1.
Gopuram
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Gopuram is a monumental tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of any temple, especially in Southern India. This forms a prominent feature of Koils, Hindu temples of the Dravidian style and they are topped by the kalasam, a bulbous stone finial. They function as gateways through the walls that surround the temple complex and it also dominated the inner sanctum in amount of ornamentation. Often a shrine has more than one gopuram and they also appear in architecture outside India, especially Khmer architecture, as at Angkor Wat. A koil may have multiple gopurams, typically constructed into multiple walls in tiers around the main shrine, the temples walls are typically square with the outer most wall having gopuras. The sanctum sanctorum and its roof is also called the vimanam. The Tamil derivation is from the two words, கோ and புறம் meaning king and exterior respectively and it originates from the Sangam age when it was known as ஓங்கு நிலை வாயில் meaning imperishable gateway. Siegfried Lienhard considers this Tamil derivation but offers a new derivation from the Sanskrit word, separately, it consists of two words go, with the possible meanings of cow or sky, and pura, meaning city. A gopuram is usually rectangular in form with ground-level wooden doors, often richly decorated, above is the tapering gopuram, divided into many storeys which diminish in size as the gopuram tower narrows. Usually the tower is topped with a vaulted roof with a finial. The four gopurams of the Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram are important early examples, begun in the mid-13th century, sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu is the tallest Gopuram in the world. List of tallest Gopurams Dallapiccola, Anna L, dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend. The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, 2nd edn,1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, ISBN0300062176
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
4.
Karnataka
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Karnataka is a state in south western region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, originally known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973. The capital and largest city is Bangalore, the state covers an area of 191,976 square kilometres, or 5.83 percent of the total geographical area of India. It is the seventh largest Indian state by area, with 61,130,704 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Karnataka is the eighth largest state by population, comprising 30 districts. Kannada, one of the languages of India, is the most widely spoken. Most of these rivers flow out of Karnataka eastward into the Bay of Bengal, though several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka, the generally accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words karu and nādu, meaning elevated land. Karu nadu may also be read as karu, meaning black, the British used the word Carnatic, sometimes Karnatak, to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna. With an antiquity that dates to the paleolithic, Karnataka has been home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient, the philosophers and musical bards patronised by these empires launched socio-religious and literary movements which have endured to the present day. Karnataka has contributed significantly to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions, Karnatakas pre-history goes back to a paleolithic hand-axe culture evidenced by discoveries of, among other things, hand axes and cleavers in the region. Evidence of neolithic and megalithic cultures have also found in the state. Gold discovered in Harappa was found to be imported from mines in Karnataka, prior to the third century BCE, most of Karnataka formed part of the Nanda Empire before coming under the Mauryan empire of Emperor Ashoka. Four centuries of Satavahana rule followed, allowing them to large areas of Karnataka. The decline of Satavahana power led to the rise of the earliest native kingdoms, the Kadambas, the Kadamba Dynasty, founded by Mayurasharma, had its capital at Banavasi, the Western Ganga Dynasty was formed with Talakad as its capital. These were also the first kingdoms to use Kannada in administration, as evidenced by the Halmidi inscription, the Western Chalukyas patronised a unique style of architecture and Kannada literature which became a precursor to the Hoysala art of 12th century. Parts of modern-day Southern Karnataka were occupied by the Chola Empire at the turn of 11th century, the Cholas and the Hoysalas fought over the region in the early 12th century before it eventually came under Hoysala rule. At the turn of the first millennium, the Hoysalas gained power in the region, literature flourished during this time, which led to the emergence of distinctive Kannada literary metres, and the construction of temples and sculptures adhering to the Vesara style of architecture. The expansion of the Hoysala Empire brought minor parts of modern Andhra Pradesh, in the early 14th century, Harihara and Bukka Raya established the Vijayanagara empire with its capital, Hosapattana, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the modern Bellary district. The empire rose as a bulwark against Muslim advances into South India, in 1565, Karnataka and the rest of South India experienced a major geopolitical shift when the Vijayanagara empire fell to a confederation of Islamic sultanates in the Battle of Talikota
5.
