1.
Vishnu
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Vishnu is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, and the Supreme Being in its Vaishnavism tradition. Along with Brahma and Shiva, Vishnu forms a Hindu trinity, however and his avatars most notably include Krishna in the Mahabharata and Rama in the Ramayana. He is also known as Narayana, Jagannath, Vasudeva, Vithoba and he is one of the five equivalent deities worshipped in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta Tradition of Hinduism. In Hindu inconography, Vishnu is usually depicted as having a dark, or pale blue complexion and having four arms. He holds a padma in his left hand, Kaumodaki gada in his lower right hand, Panchajanya shankha in his upper left hand. A traditional depiction is Lord Vishnu reclining on the coils of Ananta, accompanied by his consort devi Lakshmi, yaska, the mid 1st-millennium BCE Vedanga scholar, in his Nirukta, defines Vishnu as viṣṇur viṣvater vā vyaśnoter vā, one who enters everywhere. He also writes, atha yad viṣito bhavati tad viṣnurbhavati, that which is free from fetters, the medieval Indian scholar Medhātithi suggested that the word Vishnu has etymological roots in viś, meaning to pervade, thereby connoting that Vishnu is one who is everything and inside everything. Vishnu is a Vedic deity, but not a prominent one when compared to Indra, Agni, just 5 out of 1028 hymns of the Rigveda, a 2nd millennium BCE Hindu text, are dedicated to Vishnu, and he finds minor mention in the other hymns. Though a minor mention and with overlapping attributes in the Vedas, he has important characteristics in various hymns of Rig Veda and he is also described in the Vedic literature as the one who supports heaven and earth. In the Vedic hymns, Vishnu is invoked alongside other deities, especially Indra and his distinguishing characteristic in Vedas is his association with light. Two Rigvedic hymns in Mandala 7 refer to Vishnu, in section 7.99 of the Rgveda, Vishnu is addressed as the god who separates heaven and earth, a characteristic he shares with Indra. In the Vedic texts, the deity or god referred to as Vishnu is Surya or Savitr, in hymn 7.99 of Rigveda, Indra-Vishnu are equivalent and produce the sun, with the verses asserting that this sun is the source of all energy and light for all. In other hymns of the Rigveda, Vishnu is a friend of Indra. In the Yajurveda, Taittiriya Aranyaka, Narayana sukta, Narayana is mentioned as the supreme being, the first verse of Narayana Suktam mentions the words paramam padam, which literally mean highest post and may be understood as the supreme abode for all souls. This is also known as Param Dhama, Paramapadam or Vaikuntha, Rig Veda 1.22.20 a also mentions the same paramam padam. In the Atharvaveda, the mythology of a boar who raises goddess earth from the depths of cosmic ocean appears, in post-Vedic mythology, this legend becomes one of the basis of many cosmogonic myth called the Varaha legend, with Varaha as an avatar of Vishnu. Several hymns of the Rigveda repeat the mighty deed of Vishnu called the Trivikrama and it is an inspiration for ancient artwork in numerous Hindu temples such as at the Ellora Caves, which depict the Trivikrama legend through the Vamana avatar of Vishnu. Trivikrama refers to the three steps or three strides of Vishnu
2.
Lakshmi
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Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity. She is the wife and shakti of Vishnu, a god in Hinduism. Lakshmi is also an important deity in Jainism and found in Jain temples, Lakshmi was also a goddess of abundance and fortune for Buddhists, and was represented on the oldest surviving stupas and cave temples of Buddhism. In Buddhist sects of Tibet, Nepal and southeast Asia, goddess Vasudhara mirrors the characteristics, Lakshmi is also called Sri or Thirumagal because she is endowed with six auspicious and divine qualities, or gunas, and is the divine strength of Vishnu. In Hindu religion, she was born from the churning of the primordial ocean, when Vishnu descended on the Earth as the avatars Rama and Krishna, Lakshmi descended as his respective consort Sita and Rukmini. In the ancient scriptures of India, all women are declared to be embodiments of Lakshmi, the marriage and relationship between Lakshmi and Vishnu as wife and husband is the paradigm for rituals and ceremonies for the bride and groom in Hindu weddings. Lakshmi is considered another aspect of the supreme goddess principle in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism. She typically stands or sits like a yogin on a pedestal and holds lotus in her hand. Her iconography shows her with four hands, which represent the four goals of life considered important to the Hindu way of life, dharma, kāma, artha. Archaeological discoveries and ancient coins suggest the recognition and reverence for Lakshmi by the 1st millennium BCE, Lakshmis iconography and statues have also been found in Hindu temples throughout southeast Asia, estimated to be from the second half of the 1st millennium CE. The festivals of Diwali and Sharad Purnima are celebrated in her honor, Lakshmi is one of many Hindu deities whose meaning and significance evolved in ancient Sanskrit texts. Lakshmi is mentioned once in Rigveda, but the context suggests that the word does not mean goddess of wealth and fortune, the good are welcomed, while the bad urged to leave. In some chapters of Atharva Veda, Lakshmi connotes the good, later, Lakshmi is referred to as the goddess of fortune, identified with Sri and regarded as wife of Viṣṇu. For example, in Shatapatha Brahmana, variously estimated to be composed between 800 BCE and 300 BCE, Sri is part of one of many theories, in ancient India, about the creation of universe. In Book 9 of Shatapatha Brahmana, Sri emerges from Prajapati, after his meditation on creation of life. Sri is described as beautiful, resplendent and trembling woman at her birth with immense energy, the gods were bewitched, desire her and immediately become covetous of her. The gods approach Prajapati and request permission to kill her and then take her powers, Prajapati refuses, tells the gods that males should not kill females and that they can seek her gifts without violence. The hymns of Shatapatha Brahmana thus describe Sri as a goddess born with and personifying a diverse range of talents, in the Epics of Hinduism, such as in Mahabharata, Lakshmi personifies wealth, riches, beauty, happiness, loveliness, grace, charm and splendour
3.
Garuda
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The Garuda is a large legendary bird, bird-like creature, or humanoid bird that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Garuda is the mount of the Lord Vishnu, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila. The brahminy kite and phoenix are considered to be the contemporary representations of Garuda, Indonesia adopts a more stylistic approach to the Garudas depiction as its national symbol, where it depicts a Javanese eagle. In Hinduism, Garuda is a Hindu divinity, usually the mount of the Lord Vishnu, Garuda is depicted as having the golden body of a strong man with a white face, red wings, and an eagles beak and with a crown on his head. This ancient deity was said to be massive, large enough to block out the sun, Garuda is known as the eternal sworn enemy of the Nāga serpent race and known for feeding exclusively on snakes, such behavior may have referred to the actual short-toed eagle of India. The image of Garuda is often used as the charm or amulet to protect the bearer from attack and its poison, since the king of birds is an implacable enemy. Garudi Vidya is the mantra against snake poison to remove all kinds of evil and his stature in Hindu religion can be gauged by the fact that a dependent Upanishad, the Garudopanishad, and a Purana, the Garuda Purana, is devoted to him. Various names have been attributed to Garuda - Chirada, Gaganeshvara, Kamayusha, Kashyapi, Khageshvara, Nagantaka, Sitanana, Sudhahara, Suparna, Tarkshya, Vainateya, Vishnuratha and others. The Vedas provide the earliest reference of Garuda, though by the name of Śyena, the Puranas, which came into existence much later, mention Garuda as doing the same thing, which indicates that Śyena and Garuda are the same. One of the faces of Śrī Pañcamukha Hanuman is Mahavira Garuda and this face points towards the west. Worship of Garuda is believed to remove the effects of poisons from ones body, in Tamil Vaishnavism Garuda and Hanuman are known as Periya Thiruvadi and Siriya Thiruvadi respectively. Garuda wears the serpent Adisesha on his left wrist and the serpent Gulika on his right wrist, the serpent Vasuki forms his sacred thread. The cobra Takshaka forms his belt on his hip, the snake Karkotaka is worn as his necklace. The snakes Padma and Mahapadma are his ear rings, the snake Shankachuda adorns his divine hair. He is flanked by his two wives ‘Rudra’ and ‘Sukeerthi’ or and these are all invoked in Vedanta Desikas Garuda Panchashath and Garuda Dandaka compositions. Garuda flanked with his consorts Rudra and Sukirthi can be worshipped in an ancient Soumya Keshava temple in Bindiganavile in Karnataka state of India. Garuda Vyuha is worshiped in Tantra for Abhichara and to protect against Abhichara, however, the interesting thing is that Garuda is the Sankarshna form of the lord who during creation primarily possesses the knowledge aspect of the lord. The important point is that Garuda represents the five vayus within us, prana, apana, vyana, udana, samana through his five forms Satya, Suparna, Garuda, Tarkshya, Vihageshwara
4.
Alvars
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They are venerated especially in Vaishnavism, which regards Vishnu or Krishna as the Supreme Being. Many modern academics place the Alvars date between 5th century to 10th century CE, however traditionally the Alvars are considered to have lived between 4200 BCE -2700 BCE. Orthodoxy posits the number of alvars as ten, though there are references that include Andal and Madhurakavi Alvar. Andal is the only female saint-poet in the 12 Alvars, together with the contemporary sixty three Shaiva Nayanars, they are among the most important saints from Tamil Nadu. The devotional outpourings of Alvars, composed during the medieval period of Tamil history, helped revive the bhakti movement, through their hymns of worship to Vishnu. They praised the Divya Desams,108 abodes of these Vaishnava deities, the poetry of the Alvars echoes bhakti to God through love, and in the ecstasy of such devotions they sang hundreds of songs which embodied both depth of feeling and felicity of expressions. The collection of their hymns is known as Divya Prabandha, in addition they helped to make the Tamil religious life independent of a knowledge of Sanskrit. As part of the legacy of the Alvars, five Vaishnava philosophical traditions have developed at the later stages, the word azhwar has traditionally been etymologized as from Tamil. Azh, to immerse oneself as one who dives deep into the ocean of the attributes of god However recently Indologist S. He states, āzhvār is but a form of āļvār which has been used interchangeably with nāyanār in secular and religious contexts in the Tamil land. This error was due to the influence of the sound variation that has occurred in the Srirangam area. The original word ஆள்வார் compares with the epithet Āṇḍãḷ ( for the female canonized Vaishnava saint Kōtai (, āḷ (, the former being the honorific non-past form and the latter the feminine past form of that same verb. Alvars are considered the twelve supreme devotees of Vishnu, who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism in the Tamil-speaking regions, the alvars were influential in promoting the Bhagavata cult and the two Hindu epics, namely, Ramayana and Mahabaratha. The verses of the various azhwars were compiled by Nathamuni, a 10th-century Vaishnavite theologian, the songs of Prabandam are regularly sung in all the Vishnu temples of South India daily and also during festivals. The saints had different origins and belonged to different castes, as per tradition, the first three alvars, Poigai, Bhutha and Pey were born miraculously. According to these texts, the saints were considered incarnations of some form of Vishnu, according to traditional account by Manavala Mamunigal, the first three azhwars namely Poigai, Bhoothath and Pey belong to Dwapara Yuga. It is widely accepted by tradition and historians that the trio are the earliest among the twelve azhwars, some modern scholars suggest that they lived during 5th - 9th century CE, on the basis of a few historical evidences, although no clear evidence exists. The Encyclopædia Britannica says that Alvars lived between 7th-10th century CE, professor of Religion and Asian Studies, James G
5.
