifies this approach — bringing Western philosophy, science and morality into conversation with Vedānta and Sāṅkhya. The larger question remains deeply relevant today: Can we engage with modernity on our own terms, through a confident and rigorous understanding of our own knowledge traditions? Read the full conversation here: changemakers.indica.in/debat…

Bhagavadgita - Bitesize Learning is an effort to package the essence of Gita into multiple micro learning modules as it gives an opportunity to delve deep into Bhagavad Gita and enjoy its actuality in life. Every time someone reads Gita, there is something new and something more to learn from the reading. The knowledge of Bhagavad Gita was imparted by the world’s greatest counsellor to the world’s most depressed Counselee, so it has the power to motivate anyone on any given day. Episode 2, Part 2: What is the Bhagavad Gita Bhagavadgita​ #BitesizeLearning​ #Vedanta​ #Advaita​ #Hinduism​ Oneness​ Nonduality​ Spirituality