1.
Madurai
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Madurai is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of Madurai District. Madurai is the third largest city by population in Tamil Nadu, located on the banks of River Vaigai, Madurai has been a major settlement for two millennia. Madurai was the longest continuous capital city until British rule in India, Madurai has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Prime Minister Narendra Modis flagship Smart Cities Mission. Madurai is closely associated with the Tamil language, and the third Tamil Sangam, the recorded history of the city goes back to the 3rd century BCE, being mentioned by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to India, and Kautilya, a minister of the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya. Signs of human settlements and Roman trade links dating back to 300BC are evident from excavations by Archeological Survey of India in Manalur, the city has a number of historical monuments, with the Meenakshi Amman Temple and Tirumalai Nayak Palace being the most prominent. Madurai is an important industrial and educational hub in South Tamil Nadu, the city is home to various automobile, rubber, chemical and granite manufacturing industries. It has developed as a city for information technology. Madurai has important government educational institutes like the Madurai Medical College, Homeopathic Medical College, Madurai Law College, Agricultural College, Madurai city is administered by a municipal corporation established in 1971 as per the Municipal Corporation Act. Madurai is the corporation in Tamil Nadu next to Chennai corporation. The city covers an area of 147.97 km2 and had a population of 1,017,865 in 2011, the city is also the seat of a bench of the Madras High Court. The city is referred by various names including Madurai, Koodal, Malligai Maanagar, Naanmadakoodal, the word Madurai may be derived from Madhura arising out of the divine nectar showered on the city by the Hindu god Shiva from his matted hair. Another theory is that Madurai is the derivative of the word Marutham, a town in the neighbouring Dindigul district is called Vada Madurai and another in Sivagangai district is called Manamadurai. The different names by which the city has referred to historically are listed in the 7th-century poem Thiruvilayaadal puraanam written by Paranjothi Munivar. Koodal means an assembly or congregation of people, referring to the three Tamil Sangams held at Madurai. Naanmadakoodal, meaning the junction of four towers, refers to the four major temples for which Madurai was known for, tevaram, the 7th- or 8th-century Tamil compositions on Shiva by the three prominent Nayanars, namely Appar, Sundarar and Thirugnanasambandar, address the city as Thirualavai. As per Iravatham Mahadevan, a 2nd-century BCE Tamil-Brahmi inscription refers to the city as matiray, Madurai has been inhabited since at least the 3rd century BCE. Megasthenes may have visited Madurai during the 3rd century BCE, with the city referred as Methora in his accounts
2.
Madras Presidency
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The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India. The city of Madras was the capital of the Presidency and Ootacamund or Ooty. The island of Ceylon was a part of Madras Presidency from 1793 to 1798 when it was created a Crown colony, the agency was upgraded to a Presidency in 1652 before once more reverting to its previous status in 1655. In 1684, it was re-elevated to a Presidency and Elihu Yale was appointed as president, in 1785, under the provisions of Pitts India Act, Madras became one of three provinces established by the East India Company. Thereafter, the head of the area was styled Governor rather than President and became subordinate to the Governor-General in Calcutta, a title that would persist until 1947. Judicial, legislative and executive powers rested with the Governor who was assisted by a Council whose constitution was modified by reforms enacted in 1861,1909,1919 and 1935, regular elections were conducted in Madras up to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Following the Montague-Chelmsford reforms of 1919, Madras was the first province of British India to implement a system of dyarchy, in the early decades of the 20th century, many significant contributors to the Indian independence movement came from Madras. With the advent of Indian independence on 15 August 1947, the Presidency became the Madras Province. Madras was later admitted as Madras State, a state of the Indian Union at the inauguration of the Republic of India on 26 January 1950, the discovery of dolmens from this portion of the subcontinent shows inhabitation as early as the Stone Age. The first prominent rulers of the part of the future Presidency were the Tamil pandya dynasty. Following the decline of the pandyas of Tamil Nadu and the Cholas in Tamil Nadu, the country recovered under the subsequent Pallava dynasty and its civilisation attained a peak under the later where the telugu period when telugu kings started accquiring vast places in Tamil Nadu. Following the conquest of Madurai by Malik Kafur in 1311, there was a brief lull when both culture and civilisation began to deteriorate, the Tamil and Telugu territories recovered under the Vijayanagar Empire, founded in 1336. Following the empires demise, the country was split amongst numerous sultans, polygars, between 1685 and 1947, a number of kings ruled the areas that became part of the Madras Presidency. On 31 December 1600, Queen Elizabeth I of England granted a group of English merchants a charter to establish a company which became known as the East India Company. The first of these were built at Surat on the west coast, Masulipatam is thus the oldest English trading post on Indias east coast, dating back to 1611. In 1625, another factory was established at Armagon, a few miles to the south, the English authorities decided to relocate these factories farther south, due to a shortage of cotton cloth, the main trade item of the east coast at the time. The problem was compounded when the Sultan of Golconda started harassing the local officers, an agency was created to govern the new settlement, and the factor Andrew Cogan of Masulipatnam was appointed as its first Agent. All the agencies along Indias east coast were subordinated to the East India Company presidency of Bantam in Java, by 1641, Fort St George became the Companys headquarters on the Coromandel Coast
3.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
4.
