HYDERABAD : Indians are instinctively liberal, observed author Amish Tripathi at the inaugural plenary session of Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF) that kicked off at Sattva Knowledge City here on Friday. In a conversation with festival director Prof T Vijay Kumar, the popular author discussed his latest non-fiction book ‘Idols: Unearthing the Power of Murti Puja’.
Speaking on the occasion, Tripathi stressed that the instinctiveness is ingrained in Indians as they grow up and idol worship is one of its signifiers.
“The philosophy of murti puja is that I see the divine in everything, including the idols you worship. If you see the divine in everything, you will instinctively respect the other person’s point of view,” he elaborated. The author further said that this quality is not restricted to Hindus and that Indian Muslims and Christians are also comfortable with multiple truths. “It is something in the way Indians approach truth. I think, at the heart of it, is idol worshipping and seeing divinity in everything,” he added.
In response to Prof Kumar’s question about whether the desecration of temples were fuelled by religious or political motives citing the destruction of Jain temples and literature, Tripathi said that the only way to determine would be to read texts from the respective time periods.
The session set the ball rolling for the three-day event that includes conversations with writers, readings, panel discussions, exhibitions, film screenings, workshops and cultural performances. While Norway is the country in focus, Odia is the Indian language in focus this year. This year’s edition will also see the addition of three new streams - indigenous and endangered languages, climate conversations, science and the city.