Kathiresan Ramachanderam

The invasion of Malaya begun just after midnight on the 8th of December 1941, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor with a naval assault on the 8th Indian Infantry Brigade stationed in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, followed by an amphibious landing supported by air strikes by Air Group III. The attack was led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the commander of the 25th Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and the man that would later be dubbed the Tiger of Malaya. The destruction on the Malayan side of things was total and both British and Commonwealth troops were on the retreat from the start, driven back from the north to the south and by the 31st of January 1942, British and Commonwealth forces had completely withdrawn to Singapore, and Malaya had fallen. The allies suffered massive casualties with 9,000 dead and almost 130,000 captured. Six days after the invasion of Malaya, on the 14th of December, 1941, troops from the 15th Imperial Japanese Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Shoji...

The bond between a shaman and his or her spirit tree has been a long-established principle of shamanism and many cultures of antiquity adhere to the principle that the abilities of the shaman are very much dependent on the shaman’s spirit tree, to the extent that the metaphoric tree has taken on a life of its own and has become a central feature or facet of shamanism. The shaman tree can be divided into a few types. The first type or category of shaman trees are trees where spirits or spiritual entities reside. These trees have their origins in the realm of folklore and are often divided into different tiers. The strength of the spirit is dependent on the tier that the spirit occupies. Spirits that reside on higher tiers are stronger than those that occupy lower tiers. It is therefore possible, in this manner, to distinguish between inferior spirits and spirits of a higher capacity. The second type of shamanic trees are trees that have a spirit i.e. these trees have a soul and it is t...

The river Ganges is the third longest river in India and it is home to a host of rare aquatic species including the endangered South Asian River Dolphin which is split or divided into two exotic species, the Ganges River Dolphin and the Indus River Dolphin. Many ancient kingdoms were once situated along the river or close to its shores including the non-Vedic Kingdom of Magadha which was located in present day Bihar, just south of the Ganges River Basin. The river according to both Hindu mythology and theology is a representation of the Goddess Ganga who came to light in the Vamana Purana and she is none other than the daughter of Brahma. The story begins when Vishnu at the behest of Aditi reincarnates in the physical world to end the reign of Bali who despite being born in the asura clan is a pious devotee of Vishnu. Because of his devotion, he acquires enough powers to usurp the Devas (those who belong to the race of Gods) and conquer the three worlds (Triloka) or the three s...

Copyright © 2019 by Dyarne Ward and Kathiresan Ramachanderam