Chennai
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Chennai /ˈtʃɛnnaɪ/, formerly known as Madras /məˈdrɑːs/ or /-ˈdræs/) is the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal, it is one of the biggest cultural, economic, according to the 2011 Indian census, it is the sixth-largest city and fourth-most populous urban agglomeration in India. The city together with the adjoining regions constitute the Chennai Metropolitan Area, Chennai is among the most visited Indian cities by foreign tourists. It was ranked 43rd most visited city in the world for year 2015, the Quality of Living Survey rated Chennai as the safest city in India. Chennai attracts 45 percent of tourists visiting India, and 30 to 40 percent of domestic health tourists. As such, it is termed Indias health capital, as a growing metropolitan city in a developing country, Chennai confronts substantial pollution and other logistical and socio-economic problems. Chennai has the third-largest expatriate population in India at 35,000 in 2009,82,790 in 2011, tourism guide publisher Lonely Planet named Chennai as one of the top ten cities in the world to visit in 2015. Chennai is ranked as a city in the Global Cities Index and was ranked the best city in India by India Today in the 2014 annual Indian city survey. In 2015 Chennai was named the hottest city by the BBC, National Geographic ranked Chennais food as second best in the world, it was the only Indian city to feature in the list. Chennai was also named the ninth-best cosmopolitan city in the world by Lonely Planet, the Chennai Metropolitan Area is one of the largest city economies of India. Chennai is nicknamed The Detroit of India, with more than one-third of Indias automobile industry being based in the city, in January 2015, it was ranked third in terms of per capita GDP. Chennai has been selected as one of the 100 Indian cities to be developed as a city under PM Narendra Modis flagship Smart Cities Mission. The name Madras originated even before the British presence was established in India, the name Madras is said to have originated from a Portuguese phrase mae de Deus which means mother of god, due to Portuguese influence on the port city. According to some sources, Madras was derived from Madraspattinam, a north of Fort St George. However, it is whether the name was in use before the arrival of Europeans. The British military mapmakers believed Madras was originally Mundir-raj or Mundiraj, Madras might have also been derived from the word Madhuras meaning juice of honey or sugarcane in Sanskrit. The nativity of name Chennai, being of Telugu origin is clearly proved by the historians. The first official use of the name Chennai is said to be in a deed, dated 8 August 1639
5.
Carnatic music
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The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music, most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in gāyaki style. Although there are differences, the basic elements of śruti, swara, rāga. Carnatic music is usually taught and learned through compositions. Other typical instruments used in performances may include the ghatam, kanjira, morsing, venu flute, veena, the most outstanding performances, and the greatest concentration of Carnatic musicians, are to be found in the city of Chennai. Like all art forms in Indian culture, Indian classical music is believed to be an art form which originated from the Devas and Devis. The Yajur-Veda, which consists of sacrificial formulae, mentions the veena as an accompaniment to vocal recitations. References to Indian classical music are made in ancient texts, including epics like the Ramayana. The Yajnavalkya Smriti mentions vīṇāvādana tattvajñaḥ śrutijātiviśāradaḥ tālajñaścāprayāsena mokṣamārgaṃ niyacchati, Carnatic music is based as it is today on musical concepts that were described in detail in several ancient works, particularly the Bharatas Natya Shastra and Silappadhikaram by Ilango Adigal. Owing to Persian and Islamic influences in North India from the 12th century onwards, commentaries and other works, such as Sharngadevas Sangita Ratnakara, further elaborated on the musical concepts found in Indian classical music. By the 16th and 17th centuries, there was a clear demarcation between Carnatic and Hindustani music, Carnatic music remained relatively unaffected by Persian and Arabic influences and it was at this time that Carnatic music flourished in Vijayanagara, while the Vijayanagar Empire reached its greatest extent. Purandara Dasa, who is known as the father of Carnatic Music, venkatamakhin invented and authored the formula for the melakarta system of raga classification in his Sanskrit work, the Chaturdandi Prakasika. Govindacharya is known for expanding the system into the sampoorna raga scheme – the system that is in common use today. Carnatic music was patronized by the local kings of the Kingdom of Mysore. Some famous court-musicians proficient in music were Veene Sheshanna and Veene Subbanna, during the 19th century, the city of Chennai emerged as the locus for Carnatic music. The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on music, most compositions are written to be sung. Like Hindustani music, Carnatic music rests on two elements, rāga, the modes or melodic formulæ, and tāḷa, the rhythmic cycles. Today, Carnatic music is presented by musicians in concerts or recordings, Carnatic music itself developed around musical works or compositions of phenomenal composers. Śruti commonly refers to musical pitch and it is the approximate equivalent of a tonic in Western music, it is the note from which all the others are derived
6.
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
7.
Bharat Ratna
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The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted in 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order, without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The recommendations for the Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President, recipients receive a Sanad signed by the President and a peepal-leaf–shaped medallion, there is no monetary grant associated with the award. Bharat Ratna recipients rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence, the first recipients of the Bharat Ratna were politician C. Rajagopalachari, philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and scientist C. V. Raman, since then, the award has been bestowed on 45 individuals, including 12 who were awarded posthumously. The original statutes did not provide for posthumous awards but were amended in January 1955 to permit them, the former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri became the first individual to be honoured posthumously. In 2014, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, then aged 40, became the youngest recipient, on 24 December 2014, the Indian government announced the award to independence activist Madan Mohan Malaviya and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Following a 1997 Supreme Court decision, the press communiqué announcing Boses award was cancelled, it is the time when the award was announced. Several bestowals of the award have met with criticism, the posthumous award for M. G. On 15 January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan was reclassified into three different awards, the Padma Vibhushan, the highest of the three, followed by the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri, there is no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens. Sachin Tendulkar, at the age of 40, became the youngest person, in a special ceremony on 18 April 1958, Dhondo Keshav Karve was awarded on his 100th birthday. As of 2015, the award has been conferred upon 45 people with 12 posthumous declarations, the award was briefly suspended twice in its history. The first suspension occurred after Morarji Desai was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister in 1977 and his government withdrew all personal civil honours on 13 July 1977. The suspension was rescinded on 25 January 1980, after Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister, the awards were reintroduced by the Supreme Court in December 1995, following the conclusion of the litigation. The Bharat Ratna is conferred in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order, without distinction of race, occupation, position, the award was originally confined to the arts, literature, science, and public services, as per the 1954 regulations. In December 2011, the rules were changed to any field of human endeavour. Although there is no nomination process, recommendations for the award can only be made by the Prime Minister to the President with a maximum number of three nominees being awarded per year. However, in 1999, four individuals were awarded the honour, the recipient receives a Sanad signed by the President and a medallion without any monetary grant
8.
Ramon Magsaysay Award
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The prize was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund based in New York City with the concurrence of the Philippine government. It is named after Ramon Magsaysay, the seventh President of the Philippines, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation gives the prize to Asian individuals achieving excellence in their respective fields. As of 2016, recipients have come from twenty-two Asian countries, the 2016 awardees were Vientiane Rescue, Conchita Carpio-Morales, Dompet Dhuafa, Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, T. M. Krishna and Bezwada Wilson. Compare to questions raised here, Singh Negi, Rajender, Magsaysay Award, Asian Nobel, Not so Noble. Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation Blog
9.