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
6.
Nepal
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Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises,13 sub-metropolises,246 municipal councils and 481 village and it has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area. Bordering China in the north and India in the south, east, Nepal does not border Bangladesh, which is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip. It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between, Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the worlds ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. It is a nation with Nepali as the official language. The territory of Nepal has a history since the Neolithic age. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, in the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet, the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilization. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala, the Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valleys traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture, by the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, the country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged ties with regional powers. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008, modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. Nepal is a nation, ranking 144th on the Human Development Index in 2016. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic and it also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022
7.
Tamil Nadu
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Tamil Nadu is one of the 29 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai, Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Puducherry and the South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The state shares a border with the nation of Sri Lanka. Tamil Nadu is the eleventh-largest state in India by area and the sixth-most populous, the state was ranked sixth among states in India according to the Human Development Index in 2011, with the second-largest state economy after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu is the second largest state economy in India with ₹13,842 billion in gross domestic product after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu was ranked as one of the top seven developed states in India based on a Multidimensional Development Index in a 2013 report published by the Reserve Bank of India and its official language is Tamil, which is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world. Tamil Nadu is home to natural resources. In addition, its people have developed and continue classical arts, classical music, historic buildings and religious sites include Hindu temples of Tamil architecture, hill stations, beach resorts, multi-religious pilgrimage sites, and eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Archaeological evidence points to this area being one of the longest continuous habitations in the Indian peninsula, the ASI archaeologists have proposed that the script used at that site is very rudimentary Tamil Brahmi. Adichanallur has been announced as a site for further excavation. About 60 per cent of the epigraphical inscriptions found by the ASI in India are from Tamil Nadu. A Neolithic stone celt with the Indus script on it was discovered at Sembian-Kandiyur near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, according to epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan, this was the first datable artefact bearing the Indus script to be found in Tamil Nadu. Mahadevan claimed that the find was evidence of the use of the Harappan language, the date of the celt was estimated at between 1500 BCE and 2000 BCE. The early history of the people and rulers of Tamil Nadu is a topic in Tamil literary sources known as Sangam literature, numismatic, archaeological and literary sources corroborate that the Sangam period lasted for about six centuries, from 300 BC to AD300. Three dynasties, namely the Chera, Chola and Pandya, ruled the area of present-day Tamil Nadu, the Chera ruled the whole of present-day Kerala and parts of western Tamil Nadu comprising Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Karur, Salem and Erode districts from the capital of Vanchi Muthur. The Chola dynasty ruled the northern and central parts of Tamil Nadu from their capital, Uraiyur, All three dynasties had extensive trade relationships with Rome, Greece, Egypt, Ceylon, Phoenicia, Arabia, Mesopotamia and Persia. Trade flourished in commodities such as spices, ivory, pearls, beads, Chera traded extensively from Muziris on the west coast, Chola from Arikamedu and Puhar and Pandya through Korkai port. A Greco-Roman trade and travel document, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea gives a description of the Tamil country, besides these three dynasties, the Sangam era Tamilakam was also divided into various provinces named nadu, meaning country
8.
Kerala
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Kerala historically known as Keralam, is an Indian state in South India on the Malabar Coast. It was formed on 1 November 1956 following the States Reorganisation Act by combining Malayalam-speaking regions, spread over 38,863 km2, it is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33,387,677 inhabitants as per the 2011 Census, Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The region has been a prominent spice exporter since 3000 BCE, the Chera Dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala, though it frequently struggled against attacks by the neighbouring Cholas and Pandyas. In the 15th century, the spice trade attracted Portuguese traders to Kerala, after independence, Travancore and Cochin joined the Republic of India and Travancore-Cochin was given the status of a state in 1949. In 1956, Kerala state was formed by merging Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin, Hinduism is practised by more than half of the population, followed by Islam and Christianity. The culture is a synthesis of Aryan and Dravidian cultures, developed over millennia, under influences from other parts of India, the production of pepper and natural rubber contributes significantly to the total national output. In the agricultural sector, coconut, tea, coffee, cashew, the states coastline extends for 595 kilometres, and around 1.1 million people in the state are dependent on the fishery industry which contributes 3% to the states income. The state has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly English, Kerala is one of the prominent tourist destinations of India, with backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery as its major attractions. The name Kerala has an uncertain etymology, One popular theory derives Kerala from Kera and alam is land, thus land of coconuts, this also happens to be a nickname for the state due to abundance of coconut trees and its use by the locals. The word Kerala is first recorded in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription left by the Maurya emperor Ashoka, the inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra, or son of Chera. This contradicts the theory that Kera is from coconut tree, at that time, one of three states in the region was called Cheralam in Classical Tamil, Chera and Kera are variants of the same word. The word Cheral refers to the oldest known dynasty of Kerala kings and is derived from the Proto-Tamil-Malayalam word for lake, the earliest Sanskrit text to mention Kerala is the Aitareya Aranyaka of the Rigveda. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two Hindu epics, the Skanda Purana mentions the ecclesiastical office of the Thachudaya Kaimal who is referred to as Manikkam Keralar, synonymous with the deity of the Koodalmanikyam temple. Keralam may stem from the Classical Tamil cherive-alam or chera alam, the Greco-Roman trade map Periplus Maris Erythraei refers to Keralaputra as Celobotra. According to Hindu mythology, the lands of Kerala were recovered from the sea by the warrior sage Parasurama. Parasurama threw his axe across the sea, and the water receded as far as it reached, according to legend, this new area of land extended from Gokarna to Kanyakumari. The land which rose from sea was filled with salt and unsuitable for habitation, so Parasurama invoked the Snake King Vasuki, out of respect, Vasuki and all snakes were appointed as protectors and guardians of the land
9.
Andhra Pradesh
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Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of the country. The state is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 162,968 km2, as per 2011 Census of India, the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. On 2 June 2014, the portion of the state was bifurcated to form a new state of Telangana. In accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014, Hyderabad will remain the de jure capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of not exceeding 10 years. The new riverfront proposed capital in Guntur district is Amaravati, which is under the jurisdiction of APCRDA, the Gross State Domestic Product of the state in the 2016–2017 financial year at current prices stood at ₹6,800.3 billion. The state has a coastline of 974 km with jurisdiction over nearly 15,000 km2 territorial waters, the second longest among all the states of India after Gujarat. It is bordered by Telangana in the north-west, Chhattisgarh in the north, Odisha in the north-east, Karnataka in the west, Tamil Nadu in the south and the water body of Bay of Bengal in the east. A small enclave of 30 km2 of Yanam, a district of Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh is composed of two regions, Coastal Andhra, located along the Bay of Bengal, and Rayalaseema, in the inland southwestern part of the state. These two regions comprise 13 districts, with 9 in Coastal Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema, Andhra Pradesh hosted 121.8 million visitors in 2015, a 30% growth in tourist arrivals over the previous year. The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati is one of the worlds most visited religious sites, a tribe named Andhra has been mentioned in the Sanskrit texts such as Aitareya Brahmana. According to Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig Veda, the Andhras left north India, archaeological evidence from places such as Amaravati, Dharanikota and Vaddamanu suggests that the Andhra region was part of the Mauryan Empire. Amaravati might have been a centre for the Mauryan rule. After the death of emperor Ashoka, the Mauryan rule weakened around 200 BCE, the Satavahana dynasty dominated the Deccan region from the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The Satavahanas have been mentioned by the names Andhra, Andhrara-jatiya and Andhra-bhrtya in the Puranic literature, Dharanikota along with Amaravathi was the capital of the later Satavahanas. Amaravathi became a trade and pilgrimage centre during the Satavahana rule. According to the Buddhist tradition, Nagarjuna lived here, possibly in second, Andhra Ikshvakus were one of the earliest recorded ruling dynasties of the Guntur-Krishna regions of Andhra Pradesh. They ruled the eastern Andhra country along the Krishna river during the half of the second century CE. Puranas called Andhra Ikshvakus Shri Parvatiya Andhras, archaeological evidence has suggested that the Andhra Ikshvakus immediately succeeded the Satavahanas in the Krishna river valley
10.
Gujarat
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Gujarat is a state in Western India, sometimes referred to as the Jewel of Western India. It has an area of 196,024 km2 with a coastline of 1,600 km, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula, and a population in excess of 60 million. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the north, Maharashtra to the south, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Gujarat is home to the Gujarati-speaking people of India, the state encompasses some sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to be one of the worlds first seaports, Gujarat was known to the ancient Greeks, and was familiar in other Western centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages. Modern-day Gujarat is derived from Sanskrit term Gurjaradesa, the Gurjar nation, parts of modern Rajasthan and Gujarat have been known as Gurjaratra or Gurjarabhumi for centuries before the Mughal period. Gujarat was one of the centres of the Indus Valley Civilization. It contains ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley such as Lothal, Dholavira, the ancient city of Lothal was where Indias first port was established. The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, the most recent discovery was Gola Dhoro. Altogether, about 50 Indus Valley settlement ruins have been discovered in Gujarat, the ancient history of Gujarat was enriched by the commercial activities of its inhabitants. There is clear evidence of trade and commerce ties with Egypt, Bahrain. The early history of Gujarat reflects the grandeur of Chandragupta Maurya who conquered a number of earlier states in what is now Gujarat. Pushyagupta, a Vaishya, was appointed governor of Saurashtra by the Mauryan regime and he ruled Giringer and built a dam on the Sudarshan lake. Between the decline of Mauryan power and Saurashtra coming under the sway of the Samprati Mauryas of Ujjain, in the first half of the 1st century AD there is the story of a merchant of King Gondaphares landing in Gujarat with Apostle Thomas. The incident of the cup-bearer killed by a lion might indicate that the city described is in Gujarat. For nearly 300 years from the start of the 1st century AD, the weather-beaten rock at Junagadh gives a glimpse of the ruler Rudradaman I of the Saka satraps known as Western Satraps, or Kshatraps. Mahakshatrap Rudradaman I founded the Kardamaka dynasty which ruled from Anupa on the banks of the Narmada up to the Aparanta region which bordered Punjab, in Gujarat several battles were fought between the south Indian Satavahana dynasty and the Western Satraps. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni who defeated the Western Satraps, the Kshatrapa dynasty was replaced by the Gupta Empire with the conquest of Gujarat by Chandragupta Vikramaditya
11.
