Almost one year after the introduction of Ethereum-style smart contracts, so-called liquid staking protocols are booming on Filecoin, a blockchain built to store data.

Since January 1, the value of crypto locked in Filecoins dozen liquid staking protocols has grown to more than $450 million from $272 million.

Its a sign users are becoming more familiar with Filecoin and its nascent DeFi ecosystem.

Its also another sign that users love the points systems that have taken over Ethereum and Solana, too.

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A likely catalyst for Filecoins recent growth is the anticipation of rewards programs that incentivise user activity, Messari analyst Mihai Grigore told DL News.

Like airdrops projects distributions of free tokens to reward early or loyal users points programs, which function much like traditional businesses rewards programs, can juice user activity.

Unlike airdrops, however, they allow US-based projects to avoid the regulatory headache that can come with promising or issuing tokens.

As such, they have spread like wildfire among decentralised finance applications on Ethereum and Solana. They appear to be a powerful incentive on Filecoin, too.

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Of the dozen liquid staking protocols tracked by DefiLlama, all have grown at least 48% in the past month. But GLIF, the largest, has separated itself from the pack.

GLIF is a long-running project on Filecoin. It built one of the blockchains first wallets, according to founder Jon Schwartz. When Filecoin developers added smart contract functionality in March 2023, GLIF built a liquid staking service.

Deposits to GLIF have skyrocketed since early February, when it announced a $4.5 million raise and the launch of a points system sometime in the first quarter of the year.

Since then, the total value of crypto locked in GLIF has more than doubled. On February 22, user activity briefly overloaded GLIFs website.

Year-to-date, GLIFs increase in net deposits of [about] 6.9 million FIL accounted for nearly 76% of the total DeFi net deposits on Filecoin, Grigore said. That figure doesnt account for collateral posted by borrowers on GLIF.

Schwartz attributes the jump to points and to growing comfort with Filecoin.

When Filecoin developers launched the blockchain in October 2020, there were only 11 built-in smart contracts.

That would be analogous to Ethereum having, say, 11 smart contracts, and those were the only ones you could really use on the network, Schwartz told DL News. No developers like myself could deploy custom smart contract logic to the chain.

That changed last March, when developers introduced smart contract functionality.

That change brought Ethereum-style smart contracts on Filecoin, enabling DeFi use cases, notably liquid staking, Grigore said.

Schwartz believes the blockchain is now reaping the benefits of that paradigm change.

You know how these things go, especially with new and immature networks, he said. It takes time for DeFi to develop and for people to get comfortable.

Liquid staking is the biggest business on Ethereum. As of Wednesday, users had deposited more than $46 billion in cryptocurrencies in Ethereums three dozen liquid staking protocols.

Thats because it addresses a key issue with Ethereums so-called proof-of-stake security system, which was adopted in September 2022.

In a proof-of-stake system, security, as well as the privilege of confirming and ordering transactions, comes from users willing to lock up, or stake, their Ether in exchange for a modest annual yield.

Liquid staking protocols address the opportunity cost that comes with locking away ones Ether by issuing derivative tokens, which typically trade at par with Ether and are accepted in its stead by decentralised exchanges and lending protocols.

Filecoin isnt a proof-of-stake blockchain, and Schwartz prefers to call GLIF a liquid leasing protocol.

That said, the problem space the GLIF is filling for Filecoin is pretty much the same problem space that, say, Lido is building for Ethereum, or Jito for Solana, he said, referring to other blockchains liquid staking protocols. But the mechanisms are different.

Its just the beginning of what could be a busy year for Filecoin.

Earlier this month, Filecoin and Solana project Triton One announced a partnership, in which Triton would store Solana data on Filecoin.

Developers behind billion-dollar decentralised exchange Uniswap deployed the protocol to Filecoin this week. SushiSwap developers launched their decentralised exchange on the blockchain in November.

A lot of these new projects that have components that were built on the [smart contract functionality] theyll come out this year, Schwartz said.

Its going to look like a different Filecoin, simply because whats possible this year was not possible in the three, four years prior, he added.

Aleks Gilbert is a DeFi correspondent for DL News. Have a tip? Contact Aleks at aleks@dlnews.com.