Veena
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The Veena, also spelled as Vina or Beena or Bina, is a multistringed chordophone of the Indian subcontinent. It is an ancient musical instrument that evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers, the many regional designs have different names such as the Rudra veena, the Saraswati veena, the Mohan veena and others. The North Indian design, that has used in classical Hindustani music, is a stick zither. About 3.5 to 4 feet long to fit the measurements of the musician, it has a hollow body and it has four main strings which are melody type, and three auxiliary drone strings. To play, the musician plucks the melody strings downward with a plectrum worn on the first and second fingers, the musician stops the resonating strings, when so desired, with the fingers of the free hand. The Veena has been replaced with the Sitar in north Indian performances. The South Indian Veena design, used in classical Carnatic music, is a lute and it is a long-necked, pear-shaped lute, but instead of the lower gourd of the north Indian design it has a pear shaped wooden piece. It too, however, has 24 frets, four melody strings and it remains an important and popular string instrument in classical Carnatic music. As a fretted, plucked lute, the Veena strings can produce pitches in full three octave range, the long hollow neck design of these Indian instruments allow portamento effects and legato ornaments found in Indian ragas. It has been an instrument in Indian classical music, and one revered in the Indian culture by its inclusion in the iconography of Saraswati. These continue to be used, albeit with different designs, in Carnatic classical music, the Sanskrit word Veena in ancient and medieval Indian literature is a generic term for plucked string musical instruments. Veena is mentioned in the Rigveda, Samaveda and other Vedic literature such as the Shatapatha Brahmana, in the ancient texts, Narada is credited with inventing the Veena, and is described as a seven string instrument with frets. The early Sanskrit texts call any stringed instrument as Vana, the Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni, the oldest surviving ancient Hindu text on classical music and performance arts, discusses Veena. The ancient epic Mahabharata describes sage Narada as a Vedic sage famed as a vina player, the Natya Shastra describes a seven string instrument and other string instruments in thirty five verses, and then explains how the instrument should be played. The technique of performance suggests that the Veena in Bharata Munis time was different than the zither or the lute that became popular after Natya Shastra was complete. The ancient Veena, according to Allyn Miner and other scholars, was closer to a harp, the earliest lute and zither style Veena playing musicians are evidenced in Hindu and Buddhist cave temple reliefs in the early centuries of the common era. Similarly, Indian sculptures from the mid 1st millennium CE depict musicians playing string instruments, by about the 6th century CE, the goddess Saraswati sculptures are predominantly with Veena of the zither-style, similar to modern styles. The Tamil word of Veena is yaaḻ and it is in the list of Musical instruments used by Tamil people in Tirumurai dated 6th to 11th century
10.
Hindustani music
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Hindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music. The style is sometimes called North Indian classical music or Shāstriya Sangīt and it is a tradition that has been evolving since the 12th century CE, in North India. It is one of the two sub-genres of classical music practiced in India, the other being Carnatic music, the tradition of South India. Its main instruments are Tabla and sometimes Sitar and modern guitars and it is a tradition for performers who have reached a distinguished level of achievement to be awarded titles of respect, Hindus are usually referred to as pandit and Muslims as ustad. An aspect of Hindustani music going back to Sufi times is the tradition of neutrality, Muslim ustads may sing compositions in praise of Hindu deities. Around the 12th century, Hindustani classical music diverged from what came to be identified as Carnatic classical music. The central notion in both systems is that of a melodic mode or raga, sung to a rhythmic cycle or tala. These principles were refined in the musical treatises Natya Shastra, by Bharata, in medieval times, the melodic systems were fused with ideas from Persian music, particularly through the influence of Sufi composers like Amir Khusro, and later in the Mughal courts. Noted composers such as Tansen flourished, along with groups like the Vaishnavites. After the 16th century, the singing styles diversified into different gharanas patronized in different princely courts, around 1900, Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande consolidated the musical structures of Hindustani classical music, called ragas, into a number of thaats. Indian classical music has seven basic notes with five interspersed half-notes, the performance is set to a melodic pattern called a raga characterized in part by specific ascent and descent sequences, which may not be identical. Other characteristics include king and queen notes and characteristic phrases, in addition each raga has its natural register and portamento rules. Performances are usually marked by considerable improvisation within these norms, Music is dealt with extensively in the Valmiki Ramayana. Narada is a musician, as is Ravana, Saraswati with her veena is the goddess of music. Gandharvas are presented as spirits who are masters, and the gandharva style looks to music primarily for pleasure. In the Vishnudharmottara Purana, the Naga king Ashvatara asks to know the svaras from Saraswati, the most important text on music in the ancient canon is Bharatas Natya Shastra, composed around the 3rd century CE. The Natya Shastra deals with the different modes of music, dance, and drama, the scale is described in terms of 22 micro-tones, which can be combined in clusters of four, three, or two to form an octave. While the term raga is articulated in the Natya Shastra, it finds a clearer expression in what is called jati in the Dattilam, the Dattilam is focused on gandharva music and discusses scales, defining a tonal framework called grama in terms of 22 micro-tonal intervals comprising one octave
11.
