The Sri Ram Sene, whose self-appointed guardians had recently dragged young men and women out of a pub in Mangalore and thrashed them for drinking in public.
Ramayana has it that Ram offered Maireya, a favourite wine of the royalty, to his bride Sita, says the writer. And later, when on their exile, while crossing the Ganga, Sita vowed that if they survived the 14-year ordeal and returned unharmed to Ajodhya, she'd pour a thousand jugs of wine into the river as thanksgiving. When the couple did return, says Valmiki, author of the epic, the city celebrated with binge drinking and happy slogans. Supposedly a delirious Ajodhya reeked of joy and wine for days according to Valmiki, says Pande.
Ms. Pande concedes that the Rig Veda frowns somewhat on alcoholic drinks and says they may cloud one's judgement and lead minds astray. But a little later, the sutras (treatises on the Vedas) say that people may swill alcoholic drinks on happy occasions such as the arrival of an honoured guest, entering a newly built house or the arrival of a bride into the family. The sutras also lay down a caste-based list of who shall drink what. They forbid the warrior castes from drinking grain-based liquor, but permit them to drink wine brewed from fruits and flowers.
Traders and sailors and non-caste folk could drink what they liked. Later, Vedic literature mentions several popular drinks such as Kilala (a sweet fermented alcoholic drink), and Masara (filtered rice gruel liquor much like the Handiya still drunk by the tribals in central India) and Madira (a honey-based drink).
For details as well as earlier articles on the subject by her, visit livemint.
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