Uttar Pradesh
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Uttar Pradesh, abbreviated as UP, is the most populous state in the Republic of India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. The state, located in the region of the Indian subcontinent, has over 200 million inhabitants. It was created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces during British rule, Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Bhadohi, Raebareli, Moradabad, Bareilly, Aligarh, Sonbhadra, on 9 November 2000, a new state, Uttarakhand, was carved out from the Himalayan hill region of Uttar Pradesh. It covers 243,290 square kilometres, equal to 7. 33% of the area of India. Hindi is the official and most widely spoken language in its 75 districts, Uttar Pradesh is the third largest Indian state by economy, with a GDP of ₹9,763 billion. Agriculture and service industries are the largest parts of the states economy, the service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry, real estate, insurance and financial consultancies. Uttar Pradesh was home to powerful empires of ancient and medieval India, the two major rivers of the state, the Ganges and Yamuna, join at Allahabad and then flow as the Ganges further east. Modern human hunter-gatherers have been in Uttar Pradesh since between around 85,000 and 72,000 years ago, the kingdom of Kosala, in the Mahajanapada era, was located within the regional boundaries of modern-day Uttar Pradesh. According to Hindu legend, the divine king Rama of the Ramayana epic reigned in Ayodhya, the aftermath of the Mahabharata yuddh is believed to have taken place in the area between the Upper Doab and Delhi, during the reign of the Pandava king Yudhishthira. The kingdom of the Kurus corresponds to the Black and Red Ware and Painted Gray Ware culture, most of the invaders of south India passed through the Gangetic plains of what is today Uttar Pradesh. Control over this region was of importance to the power and stability of all of Indias major empires, including the Maurya, Kushan, Gupta. Following the Huns invasions that broke the Gupta empire, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab saw the rise of Kannauj, during the reign of Harshavardhana, the Kannauj empire reached its zenith. It spanned from Punjab in the north and Gujarat in the west to Bengal in the east and it included parts of central India, north of the Narmada River and it encompassed the entire Indo-Gangetic plain. Many communities in parts of India claim descent from the migrants of Kannauj. Kannauj was several times invaded by the south Indian Rashtrakuta Dynasty, in the Mughal era, Uttar Pradesh became the heartland of the empire. Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun ruled from Delhi, in 1540 an Afghan, Sher Shah Suri, took over the reins of Uttar Pradesh after defeating the Mughal king Humanyun. Sher Shah and his son Islam Shah ruled Uttar Pradesh from their capital at Gwalior, after the death of Islam Shah Suri, his prime minister Hemu became the de facto ruler of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and the western parts of Bengal
12.
Uttarakhand
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Uttarakhand, officially the State of Uttarakhand, formerly known as Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Devbhumi due to many Hindu temples, Uttarakhand is known for its natural beauty of the Himalayas, the Bhabhar and the Terai. On 9 November 2000, Uttarakhand became the 27th state of the Republic of India, being created from the Himalayan, the state is divided into two divisions, Garhwal and Kumaon, with a total of 13 districts. The interim capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun, the largest city in the region, the High Court of the state is in Nainital. Archaeological evidence supports the existence of humans in the region since prehistoric times, the region formed a part of the Kuru and the Panchal kingdoms during the Vedic age of Ancient India. Among the first major dynasties of Kumaon were the Kunindas in the 2nd century BCE who practised a form of Shaivism. Ashokan edicts at Kalsi show the presence of Buddhism in this region. During the medieval period, the region was consolidated under the Kumaon Kingdom, in 1816, most of modern Uttarakhand was ceded to the British as part of the Treaty of Sugauli. The natives of the state are generally called Uttarakhandi, or more specifically either Garhwali or Kumaoni by their region of origin, according to the 2011 Census of India, Uttarakhand has a population of 10,116,752, making it the 19th most populous state in India. Uttarakhands name is derived from the Sanskrit words uttara meaning north, the name finds mention in early Hindu scriptures as the combined region of Kedarkhand and Manaskhand. Uttarakhand was also the ancient Puranic term for the stretch of the Indian Himalayas. Chosen for its allegedly less separatist connotations, the name change generated enormous controversy among many activists for a separate state who saw it as a political act, the name Uttarakhand remained popular in the region, even while Uttaranchal was promulgated through official usage. In August 2006, Union Cabinet of India assented to the demands of the Uttaranchal state assembly, legislation to that effect was passed by the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly in October 2006, and the Union Cabinet brought in the bill in the winter session of Parliament. The bill was passed by Parliament and signed into law by then President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in December 2006, and since January 1,2007 the state has been known as Uttarakhand. Ancient rock paintings, rock shelters, paleolithic stone tools, there are also archaeological remains which show the existence of early Vedic practices in the area. The Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, Gurjara-Pratihara, Katyuris, Raikas, Palas, Chands, Parmars or Panwars, at that time, present-day Uttarakhand also served as a habitat for Rishis and Sadhus. It is believed that the sage Vyasa scripted the Hindu epic Mahabharata in the state, among the first major dynasties of Garhwal and Kumaon were the Kunindas in the 2nd century BCE who practised an early form of Shaivism and traded salt with Western Tibet. It is evident from the Ashokan edict at Kalsi in Western Garhwal that Buddhism made inroads in this region, folk shamanic practices deviating from Hindu orthodoxy also persisted here
13.
Kshir Sagar
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In Hindu cosmology, the Ocean of milk is the fifth from the center of the seven oceans. It surrounds the continent known as Krauncha, according to Hindu mythology, the devas and asuras worked together for a millennium to churn the ocean and release Amrita the nectar of immortal life. It is spoken of in the Samudra manthana chapter of the Puranas and it is also the place where Vishnu reclines over Shesha Naga, along with his consort Lakshmi. Ocean of Milk is the English translation of the Sanskrit terms kṣīroda, kṣīrābdhi or kṣīrasāgara, from milk, curdled milk and -uda, sāgara water. Hindu history also contains a story about the churning of the Cosmic Ocean in order to obtain Amrita – the nectar of immortal life, at the suggestion of Vishnu the gods, and demons churn the primeval ocean in order to obtain Amrita which will guarantee them immortality. To churn the ocean they used the Serpent King, Vasuki, for a churning pole they use Mount Mandara placed on the back of a Great Tortoise – the Kurma Avatar of Vishnu. As the gods and demons churned the sea, a terrible poison issued out of its depths which enveloped the universe, the devas and asuras approach Shiva who took the poison into his throat and swallowed it. Shocked by his act, Goddess Parvati strangled his neck and hence managed to stop it in his neck, however, the poison was so potent that it changed the colour of his neck to blue, thereby earning him the name of Neelakanta. When the Amrita finally emerged along with other treasures the devas and asuras fought over it. However Vishnu in the form of Mohini the enchantress manages to lure the asuras into handing over the Amrita to her, Rahu, an asura, disguises himself as a deva and tries to drink some Amrita himself. Surya and Chandra alert Vishnu to this deception, Vishnu then decapitates Rahu just as he is about to swallow the nectar, leaving only his head immortal. The Churning of the Cosmic Ocean is told in ancient texts, notably in the Valmikis Ramayana Canto 45. On the island known as Svetadvipa there is an ocean of milk, cosmologically the Dvipas and Sagaras depict the entire Cosmos, though in Cartiography, all the Dvipas and Sagaras are shown to lie in the Southern Hemisphere. So Paramatma is Ksirodakasayi Vishnu – who is in every atom and heart of all 8400000 kinds of material bodies, some relationships between the milk ocean and Goloka, the planet of Krishna may be found. Krishna is the same as Vishnu, who lives in a castle on the ocean of milk and on other hand, Krishna is the same as Vishnu, but He lives on Goloka. Other milky oceans are the ocean, and the ghee ocean. The material world is compared to the ocean of fault, especially in Kali-Yuga, in modern cosmology, the Milky way is similarly depicted as a white spiral cloud. The rotating spiral galaxy structure of the milky way correlates with the ocean of milk being churned, the Super massive Black hole at its center correlates with the extremely heavy Mount Mandara
14.
Vaikuntha
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Vaikuntha, Paramapadam, Vishnupada, or Param Padam is the celestial home of Vishnu. In most of the extant Puranas, and Vaishnava traditions, Vaikuntha is located in the direction of the Makara Rashi, vishnus eye is supposed to be located at the South Celestial Pole as well. Goloka Vrindavana Vaikuntha Chaturdashi Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend by Anna Dallapiccola On the Symbolism of Three- and Four-Faced Vishnu Images, by Adalbert J. Gail, In, Artibus Asiae, Vol.44, No.4
15.
