We had recently had a comment on facebook, on a post of some pertinence in relation to a modern-day Classical religious revival, that read as the following:

Now, because it may be of a more general interest (at least, a more general resonancy), I felt I might reproduce some of my reply here:

Begins:

I cannot speak much toward the situation of various European efforts which you might have in mind – at least, not from an ‘insider perspective’, or in quite the same way.

I certainly do not disagree that some of these are … not so great; and the Varg-tier ‘placenta (o )cult(ism)’ is a very good exemplar for where things can go seriously haywire.

But what I can say is –

From our perspective [and here, I mean, myself and the various persons and groups whom I work with … and at least 1x Indo-European theological research institute], The Indo-European Gods Are The Indo-European Gods.

It is absolutely true, there is no denying it, that the course of history had seen various of our (and here, I mean ‘Hindus’) more Westerly cousins lose the ‘living religion(s)’ of their own more immediately ancestral spheres.

These things often, to be sure, persisted for quite some time after they had officially become ‘suppressed’ – and in quite some surprising ways. We have semi-often had cause to write upon some of the exemplars for this found within the Nordic / Germanic sphere, for example. But this does not change the fact that it has been many centuries since one could viably say that the Roman (etc.) ways of worship had previously faded from the scene.

Yet the question must also be asked – how much does this actually matter ? And in what ways might it be said to matter? I do not dispute that it presents an ‘obstacle’ … indeed, a whole suite of obstacles. I do, however, dispute that it is fatal to the whole overarching & overwhelming notion.

What notion? That of restoring the worship of the Indo-European Gods, in Forms and in Fashions that are more in accordance with the historic norms of those more Westerly IE spheres.

We have, quite viably, the array of materials for, we might say, the ‘Grihastha-tier’ operational piety in the Classical realms. These things are well attested, for the most part – or in other dimensions, have significant swathes that may be fairly safely inferred. With some other realms it is more difficult – but it is not insurmountable by any means.

Which brings us, I think, to your commentary around “history” and its “meaning”.

I do not wish to unfairly presume that which you may have meant by this – but we have so often encountered on social media, certain sorts of Christians who have a sort of … insistent triumphalism.

Per their dicta, it goes something along the lines of “But we BEAT YOU ?! WE CHOPPED DOWN YOUR TREE [with reference to St. Boniface] … WE CONVERTED ROME AND NOW THE PANTHEON IS A CHURCH !! YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO COME BACK LIKE THAT !!”

And if you think that that is a tawdry and two-dimensional caricature of something somebody might say (let alone think) in earnest … well, I do not dispute that it is tawdry and two dimensional – but it is most assuredly a not uncommon sort of sentiment out there amidst the wilderness of Performative Religious Social Media.

Yet it is a curious sort of sentiment. It is certainly true that a tree with religious meaning was cut down – but that should prove no more fatal to the religion and its resurrection than St. Boniface being, himself, cut down some time later would be for the Christian faith. One can indeed destroy the ‘manifestations’, the ‘resonancies’, the ‘immanentizations’ and the ‘immanentizers’ … it is not the same thing as destroying the actual things in and of themselves.

It is certainly also true that, as denoted above, various Temples of Rome (indeed, the very designation of certain things – ‘Pontifex Maximus’, indeed), have been taken over and are ‘Under New Management’ by a ‘new’ (well .. almost two millennia ancient by this point, but ‘new’ in a certain sense all the same) ‘management’.

So – something has changed.

But your claim is that history is a flow, and has meaning.

I do not necessarily disagree.

Something has changed, in terms of occupancy, from one faith and one suite of Gods – to another (and another, singular). So it goes.

But it does not have to stay that way.

Something has changed, indeed – and that, I should think, axiomatically entails the possibility that it may soon manage to ‘change again’.

Last night, an occasional correspondent shared a rather beautiful excerpt from an Indian writer who had gone in search of a Mandir [Temple] … once part of a mighty Eleven-Temple complex in glory of Rudra which had been constructed at Sidhpur in Gujarat, and subsequently turned into a Mosque.

I shall quote some of it for you now:

“This mandir was to be the final stop before we headed back home. My sense of directions and reconnaissance done on Google maps in the previous nights told me that we were close. It would be frustrating to leave without checking this out, especially after spending this effort on search. I continued with stubborn determination.

