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Renuka Narayanan

Renuka Narayanan

Renuka Narayanan is a commentator and columnist on religion and culture.

Articles by Renuka Narayanan

Review: The Living Legend – Ramayana Tales from Far and Nearby Vayu Naidu

Hanuman in the traditional Kecak dance at the Uluwatu temple in Bali, Indonesia. (Shutterstock)

Updated on Feb 14, 2025 17:22 IST

Review: The Golden Road by William Dalrymple

Avalokiteswara Padmapani in the Ajanta caves. (Shutterstock)

Updated on Dec 6, 2024 23:34 IST

Review: Sacred Songs – the Mahabharata’s Many Gitas by Bibek Debroy

A traditional Javanese dance depicting a scene from the Mahabharata. (Wikimedia Commons)

Updated on Nov 8, 2024 23:58 IST

Review: The Collected Stories of Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury

A scene from Satyajit Ray’s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, which was based on a story from Golpomala by his grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 24, 2024 17:21 IST

Review: Aryans by Charles Allen

A performance of the Ramayana ballet at the Prambanan temple in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. (Aleksandar Todorovic/Shutterstock)

Updated on Mar 23, 2024 24:14 IST

Review: Green Pearls of India by V Sundararaju

A 75-year-old banyan tree in the Baba Nayaram Das temple in Manesar, Haryana. (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Updated on Jan 5, 2024 16:51 IST

Essay: The Mahabharata – beyond the harrowing angst

A performance in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, of the play ‘Doot Ghatotkacham’ Ghatotakacha, son of Hidimba and Bheema, who wreaks havoc on the Kauravas. Episodes from the Mahabharata continue to inspire creative expression. (Deepak Sansta/Hindustan Times)

Updated on Feb 9, 2023 04:29 IST

Re-reading the Ramayana of Valmiki

A scene from the Ramlila held at the Kavi Nagar Ramlila Grounds in Ghaziabad on 2 October 2019. (Sakib Ali/Hindustan Times)

Updated on Dec 5, 2022 03:15 IST

Kamala Subramaniam: An epic life well-served

Artists performing at a Ramlila in New Delhi. (Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times)

Updated on Sep 28, 2022 13:14 IST

Excerpt: Learning from Loss by Renuka Narayanan

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (Wikimedia Commons)

Updated on Aug 17, 2022 13:49 IST

A month of fasts, feasts and reaching out: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

Updated on May 6, 2018 03:53 IST

The beauty of a job well done: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

British royals William and Kate wave to photographers hours after the birth of their third child.

Updated on Apr 29, 2018 04:21 IST

Accepting our errors, expressing remorse: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

People from across communities participate in a peaceful march in Kolkata to condemn the rape and murder of an 8-year-old in Kathua.

Updated on Apr 21, 2018 11:22 IST

A curious old tale for a new cycle of time: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

Updated on Apr 15, 2018 03:10 IST

The many metaphors hidden within a feast: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

In Babette’s Feast, sumptuous dishes like the cailles en sarcophage (quail in puff pastry shell with foie gras and truffle sauce) become a metaphor for the perceived conflict between pleasure and piety. You can read Karen Blixen’s elegant short story online, and watch the film on YouTube.

Updated on Apr 8, 2018 03:27 IST

From an epic hero, lessons in humility: SheBaba by Renuka Narayanan

Hanuman in Lanka, by Raja Ravi Varma. Indians love the ‘action hero’ personality of Hanuman, but the wise and gentle giant is also upheld as an ideal of humility and devotion despite being a superstar.

Updated on Mar 31, 2018 13:14 IST

A living river of sermons, stories, songs: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

How stories unite us: The Pandavas depicted as shadow puppets at an Indonesian museum.

Updated on Mar 25, 2018 06:12 IST

A mystic moment of historic holy flow

Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Sankaracharya.

Updated on Mar 16, 2018 16:31 IST

The lost-and-found realm of a great goddess: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

Lalita Tripurasundari is worshipped across India, from Tripura in the northeast to Tamil Nadu in the south.

Updated on Mar 10, 2018 11:50 IST

Of a brave, old bird that died in the woods: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

Jatayu Moksham: The epics teach us to look closely at the dynamics of love, duty and discipline. To ask why Jatayu, who was just another bird of prey, died with his head on Rama’s lap, reciting Rama’s name

Updated on Mar 4, 2018 03:18 IST

No zari curtains on Valmiki’s Ramayana: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

In later versions of the Ramayana, no one could handle the thought of Ravan laying hands on Sita and so they respectfully or prudishly changed it.

Updated on Feb 24, 2018 11:28 IST

When you (fairly) civilly disagree about God: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

All nature, all creation is pervaded by God, says the Isha Upanishad.

Updated on Feb 17, 2018 05:10 IST

Many languages maybe, but a common prayer

Pandharpur temple town, Solapur district in south Maharashtra, 400 km from Mumbai.

Updated on Feb 2, 2018 06:48 IST

To good thoughts, good deeds, and rain: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

A downpour in New Delhi. Rain-making, at its heart, even in our oldest myths, is about faith and good intentions.

Updated on Jan 27, 2018 16:11 IST

An easy path to a happier you: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

Raja Ravi Varma’s Sarasvati.

Updated on Jan 20, 2018 11:46 IST

A sweet way to hit refresh on friendship, unity: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

Along with festivals like Buddha Purnima, Vesak and Kartik Purnima, Makara Sankaranti is another ancient festival shared by regions across South and South-East Asia - with the added benefit of kite-flying thrown in!

Updated on Jan 13, 2018 13:55 IST

Understanding the purpose of human life: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

Updated on Jan 6, 2018 14:17 IST

May we be kinder, better in the new year: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

Updated on Dec 31, 2017 02:59 IST

Visions of a feast in the time of Christ: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

The Bible tells us that Jesus ate bread, wine and fish. Scholars say other chief crops during Christ’s time were wheat, grapes and lentils.

Updated on Dec 24, 2017 04:24 IST

There is good in us all, even despite ourselves: Shebaba by Renuka Narayanan

Updated on Dec 17, 2017 10:26 IST

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