Vaishnavism
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Vaishnavism is one of the major traditions within Hinduism along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism, its followers are called Vaishnavas, the tradition is notable for its avatar doctrine, wherein Vishnu is revered in one of many distinct incarnations. Of these, ten avatars of Vishnu are the most studied, Krishna, Rama, Narayana, Vāsudeva, Hari, Vithoba, Kesava, Madhava, Govinda and Jagannath are among the popular names used for the same supreme. The tradition has traceable roots to the 1st millennium BCE, as Bhagavatism, later developments led by Ramananda created a Rama-oriented movement, now the largest monastic group in Asia. The Vaishnava tradition has many sampradayas ranging from the medieval era Dvaita school of Madhvacharya to Vishishtadvaita school of Ramanuja, new Vaishnavism movements have been founded in the modern era such as the ISKCON of Prabhupada. The tradition is known for the devotion to an avatar of Vishnu. Key texts in Vaishnavism include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Pancaratra texts, Krishnaism becomes associated with bhakti yoga in the medieval period. Although Vishnu was a Vedic solar deity, he is mentioned less often compared to Agni, Indra and other Vedic deities, other scholars state that there are other Vedic deities, such as water deity Nara, who together form the historical roots of Vaishnavism. The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, the evidence inconsistent, according to Dalal, the origins may be in Vedic deity Bhaga, who gave rise to Bhagavatism. According to Preciado-Solís, the Vedic deities Nara and Narayana form one of the Vedic roots of Vaishnavism, according to Dandekar, Vaishnavism may have emerged from merger of several ancient theistic traditions, where the various deities were integrated as different avatars of the same god. In Dandekar theory, Vaishnavism emerged at the end of the Vedic period, closely before the urbanisation of northern India. This earliest phase was established the time of Pāṇini who, in his Astadhyayi and this was followed by a merger with the cult of Gopala-Krsna of the cowherd community of the Abhıras at the 4th century CE. The character of Gopala Krishna is often considered to be non-Vedic, according to Dandekar, such mergers consolidated the position of Krishnaism between the heterodox sramana movement and the orthodox Vedic religion. The Greater Krsnaism, states Dandekar, then merged with the Rigvedic Vishnu, syncretism of various traditions and Vedism resulted in Vaishnavism. At this stage that Vishnu of the Rig Veda was assimilated into non-Vedic Krishnaism, the appearance of Krishna as one of the Avatars of Vishnu dates to the period of the Sanskrit epics in the early centuries CE. The Bhagavad Gita was incorporated into the Mahabharata as a key text for Krishnaism, finally, the Narayana-cult was also included, which further brahmanized Vaishnavism. The Nara-Narayana cult may have originated in Badari, a ridge of the Hindu Kush. Purusa Narayana may have later turned into Arjuna and Krsna
16.
Tamil language
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Tamil is a Dravidian language predominantly spoken by the Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka, and also by the Tamil diaspora, Sri Lankan Moors, Burghers, Douglas, and Chindians. Tamil is a language of two countries, Singapore and Sri Lanka. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and it is also used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and it is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. Tamil is one of the classical languages in the world. Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions from 500 BC have been found on Adichanallur and 2 and it has been described as the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past. The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as one of the classical traditions. A recorded Tamil literature has been documented for over 2000 years, the earliest period of Tamil literature, Sangam literature, is dated from ca.300 BC – AD300. It has the oldest extant literature among other Dravidian languages, the earliest epigraphic records found on rock edicts and hero stones date from around the 3rd century BC. More than 55% of the inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India are in the Tamil language. Tamil language inscriptions written in Brahmi script have been discovered in Sri Lanka, the two earliest manuscripts from India, acknowledged and registered by the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 1997 and 2005, were written in Tamil. In 1578, Portuguese Christian missionaries published a Tamil prayer book in old Tamil script named Thambiraan Vanakkam, the Tamil Lexicon, published by the University of Madras, was one of the earliest dictionaries published in the Indian languages. According to a 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages, a family of around 26 languages native to the Indian subcontinent. It is also classified as being part of a Tamil language family, the closest major relative of Tamil is Malayalam, the two began diverging around the 9th century CE. According to linguists like Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Tamil, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the third millennium BC, possibly in the region around the lower Godavari river basin in peninsular India. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the associated with the Neolithic complexes of South India. The next phase in the reconstructed proto-history of Tamil is Proto-South Dravidian, the linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-South Dravidian was spoken around the middle of the second millennium BC, and that proto-Tamil emerged around the 3rd century BC. The earliest epigraphic attestations of Tamil are generally taken to have been shortly thereafter
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Divya Desam
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A Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the works of the Tamil Azhvars. Divya means premium and Desam indicates place, the Divya Desams are revered by the 12 Azhvars in the Divya Prabandha, a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses. While most Divya Desams follow Thenkalai mode of worship, some follow Vadakalai too among others, the word azhwar means the one who dives deep into the ocean of the countless attributes of god. Azhwars are considered the twelve supreme devotees of Vishnu, who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism during the 5th-8th centuries A. D, the saints had different origins and belonged to different castes. As per tradition, the first three azhwars, Poigai, Bhutha and Pey were born miraculously, according to these texts, the saints were considered incarnations of some form of Vishnu. The songs of Prabandam are regularly sung in all the Vishnu temples of South India daily, according to traditional account by Manavala Mamunigal, the first three azhwars namely Poigai, Bhoothath and Pey belong to Dwapara Yuga. Modern historians place the period of azhwars from the 5th to 8th century AD, but it is widely accepted by tradition and historians that the trio are the earliest among the twelve azhwars. The azhwars were instrumental in promoting the Bhagavatha cult and the two epics of India, namely, Ramayana and Mahabaratha. The azhwars were instrumental in spreading Vaishnavism throughout the region, the verses of the various azhwars were compiled by Nathamuni, a 10th-century Vaishnavite theologian, who called it the Tamil Veda. History of People and Their Environs, philosophy and Theistic Mysticism of the Āl̲vārs. A history of Indian literature, 500-1399, from courtly to the popular, hymns for the Drowning, Poems for Vishnu. The Holy Lives of the Azhvârs, Or, the Drâvida Saints, rajarajan Historical sequence of the Vaiṣṇava Divyadeśas. Acta Orientalia, Societates Orientales Danica Fennica Norvegia Svecia, Vol.74, rajarajan Master-Slave Ambivalence in the hagiography of the Āḻvārs. The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society 107.1, 44-60, rajarajan Antiquity of the Vaiṣṇava divyakśētras in Pāṇḍinādu. Acta Orientalia, Societates Orientales Danica Fennica Norvegia Svecia, Vol.73, pp. 59-104
18.
Thondaradippodi Alvar
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Thondaradippodi Alvar or Vipra Narayanan is one of the twelve azhwar saints of South India, who are known for their affiliation to Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. The verses of azhwars are compiled as Nalayira Divya Prabandham and the 108 temples revered are classified as Divya desam, Thondaripodi is considered the tenth in the line of the twelve azhwars. Western scholars have suggested various times between the 5th and 9th centuries AD as the period of Thondaradippodi Alvar, as per Hindu legend, he was born as Vipra Narayanan and got devoted to Ranganatha of the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple. Since he worshipped even the dust from the devotees of Ranganatha and his works are the Tiruppalli Ezuchi having ten verses and Tirumaalai having forty verses, both of which are counted among the 4000 stanzas in the Nalayira Divya Prabandam. The works of Thondaradipodi and other contributed to the philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism. In South-Indian Vishnu temples, Thondaradipodi azhwar has images and festivals associated with him, the Vasantha Utsavam festival is celebrated in Srirangam and for nine days in the garden believed to have been maintained by him. The verses of Thondaripodi and other azhwars are recited as a part of daily prayers, the word azhwar means the one who dives deep into the ocean of the countless attributes of god. Azhwars are considered the twelve supreme devotees of Vishnu, who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism during the 5th to 8th centuries AD, the saints had different origins and belonged to different castes. As per tradition, the first three azhwars, Poigai, Bhutha and Pei were born miraculously, according to these texts, the saints were considered incarnations of some form of Vishnu. The songs of Prabandam are regularly sung in all the Vishnu temples of South India daily, according to traditional account by Manavala Mamunigal, the first three azhwars namely Poigai, Bhoothath and Pey belong to Dwapara Yuga. It is widely accepted by tradition and historians that the trio are the earliest among the twelve azhwars, the azhwars were also instrumental in promoting the Bhagavatha cult and the two epics of India, namely, Ramayana and Mahabaratha. The azhwars were instrumental in spreading Vaishnavism throughout the region, the verses of the various azhwars were compiled by Nathamuni, a 10th-century Vaishnavite theologian, who called it the Tamil Veda. Thondaradippodi Alvar was born in a village by name Thirumandangudi Chola region in Prabhava year, Margazhi month, Krishna chaturthi. His father ‘Veda Visaradhar’ belonged to Kudumi Sozhiyap Brahmanar community also called as Vipra people, on the 12th day after his birth, he was named as Vipra Narayanar. From an early age, bhakti towards Sri Vishnu was taught to him and he grew up with a well rounded personality. As per Hindu legend, he was under the influence of a prostitute, when he was need of money, Vishnu came in his rescue and showered gold in him. He became a devotee of Ranganatha of Sriranganathaswamy temple. He constructed a big Nandhavanam in Srirangam, where various beautiful and he worshipped all the bhaktas of Sri Vishnu and put the podi, which is found under the feet of them in his head and sang songs in praise of Sri Ranganathar
19.