Mysore
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Mysore, officially renamed as Mysuru, is the third most populous and the third largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. Located in the foothills of the Chamundi Hills about 146 km southwest of the state capital Bangalore, according to the provisional results of the 2011 national census of India, the population is 887,446. Mysore City Corporation is responsible for the administration of the city, which is also the headquarters of the Mysore district. Mysore served as the city of the Kingdom of Mysore for nearly six centuries. The Kingdom was ruled by the Wodeyar dynasty, with a period of interregnum in the 1860s and 70s when Hyder Ali. Patrons of art and culture, the Wodeyars contributed significantly to the growth of the city. The cultural ambiance and achievements of Mysore earned it the sobriquet Cultural Capital of Karnataka, tourism is the major industry alongside the traditional industries. Mysores inter-city public transportation solely includes rail and bus, flights, however, among many others to be first in, Mysore was the location of the first private radio station in India. Mysore University is headquartered in Mysore, which has produced several notable scientists, authors, politicians, actors, singers, cricket and lawn tennis are the most popular sports in the city. The name Mysore is a version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha in the vernacular Kannada. He was killed by the Goddess Chamundeshwari, whose temple is situated atop the Chamundi Hills, mahishapura later became Mahisūru, and finally came to be anglicised as Mysore by the British and Maisūru/Mysuru in the vernacular Kannada language. In December 2005, the Government of Karnataka announced its intention to change the English name of the city to Mysuru and this was approved by the Government of India in October 2014 and Mysore was renamed to Mysuru on November 1,2014. The site where Mysore Palace now stands was occupied by a village named Puragere at the beginning of the 16th century, the Mahishūru Fort was constructed in 1524 by Chamaraja Wodeyar III, who passed on the dominion of Puragere to his son Chamaraja Wodeyar IV. Since the 16th century, the name of Mahishūru has commonly used to denote the city. The Mysore Kingdom, governed by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a state of the Vijayanagara Empire. Seringapatam, near Mysore, was the capital of the kingdom from 1610, the kingdom reached the height of its military power and dominion in the latter half of the 18th century under the de facto rulers Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. The latter demolished parts of Mysore to remove legacies of the Wodeyar dynasty, the landlocked interior of the previous Mysore Kingdom was turned into a princely state under the suzerainty of the British Crown. The former Wodeyar rulers were reinstated as puppet monarchs, now styled Maharajas, the British administration was assisted locally by Diwan Purnaiah
6.
Chamundi Hills
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Chamundi Hills is located 13 km east of Mysore, the Palace City, in Karnataka, India. Its average elevation is 1,000 metres, patronised for centuries by Mysore rulers, Chamundeshwari Temple is located atop the Chamundi Hills. It was renovated during the time of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III, named after goddess Chamundi, the Chamundeshwari Temple sits atop the main hill. The main hill itself features an ancient stone stairway of 1,008 steps leading to its summit. Approximately halfway to the summit is statue of bull Nandi, the vahana, or vehicle of Lord Shiva, around this point, the steps become significantly less steep and eventually the climber is rewarded with a panoramic view of the city. The Temple has a quadrangular structure, a key feature is the statue of Mahishasura bearing a sword in his right hand and a cobra in the left. Within the temples sanctum stands a sculpted depiction of Chamundeshwari and she is seated with her right heel pressed against the lowest of the seven chakras. This cross-legged yogic posture echoes the posture of Lord Shiva, worshipers believe that this powerful yogic posture, if mastered, provides an added dimensional view of the universe. Since the early days of the Maharajahs of Mysore, the idol of goddess Chamundi has been carried on an elephant as part of the celebrations in the annual Dusshera festival. From the peak of the Chamundi hills, the Mysore Palace, many of the temples were constructed by members of Shirdi Sai Baba movement. According to a legend, the asura Mahishasura was killed by goddess Chamundeswari after a fierce battle, the goddess is also called Mahishasura Mardini. According to mythology, this hill was known as Mahabalachala. Two ancient temples occupy the hill, the Mahabaleshvara and the Chamundeshvari, the car festival and Teppotsava are held there. Inspired by its name, a new coffee brand named Chamundi Hills has also been launched by a set of entrepreneurs in Bangalore. Chamundeswari Temple Climbing Chamundi Hill,1001 Steps with a Storyteller, http, //www. publishersweekly. com/978-0-06-050894-4 Mysore Nature|Chamundi Hill Reserve Forest Chamundi Hill Mysore Chamundi Temple
7.
Garbhagriha
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Garbhagriha or Garbha gruha is the sanctum sanctorum, the innermost sanctum of a Hindu temple where resides the murti of the primary deity of the temple. Literally the word means womb chamber, from the Sanskrit words garbha for womb, only priests are allowed to enter this chamber. Although the term is associated with Hindu temples, it is also found in Jain. The Garbhagriha is located in a Hindu temple which is worshipped at by Hindus, in temples with a spire or vimana, this chamber is placed directly underneath it, and the two of them form the main vertical axis of the temple. These together may be understood to represent the axis of the world through Mount Meru, the garbha griham is usually also on the main horizontal axis of the temple which generally is an east–west axis. In those temples where there is also a cross-axis, the garbha gṛha is generally at their intersection, generally the garbhagriha is a windowless and sparsely lit chamber, intentionally created thus to focus the devotees mind on the tangible form of the divine within it. Entrance to the garbha grha may be restricted to priests who perform the services there, the inner garbhagriha or shrine became a separate structure, more elaborately adorned over time. More often garbhagriha is square and sits on a plinth, its location calculated to be a point of total equilibrium, in the centre is placed the image of the deity. But sometimes, for the temples of feminine deities, the garbagriha is rectangular, for example, in the temple of Varahi Deula in Chaurasi. The present structure of most of these temples is a vimana with a square garbhagriha and a surrounding circumambulatory path, an ardha-mandapa. George Michell, Monuments of India Temple architecture Parts of a North Indian Temple
8.