Devadasi
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In South and parts of Western India, a devadasi is a girl dedicated to worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The age group of a girl to be converted as jogini is 8–16 years, the dedication takes place in a Pottukattu ceremony which is similar in some ways to marriage. Traditionally devadasis had a status in society. After marrying wealthy patrons, they spent their time honing their skills instead of becoming a housewife and they had children from their husbands who were also taught their skills of music or dance. Often their patrons had another wife who served them as housewife, some of the eminent personalities hailed from this community are Bharat Ratna M S Subbulakshmi, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishori Amonkar, this Padma Vibhushan Ms T Balasaraswati and Dr. Muthulaksmi Reddi. During British rule in the Indian subcontinent, kings who were the patrons of temples, as a result, devadasis were left without their traditional means of support and patronage. During colonial times, reformists worked towards outlawing the devadasi tradition on grounds that it supported prostitution, recently the devadasi system has started to disappear, having been outlawed in all of India in 1988. Devadasis are also known by other local terms, such as jogini. Furthermore, the practice is known as basivi in Karnataka, matangi in Maharashtra. It is also known as venkatasani, nailis, muralis and theradiyan, there were Devadasis from iyer communities as they performed Bharatanatiyam. Devadasi are sometimes referred to as a caste, however, some question the accuracy of this usage, according to the devadasis themselves there exists a devadasi way of life or professional ethic but not a devadasi jāti. Later, the office of devadasi became hereditary but it did not confer the right to work without adequate qualification, in Europe the term bayadere was occasionally used. According to rules concerning temple worship, dance and music are necessary ingredients of daily puja of deities in temples, the first reference to dancing girls in temples is found in Kalidasas Meghadhoot. It is said that girls were present at the time of worship in the Mahakal Temple of Ujjain. Several Puranas recommended that arrangements should be made to enlist the services of singing girls for worship at temples, by the end of 10th century, the total number of devadasis in many temples was in direct proportion to the wealth and prestige of the temple. During the medieval period, they were regarded as a part of the establishment of temples, they occupied a rank next only to priests. For example, there were 400 devadasis attached to the temples at Tanjore and Travancore, local kings often invited temple dancers to dance in their courts, the occurrence of which created a new category of dancers, rajadasis, and modified the technique and themes of the recitals. A devadasi had to satisfy her own soul while she danced unwatched and offered herself to the god, the popularity of devadasis seems to have reached its pinnacle around 10th and 11th century CE
12.
Thayumanaswami Temple, Rockfort
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The Thayumanavar Temple is a temple situated in the Rockfort complex in the city of Tiruchirappalli, India. The temple is situated close to the base of the Rockfort and was constructed by the Pallava king Mahendravarman I in the 6th century AD, Shiva is worshiped as Thayumanavar, and is represented by the lingam and his consort Parvati is depicted as Mattuvar Kuzhalammai. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, according to Hindu legend, a pregnant woman named Rathnavathi was an ardent devotee of Shiva and he arrived in the form of her mother to attend to her delivery. The presiding deity is thus named Thayumanasway, the one who acted as mother, the Rockfort is a fortress which stands atop a 273-foot-high rock, consisting of a set of monolithic rocks accommodating many rock-cut cave temples. The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5,30 a. m. to 10 p. m. the Chittirai festival during the Tamil month of Chittirai is celebrated for fifteen days, portraying the various incidents associated with the temple legend. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu, according to Hindu legend, a pregnant woman named Rathnavathi was an ardent devotee of Shiva. While nearing labor, she requested her mother to come over and her mom could not reach on account of heavy floods in river Cauvery. As delivery time came closer, Rathnavathi prayed to Shiva, Shiva, moved by the devotion of Rathnavathi, took the form of Rathnavathis mother and helped with her smooth delivery. After the delivery, Shiva vanished and Rathnavathis mother who arrived later, the family came to know that it was Shiva who attended to the delivery. Henceforth, Shiva in the temple came to known as Thayumanaswamy, the temple obtained the name from the presiding deity, Thayumanaswamy. Shiva disguised himself as a mother for a pregnant lady, leading to the name Thayumanavar, according to Hindu mythology, the city Tiruchirappalli derives its name from legend associated with the Thayumanaswamy temple. The three-headed demon Trishira, who meditated on Thayumanavar near the city to obtain favours from the god. An alternative derivation, not universally accepted, is that the source of the name is the Sanskrit word Trishirapuram—Trishira, meaning three-headed. Tiruchirapalli was a part of the Chola kingdom and it houses a number of exquisitely sculpted temples and fortresses, the Rockfort is a fortress which stands atop a 273-foot-high rock. It consists of a set of monolithic rocks accommodating many rock-cut cave temples, originally built by the Pallavas, it was later reconstructed by the Madurai Nayaks and Vijayanagara rulers. The major complex in the temple are believed to be built during the 8th century by the Pandyan Empire, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu. The temple complex has three shrines, two of which are dedicated to Lord Ganesha, one at the foot and the Ucchi Pillayar Temple at the top, the Thayumanavar temple, the largest of the three, houses a shrine for Amman as well as the main deity. The Rockfort is visible from almost every part of the citys north, the Teppakulam at the foot of the Rockfort is surrounded by bazaars
13.
Tiruchirappalli
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Tiruchirappalli, also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli District. It is the fourth largest municipal corporation and the fourth largest urban agglomeration in the state, located 322 kilometres south of Chennai and 379 kilometres north of Kanyakumari, Tiruchirappalli sits almost at the geographic centre of the state. Occupying 167.23 square kilometres, the city was home to 916,857 people in 2011, tiruchirappallis recorded history begins in the 3rd century BC, when it was under the rule of the Cholas. The city has also ruled by the Pandyas, Pallavas, Vijayanagar Empire, Nayak Dynasty, the Carnatic state. The most prominent historical monuments in Tiruchirappalli include the Rockfort, the Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam, the archaeologically important town of Uraiyur, capital of the Early Cholas, is now a suburb of Tiruchirappalli. The city played a role in the Carnatic Wars between the British and the French East India companies. Industrial units such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Golden Rock Railway Workshop, the presence of a large number of energy equipment manufacturing units in and around the city has earned it the title of Energy Equipment and Fabrication Capital of India. Tiruchirappalli is internationally known for a brand of cheroot known as the Trichinopoly cigar, a major road and railway hub in the state, the city is served by an international airport which operates flights to Southeast Asia and the Middle East. According to the National Urban Sanitation Policy, Tiruchirappalli was listed as the third-cleanest city in India in 2016. According to Hindu Mythology, the word Tiruchirappalli is derived from Tiru which is to address someone with respect, Chirapalli is a compound of siram - head, palli - to sleep. It is a reference to the deity Sriranganathaswamy who is depicted at rest with his head in an elevated position in the Srirangam Temple. Telugu scholar C. P. Brown has proposed that Tiruchirappalli might be a derivative of the word Chiruta-palli meaning little town, other scholars have suggested that the name Tiruchirappalli is a rewording of Tiru-chinna-palli, meaning holy little town. The Madras Glossary gives the root as Tiruććināppalli or the village of the shina plant. Historically, Tiruchirappalli was commonly referred to in English as Trichinopoly, Tiruchirappalli is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Tamil Nadu, its earliest settlements date back to the second millennium BC. Uraiyur, the capital of the Early Cholas for 600 years from the 3rd century BC onwards, is a suburb of present-day Tiruchirappalli, the city is referred to as Orthoura by the historian Ptolemy in his 2nd-century work Geography. The worlds oldest surviving dam, the Kallanai about 18 kilometres from Uraiyur, was built across the Kaveri River by Karikala Chola in the 2nd century AD. Following the downfall of the Pallavas in the 8th century, the city was conquered by the Medieval Cholas, who ruled until the 13th century. After the decline of the Cholas, Tiruchirappalli was conquered by the Pandyas, who ruled from 1216 until their defeat in 1311 by Malik Kafur, the victorious armies of the Delhi Sultanate are believed to have plundered and ravaged the region
14.