Periazhwar
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Periyalwar or Periazhwar is one of the twelve azhwar saints of South India, who are known for their affiliation to Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. Vishnucitta or Periyalwar incarnated on earth in the 47th year after the beginning of the Kali Era. The verses of azhwars are compiled as Nalayira Divya Prabandham and the 108 temples revered are classified as Divya desam, according to some accounts, Periyazhwar is considered the first in the line of the twelve azhwars, while other accounts place him as the eighth. His original name is Vishnuchittar, since he blessed Lord Vishnu assuming he is elder to the Lord, he is called Periazhwar. Related to his birth, the traditional scriptures mention that Goda Devi or Andal, as per Hindu legend, Periyazhwar was the foster father of Andal, the only female azhwars. The works of Periyazhwar contributed to the philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism. His contributions are Thirupallandu and Periya Azhwar thirumozhi among the 4000 stanzas in the Nalayira Divya Prabandam, in South-Indian Vishnu temples, Periyazhwar has images and festivals associated with him. The Garudasevai festival in Srivilliputhur temple, where five Vishnu temples in the region participate, is an event dedicated to him, the verses of Periyazhwar and other azhwars are recited as a part of daily prayers and during festive occasions in most Vishnu temples in South India. The word azhwar means the one who is deep into the nectar/ocean of the countless attributes of god. Azhwars are considered the twelve supreme devotees of Vishnu, who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism, the saints had different origins and belonged to different castes. As per tradition, the first three azhwars, Poigai, Bhutha and Pey were born miraculously, according to these texts, the saints were considered incarnations of some form of Vishnu. The songs of Prabandam are regularly sung in all the Vishnu temples of South India daily, periyalvar was born into a Brahmin family in Srivilliputhur, near Madurai and was named Vishnuchittar meaning one who has Vishnu in his mind. Legend says he rejected the philosophical debates of his upbringing to focus on Bhakti. He would make garlands of flowers for the deity of the temple, once the Pandyan king Vallabhadevan had a competition between scholars to find out the path to paramapada. Vishnuchittar won the competition by explaining that the path to moksha is by service to Vishnu and he quoted various historic and Vedic reference to prove his point. The king was satisfied and he honored Vishnuchittar by taking him around the streets of Madurai and it is believed that Koodal Azhagar, the presiding deity in the Koodal Azhagar Temple near Madurai witnessed the event with his consort. Periyalvar was surprised and he immediately composed Thirupallandu, the first twelve verses of Naliyara Divya Prabandam, as per Hindu legend, Andal is believed to have been discovered under a Tulsi plant in the temple garden of Srivilliputtur, by Vishnuchittar. The childless Vishnuchittar was happy about the child and named her Kodhai, the child was brought up by Vishnuchittar in an atmosphere of love and devotion. Vishnuchittar doted on her in respect, singing songs to her about Vishnu, teaching her all the stories and philosophy he knew
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Andal
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Andal is the only female Alvar among the 12 Alvar saints of South India. The Alvar saints are known for their affiliation to the Srivaishnava tradition of Hinduism, periazhwar was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and he used to string garland to Vishnu every day. He was childless and he prayed to Vishnu to save him from the longing, one day, he found a girl child under a Tulasi plant in a garden inside the temple. The child was goddess Lakshmi itself incarnated to test the devotion of alvars. He and his wife named the child as Kothai, who grew up as a devotee of Lord Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu. She is believed to have worn the garland before dedicating it to the deity of the temple. Periazhwar, who found it, was highly upset and remonstrated her. Vishnu appeared in his dream and asked him to only the garland worn by Andal to him. The girl Kothai was thus named Andal and was referred as Chudikodutha Sudarkodi, Kodhai was brought up by Vishnuchitta in an atmosphere of love and devotion. As Kodhai grew into a maiden, her fervor for the Lord Vishnu grew to the extent that she decided to marry only the Lord Himself. As time passed, her resolve strengthened and she thought constantly about marrying Ranganathar of Srirangam, in North India, Radha Rani is celebrated as the Queen of Bhakti. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu Andal is remembered for her pure love, in the Thiruppavai, Andal, as a Gopi in Ayarpadi, emphasizes that the ultimate goal of life is to seek surrender and refuge at the Lords feet. It is also believed that Ranganatha of Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple married Andal, since Andal married Ranganatha, who came as a king, the presiding deity is called Rangamannar. Every year Tirupathi Venkateswara’s garland is sent to Srivilliputtur Andal for marriage festival of Andal Thayar, Andal garland is being sent to Madurai Kallazhagar for Chithirai Festival day. Andals hairstyle and ornamentation are unique to south India, Srivillipuththur Andals handcrafted parrot which was made with green leaves are made each and every day freshly. This parrot is kept in the left hand of Andal. It takes approximately four and half hours to make this parrot, a pomegranate flower for beak and mouth, Bamboo sticks for legs, banana plant, petals of pink oleander and nandiyavattai. are used to prepare this parrot. During his visit to the Srivillipuththur Andal temple the then president of India R. Venkataraman also was attracted towards this parrot, Andal is one of the best-loved poet-saints of the Tamils. Pious tradition holds her to be the incarnation of Bhūmi Devi to show humanity the way to Lord Vishnus lotus feet, representations of her next to Vishnu are present in all Srivaishnava temples. During the month of Margazhi, discourses on the Thiruppavai in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, the Andal Temple at Srivilliputhur consists of twin temples, one of which is dedicated to Andal
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Brahmin
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Brahmin is a varna in Hinduism specialising as priests of sacred learning across generations. However, Indian texts suggest that Brahmins were often agriculturalists in medieval India, the Gautama Dharmasutra states in verse 10.3 that it is obligatory on a Brahmin to learn and teach the Vedas. The text forbids a Brahmin from engaging in the trade of animals for slaughter, meat, medicines, the Apastamba Dharmasutra asserts in verse 1.20.10 that trade is generally not sanctioned for Brahmins, but in the times of adversity he may do so. The chapter 1.20 of Apastamba, states Olivelle, forbids the trade of the following under any circumstances, human beings, meat, skins, weapons, barren cows, sesame seeds, pepper, and merits. The 1st millennium CE Dharmasastras, that followed the Dharmasutras contain similar recommendations on occupations for a Brahmin, both in prosperous or normal times, and in the times of adversity. The widely studied Manusmriti, for example, states, Except during a time of adversity and he should gather wealth just sufficient for his subsistence through irreproachable activities that are specific to him, without fatiguing his body. –4. 2–4.3 He must never follow a worldly occupation for the sake of livelihood, one who seeks happiness should become supremely content and self controlled, for happiness is rooted in contentment and its opposite is the root of unhappiness. –4. 11–4.12 The Manusmriti recommends that a Brahmins occupation must never involve forbidden activities such as producing or trading poison, weapons, meat, trapping birds and others. It also lists six occupations that it deems proper for a Brahmin, teaching, studying, offering yajna, officiating at yajna, giving gifts, of these, states Manusmriti, three which provide a Brahmin with a livelihood are teaching, officiating at yajna, and accepting gifts. The text states that teaching is best, and ranks the accepting of gifts as the lowest of the six, in the times of adversity, Manusmriti recommends that a Brahmin may live by engaging in the occupations of the warrior class, or agriculture or cattle herding or trade. Of these, Manusmriti in verses 10. 83–10, the term Brahmin in Indian texts has signified someone who is good and virtuous, not just someone of priestly class. Both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, states Patrick Olivelle, repeatedly define Brahmin not in terms of family of birth and these virtues and characteristics mirror the values cherished in Hinduism during the Sannyasa stage of life, or the life of renunciation for spiritual pursuits. Brahmins, states Olivelle, were the class from which most ascetics came. The earliest inferred reference to Brahmin as a social class is in the Rigveda, occurs once. Ancient texts describing community-oriented Vedic yajna rituals mention four to five priests, the hotar, the adhvaryu, the udgatar, the functions associated with the priests were, The Hotri recites invocations and litanies drawn from the Rigveda. The Adhvaryu is the assistant and is in charge of the physical details of the ritual like measuring the ground. The Udgatri is the chanter of hymns set to melodies and music drawn from the Samaveda, the udgatar, like the hotar, chants the introductory, accompanying and benediction hymns. The Brahmin recites from the Atharvaveda, the Ritvij is the chief operating priest
22.
Kulashekhara Alwar
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Kulashekhara Alwar was one of the Alwars. According to traditional scriptures, he was born in the 27th year after the beginning of the Kali Era, Kulasekhara is one of the twelve Tamil alwar saints of South India, who are known for their affiliation to Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. The verses of the alwars are compiled as Nalayira Divya Prabandham and he is considered the seventh in the line of the twelve alwars. He authored the Sanskrit lyrics Mukundamala and Perumal Tirumozhi, which are compiled as a part of Nalayira Divya Prabandham and he is sometimes identified as Kulasekhara, the author of the Sanskrit works such as Tapatisamvaranam, Subhadradhananjaya and Vichchinnabhiseka. The verses of Kulasekhara and other azhwars are recited as a part of daily prayers, born in Periyar, Kerala, he was son of Drdhavrata. As per scriptural evidence, Kuleshekara Alwar incarnated on earth in the 27th year after the beginning of the Kali Era. Kulashekhara is believed to have been a king from the Kerala region and he is regarded by some to have ruled Kolli, Koodal, the given date of his period is said to be 800–820 AD, as a king of the later Chera Dynasty. It is further suggested that he could not have flourished after the end of the 9th century, and he is revered as the seventh of the twelve alvars, saints whose works contributed to the philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism. He is also one of the celebrated Vaishnavite alvar poet-saints of the Bhakti movement in South India, the Bhakti movement consolidated the Vedic religion in the region by introducing it to common people. He is the author of Mukundamala, a lyric in Sanskrit. He contributed to one of the works in the Divya Prabhandham and these works consists of 105 poems out of the 4,000 hymns written by the Alvar poet-saints. His poems are devotional in nature, being dedicated to the most prominent Avatars of Vishnu, a devotee of Rama, he considered the painful experiences of Rama to be his own. He is therefore known as ‘Perum-al’, meaning The Great’ – an epithet for the Lord. His devotion was so intense that he worshipped the devotees as forms of Vishnu, in one song, he identifies himself with Devaki, the biological mother of Krishna, from whom Krishna was taken away to Gokul where Nanda and Yasodha, the foster parents, looked after them. Kulasekara expresses Devakis desolation at being separated from her child and for union with him and this is the same sense of sorrow of separation and yearning for union that pervades the outpourings of all the mystic poets of India. Kulashekhara Alwar is thought to have died in Tamil Nadu at Mannarkoyil, the mural inscriptions there informs that the temple was consecrated to his memory by Vasudevan of Mullappalli, Kerala. Sri Srinivasa Perumal Kulasekara Azhwar temple at the birthplace of Kulasekhara Alwar is at Thirukkulasearapuram, within the limits of Thiruvanjikulam, near Kodungallur in Thrissur district, the Maharajas of Travancore, custodians of the famous Padmanabhaswamy Temple, are descendants of Kulasekhara Alwar. One of the titles the Maharajas had was Kulasekhara Perumal and the family still possesses his Cheramudi, hymns for the Drowning, Poems for Vishnu