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Filecoin is riding the boom in liquid staking - DLNews

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Stacks is a decade-old blockchain project that aims to establish a decentralised economy on top of Bitcoin.

See my YouTube dive on Stacks here.

As the largest Bitcoin Layer 2 network focusing on smart contracts, Stacks is slated to complete the final piece of a long-standing puzzle plaguing Bitcoin with its upcoming sBTC hard fork. This upgrade introduces a decentralised two-way peg, addressing the Bitcoin write problem.

With sBTC, developers will finally be able to utilise Stacks Clarity programming language to write fully-expressive smart contracts and build cutting-edge decentralised apps (dApps). This enables a vibrant DeFi, NFT, and web3 scene on Stacks, with dApps utilising Bitcoin as a settlement layer.

In short, Stacks is furnishing Bitcoins unparalleled capital, security, and network effects with advanced smart contracts functionality. These are capabilities that builders and web3 users have previously relied on through Ethereum Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum, sidechains like Polygon, and competing Layer 1 networks like Solana.

Well, the big brother is about to catch up.

In this article, Ill dive into:

Theres a lot to cover, so lets dive in.

Stacks began in 2013 as Blockstack in Princetons computer science department, founded by two PhD students

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How High Can Stacks (STX) Go? Building the Future of Bitcoin with Advanced Smart Contracts - DataDrivenInvestor

Blockchain technology, often hailed as the backbone of cryptocurrency, has emerged as a transformative technology over the past few years.

Its decentralized nature and ability to record transactions in a secure and transparent manner differentiate it from traditional databases, marking it as an essential development in the world of finance and beyond.

At its heart, blockchain operates on a distributed ledger that facilitates peer-to-peer transactions without the need for a central authority.

This decentralized ledger is maintained across multiple computers or nodes, ensuring transparency and making it virtually impossible for a single entity to manipulate the data.

Each transaction, which records transactions on the blockchain, is verified by a consensus mechanism, such as proof of work (PoW) or proof of stake (PoS), making every transaction not only secure but also an integral part of the digital ledger.

Smart contracts, or self-executing contracts, are a pivotal innovation brought forth by blockchain technology, offering automated solutions across various sectors. Heres how they stand out:

Automatically execute the terms of a contract when predefined conditions are met, eliminating the need for intermediaries.

Significantly reduce paperwork and administrative overhead, making transactions faster and more efficient.

Encoded with cryptographic hash offer a higher level of security against fraud and unauthorized access.

Every party involved in the contract has access to the terms and conditions, ensuring complete transparency.

From finance and insurance to supply chain management and beyond are versatile in their application.

These features of smart contracts highlight their role in not just enhancing the efficiency and security of transactions but also in extending the transformative impact of blockchain technology beyond the realm of digital currencies, particularly in their ability to validate transactions.

When it comes to supplying chain management, blockchain offers unparalleled benefits in transparency and security.

Recording transactions in a transparent manner, it allows all parties within the chain to track the movement of goods in real-time, thereby conducting transactions securely, reducing the risk of fraud and improving efficiency.

Despite its transformative potential, blockchain technology encounters several challenges:

The future of blockchain is promising, with continuous innovation aimed at overcoming current limitations.

As the technology continues to evolve, its application is expected to expand beyond cryptocurrency and finance, impacting various industries in a secure and transparent manner.

Understanding blockchain technology, with its ability to facilitate secure, transparent transactions without intermediaries, stands as the backbone of cryptocurrency and a beacon of transformative technology.

As nodes across the network agree on the validity of transactions, blockchains decentralized ledger reinforces the importance of transparency and security in the digital age.

With its scalability challenges being addressed, blockchains potential to revolutionize traditional databases, ensuring transparency and security across transactions, is more tangible than ever.

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Blockchain Essentials: Understanding the Backbone of Crypto - Geeks World Wide

Coindar

BTSE will list Fetch.ai (FET) on March 6th.

Refer to the official tweet by FET:

FET Info

Fetch.ai's FET, a utility token, is the bedrock for discovering, creating, deploying, and training digital twins, playing an essential role in smart contracts and oracles on the platform. With FET, users can build and deploy their digital twins on the network. The token also allows developers to access machine-learning utilities for training autonomous digital twins and deploying collective intelligence on the network. Additionally, validation nodes can stake FET tokens to facilitate network validation, enhancing their reputation in the process.

