The book, titled 'Christ Parichay', also throws away the Christian belief that Christ was crucified to death. Photo: iStockMumbai: Can you imagine Jesus Christ as a Tamil-speaking, dark-skinned Hindu Brahmin who spent his last years in Himalayas worshipping Lord Shiva? These are the claims made by a founder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in a Marathi book first published in 1946.
The book, titled 'Christ Parichay', was written by Ganesh Damodar Savarkar, the elder brother of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (Veer Savarkar). Now, 70 years later, a Mumbai based right-wing trust is republishing the controversial book.
The startling claims don't end with Christ being a Tamil Hindu. According to the book, Christianity is nothing but a sect of Hinduism and Christ introduced this cult following Hindu doctrine. The book also says Christ was born as a Vishwakarma Brahmin, Tamil was his mother tongue and he was dark-skinned. And his real name? Keshao Krishna.
The book, penned by Ganesh Savarkar, will be re-launched in Mumbai on February 26, the death anniversary of the Hindutva icon, president of the Swatantryaveer Savarkar National Memorial Ranjit Savarkar said.
The book also claims that Jesus died in Kashmir.
The book goes onto claim that sacred thread ceremony of Christ was held when he was 12 years old and the rituals were held as per Hindu Brahmin traditions.
'Christ Parichay' also throws away the Christian belief that Christ was crucified to death. It claims that people from the Essenes cult, which practiced Yoga and spiritual science, rescued the crucified Christ and revived him with medicinal plants and herbs from the Himalayas. The treatment using herbs and medicinal plants brought back Christ to life, the book says.
Christ then went to the Himalayas and worshipped Lord Shiva for three years and earned his 'darshan'. At the age of 49, Christ sat on yogic posture and went into deep 'samadhi', leaving his physical body, the book states. As per Christian beliefs, Christ was 33 when he died.
The book also says that Arabia was a Hindu land and Jews were Hindus once. And there's more – the book claims Palestine's Arabic language is a version of the Tamil language.
The bizarre claims of the book made 'Tamil Hindu' a trending topic on Twitter as soon as the report hit the Internet Tuesday morning. Most of the social media users have been making fun of the book. However, there was a share of netizens that supported the claims made in the book.
The Marathi book is being brought out by Savarkar National Memorial, a trust that preserves and propagates the Savarkar brothers' literature and ideology.
Asked about the claims in the book, senior priest and director of the Bombay Archdiocesan Heritage Museum, Father Warner DSouza, said such books will not shake the faith of Christians.
(With inputs from agencies)
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