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A Short History of the Bearded Christ

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  A Short History of the Bearded Christ  Images of Christ and other Gods sold on Bazar street side in India. Courtesy: Alamy If you walk into any bustling market today—whether it’s Police Bazar in Shillong, a street vendor in Dimapur, or a busy intersection in Kathmandu—chances are that you will see a familiar face. He’s looking out from a glossy poster, maybe framed in cheap plastic, right next to other gods of different denominations. He has long, flowing hair, a neat beard, and a gentle, authoritative gaze. It’s Jesus the Christ. And we all instantly recognize him. But here’s the thing: for the first few hundred years of Christianity, no one had any idea what Jesus looked like. In fact, if you showed that poster to a first-century Christian, they wouldn’t recognize him at all. The face we know today didn't fall from the sky; it was built, piece by piece, across empires, centuries, and surprisingly, across completely different religions. Welcome to the story of how the divin...
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When Charlie Kirk Was Made a Martyr in Dimapur

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Poster of Charlie Kirk spotted at Nyamo Lotha Road, Dimapur The Hoarding on Nyamo Lotha Road Nearly two weeks after the conservative American activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, a “Rest in Peace” hoarding appeared on Nyamo Lotha Road in Dimapur. It was swiftly removed by unidentified miscreants the next morning, only to be re-installed that same evening.   Crucially, the hoarding bore the biblical verse from Matthew 25:23: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In Nagaland, a state defined by its Christian faith, this wasn't just a memorial—it was a statement connecting a Utah campus shooting to a Dimapur road, revealing a dangerous political strain taking root in our soil. “The Lungleng Show” a YouTube talk show hosted by R. Lungleng that explores politics, social issues, and entrepreneurship amplified this message, criticizing church leaders as "chickenhearted" for not expressing regret or praying for Kirk's family. The host in this show c...
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Nepal's Digital Uprising: How a Social Media Ban Sparked a Political Revolution

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A massive fire sweeps through Singha Durbar palace, which hosts key government offices and parliament buildings. [Narendra Shrestha/EPA] When you think of Nepal, images of majestic mountains and serene spiritual paths likely come to mind. Today, however, this Himalayan nation is ablaze with furious protests that have fundamentally reshaped its political landscape. What began as anger over a social media ban has erupted into a political earthquake that toppled the government and left the country grappling with its democratic future. The Spark That Lit the Fire In November 2023, Nepal's government issued directives requiring major social media platforms to register locally to combat cybercrime. After platforms ignored this requirement for nearly two years, the government issued a final seven-day deadline in August 2025. When the September 3rd deadline passed with most platforms non-compliant, authorities banned 26 services on September 4th—including Facebook, Inst...
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