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Gods in Exile

Avatans Kumar

This anthology of short stories draws inspiration from the historical accounts presented in Meenakshi Jain’s Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples, tracing the Hindu response to the destruction of temples and desecration of their deities during periods of Islamic conquest. Each story captures moments of quiet resilience and bold defiance—acts of devotion, courage, and cultural preservation in the face of profound loss. For centuries, the devastation of temples and mutilation of deities have left a deep, transgenerational wound in the Hindu psyche—a trauma that has only recently begun to be acknowledged in mainstream historical narratives. Cantered on the themes of dharmic resistance and spiritual endurance, the anthology honours the efforts of rulers, communities, and individuals who fought to protect, reclaim, and rebuild their sacred spaces. In doing so, it offers a deeper understanding of the cultural and emotional weight these events continue to carry.

Avatans Kumar is an award-winning journalist, author, speaker, and linguist. He is an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University and the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, where he taught linguistics and Hindi as a foreign language. He also holds an MBA from Webster University and has worked in IT for several years.

Avatans is the recipient of the San Francisco Press Club’s Journalistic Excellence Award. He has contributed chapters in Indian Renaissance: The Modi Decade and Padma Bharatis: Ordinary Indians, Extraordinary Triumphs.

Avatans has also translated original English work into Hindi. Notable among them are poetry collections of Prof. Subhash Kak and Ambassador Arun Sahu titled प्रकााशऔर छाायाा काा पथ and इग्वाानााऔर अन्यकवि�तााएँँ respectively.