Report in New Indian Express:
KERALA
December 4, 2001

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Noted Greek philosopher and theologian Emilos Bouratinos says he is attracted by India's diversities-both cultural and religious.

``Ancient Greeks, like Indians, worshiped many gods. In fact, the Greek tradition was to worship the local deity as soon as one lands in a foreign land. Greeks, like the Indians, believed in polytheism and
pluralism. It was the advent of monotheist religions that really resulted in religious persecutions and hatred towards other beliefs'', he told this website's newspaper. ``The religion of the ancient Greeks as influenced by eastern traditions.

The cult of Zeus, the supreme god, was definitely influenced by the cult of Indra. The cult of Dionysus was influenced by the cult of Shiva. The third important cult was the cult of Apollo, and it had the influence of
some beliefs of the Siberian people. The ancient Greek texts have references to the land of the hyperboreans or the land at the extreme north'', he said.

Emilios came to India to attend the world conference of religions in Delhi on an invitation from Swami Dayananda. Bouratinous, who was born in Athens in 1931, obtained his degree in law from Athens University in 1953 and subsequently studied philosophy and history at University of Innsbruck in Austria. He has published many books and also worked for the US Government on Greco-American cultural and academic relations for 36 years. He is a practising Buddhist and in 1978, founded a small group
called the Buddhist Society in Greece.