I stopped again to ask for directions. This time I was lucky.  “Yes. You need to continue on this road and you will find it almost at the end of this road.” As I started trudging along, my wife commented “ It doesn’t seem to be a popular place. Nobody seems to be going along this road except us”. I too had noticed it. But then, after a couple of minutes we were finally there. We reached a fenced enclosure approximately 100 feet wide with bit of undergrowth and one tree. I could also see the huge carved pillars and some other structures within. It looked like site of a demolition with big stones lying all around the place. There was a familiar blue board from ASI identifying it as a structure of historical importance. But, it was an anticlimax. There was simply nothing like a temple out there. I could not see any river too. The place was surrounded on all sides by houses. We had some curious stares from within those houses. It didn’t seem like a lot of people visited this place. A thick smell of dung filled the air. We had started the day with a visit to the magnificent sun temple at Modhera. This certainly was not what we were prepared to see.

There was simply no regular way to get in.  I went around and jumped in though an opening. Then I noticed four people inside. Couple of them looked like cops in their half-undressed Khaki uniforms. One of them carried a rifle. Others were probably ASI employees.

[…]

 Looking up, I saw a magnificent Torana rising nearly 20 feet into the air around 60 feet ahead of me.  That alone seemed worth the effort we had put in reaching here. As I scanned around, I could see the suddenly see the remnants of a large mandir complex. There was even a Shiva Linga in a small mini shrine. There were huge stones, carvings and pieces of pillars lying all around the place.  My wife was now inside too.  It didn’t take more than ten minutes to scan the entire complex. As my wife loitered around, I came back to chat with the men. They were distinctly friendly now. I started talking with the ASI man.

“What’s the deal with so much security?”

“Oh! You don’t know the story here. This is a sensitive place. This whole place where we are sitting was the Jami Masjid where around 150 people would pray on every Friday. Then, one day, the masjid wall fell down due to a heavy downpour. It revealed all the mandir structures ,Shiv linga and  the nandi contained within its walls.  The management of the masjid simply wanted to brick it up again. As the news spread, the Hindus woke up suddenly and claimed the mandir. It was always known that an ancient mandir stood at this spot. But the entire locality surrounding this place is Muslim. ”

“The town burned for 15 days in riots. The matter went to courts. Prayers had to be stopped on both sides and entry became restricted to avoid further escalation. That’s why we are here with cops. To prevent any problems! “

I changed the topic to the ASI person’s family and career. My wife was bowing in front of the Shiva Linga. I noticed a few flowers, Kumkum and agarbattis lying around the shrine.

“I was part of the dig at Dholavira. I have worked under many big officers. The officer in charge of this mandir was a south Indian Brahmana .He was also from your state I think. It was because of his efforts that the rest of the mandir complex was unearthed. When the department started digging in the courtyard, we discovered the remains of the mandir there too.  If not for him, the government would have hushed up the whole thing.”

I queried “Didn’t the Muslims praying here and the elders managing the masjid never notice the idols and pillars with the walls. Were they aware of it at all?”

“Of course, they knew it. It must’ve been in their plain sight every time they came in here. But, so what ? How many masjids have been constructed over mandirs?  The government offered an alternative location for constructing the masjid. But they refused. The matter is still in the court. Till it gets resolved, we remain here. ASI wanted to acquire all the remaining houses around here for the excavation. There is literally an architectural treasure here waiting to be discovered. But the people are not willing to cooperate and government is afraid. If not for our old sahib, even all of this would still be under the earth.”

My wife was telling the ASI man that we had visited Modhera earlier. He was now explaining that both of these temples were built by the same dynasty, the Solankis.

“Who destroyed this temple and built the masjid?” She asked.

“Some people say it was the Mahmud of Ghazni. Others say it was Ahmed Shah. Who knows?” he trailed off.

“Who is doing the pooja to the Shivji at that little shrine over there?” I asked.

“I do that. Nothing fancy about it. I light a lamp and offer some flowers. The government doesn’t care. But, the Bhagwanji has manifested his presence here again after centuries. It’s our dharma to do this much at least.”
[…]”
—

It should not be hard to observe the pertinence of this for the more generalized notion of the resurrection of Indo-European piety within the more westerly IE spheres.