Mridangam
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The Mridangam is a percussion instrument from India of ancient origin. It is the rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. During a percussion ensemble, the mridangam is often accompanied by the ghatam, kanjira, in Tamil culture, it is called a tannumai. The earliest mention of the mridangam in Tamil literature is found perhaps in the Sangam literature where the instrument is known as tannumai. The word Mridangam is Sandhi or union of the two Sanskrit words mŗda and anga, as early Mridangam were made of hardened clay, nandi is said to have played the mridangam during Shivas primordial tandava dance, causing a divine rhythm to resound across the heavens. The mridangam is thus known as Deva Vaadyam, or Divine Instrument. Over the years, the mridangam evolved to be made of different kinds of wood due to its increased durability and it is widely believed that the tabla, the mridangams Hindustani musical counterpart, was first constructed by splitting a mridangam in half. With the development of the came the tala system. The system of talas in Carnatic music may be the most complex percussive rhythm system of any form of classical music, Mridangam has a large role in Newa music. One of the earliest Nepal Bhasa manuscripts on music is a treatise on this instrument called Mridanga anukaranam, the importance of a beating has changed over the years. In the old days, percussionists only used to accompany the player like the vocalist but this time their development is not restricted to accompaniment only. In Tamil culture, it is called a tannumai, the earliest mention of the mridangam in Tamil literature is found perhaps in the Sangam literature where the instrument is known as tannumai. In later works like the Silappadikaram also we find detailed references to it as in the Natyasastra, the player of this instrument held the title tannumai aruntozhil mutalvan. The mridangam is a double-sided drum whose body is made using a hollowed piece of jackfruit wood about an inch thick. The two mouths or apertures of the drum are covered with a goatskin and laced to each other with leather straps around the circumference of the drum. These straps are put into a state of tension to stretch out the circular membranes on either side of the hull. These two membranes are dissimilar in width to allow for the production of bass and treble sounds from the same drum. The bass aperture is known as the thoppi or eda bhaaga, the smaller membrane, when struck, produces higher pitched sounds with a metallic timbre. The wider aperture produces lower pitched sounds, the goat skin covering the smaller aperture is anointed in the center with a black disk made of rice flour, ferric oxide powder and starch
15.
Indian National Congress
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The Indian National Congress is one of two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress was founded in 1885 during the British Raj, its founders include Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, there have been seven Congress Prime Ministers, the first being Jawaharlal Nehru, and the most recent Manmohan Singh. The partys social liberal platform is considered to be on the centre-left of Indian politics. From 2004 to 2014, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, a coalition of regional parties. As of March 2017, the party is in power in five states, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya, in Bihar, it is a part of the ruling coalition. The Congress has previously directly ruled Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, in the 2014 general election, the Congress had its poorest post-independence general election performance, winning only 44 seats of the 543-member house. The party primarily endorses social liberalism—seeking to balance individual liberty and social justice, the Congress was founded in 1885 by Indian and British members of the Theosophical Society movement, including Scotsman Allan Octavian Hume. It has been suggested that the idea was conceived in a meeting of 17 men after a Theosophical Convention held in Madras in December 1884. Hume took the initiative, and in March 1885 the first notice convening the first Indian National Union to meet in Poona the following December was issued. Its objective was to obtain a share in government for educated Indians and to create a platform for civic. The first meeting was scheduled to be held in Poona, Hume organised the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of the Viceroy Lord Dufferin. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first president of the Congress, the first session was held from 28–31 December 1885, representing each province of India, the Partys delegates comprised 54 Hindus and 2 Muslims, the rest were of Parsi and Jain backgrounds. It also included Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Mohammed Ali Jinnah—later leader of the Muslim League and instrumental in the creation of Pakistan. The Congress was transformed into a movement by Surendranath Banerjea and Sir Henry Cotton during the partition of Bengal in 1905. Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa in 1915, in 1923 following the deaths of policemen at Chauri Chaura, Gandhi suspended the agitation. In protest, a number of leaders, Chittaranjan Das, Annie Besant, the Khilafat movement collapsed and the Congress was split. Although its members were predominantly Hindu, it had members from other religions, economic classes, at the Congress 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, Purna Swaraj was declared as the partys goal, declaring 26 January 1930 as Purna Swaraj Diwas, Independence Day. The same year, Srinivas Iyenger was expelled from the party for demanding full independence, the British government allowed provincial elections in India in the winter of 1936–37 under the Government of India Act 1935
16.
Sevasadanam
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Sevasadanam is a 1938 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam. It is one of the early Tamil films to be set in a social setting. This was the first film for M. S. Subbulakshmi, after the success of Balayogini, director Subramanyam was encouraged to make more socially oriented films. In 1938 he decided to make a version of Premchands novel Bazaar-e-Husn. While Balayogini was about the travails of widows, Sevasadanam dealt with abuse, prostitution. Subramanyam wrote the screenplay himself and made the film under his Madras United Artists Corporation Banner, the completed film was 18,900 feet in length with a run time of 210 minutes. Sevasadanam tells the story of an abused wife Sumathi who is out of her house by husband. Later she reforms her ways and devotes her life to running an institution for the children of prostitutes, M. S. Subbulakshmi - Sumathi F. G. It was a critical and commercial success, ananda Vikatan favourably reviewed the film on 8 May 1938, As was the case with Balayogini, conservative Hindus were upset with Sevasadanam. The veteran Marxist leader N. Sankaraiah, has described Seva Sadhanam as a film for choosing the subject of marriages between young girls and old men. According to him, the film successfully broughout the sufferings of the girl, natesa Iyers performance in the role of the old man, which he said was impressive. Tamil film critic and historian Aranthai Narayanan observes in his book Thamizh Cinemavin Kathai that Seva Sadhanam proved a point in the history of Tamil cinema. In the climax, the husband, now a totally changed man, was shown as casting aside with utter contempt his sacred thread. It came as a blow to the then Brahmin orthodoxy. No print of Sevasadanam is known to survive, making it a lost film, while K. A. K. Ranga Rao in Chennai. Tamil films of the 1930s Sevasadan at the Internet Movie Database http, //www. dhingana. com/maa-ramanan-song-sevasadanam-tamil-oldies-399aa31 Film India Magazine 1938 at Archive. org
17.