The technological architecture of Fetch.ai consists of four distinctive elements. The Digital Twin Framework offers modular components to help teams construct marketplaces, skills, and intelligence for digital twins. The Open Economic Framework provides search and discovery capabilities for digital twins. The Digital Twin Metropolis is a collection of smart contracts that maintain an immutable record of agreements between digital twins on a WebAssembly (WASM) virtual machine. Lastly, the Fetch.ai Blockchain employs multi-party cryptography and game theory to ensure secure, censorship-resistant consensus and rapid chain-syncing to support digital twin applications.

Among the platform's key components is the learner, wherein each participant represents a unique private dataset and machine learning system. The global market emerges as a product of a collective learning experiment, with a machine learning model trained by the learners collectively. The Fetch.ai Blockchain supports smart contracts, allowing secure and auditable coordination and governance. Finally, the platform includes a decentralized data layer based on IPFS, facilitating the sharing of machine learning weights among all learners involved.

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Fetch.ai to Be Listed on BTSE on March 6th - TradingView

IN INDIA NATIONAL elections are looming. Voters are expected to go to the polls in April and May. Narendra Modi, the prime minister, hopes to win a third term in office. To that end he has been playing up his religious devotion. On January 22nd Mr Modi inaugurated a new temple to Ram, in Ayodhya, a northern city believed by devotees to be that Hindu gods birthplace. The temple was built on land previously occupied by a centuries-old mosque, which was torn down by a Hindu-nationalist mob in 1992. Addressing a crowd of supporters after the ceremony, which marked the unofficial start of his campaign for re-election, Mr Modi claimed the new construction was not just a divine temple but a temple of Indias vision, philosophy and direction. What did he mean?

Equating Hinduism and India in this way is one of the main tenets of Mr Modis ideology: Hindutva, or Hinduness. Adherents of Hindutva, including many members of Mr Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), believe in the hegemony of Hinduism in Indiato the extent that they consider Hindu and Indian culture synonymous. Critics fear the BJP aims to to turn the country of 1.4bn people, 80% of whom are Hindus, from a secular state into a Hindu one. BJP officials deny this. They say they are trying to establish a Hindu national identity suppressed for centuries by Muslim and British invaders.

Hindutva originated in the anti-colonial movements of the early 20th century. In 1922, while in jail for anti-British activities, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar wrote The Essentials of Hindutva, a pamphlet offering an ethno-nationalist definition of Indian civilisation. A Hindu, he argued, was anyone for whom India was both a fatherland and a holy land.

Savarkar, an atheist, took a flexible view of whom could be considered a Hindu. Jains and Buddhists could be. But Muslims and Christians, as adherents of non-Indic religions, could not be part of the Hindu nation unless they renounced their faith. Contemporary Hindu ideologues tend to say that India embraces citizens of all faithsbut requires them to be loyal to an Indian nation defined by Hinduism. In support of this demand, they often cite an imagined golden age of Hindu kingsand decry the centuries-long period of colonial rule, under Muslim then Christian invaders, that followed. Millions of Hindus, they say, were forcibly converted to Islam or Christianity during that dark period. They often argue that their critics suffer from a colonial mindset.

After India gained independence in 1947, Savarkars vision lost out to the more secular, inclusive one preferred by Jawaharlal Nehru, Indias first prime minister, and other framers of the new Indian constitution. Yet groups such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a paramilitary volunteer outfit that Mr Modi joined as a child, continued to promote Hindutva and Hindu nationalism.

Their efforts have been hugely boosted, since the 1980s, by the rise of the BJP from the margins of national politics to centre stage. In power since 2014, Mr Modi has modernised Hindutva, making it symbolic of Indias national greatness. Alongside this, his party has also pushed many Hindu-nationalist priorities. In 2019 his government revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, hitherto the countrys only Muslim-majority state, and split it into two territories that are governed from Delhi. Multiple states ruled by the BJP have tightened laws against cow slaughter and religious conversion, ostensibly to protect Hindus from nefarious attempts to convince them to abandon their religion. The government promotes vegetarianism, which is mostly practised by high-caste Hindus. A currently-suspended plan to establish a national registry of citizens and amend the citizenship law could put the rights of millions of Muslim Indians at risk.

