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The World's Largest Bird Sculpture - Jatayu Nature Park
Image Source: Youtube

Jatayu and Sampaati
These two brothers seem to provide an intriguing parallel for the Greek story of Daedalus and Icarus; I would very much like to read further to find out which story came first. The beautiful sculpture shown, a rendition of Jatayu, is part of the Jatayu Nature Park, located in Kerala, India. The brothers are eagle demi-gods, who when young competed regularly for height accomplishments in flying. Apparently Jatayu flew too high and started to lose his wings, and Sampaati flew above and shielded him, forever losing his wings in the process.

Panchatantra
One of my favorite things to do is seek out similarities in ancient stories. Did you know that the Sumerians, the Hebrews, the Greeks, the Assyrians, and the Hindus all recount stories of an enormous flood, a single man, and the divine instruction to build a vessel to survive the deluge? What I find most fascinating is trying to determine where the story came from first. So many similarities are shared across cultures and continents, and the secret historian within me craves to determine where the true beginning of a story started. This collection, which appears to be a large selection of fables, will probably constitute a large portion of my reading this semester. I plan to compare it to what I know already regarding Greek and Arabian myths. I can't wait!

Indiana Jones
Image Source: Pixabay

Kali
Ok, I will admit that my choice for this one is a little silly. But, did you ever watch Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? Remember the scene where the priest is chanting:

"Kali-ma!!! Kali-MA!!! KALI-MA!!!"

That was a pivotal moment for me when I saw it. It took about ten years but I eventually learned that Kali is a Hindu goddess, and later still I learned that she is actually viewed as benevolent, kind, and sweet.

Then I realized, still later, that "Kalima" is also a reference in Islam to the declaration of faith:

"There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."

So, there's a lot more going on in that scene than I had any clue of at the time, but doing a bit of research and reading regarding Kali, kalima, and the unpacking of the Indiana Jones scene sounds like a blast, and I'm looking forward to it.


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