Bhajan
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It also refers to any song with religious theme or spiritual ideas, in a regional Indian language. A Bhajan has no prescribed form, or set rules, is in form, normally lyrical. It belongs to a genre of music and arts developed with the Bhakti movement. It is found in the traditions of Hinduism but particularly in Vaishnavism, in Jainism. Ideas from scriptures, legendary epics, the teachings of saints and it is usually a group event, with one or more lead singers, accompanied with music, and sometimes dancing. A bhajan may be sung in a temple, in a home, under a tree in open and its genre such as Nirguni, Gorakhanathi, Vallabhapanthi, Ashtachhap, Madhura-bhakti and the traditional South Indian form Sampradya Bhajan each have their own repertoire and methods of singing. The Sanskrit word bhajan or bhajana is derived from the root bhaj, the word also connotes attachment, devotion to, fondness for, homage, faith or love, worship, piety to something as a spiritual, religious principle or means of salvation. In Hinduism, Bhajan and its Bhakti analog Kirtan, have roots in the ancient metric and musical traditions of the Vedic era, the Samaveda samhita is not meant to be read as a text, it is like a musical score sheet that must be heard. Other late Vedic texts mention the two scholars Shilalin and Krishashva, credited to be pioneers in the studies of ancient drama, singing, the art schools of Shilalin and Krishashva may have been associated with the performance of vedic rituals, which involved story telling with embedded ethical values. This supreme truth is, states Guy Beck, considered as full of bliss and rasa in the Hindu thought, Devotional music genre such as Bhajan are part of a tradition that emerged from these roots. A Bhajan in Hindu traditions is an informal, loosely structured devotional song with music in a regional language, a Bhajan may be sung individually, or more commonly together as a choral event wherein the lyrics include religious or spiritual themes in the local language. The themes are loving devotion to a deity, legends from the Epics or the Puranas, compositions of Bhakti movement saints, some Bhajan songs are centuries old, popular on a pan-regional basis, passed down as a community tradition, while others newly composed. They are sung in open air, inside temples such as those of Swaminarayan movement, in Vaishnava monasteries, during festivals or special events, a Bhajan is closely related to Kirtan, with both sharing common aims, subjects, musical themes and being devotional performance arts. A Bhajan is more free in form, and can be singular melody that is performed by a singer with or without one. A Bhajan, in contrast, is experienced in silence or a sing along. Stavan is a form of popular and historically pervasive genre of music in Jainism. The subject of a Stavan varies, ranging from praise of Jina, Jain religious ideas and its philosophy, Jainism rejects any Creator god, but accepts protector deities and rebirth of souls as heavenly beings, and its devotional singing traditions integrate these beliefs. Stavan may include dancing and worship rituals, known as Bhajan in north and west Indian regional languages, a Stavan is typically sung as folk melodies by groups of Jain women, and are formal part of ceremonies and celebrations within Jainism
18.
Nickname
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A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place, or thing, for affection or ridicule. The term hypocoristic is used to refer to a nickname of affection between those in love or with an emotional bond, compared with a term of endearment. The term diminutive name refers to nicknames that convey smallness, hence something regarded with affection or familiarity, the distinction between the two is often blurred. It is a form of endearment and amusement, as a concept, it is distinct from both pseudonym and stage name, and also from a title, although there may be overlap in these concepts. A moniker also means a nickname or personal name, the word often distinguishes personal names from nicknames that became proper names out of former nicknames. English examples are Bob and Rob, nickname variants for Robert, a nickname is often considered desirable, symbolising a form of acceptance, but can sometimes be a form of ridicule. The compound word ekename, literally meaning additional name, was attested as early as 1303 and this word was derived from the Old English phrase eaca an increase, related to eacian to increase. By the fifteenth century, the misdivision of the syllables of the phrase an ekename led to its reanalysis as a nekename, though the spelling has changed, the pronunciation and meaning of the word have remained relatively stable ever since. However, it is common for the nickname to be identified after a comma following the full real name or later in the body of the text. The middle name is generally eliminated, especially in speech, like English, German uses quotation marks between the first and last names. The latter may cause confusion because it resembles an English convention sometimes used for married, in Viking societies, many people had heiti, viðrnefni, or kenningarnöfn which were used in addition to, or instead of the first name. Slaves have often used nicknames, so that the master who heard about someone doing something could not identify the slave, in capoeira, a Brazilian martial art, the slaves had nicknames to protect them from being caught, as practising capoeira was illegal for decades. In Anglo-American culture, a nickname is based on a shortening of a persons proper name. However, in societies, this may not necessarily be the case. For example, my nickname is farmer Phil In Indian society, for example, generally people have at least one nickname, Indian nicknames very often are a trivial word or a diminutive. In Australian society, Australian men will often give ironic nicknames, for example, a man with red hair will be given the nickname Blue or Bluey. A tall man will be called Shorty, an obese person Slim, in England, some nicknames are traditionally associated with a persons surname. A man with the surname Clark will be nicknamed Nobby, the surname Miller will have the nickname Dusty, there are several other nicknames linked traditionally with a persons surname, including Chalky White, Bunny Warren, Tug Wilson, and Spud Baker
19.