Durga
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Durga, also known as Devi, Shakti and by numerous other names, is a principal and popular form of Hindu goddess. She is the goddess, whose mythology centers around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, prosperity. She is the form of the protective mother goddess, willing to unleash her anger against wrong. Durga is depicted in the Hindu pantheon as a woman riding a lion or tiger, with many arms each carrying a weapon. She appears in Indian texts as the wife of god Shiva and she is a central deity in Shaktism tradition of Hinduism, where she is equated with the concept of ultimate reality called Brahman. Estimated to have been composed between 400-600 CE, this text is considered by Shakta Hindus to be as important scripture as the Bhagavad Gita. She has a significant following all over India and in Nepal, particularly in its states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam. Durga is revered after spring and autumn harvests, specially during the festival of Navaratri, the word Durga literally means impassable, inaccessible, invincible, unassailable. It is related to the word Durg which means fortress, something difficult to access, according to Monier Monier-Williams, Durga is derived from the roots dur and gam. According to Alain Daniélou, Durga means beyond reach. The word Durga, and related terms appear in the Vedic literature, such as in the Rigveda hymns 4.28,5.34,8.27,8.47,8.93 and 10.127, and in sections 10.1 and 12.4 of the Atharvaveda. A deity named Durgi appears in section 10.1.7 of the Taittiriya Aranyaka, while the Vedic literature uses the word Durga, the description therein lacks the legendary details about her that is found in later Hindu literature. The word is found in ancient post-Vedic Sanskrit texts such as in section 2.451 of the Mahabharata. These usages are in different contexts, for example, Durg is the name of an Asura who had become invincible to gods, and Durga is the goddess who intervenes and slays him. Durga and its derivatives are found in sections 4.1.99 and 6.3.63 of the Ashtadhyayi by Pāṇini, the ancient Sanskrit grammarian, and in the commentary of Nirukta by Yaska. Durga as a goddess was likely well established by the time the classic Hindu text called Devi Mahatmya was composed. There are many epithets for Durga in Shaktism and nine appellations, Skandamata, Kushmanda, Shailaputri, Kaalratri, Brahmacharini, Kaliputri, Chandraghanta and Siddhidatri. A list of 108 names that are used to describe her is very popularly in use by eastern Hindus and is called Ashtottara Shatanamavali of Goddess Durga
9.
Hinduism
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Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period, although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti and these texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, karma, samsara, and the various Yogas. Hindu practices include such as puja and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals. Some Hindus leave their world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion, with over one billion followers or 15% of the global population, known as Hindus. The majority of Hindus reside in India, Nepal, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term, the Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as an alternative name of India. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism, then spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th-century to denote the religious, philosophical, because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion defies our desire to define and categorize it, Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and a way of life. From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion, in India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term religion. Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma, the study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of Hinduism, has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents
10.
Chamunda
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Chamunda, also known as Sachchi Mata, Chamundi, Chamundeshwari, and Charchika, is a fearsome aspect of Devi, the Hindu Divine Mother and one of the seven Matrikas. She is also one of the chief Yoginis, a group of sixty-four or eighty-one Tantric goddesses, the name is a combination of Chanda and Munda, two monsters whom Chamunda killed. She is closely associated with Kali, another aspect of Devi. She is sometimes identified with goddesses Parvati, Chandi or Durga as well, the goddess is often portrayed as haunting cremation grounds or fig trees. The goddess is worshipped by ritual animal sacrifices along with offerings of wine and in the ancient times, as the times have changed, meat, and wine are no longer offered. As of today it has known that animal sacrifices have been discouraged by texts such as the Ramayan. Originally Devi Chamunda was discovered in Hinduism and later entered the Jain pantheon too, though in Jainism, the rites of her worship include vegetarian offerings, and not the meat and liquor offerings. Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar says that Chamunda was originally a form of Devi worshipped by the Munda peoples of the Vindhya range of central India and these tribes were known to offer goddesses animal as well as human sacrifices along with ritual offerings of liquor. These methods of worship were retained in Tantric worship of Chamunda and he proposes the fierce nature of this goddess is due of her association with Vedic Rudra, identified with fire god Agni at times. The black or red coloured Chamunda is described as wearing a garland of severed heads or skulls. She is described as having four, eight, ten or twelve arms, holding a Damaru, trishula, sword, a snake, skull-mace, thunderbolt, standing on a corpse of a man or seated on a defeated demon or corpse. Chamunda is depicted adorned by ornaments of bones, skulls, serpents and she also wears a Yajnopavita of skulls. She wears a jata mukuta, that is, headdress formed of piled, matted hair tied with snakes or skull ornaments, sometimes, a crescent moon is seen on her head. Her socket eyes are described as so intense that it burns the evil of all three worlds and she is accompanied by fiends and goblins. She is also shown to be surrounded by skeletons or ghosts and beasts like jackals, the jackal are her fearsome companions. The severed head and corpse represents the severing of the ego, the corpse hence is conquered by the Devi, showing that the Ego is conquered. The symbolism of the Devi is made as to one is given the impression of the reality of life. This form as well as many of the other Eight Matrikas all show the reality of life and they show the bareness, non sugar coated version of reality
