Invitation to support the research in the mystery of the sphinxes of India

The Sphinx of India is my discovery and is the result of 15 years of perseverance and research. I have so far financed my fieldwork and other research activities entirely from my own resources. It has at long last also gained academic recognition. The extent of this research requires additional funding. I request the visitors to appreciate this work and encourage me by contributing with a donation towards its continuation. I am also open for proposals for collaborative research, and other projects like documentaries or publications.

The recognition of the existence of sphinxes in Indian art and tradition is my discovery. The website Sphinx of India is the result of 15 years of perseverance and research. I have so far financed my fieldwork, other research activities and the website entirely from my own resources. It has at long last also gained academic recognition. There are at present four specific research questions that are important to pursue:

(1) The purushamriga is mentioned in the Yajur Veda and is still part of daily ritual in Shaiva temples. It is important to establish whether this is the result of an unbroken and continuous tradition.

(2) The traditions of the purushamriga were very alive and consciously present everywhere in southern India up till the 18th century. Since then the purushamriga and its significance have been forgotten except in a few places and temple traditions. How and why did this occur?

(3) It is important to interview sculptors, architects (sthapatis) and other traditional scholars to collect whatever knowledge and information may still be found with the elderly generation before it passes on with them.

(4) It is of great relevance for our understanding to find out whether there are other pockets of living tradition relating to the Sphinx of India left elsewhere in the country and subcontinent.

I will keep all donors up-to-date on the progress of the research.

Please contact me at

rdeekshithar@yahoo.com

Please lend your support to the revealing of the mystery of the Sphinxes of India