Carnegie Hall
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Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1891, it is one of the most prestigious venues in the world for both classical music and popular music. Carnegie Hall has its own programming, development, and marketing departments. It is also rented out to performing groups, the hall has not had a resident company since 1962, when the New York Philharmonic moved to Lincoln Centers Philharmonic Hall. Carnegie Hall has 3,671 seats, divided among its three auditoriums, Carnegie Hall presented about 200 concerts in the 2008–2009 season, up 3 percent from the previous year. Its stages were rented for an additional 600 events in the 2008–2009 season, Carnegie Hall contains three distinct, separate performance spaces. The Isaac Stern Auditorium seats 2,804 on five levels and was named after violinist Isaac Stern in 1997 to recognize his efforts to save the hall from demolition in the 1960s, the hall is enormously high, and visitors to the top balcony must climb 137 steps. All but the top level can be reached by elevator, the main hall was home to the performances of the New York Philharmonic from 1892 until 1962. Known as the most prestigious concert stage in the U. S. almost all of the classical music. After years of wear and tear, the hall was extensively renovated in 1986. The Ronald O. Perelman Stage is 42 feet deep, the First Tier and Second Tier consist of sixty-five boxes, the First Tier has 264 seats at eight seats per box and the Second Tier seats 238, with boxes ranging from six to eight seats each. Second from the top is the Dress Circle, seating 444 in six rows, at the top, the balcony seats 837. Although seats with obstructed views exist throughout the auditorium, only the Dress Circle level has structural columns, Zankel Hall, which seats 599, is named after Judy and Arthur Zankel. Originally called simply Recital Hall, this was the first auditorium to open to the public in April 1891, following renovations made in 1896, it was renamed Carnegie Lyceum. The completely reconstructed Zankel Hall is flexible in design and can be reconfigured in several different arrangements to suit the needs of the performers, the 599 seats in Zankel Hall are arranged in two levels. The Parterre level seats a total of 463 and the Mezzanine level seats 136, each level has a number of seats which are situated along the side walls, perpendicular to the stage. These seats are designated as boxes, there are 54 seats in six boxes on the Parterre level and 48 seats in four boxes on the Mezzanine level, the boxes on the Parterre level are raised above the level of the stage. Zankel Hall is accessible and its stage is 44 feet wide and 25 feet deep — the stage occupies approximately one fifth of the performance space, the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall seats 268 and is named after Sanford I. Weill, a chairman of the board, and his wife Joan
20.
United Nations General Assembly
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The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation. The General Assembly is the deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN. It has also established a number of subsidiary organs. It can also reconvene for special and emergency special sessions and its composition, functions, powers, voting, and procedures are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter. The first session was convened on 10 January 1946 in the Methodist Central Hall in London, other questions are decided by a straightforward majority. Each member country has one vote, apart from approval of budgetary matters, including adoption of a scale of assessment, Assembly resolutions are not binding on the members. The Assembly may make recommendations on any matters within the scope of the UN, except matters of peace, the one state, one vote power structure potentially allows states comprising just five percent of the world population to pass a resolution by a two-thirds vote. During the 1980s, the Assembly became a forum for the North-South dialogue and these issues came to the fore because of the phenomenal growth and changing makeup of the UN membership. In 1945, the UN had 51 members and it now has 193, of which more than two-thirds are developing countries. Because of their numbers, developing countries are able to determine the agenda of the Assembly, the character of its debates. For many developing countries, the UN is the source of much of their diplomatic influence, the Assembly can consider the matter immediately with a view to making recommendations to Members for collective measures to maintain or restore international peace and security. The first session of the UN General Assembly was convened on 10 January 1946 in the Methodist Central Hall in London, the next few annual sessions were held in different cities, the second session in New York, and the third session was in Paris. It moved to the permanent United Nations Headquarters in New York at the start of its seventh regular annual session, on 14 October 1952. In December 1988, in order to hear Yasser Arafat, the General Assembly organised its 29th session in the Palace of Nations, all 193 members states of the United Nations are members of the General Assembly. The agenda for each session is planned up to seven months in advance and this is refined into a provisional agenda 60 days before the opening of the session. Items on the agenda are numbered, the General Assembly votes on many resolutions brought forth by sponsoring states. These are generally statements symbolizing the sense of the community about an array of world issues. Most General Assembly resolutions are not enforceable as a legal or practical matter, the General Assembly has authority to make final decisions in some areas such as the United Nations budget
21.
Royal Albert Hall
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The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, which holds the Proms concerts annually each summer since 1941. It has a capacity of up to 5,272 seats, the Hall is a registered charity held in trust for the nation and receives no public or government funding. A further 400 events are each year in the non-auditorium spaces. In 1851, the Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park, the Exhibitions Royal Commission bought Gore House and its grounds on the advice of the Prince. Progress on the scheme was slow and in 1861 Prince Albert died, however, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite. The proposal was approved and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition, the Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers and built by Lucas Brothers. The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum. The recently opened Cirque dHiver in Paris was seen in the press as the design to outdo. The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs, the dome on top was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was an assembly made of the iron framework of the dome in Manchester, then it was taken apart again and transported to London via horse. When the time came for the structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch, the Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870 and the Queen visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect. The official opening ceremony of the Hall was on 29 March 1871, a welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak. At some point, the Queen remarked that the Hall reminded her of the British constitution, a concert followed, when the Halls acoustic problems became immediately apparent. Engineers first attempted to solve the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome, in July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from the Faust by Charles Gounod, The Orchestra described his performance as an exceptional and distinguished performer. Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a system where its thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888, during an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times declaring it to be a very ghastly and unpleasant innovation. In May 1877, Richard Wagner himself conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival
22.
Kalki Sadasivam
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He is well known as the husband of famous classical carnatic singer M. S. Subbulakshmi Kalki Sadasivam was born on 4 September 1902 at Aangarai in Tiruchirapalli District, as a result, he quit school and enlisted in the Bharata Samaj, serving Subramaniya Siva who was afflicted with leprosy and ardent involving himself in the Swadeshi Movement. On listening to speeches by Rajagopalachari and Mahatma Gandhi he later adopted non-violence, Sadasivam had two daughters named Radha and Vijaya from his first wife, Smt. In July 1936, Sadasivam met M. S, subbulakshmi, who subscribed to his ideological and political views. The two eventually married on 10 July 1940 after his first wife died, Sadasivam was also close to journalist and writer Kalki Krishnamurthy with whom he co-founded the popular magazine Kalki in 1940
23.