The BJPs opponents say the main effect of these policies has been to relegate non-Hindu Indians, particularly Muslims, to the status of second-class citizens. It has also empowered Hindu-nationalist vigilante groups. Such groups roam neighbourhoods for signs of illegal cow slaughter or attempts by Muslim men to seduce Hindu girls and convert them (a conspiracy theory known as love jihad). They frequently operate with impunity, often alongside the police. When Mr Modi inaugurated the Ram temple the government encouraged citizens to celebrate the event as a moment of national pride. Many were eager to do so. But the celebrations carried a warning to those who demurred. Some neighbourhood associations sent notices to refuseniks encouraging them to pack up and move elsewhere.

Supporters and critics of Mr Modi differ on whether the consecration of the temple at Ayodhya was indeed a moment of national pride. Either way, the states unambiguous promotion of the event appeared to mark a significant break with the secular principles enshrined in Indias constitution.

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What is Hindutva, the ideology of India's ruling party? - The Economist

Appalled Hindus are asking for resignation of General Mills CEO Jeffrey L.Harmening with an official apology from the company for non-disclosure of beef in its Yoplait yogurts, and their immediate recall from the market.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada, said that it was shocking for Hindus to learn that popular Yoplait yogurts, which they had been eating for years, contained beef; while beef was not explicitly mentioned under the ingredients listed on the Yoplait packages/boxes.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, stated that Yoplait yogurts contained gelatin, but the source of gelatin was not mentioned under the Ingredients on packages/boxes. When Zed contacted General Mills, its Consumer Care department responded: The source of Gelatin in all Yoplait Yogurt Products is beef.

Consumption of beef is highly conflicting to Hindu beliefs. Cow, the seat of many deities, is sacred and has long been venerated in Hinduism, Rajan Zed points out.

It was a very serious issue for the devotees and would severely hurt their feelings if they would come to know that they were unknowingly eating beef-laced Yoplait yogurts, Zed said. General Mills, which claims to be an innovative company that stands for good, should not be in the business of hurting the sentiments of trusting consumers and communities and contradicting its own statement of Do the Right Thing, All the Time, Zed added.

Rajan Zed further said that it was hard to comprehend why General Mills Inc., which claims We make foodthe world loves: 100 brands. In 100 countries. Across six continents., did not mention explicitly under the ingredients on the package/box the source of gelatin used in its products. It was highly insensitive on its part, according to Zed.

Now is the time for General Mills to admit their serious error of not being transparent enough to mention in clear and simple terms what was inside the package/box so that an ordinary consumer could make right and appropriate choices, Zed said. Moreover, in the future, General Mills should explicitly list beef in the ingredients on the package/box when beef was present in the product; Zed added.

Besides the CEO resignation and official apology, Zed urged General Mills to recall all Yoplait packages/boxes containing gelatin where source of gelatin was not clearly mentioned, and later replace these with packages/boxes which markedly declared source of gelatin under the ingredients label.

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Hindu Group Seeks Resignation Of General Mills CEO For Non-Disclosure Of Beef In Yoplait Yogurts - Eurasia Review

CAMBRIDGE, MAScholar Swayam Bagariahas been named Assistant Professor of Hindu Studies at Harvard Divinity School. His appointment took effect January 1, 2024.

Bagaria was most recently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Hindu Studies at HDS and was named to that position in 2022. Prior to his time at HDS, Bagaria was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia in the College Fellows Program. He received his PhD in anthropology from Johns Hopkins University in 2020.

I am thrilled to welcome Swayam Bagaria to the HDS faculty, said HDS DeanMarla F. Frederick. Professor Bagaria is not only an emerging scholar, but also a proven and appreciated teacher. His ethnographic perspective on lived religion today and his research on the relationship between classical Hinduism and popular Hinduism in contemporary India will allow Hindu Studies to better flourish at HDS and Harvard. His appointment pushes forward our effort to continue to develop Hindu Studies and a Hindu Ministry Program at the Divinity School.