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Kshatriya
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Kshatriya is one of the four varna of the Hindu society. The Sanskrit term kshatriya is used in the context of Vedic society wherein members organised themselves into four classes, brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya, traditionally, the kshatriya constituted the ruling and military elite. Their role was to protect society by fighting in wartime and governing in peacetime, the Prakrit derivative of Kshatriya is Khatri. The administrative machinery in the Rig Vedic period functioned with a chief called Rajan whose position was not hereditary. The king was elected in an assembly, which included women. The Rajan protected the tribe and cattle, was assisted by a priest, the concept of fourfold varna system was non-existent. The hymn Purusha Sukta to the Rigveda describes the history of the four varna. Since not all dark-skinned Indians was fully regulated under the varna in the vedic society, the term rajanya unlike the word kshatriya essentially denoted the status within a lineage. Whereas kshatra, means ruling, one of the ruling order, jaiswal points out the term Brahman rarely occurs in the Rig-veda with the exception of the Purusha Sukta and may not have been used for the priestly class. Based on the authority of Panini, Patanjali, Katyayana and the Mahabharata, Jayaswal believes that Rajanya was the name of a people and that the Rajanyas were, therefore. Some examples were the Andhaka and Vrsni Rajanyas who followed the system of elected rulers and this later gave rise to the idea of kingship. In the period of the Brahmanas there was ambiguity in the position of the varna, in the Panchavimsha Brahmana, the Rajanya are placed first, followed by Brahmana then Vaishya. In Shatapatha Brahmana 13.8.3.11, the Kshatriya are placed second, in Shatapatha Brahmana 1.1.4.12 the order is—Brahmana, Vaishya, Rajanya, Shudra. The order of the brahmanical tradition—Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra—became fixed from the time of dharmasutras, the kshatriya were often considered pre-eminent in Buddhist circles. Even among Hindu societies they were sometimes at rivalry with the Brahmins, the kshatriya caste constituted an aristocracy but were not always necessarily wealthy. Kings usually belonged to this caste and it was considered their duty to acquire a knowledge of weapons in addition to cultivating their aptitude for command, the science of weaponry was one of the 13 branches of learning which every educated kshatriya male was expected to study. Both the kings suite and the army were recruited from among this caste. Many kshatriya were authorised to take up a craft or trade rather than gaining their living as professional warriors and these families still retained the privileges accorded to their caste however, which included special forms of marriage which were their prerogative
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Thiruppaan Alvar
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Thiruppaan Alvar or Thirupaanazhwar is one of the twelve azhwar saints of South India, who are known for their affiliation to Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. The verses of azhwars are compiled as Nalayira Divya Prabandham and the 108 temples revered are classified as Divya desam, Thirupaanazhwar is considered the eleventh in the line of the twelve azhwars. As per Hindu legend, he descended from eternity and was found in a field by a couple from the paanar community. Thirupaanazhwar is known for his affiliation to Ranganatha of the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple and is believed to have merged with the deity, the ten verses of Thirupaanazhwar are called Amalanaathipiran, and his contributions amount to ten verses among the 4000 stanzas in the Nalayira Divya Prabandam. The works of Thirupaanazhwar contributed to the philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism, in South-Indian Vishnu temples, Thirupaanazhwar has images and festivals associated with him. Though the word azhwar has traditionally been etymologized as from Tamil, the saints had different origins and belonged to different castes. As per tradition, the first three azhwars, Poigai, Bhutha and Pei were born miraculously, according to these texts, the saints were considered incarnations of some form of Vishnu. The songs of Prabandam are regularly sung in all the Vishnu temples of South India daily, according to traditional account by Manavala Mamunigal, the first three azhwars namely Poigai, Bhoothath and Pey belong to Dwapara Yuga. It is widely accepted by tradition and historians that the trio are the earliest among the twelve azhwars, the azhwars were also instrumental in promoting the Bhagavatha cult and the two epics of India, namely, Ramayana and Mahabaratha. The azhwars were instrumental in spreading Vaishnavism throughout the region, the verses of the various azhwars were compiled by Nathamuni, a 10th-century Vaishnavite theologian, who called it the Tamil Veda. Thiruppaan is believed to have descended from eternity and he was found in a field by a couple from the paanar community. The childless pair cherished the child and fed him with high quality food to avoid influence of food used by their community. The Paanar community were considered as outcastes and it is believed that he is the amsam of the small mark on Vishnus chest, called as Srivatsam on the chest of Sriman Narayanan. Being a divine child, his instincts were heavenly and he grew as a man leaving all glamour of the world, having a veena in his hand, he was always to be seen singing the glories of Vishnu. He was soon famous in and around these Tamil lands of Southern India and his skills as a bhakti musician and his abilities to express and invoke bhakti amongst his listeners, drew audiences from afar. He was soon to be known as Paanar perumal, one of the strictures on outcastes was that they were not allowed to use some shores of Cauvery river, considered sacred and pure by the people of the region. He believed that the conventions and spiritual sense specified by sastras lies in moral conduct, a sage by name Loka Saranga came to the river Kaveri for drawing water for the temple. Panar was in deep devotion and was unaware of his surroundings that he missed the voice of Saranga asking him to leave way, the sage threw a small stone in his direction to wake him, but the stone accidentally hit the forehead of Paanar and he started to bleed
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Thirumangai Alvar
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He is considered one of the most learned Alvar and the most superior Alvar in the context of composition of verses. He holds the title Narkavi Perumal, the mark of an excellent poet, though he is respected as a Vaishnava saint-poet, he, initially, worked as a military commander, a chieftain and then a robber. After his conversion to Vaishnavism, he confronted practitioners of rival Hindu sect of Shaivism as well as Buddhism and Jainism, the traditional date attributed to Thirumangai is year 399 of Kaliyuga, that is 2702 or 2706 BC, making him traditionally the last of the Alvar saints. Modern scholars have placed the Alvars in between 5th to 9th centuries based on few historical evidence, dr. N. Subba Reddiar summarizes their views and arrives at the date 776 AD for Thirumangai, making him chronologically the eighth Alvar, though even these dates are disputed. Sakkottai Krishnaswami Aiyangar notes he is dated to 7th-8th century. Professor of Religion and Asian Studies, James G. Lochtefeld of Carthage College dates Tirumangai to the 9th century, the hagiographies detailing the life of Thirumangai and other Alvars are Divya charitam and Guruparampara-prabhavam-arayirappadi and Guruparampara-prabhavam-muvayirappadi. Other Vaishnava scholars have written hagiographics based on the works later. Thirumangai was born in Thirukuraiyalur, a village in Tamil Nadu. Thirumangais real name was Kaliyan or Kalikanti, Thirumangais father was Nilam, a general under the Chola empire. He was skilled in archery and worked as a military commander himself for the Chola king, in recognition of his valour, he was conferred upon the title Parakala and rewarded a small terrority called Ali Nadu to govern, for his military services. He earned the title Thirumangai Mannan or chief of Thirumangai, a name he maintained even when he became a saint, the temple-god of Thirunaraiyur – a form of Vishnu – is believed to have initiated Thirumangai into Vaishnavism, by teaching him the pancha samskara. Kumudavalli also got him to promise that he would feed a 1008 Vaishnavas every day for a year, unable to bear the heavy expense of feeding a thousand people, Thirumangai resorted to highway robbery. One day, Thirumangai tried to remove rings from the toes of a bridegroom, then he realised the bridegroom was none other than the Supreme god Vishnu himself. The first ten verses of Thirumangais poem Periya Tirumoli sing of his transformation and he sings about his transformation thus, Transformed by his encounter with God, Thirumangai gave up his chieftainship and became a devout Vaishnava, dedicated to god Vishnu. To atone for his sins, he visited 88 of the Divya Desams and he spread the poems of older Alvars in his wandering. He was also versed in earlier Tamil literature like Naaladiyar, Thirukkural, Sangam literature. Thirumangai preached against penance and advocated bhakti as way to attain salvation and he composed 6 poems in Tamil, together acoounting for 1361 verses. In the book Divya Prabandham,1361 verses of Thirumangai are included, Tamil Vaishnavas consider them as the six Tamil Vedangas or Angas of the 4 poems of Nammalvar, which are considered as Vedas
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Sanskrit
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Sanskrit is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, a philosophical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and a literary language and lingua franca of ancient and medieval South Asia. As a result of transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia and parts of Central Asia, as one of the oldest Indo-European languages for which substantial written documentation exists, Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies. The body of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical, the compositions of Sanskrit were orally transmitted for much of its early history by methods of memorization of exceptional complexity, rigor, and fidelity. Thereafter, variants and derivatives of the Brahmi script came to be used, Sanskrit is today one of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which mandates the Indian government to develop the language. It continues to be used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals and Buddhist practice in the form of hymns. The Sanskrit verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- may be translated as refined, elaborated, as a term for refined or elaborated speech, the adjective appears only in Epic and Classical Sanskrit in the Manusmṛti and the Mahabharata. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit, with the language of the Rigveda being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini, around the fourth century BCE. Sanskrit, as defined by Pāṇini, evolved out of the earlier Vedic form, the present form of Vedic Sanskrit can be traced back to as early as the second millennium BCE. Scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or Pāṇinian Sanskrit as separate dialects, although they are quite similar, they differ in a number of essential points of phonology, vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a collection of hymns, incantations and theological and religio-philosophical discussions in the Brahmanas. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita to be the earliest, for nearly 2000 years, Sanskrit was the language of a cultural order that exerted influence across South Asia, Inner Asia, Southeast Asia, and to a certain extent East Asia. A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of Indian epic poetry—the Ramayana, the deviations from Pāṇini in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or innovations, and not because they are pre-Paninian. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ārṣa, meaning of the ṛṣis, in some contexts, there are also more prakritisms than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There were four principal dialects of classical Sanskrit, paścimottarī, madhyadeśī, pūrvi, the predecessors of the first three dialects are attested in Vedic Brāhmaṇas, of which the first one was regarded as the purest. In the 2001 Census of India,14,035 Indians reported Sanskrit to be their first language, in India, Sanskrit is among the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The state of Uttarakhand in India has ruled Sanskrit as its official language. In October 2012 social activist Hemant Goswami filed a petition in the Punjab. More than 3,000 Sanskrit works have been composed since Indias independence in 1947, much of this work has been judged of high quality, in comparison to both classical Sanskrit literature and modern literature in other Indian languages
