India, Feb. 16 -- By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik - Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist

The Chamundeshwari Temple in Mysore used to receive a Salam Aarti, which is believed to have been instituted by Tipu Sultan. Now it has been renamed as the Namaskara Aarti, as part of the growing wave of anti-Muslim sentiment across the country. It's tit-for-tat politics. In Pakistan, sari is seen as a Hindu outfit, so is frowned upon. In India, Urdu is seen as a Muslim language so needs to be changed.

This name shift serves as a reminder of another such change that took place in Karnataka nearly a thousand years ago, during a wave of anti-Jain movements when the Vaishnava and Lingayat communities opposed Jain practices. Many Jain temples were replace...