An anthropologist interested in the psychosocial aspect of religion, particularly Hinduism, Bagarias work combines computational, cognitive, and socio-cultural methods to understand the formation and persistence of religious and religion-like beliefs and commitments in contemporary India.

I am excited to join HDS at what seems like an inflection point in the history of the School. Religion, even if just as a cluster of biases or as a set of ethical constraints, has always been important for most of our endeavors in the world but it was rarely acknowledged as such, said Bagaria. My strength has always been my curiosity and receptivity to different disciplinary frameworks and methods. I find that reframing a problem from multiple perspectives and understanding the tradeoffs between them can break the rut of being trapped in scholarly echo chambers. Practically, I try and achieve this in my research collaborations but even more so in my teaching.

In his first book, Bagaria provides a new framework to understand the bespoke internal plurality of Hinduism and its capacity to allow a diverse set of regional sects with their own set of beliefs and practices and with differing states of cultural and social organization to subsist.

Bagarias second book is on the relation between spirituality and mental health in India in the last century.

He has also written on the impact that an acknowledgement of the salience of religious identity and belief in India has had on thedesign of constitutional orders,the framing of foreign policy, and on understandingthe economics of dead assets. Other interests include using computational social science to study belief formation, comparative constitutional law, contemporary psychedelic sciences, and the cultural economics of religion.

At Harvard Divinity School, he teaches a year long course on history of psychotherapy and psychiatry in India and its engagement with the spiritual and cultural aspects of religious belief, as well as elective courses on comparative constitutional law, the ethics and economics of caste, and an introductory class on social science research methods.

Swayam Bagaria is already a much-appreciated member of our faculty, bringing to campus fresh expertise regarding Hindu temples, Hindu and civil law codes, methods in ethnographic study, and insights into the varieties of living Hinduism, saidFrancis X. Clooney, S.J., Parkman Professor of Divinity and Professor of Comparative Theology and search committee chair for the tenure-track position in Hindu Studies. As HDS expands Hindu studies and strengthens the place of Hindu perspectives in ministry studies, Swayam will be an essential person, much appreciated in both the academic and ministerial dimensions of HDS.

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Swayam Bagaria Named Assistant Professor of Hindu Studies at Harvard Divinity School - India New England

The Cultural, Religious, and Linguistic (CRL) Commission has suggested resolutions for Pastor Bobby Perumal, who was caught on video calling Lord Shiva, a Hindu deity, a demon and casting various aspersions about Hinduism practices, during a sermon at the Queensburgh Congregational Church, Durban in December last year.

The video of his rhetoric was shared widely and spurred many Hindu organisations to submit complaints to both the South African Human Rights Commission and CRL Commission.

It has since been reported that the CRL Commission recently responded by proposing that Perumal acknowledge the pain he has caused in a written and video statement; attend educational and awareness programmes conducted by Hindu organisations to establish an understanding of the religions beliefs and practices; receive cultural sensitivity training to become more respectful and appreciative of different religions and cultures in society; participate in inter-faith discourses to nurture an understanding and harmony among various religious communities; and collaborate with religious leaders from a myriad of faiths to advance mutual respect and co-operation.

ALSO READ | Truck driver crushed to death by his truck trailer

Perumal made the suggested apology this week, acknowledging that his utterances caused religious outrage.

I sincerely apologise to the Indian community for referring to Lord Shiva as a demon, Perumal said.

I also sincerely apologise to the Indian community for labelling Hinduism practices as devil worship.

He also apologised for insulting yoga and wrongly associating it with Hinduism. He said he is very sorry and greatly remorseful and promised to never repeat such remarks.

Ashwin Trikamjee, president of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha, said he was satisfied with the apology and remained hopeful that Perumal will comply with all the other resolutions too.

Trikamjee said he is more concerned about how Perumals comments speak to a greater issue of increased hate speech directed toward Hindus and Hinduism.

He said, This particular case is evidence that the Hindu community has had enough when it comes to comments that are tantamount to hate speech.

Ranjiv Nirghin, president of the Midlands Hindu Society, said that the society and its affiliates appreciated the steps taken by the South African Hindu Maha Sabha to ensure that Perumal was held accountable for his insensitive and offensive remarks.