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Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam
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The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple or Thiruvarangam is a Hindu temple dedicated to Ranganatha, a reclining form of the Hindu deity Vishnu, located in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India. The temple follows Thenkalai tradition of worship and it is one of the most illustrious Vaishnava temples in South India rich in legend and history. The main entrance, known as the Rajagopuram, rises from the area of around 13 cents and goes up to 239.501 feet. The annual 21-day festival conducted during the Tamil month of Margazhi attracts 1 million visitors, Srirangam temple is often listed as the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world, the still larger Angkor Wat being the largest existing temple. The temple occupies an area of 156 acres with a perimeter of 4, 116m making it the largest temple in India, sriranga Mahathmiyam is the compilation of religious accounts of the temple which detail the origins of its greatness. When Vibhishana was going via Trichy en route to Sri Lanka, hence it is that the deity faces South. As per another account, Vibhishana was carrying the idol all the way to his kingdom of Lanka and midway, to rest, after performing his routine pooja, he tried to lift the Vimana, but it could not be lifted. Mahavishnu appeared to him and said that he desired to stay as Ranganatha in the place, Vishnu also desired to watch the Brahmotsavam at Tirucherai. The festivals of the temple are considered sacred. It should be noted that the Valmiki Ramayana mentions that Vibhishana received a gift from Sri Rama while returning back to Lanka and it is the parameshvara Samhita that identifies the gift with the idol of sri Ranganatha. As per another legend, Sanaka, the four young sages, were trying to worship Ranganatha in Srirangam and they were trying to enter the place, but were stopped by Jaya and Vijaya, the guardians of the temple sanctum. In spite of insistence, the tried to enter, but were repeatedly stopped. In anger, all four of them cursed the guardians in one voice that they would be born as demons on earth, the sages disappeared soon after the curse, leaving the guardians trembling in fear. They approached Vishnu and requested him to them from the curse. Ranganatha said that he would not be able to revert the curse, the guardians accepted being demons and are believed to have taken the form of Hiranyaksha & Hiranyakasipu, Ravana & Kumbakarna and Sisupala & Dantavakra. Vishnu took three avatars to kill the demons in each one of those births, the temple is mentioned in Tamil literature in the Sangam era, including the epic Silapadikaram, However, archaeological inscriptions are available only from the 10th century AD. The inscriptions in the temple belong to the Chola, Pandya, Hoysala and they range in date between the 9th and 16th centuries and are registered by the ephigraphical society. The location where the Ranganathan idol was placed was later covered by an overgrowth of deep forests, after a very long time, a Chola king, chasing a parrot, accidentally found the idol
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Srirangam
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Srirangam is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli, in South India. Srirangam is bounded by the Kaveri River on one side, Srirangam is home to a significant population of Srivaishnavites. Srirangam is famous for its Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, a pilgrimage destination for Hindus. According to the website, Srirangam can be considered the biggest functioning Hindu temple in the world. Angkor Wat is bigger but non-functioning, Srirangam among a few self-manifested shrines of Lord Vishnu. The temple complex is enormous and spans 156 acres and it has seven prakaras or enclosures. These enclosures are formed by thick and huge rampart walls which run round the sanctum, there are 21 magnificent towers in all prakaras providing a unique sight to any visitor. The temple town lies on a formed by the twin rivers Cauvery. The Srirangam temple complex is composed of 7 concentric walled sections and 21 towers gopuram, the southern gopuram of the temple, called the Rajagopuram, is 236 feet tall and, as of 2016, is the second tallest in Asia. The construction of this Rajagopuram was begun during the reign of Achyuta Deva Raya of the Vijayanagara empire, however, construction was halted after his death and the structure of the rajagopuram remained incomplete for 400 years. The monumental task of completion of the rajagopuram was undertaken and completed successfully by Sri Vedanta Desika Yatheendra Mahadesikan, the construction was completed in a span of 8 years. The Rajagopuram was consecrated on 25 March 1987, the temple has seven prakaras with gopurams articulating the axial path, the highest at the outermost prakara and the lowest at the innermost. The Srirangam temple is one of the three temples of the God Ranganatha that are situated in the islands formed in the Kaveri river. Clothes such as Silk Sarees, Dhoti, Towels, etc. used for religious purposes are auctioned here, inside the temple complex, there is a separate temple dedicated to the goddess Andal. Additionally, there is a museum, a library and a bookshop, Lord Rama performed aradhanam to Vishnus idol. As a symbol of love he gifted the idol to Vibishana to take back him to Lanka. There was a condition that he could not set the idol on earth, Vibishana took this idol and while travelling towards Lanka, came upon the banks of the river Kaveri. He placed the idol on banks of river Kaveri, while an utsavam was in progress, when the utsavam got over, the Lord refused to move as he loved the place
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Tiruchirappalli district
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Tiruchirapalli District is located along the Kaveri River in Tamil Nadu, India. The main town in Tiruchirappalli District is the city of Tiruchirappalli, during the British Raj, Tiruchirappalli was known as Trichinopoly, and was a district of the Madras Presidency, it was renamed upon Indias declaration of independence in 1947. As of 2011, the district had a population of 2,722,290 with 1,013 females for every 1,000 males, Tiruchirappalli district lies within Tamil Nadu. The district has an area of 4,404 square kilometers, the Kaveri river flows through the length of the district and is the principal source of irrigation and drinking water. According to 2011 census, Tiruchirappalli district had a population of 2,722,290 with a sex-ratio of 1,013 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 272,456 were under the age of six, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 17. 14% and. 67% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the district was 74. 9%, compared to the average of 72. 99%. The district had a total of 698,404 households, in 2013, Tiruchirappalli District went from nine taluks to eleven taluks. The important rivers across city is Koraiyar, Uyyakondan and Kudamuruti rivers, the district has a large cattle and poultry population with agriculture workers in the smaller villages like Kalpalayathanpatti. The rivers Caveri and Kollidam start branching out to form the Caveri delta irrigating vast tracts of land in the district, the major crops are rice, sugarcane, banana/plantain, coconut, cotton, betel, corn, and groundnut. Sri Maha Soolini Mariyamman Temple, Kavandampatti Melur
30.
Hindu temple
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A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. It is typically used for such buildings belonging to all faiths where a specific term such as church. These include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism among religions with many modern followers, the form and function of temples is thus very variable, though they are often considered by believers to be in some sense the house of one or more deities. Typically offerings of some sort are made to the deity, and other rituals enacted, the degree to which the whole population of believers can access the building varies significantly, often parts or even the whole main building can only be accessed by the clergy. Temples typically have a building and a larger precinct, which may contain many other buildings. The word comes from Ancient Rome, where a templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest and it has the same root as the word template, a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out on the ground by the augur. Templa also became associated with the places of a god or gods. Hindu temples are large and magnificent with a rich history, there is evidence of use of sacred ground as far back as the Bronze Age and later the Indus Valley Civilization. Hindu temples have been built in countries around the world, including Cambodia, Nepal, Mauritius, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Great Britain. They include the structures called stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions, Temples in Buddhism represent the pure land or pure environment of a Buddha. Traditional Buddhist temples are designed to inspire inner and outer peace, a Jain temple is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Some famous Jain temples are Shikharji, Palitana Jain Temples, Ranakpur Jain Temple, Shravan Belgola, Dilwara Temples, Jain temples are built with various architectural designs. Jain temples in North India are completely different from the Jain temples in South India, additionally, a Manastambha is a pillar that is often constructed in front of Jain temples. The temple of Mesopotamia derived from the cult of gods and deities in the Mesopotamian religion and it spanned several civilizations, from Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian. Ancient Egyptian temples were meant as places for the deities to reside on earth, indeed, the term the Egyptians most commonly used to describe the temple building, ḥwt-nṯr, means mansion of a god. A gods presence in the temple linked the human and divine realms and these rituals, it was believed, sustained the god and allowed it to continue to play its proper role in nature. They were therefore a key part of the maintenance of maat, maintaining maat was the entire purpose of Egyptian religion, and thus it was the purpose of a temple as well. Ancient Egyptian temples were also of significance to Egyptian society
31.
Angkor Wat
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Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world, with the site measuring 162.6 hectares. It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple of god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire and it was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu, as the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture, the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology, within a moat, at the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west, the temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls. The modern name, Angkor Wat, means Temple City or City of Temples in Khmer, Angkor, meaning city or capital city, is a form of the word nokor. Wat is the Khmer word for temple grounds, also derived from Sanskrit vāṭa, the original name of the temple was Vrah Viṣṇuloka or Brah Bisnulōk which means the sacred dwelling of Vishnu. Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kilometres north of the town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital. In an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures, according to legend, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered by Indra to act as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea. According to the 13th century Chinese traveller Daguan Zhou, it was believed by some that the temple was constructed in a night by a divine architect. The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, dedicated to Vishnu, it was built as the kings state temple and capital city. Work seems to have ended shortly after the death, leaving some of the bas-relief decoration unfinished. In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple a few kilometres to the north. Towards the end of the 12th century, Angkor Wat gradually transformed from a Hindu centre of worship to Buddhism and it has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of. By the 17th century, Angkor Wat was not completely abandoned and functioned as a Buddhist temple, fourteen inscriptions dated from the 17th century discovered in Angkor area testify to Japanese Buddhist pilgrims that had established small settlements alongside Khmer locals. At that time, the temple was thought by the Japanese visitors as the famed Jetavana garden of the Buddha, the best-known inscription tells of Ukondafu Kazufusa, who celebrated the Khmer New Year at Angkor Wat in 1632
32.
