Namaste Meaning: The Real History Behind India’s Global Greeting

Namaste: How Two Sanskrit Syllables Became One of the World’s Most Recognised Indian Greetings There are few Indian words that have travelled as far as Namaste. It can be heard in an Indian home, at a temple, in a Bollywood film, at an international diplomatic event—and increasingly at yoga studios thousands of kilometres from India. Sometimes it is spoken with genuine understanding.

Sometimes it is simply followed by the words, “Thank you, everyone. Namaste.” And sometimes it appears at the end of a yoga class with such predictable regularity that the ancient Indian greeting almost seems to…