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We have noticed that such uninformed remarks are usually made from a position of ignorance about other faiths, Nirghin said.

As Hindus we believe in Vasudeva Kutumbakam, which means that the entire world is one family, and we always end our prayers with Aum Shanti, which means let there be peace.

Prega Padayachee, president of the Sri Soobramoniar and Marriamen Temples, however, said he was not satisfied with the public apology issued by Perumal as it did not feel genuine.

However, I do think the other resolutions that involve him gaining an education in our religion and religious practices would be productive, as Hinduism is a complex religion that requires enlightenment to appreciate, Padayachee said.

Read more:

Pastor apologises for hurting religious sentiments of Hindus - The Witness

Upon the recent consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, built atop the ruins of a Mughal mosque, Hindu activists are now seeking to restore the site of the Gyanvapi mosque to Hindu worship. A court has recently granted Hindu petitioners the right to worship in the sealed basement of the mosque, which could be a precursor to the conversion of the entire site into a temple.

One of the most important questions surrounding the Gyanvapi mosques origin is whether Aurangzeb was motivated by religious bigotry, oras is now fashionable to argueby political reasons. Because of the high stakes involved, this is not merely an academic question. For if the emperors actions were guided by politics rather than religious fervour, then any attempt to build a Hindu temple on its site seems unfair because a political reason could be justified in a way that a religious one could not.

Did Aurangzeb destroy Hindu temples primarily for political reasons?

A classical example of this argument can be found in Truschkes book, Aurangzeb: The Life and Legacy of Indias Most Controversial King. In it, she writes: of the tens of thousands of Hindu and Jain temples located within Mughal domains, most, although not all, still stood at the end of Aurangzebs reign, adding that political events incited Aurangzeb. Historians Catherine B Asher and Cynthia Talbot write in India Before Europe that, for example, thetemple in Mathurawas destroyed in reaction to some serious riots in Mathura.

There are several problems with this argument, however. One issue is that it ascribes to Aurangzeb motives that are not even his own,self-professed ones. While there may well have been a political subtext intended to demonstrate the dominance of the Mughal polity and the politys religion, Aurangzeb himself is reported in a contemporary text, the Maasir-i-Alamgiri, to have ordered the demolition of the temple in Varanasi due to his eagerness to establish Islam and because the misbelievers used to teach their false books there. This conforms to the well-known image of Aurangzeb as overly pious to the point of bigotry, a person who did not share the high regard of his ancestor, the Emperor Akbar, for Hinduism and other religions of India.

Therefore, it is quite possible that Aurangzeb used local rebellions and disturbances as a justification to not only make a political point, but a religious one, by tearing down and appropriating some of the holiest sites in Hinduism. After all, the message that was sent by doing so was much stronger than demolishing thousands of small, rural shrines that were not in any way prominent.

Aurganzebs actions would have been legitimate within the context of the Hanafi madhhab or tradition of Islamic law, dominant in both the Mughal and Ottoman empires. As the Ottoman Empire expanded into the Christian Balkans, many large churches were converted into mosques. The Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed II, converted the premier Byzantine Church, the Hagia Sophia, into a mosque in 1453 CE, an action which Hanafi doctrine permitted after a conquest. However, the Hanafi doctrine also protects property rights after a peaceful surrender.

Also read:There is a whole Aurangzeb Industry taking shape. Lets discuss it on four counts

Regardless of whether the conquest in Varanasi occurred during the Mughal Empires initial expansion or Aurganzebs suppression of various local rebellions, the demolition of the Vishwanath temple was intended as both an act of religious triumphalism and a demonstration of political supremacy in an era where these were not different things. In both the Mughal and Ottoman empires, conquered Hindus and Christians continued to practise their religions and maintain their temples and churches. But the appropriation of important sacred spots was a symbol of the new dominant religious and political order of the conquerors and a message to the conquered about their subordinate place in the public sphere.