Periyalvar
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Periyalwar or Periazhwar is one of the twelve azhwar saints of South India, who are known for their affiliation to Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. Vishnucitta or Periyalwar incarnated on earth in the 47th year after the beginning of the Kali Era. The verses of azhwars are compiled as Nalayira Divya Prabandham and the 108 temples revered are classified as Divya desam, according to some accounts, Periyazhwar is considered the first in the line of the twelve azhwars, while other accounts place him as the eighth. His original name is Vishnuchittar, since he blessed Lord Vishnu assuming he is elder to the Lord, he is called Periazhwar. Related to his birth, the traditional scriptures mention that Goda Devi or Andal, as per Hindu legend, Periyazhwar was the foster father of Andal, the only female azhwars. The works of Periyazhwar contributed to the philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism. His contributions are Thirupallandu and Periya Azhwar thirumozhi among the 4000 stanzas in the Nalayira Divya Prabandam, in South-Indian Vishnu temples, Periyazhwar has images and festivals associated with him. The Garudasevai festival in Srivilliputhur temple, where five Vishnu temples in the region participate, is an event dedicated to him, the verses of Periyazhwar and other azhwars are recited as a part of daily prayers and during festive occasions in most Vishnu temples in South India. The word azhwar means the one who is deep into the nectar/ocean of the countless attributes of god. Azhwars are considered the twelve supreme devotees of Vishnu, who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism, the saints had different origins and belonged to different castes. As per tradition, the first three azhwars, Poigai, Bhutha and Pey were born miraculously, according to these texts, the saints were considered incarnations of some form of Vishnu. The songs of Prabandam are regularly sung in all the Vishnu temples of South India daily, periyalvar was born into a Brahmin family in Srivilliputhur, near Madurai and was named Vishnuchittar meaning one who has Vishnu in his mind. Legend says he rejected the philosophical debates of his upbringing to focus on Bhakti. He would make garlands of flowers for the deity of the temple, once the Pandyan king Vallabhadevan had a competition between scholars to find out the path to paramapada. Vishnuchittar won the competition by explaining that the path to moksha is by service to Vishnu and he quoted various historic and Vedic reference to prove his point. The king was satisfied and he honored Vishnuchittar by taking him around the streets of Madurai and it is believed that Koodal Azhagar, the presiding deity in the Koodal Azhagar Temple near Madurai witnessed the event with his consort. Periyalvar was surprised and he immediately composed Thirupallandu, the first twelve verses of Naliyara Divya Prabandam, as per Hindu legend, Andal is believed to have been discovered under a Tulsi plant in the temple garden of Srivilliputtur, by Vishnuchittar. The childless Vishnuchittar was happy about the child and named her Kodhai, the child was brought up by Vishnuchittar in an atmosphere of love and devotion. Vishnuchittar doted on her in respect, singing songs to her about Vishnu, teaching her all the stories and philosophy he knew
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Nammalvar
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Nammalvar is one of the twelve alwar saints of Tamil Nadu, India, who are known for their affiliation to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. The verses of alwars are compiled as Nalayira Divya Prabandham and the 108 temples revered are classified as Divya Desam, Nammalvar is considered the fifth in the line of the twelve alwars. He is highly regarded as a mystic of the Vaishnava tradition. He is also considered the greatest among the twelve alwars and his contributions amount to 1352 among the 4000 stanzas in the Nalayira Divya Prabandam, according to traditional scriptures, Nammalwar was born in 3059 BCE in Alwarthirunagiri. The works of Nammalwar were compiled by Madhurakavi as four different works, the works of Nammalwar contributed to the philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism. Along with the three Shaiva Nayanars Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar, they influenced the ruling Pallava kings of South India, in South Indian Vaishnava temples, Nammalwar is given a status equal to that of Hindu god Vishnu and has images and festivals associated with him. The Garudasevai festival in Nava Tirupathi, the nine Vishnu temples in Thoothukudi region, the verses of Nammalwar and other alwars are recited as a part of daily prayers and during festive occasions in most Vishnu temples in South India. The word alwar means the one who dives deep into the ocean of the attributes of god. The Alwars are considered the twelve supreme devotees of Vishnu who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism, the saints had different origins and belonged to different castes. As per tradition, the first three alwars, Poigai Azhwar, Bhoothath Azhwar and Pey Azhwar were born miraculously, according to these texts, the saints were considered incarnations of some form of Vishnu. The songs of Prabandam are regularly sung in all the Vishnu temples of South India daily, according to traditional account by Manavala Mamunigal, the first three alwars namely Poigai, Bhoothath and Pey belong to the Dvapara Yuga. It is widely accepted by tradition and historians that the trio are the earliest among the twelve alwars, along with the three Shaiva Nayanars, they influenced the ruling Pallava kings, creating a bhakti movement that resulted in changing the religious geography from Buddhism and Jainism to Hinduism. The alwars were instrumental in promoting the Bhagavatha cult and the two epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabarata. The alwars were instrumental in spreading Vaishnavism throughout the region, the verses of the various alwars were compiled by Nathamuni, a 10th-century Vaishnava theologian, who called it the Tamil Veda. According to traditional scriptures, Nammalwar was born in 43rd Kali of 3059 BC and he was born in a Pillai family at Thirukurukur in the southernmost region of the Tamil country. Some sources consider his to have been a family, although of shudra status. Tradition says that he must have been born fully enlightened because as a baby he never cried or suckled, according to legend, as a child he responded to no external stimuli and his parents left him at the feet of the deity of Sri Adhinathar in Alwarthirunagari. The child then got up and climbed into a hole in a tamarind, sat in the lotus position, and began to meditate
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Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Temple
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Azhagiya Manavalan Perumal Temple in Uraiyur, a suburb Tiruchirappalli in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha and it is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Azhagiya Manavalan and his consort Lakshmi as Kamalavalli. The temple is believed to have built by the Medieval Cholas of the late 8th century AD, with later contributions from later Pandyas, Vijayanagar kings. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and bodies of water, the temple has a 5-tiered rajagopuram, the temples gateway tower. Azhagiya Manavalan is believed to have appeared to Kamalavalli, the daughter of Chola king Nanda Cholan, six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are held at the temple, of which the chariot festival, celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai, is the most prominent. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu, the king found the child in a lotus tank while hunting in a forest. Since the child was out of lotus, she was named Kamalvalli by the king. Time came when Kamalavalli fell in love with Vishnu in the form of Ranganathar, the Chola king readily got her married to Ranganathar. He built a temple to commemorate the occasion, the event is celebrated as Serthi Sevai festival every year. Since Vishnu appeared as Azhagiya Manavalan, meaning a beautiful groom, the temple is believed to be in existence from the 7th century. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu, annadhanam scheme, which provides free food to devotees, is implemented in the temple by the Board. Under the scheme, free food is offered to hundred devotees every day in the temple, the central shrine has the image of Vishnu as Azhagiya Perumal in sitting posture. There are paintings on the walls of the shrine of the Alvar saint Nammalvar. The shrine of the goddess Nachiyar faces North and it is the only divyadesam where the goddess has a north-facing shrine. The temple has a 5-tiered rajagopuram, there are separate shrines for Ramanuja and Nammalvar. The vimana, is called Kamala Vimanam, the temple priests perform the pooja during festivals and on a daily basis. As at other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the belong to the Vaishnavaite community. The temple rituals are performed six times a day, Ushathkalam at 7 a. m
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Uraiyur
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Urayur is an area of Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, India. It was the capital of the early Cholas, who were one of the three kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country. Sometimes spelled as Uraiyur, this location is known as Thirukkozhi, Nikalaapuri, Uranthai. It has a history dating back to before 2 BCE, inscriptions and rock edicts of Ashoka and the Satavahanas describe Urayur as the citadel and centre of the Cholas. Uraiyur was ruled by Karikala Cholan. Uraiyur is also mentioned as the capital of the ancient great Chola King Karikalan before the 1st century CE until the dynasty was revived by Vijayalaya Chola c.850 CE, the word Urayur in Tamil literally means the residence. Urayur was an ancient Chola city with a fortress and city wall on the banks of the river Kaveri. The Imperial Cholas of the 9th century CE and later made Tanjavur their capital, the reason why it is also known as Kozhiyur is due to the legend of a cock attacking the elephant of the king. He was taken aback for a moment but then decided to build his empire around that place after he realized the cause for the boldness was the soil. Several notable temples are situated here, Thanthoneeswarar Temple Panchavarnaswamy Temple Sri Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Temple Vekkali Amman Temple Nilakanta Sastri, the CōĻas, University of Madras, Madras
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Vishvarupa
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Vishvarupa, also known popularly as Vishvarupa Darshan, Vishwaroopa and Virata rupa, is an iconographical form and theophany of the God Lord Vishnu or his 8th avatar Sri Krishna. The direct revelation by the One without a Second, Master-Lord of the Universe, Vishvarupa is considered the supreme form of Vishnu, where the whole universe is described as contained in him and this show that actual god is centralised within different gods and god is one. In the climactic war in the Mahabharata, the Pandava prince Arjuna and his brothers fight against their cousins, the Kauravas with Krishna as his charioteer. Faced with moral dilemma that whether or not to fight against and kill his own or for dharma, Krishna discourses him about life and death, in chapters 10 and 11, Krishna reveals himself as the Supreme Being and finally displays his Vishvarupa to Arjuna. Arjuna experiences the vision of the Vishvarupa with divine vision endowed to him by Krishna, vishvarupas appearance is described by Arjuna, as he witnesses it. Vishvarupa has innumerable forms, eyes, faces, mouths and arms, all creatures of the universe are part of him. He is the universe, without a beginning or an end. He contains peaceful as well as wrathful forms, unable to bear the scale of the sight and gripped with fear, Arjuna requests Krishna to return to his four-armed Vishnu form, which he can bear to see. Fully encouraged by the teachings and darshan of Krishna in his full form, there are two more descriptions in the Mahabharata, where Krishna or Vishnu-Narayana offers the theophany similar to the Vishvarupa in the Bhagavad Gita. Vishvarupa-Krishna appears with arms and holds many weapons and attributes traditionally associated with Vishnu like the conch, the Sudarshana chakra. The inside of his body is described, various deities, sages and tribes are seen in his body. This form is described as terrible and only people blessed with divine vision could withstand the sight, the other theophany of Vishnu is revealed to the divine sage Narada. The god has a thousand eyes, a hundred heads, a thousand feet, a thousand bellies and he holds weapons as well as attributes of an ascetic like sacrificial fire, a staff, a kamandalu. Another theophany in the Mahabharata is of a Vaishnava form and it misses the multiple body parts of Vishvarupa, but conveys the vastness and cosmic nature of the deity. His two feet cover all ground and his two arms encompass the horizontal space. His belly occupies the space in the universe. Vishvarupa is also used in the context of Vishnus dwarf avatar, Vamana, arrives at the asura king Balis sacrifice as a dwarf Brahmin boy and asks for three steps of land as donation. Where the promise is given, Vamana transforms into his Vishvarupa, the sun and the moon are his eyes
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Uthamar Kovil
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Uthamar Kovil in Uthamarkoil, a village in the outskirts of Tiruchirappalli in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Trimurti Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha and it is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Purshottamar and his consort Lakshmi as Poornavalli. Purushottamar is believed to have appeared to Hindu gods Brahma and Shiva, the temple is one of the few historical temples in India where the images of Hindu trimurti, Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma are housed in the same premises. It is one of the two temples in Chola Nadu where the trinity can be seen in the premises, the other being Hara Saabha Vimocchana Perumal Temple at Thirukkandiyur. The temple is believed to have built by the Medieval Cholas of the late 8th century AD, with later contributions from Vijayanagar kings. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines, six daily rituals and four yearly festivals are held at the temple for each of trinities. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu, Vishnu emerged as a Kadambha tree there, giving the name Kathambanur, which later became Karambanur. The name Karambanur is mentioned by Thirumangai Azhwar in Nalayira Divya Prabandam, the temple is commonly called Uthamar Kovil after the name of the presiding deity. The temple is also called Bhikshandar Kovil as the Hindu god Shiva is present in the form of Bhishadanar, as per Hindu legend, once Vishnu wanted to test the devotion of Brahma. He raised as a Kadhamba tree in the place and Brahma, knowing this, the water from the ablution filled a tank nearby, which came to be known as Kathamba Theertham. Vishnu was satisfied with the devotion of Brahma and gave a boon to Brahma to have a shrine in this place, Shiva wanted to get rid of the sin holding the cut head of Brahma and went on a sacred trip. While coming to this place, Vishnu requested his consort Lakshmi to give alms to Shiva, shivas grail was filled by the alms and Lakshmi came to be known as Poornavalli Thayar. As per another legend, Brahma and Shiva both had five heads. Parvathi, the wife of Shiva, once got confused and performed patha pooja to Brahma instead of Shiva, Shiva got enraged and cut off one of the heads of Brahma. The cut head got stuck in his hand of Shiva because of a curse of Brahma, to get rid of the sin, Shiva worshipped Vishnu there as Bhikshadana, where a part of his sin was relieved. He got his curse fully relieved after visiting Vishnu at Thirukandiyur and taking a dip in the temple tank. After the incident, the tank came to be known as Kapala Theertham, Shiva was pleased and he built the Hara Sabha Vimochana temple and also built a temple for himself near it. As per Hindu legend, the temple is believed to have constructed by Janakar, the king of Janakapuri
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