Aurangzeb ruled the Mughal Empire for almost 50 years. One cannot remain in power that long without having an understanding of realpolitik and a survival instinct. In an empire so large, much of it loosely held by local subordinates and Hindu Rajputs, Aurangzeb could hardly have destroyed every temple, or prevented the construction of new ones, nor could have tried to when he needed the Rajputs for his administration and campaigns in the Deccan.

Hindu scriptures have different lists about which sites are particularly holy to Hindus, but there is general agreement that these include the sapta puri, or seven cities of Mathura, Ayodhya, Dwarka, Haridwar, Kanchipuram, Ujjain, and Varanasi. Other sources also speak of twelve jyotirlingas, or sites holy to Shiva, including Varanasi. Aurangzeb built mosques on top of temples at many of these sites, including Somnath, Mathura, and Varanasi. If his motives were purely political, it hardly seems reasonable to destroy some of the most sacred Hindu sitesinstead of less important local sitesover riots or rural rebellions. That these sites were very important to Hindus is evidenced by the fact that newer Hindu temples have since been constructed adjacent to the now-appropriated sites in Mathura and Varanasi.

The very fact that the temples that were targeted included the ones at places like Mathura and Varanasi point to a motive that transcends mere politics and suggests an element of religious fervour. Of course, Aurangzebs bigotry was tempered by realpolitik, but that does not negate the bigotry behind his actions. As a powerful ruler, he was able to both temper and express this in different circumstances.

Akhilesh Pillalamarri is an international affairs analyst, journalist, and lawyer. He tweets at @AkhiPill. Views are personal.

(Edited by Prashant)

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Did Aurangzeb destroy Hindu temples primarily for political reasons? What his choices reveal - ThePrint

Lunar Eclipse 2024: This months first major astronomical event, the lunar eclipse will take place around March 25. The day coincides with Holi, also known as the festival of colours. It is also one of the biggest Hindu festivals which celebrates the eternal love of deities Radha and Krishna and signifies the triumph of good over evil.

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The eclipse or 'grahana' as called in Sanskrit texts, is considered an important celestial phenomenon in Hinduism. The day is closely associated with Vedic texts in Hinduism, with significance in both astrology and astronomy.

In Hinduism, it is generally believed thatgrahana (or eclipse) is a bad omen. Many Hindus undertake certain activities like fasting before, during and after the onset of an eclipse.

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Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming lunar eclipse and whether it will affect the Holi celebrations in India:

First things first, the lunar eclipse expected to occur on March 25 will be a Penumbral lunar eclipse. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, but the three celestial bodies do not align perfectly. Instead, the Moon moves through the outer part of Earth's shadow, known as the penumbra.

During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the Moon dims slightly as it enters the Earth's penumbral shadow, but the effect is often subtle and can be difficult to observe with the naked eye.

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Unlike partial or total lunar eclipses where the Moon passes through the Earth's umbral shadow, penumbral eclipses typically result in only a faint shading or darkening of the Moon's surface.

Because the penumbral shadow is less dense than the umbral shadow, penumbral lunar eclipses are considered less dramatic and noticeable compared to partial or total lunar eclipses.

As per Hindu tradition, the sutak period is observed as the time when the lunar eclipse happens and all kinds of auspicious activities are prohibited during this period.

The eclipse will be on the same day as Holi, but the penumbral lunar eclipse will not be visible in India.

Therefore, there will be no sutak period during that time. This means there will be no hindrance in the celebrations of the Holi festival in India.

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However, before a solar eclipse, it is common for individuals of the Hindu faith to fast for up to six hours. Meals are often prepared only after the eclipse has passed, following guidelines outlined in the Kurma Purana regarding meal consumption during the event.

Pregnant women are believed to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of an eclipse and are expected to observe stricter religious prohibitions to prevent birth defects in their children.

The penumbral eclipse will begin at 12:53 am EDT (0453 GMT), the maximum stage of the eclipse will occur a couple of hours later at 3:12 am EDT (0712 GMT) and the penumbral eclipse will end at 5:32 am EDT (0932 GMT). However, it will not be visible in India.

The lunar eclipse will only be visible in parts of Ireland, Belgium, Spain, England, South Norway, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Germany, the United States, Japan, Switzerland, Netherlands and France.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Lunar eclipse to coincide with Holi this year. Will it affect auspicious festivities? All you need to know - WION