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
24.
Premchand
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Premchand, better known as Munshi Premchand, Munshi being an honorary prefix, was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindi-Urdu literature. He is one of the most celebrated writers of the Indian subcontinent, born Dhanpat Rai Srivastav, he began writing under the pen name Nawab Rai, but subsequently switched to Premchand. A novel writer, story writer and dramatist, he has referred to as the Upanyas Samrat by writers. His works include more than a dozen novels, around 250 short stories, several essays, Premchand was born on 31 July 1880 in Lamhi, a village located near Varanasi. His ancestors came from a large Kayastha family, which owned six bighas of land and his grandfather Guru Sahai Rai was a patwari, and his father Ajaib Rai was a post office clerk. His mother was Anandi Devi of Karauni village, who could have been the inspiration for the character Anandi in his Bade Ghar Ki Beti. Premchand was the child of Ajaib Lal and Anandi, the first two were girls who died as infants, and the third one was a girl named Suggi. His parents named him Dhanpat Rai, while his uncle, Mahabir, Nawab Rai was the first pen name chosen by Premchand. When he was 7 years old, Premchand began his education at a madrasa in Lalpur and he learnt Urdu and Persian from a maulvi in the madrasa. When he was 8, his mother died after a long illness and his grandmother, who took the responsibility of raising him, died soon after. Premchand felt isolated, as his sister had already been married. His father, who was now posted at Gorkhapur, remarried, the step-mother later became a recurring theme in Premchands works. As a child, Premchand sought solace in fiction, and developed a fascination for books and he heard the stories from the Persian-language fantasy epic Tilism-e-Hoshruba at a tobacconists shop. He took the job of selling books for a book wholesaler and he learnt English at a missionary school, and studied several works of fiction including George W. M. Reynoldss eight-volume The Mysteries of the Court of London. He composed his first literary work at Gorakhpur, which was never published and is now lost and it was a farce on a bachelor, who falls in love with a low-caste woman. The character was based on Premchands uncle, who used to him for being obsessed with reading fiction. After his father was posted to Jamniya in the mid-1890s, Premchand enrolled at the Queens College at Banaras as a day scholar, in 1895, he was married at the age of 15, while still studying in the 9th grade. The match was arranged by his maternal step-grandfather, the girl was from a rich landlord family and was older than Premchand, who found her quarrelsome and not good-looking
25.
Narada
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Narada is a Vedic sage, famous in Hindu traditions as a traveling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He appears in a number of Hindu texts, notably the Mahabharata, in Indian texts, Narada travels to distant worlds and realms. He is depicted carrying a khartal and Veena with the name Mahathi and is regarded as one of the great masters of the ancient musical instrument. This instrument is known by the name mahathi which he uses to accompany his singing of hymns, prayers, in the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism, he is presented as a sage with devotion to Lord Vishnu. Narada is described as wise and mischievous, in humorous tales. Vaishnav enthusiasts depict him as a pure, elevated soul who glorifies Vishnu through his songs, singing the names Hari and Narayana. The Narada Bhakti Sutra is attributed to him, in the Mahabharata, Narada was conversant with the Vedas and the Upanishads and was acquainted with history and Puranas. He had mastery of the six Angas, pronunciation, grammar, prosody, terms, religious rites and he was a perfect master in re-conciliatory texts and differentiating in applying general principles to particular cases. He could swiftly interpret contraries by references to differences in situation and he was eloquent, resolute, intelligent and possessor of powerful memory. He knew the science of morals, politics, skilled in drawing inference from evidence and he was competent in judging the correctness and incorrectness of complex syllogistic statements consisting of 5 proponents. He was capable of arriving at definite conclusions about religion, wealth, pleasure and he possessed knowledge of this whole universe, above it, below it and everything surrounding it. He was capable of answering successively at Vrihaspati himself, while arguing and he was the master of the Sankhya and Yoga systems of philosophy, conversant with sciences of war and treaty and proficient in drawing conclusions of judging things not within a direct knowledge. He knew about the six sciences of treaty, war, military campaigns, maintenance of posts against the enemy and he was a thorough master of every branch of learning. He was fond of war and music and was incapable of being repulsed by any science or any course of action. The Bhagavata Purana describes the story of Naradas spiritual enlightenment, He was the source of information among Gods. He claimed to have 60 wives, in his previous birth Narada was a Gandharva who had been cursed to be born on an earthly planet as a sudra for singing glories to the demigods instead of the Supreme Lord. He was born as the son of a maid-servant of some particularly saintly priests, the priests, being pleased with both his and his mothers service, blessed him by allowing him to eat some of their food, previously offered to their lord, Vishnu. Gradually he received blessings from these sages and heard them discussing many spiritual topics
26.
Kalki (magazine)
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Kalki is a Tamil magazine published from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The magazine was established by Kalki Krishnamurthy, a popular Tamil novelist and Indian freedom fighter, the magazine is known for its publication of historic novels by Kalki such as Ponniyin Selvan and Sivagamiyin Sabadham. Kalki Krishnamurthy also edited the magazine, which is published on a weekly basis, during his term the magazine was much more respected due to its quality. Following his death it lost this and popularized
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Rajasthan
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Rajasthan is Indias largest state by area. Elsewhere it is bordered by the other Indian states, Punjab to the north, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the southeast, and Gujarat to the southwest. Rajasthan is also home to two national reserves, the Ranthambore National Park in Sawai Madhopur and Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar. The state was formed on 30 March 1949 when Rajputana – the name adopted by the British Raj for its dependencies in the region – was merged into the Dominion of India. Its capital and largest city is Jaipur, also known as Pink City, other important cities are Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Kota and Ajmer. Parts of what is now Rajasthan were partly part of the Vedic Civilisation, kalibangan, in Hanumangarh district, was a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization. Matsya Kingdom of the Vedic civilisation of India, is said to roughly corresponded to the state of Jaipur in Rajasthan. The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagar, which is said to have named after its founder king Virata. Bhargava identifies the two districts of Jhunjhunu and Sikar and parts of Jaipur district along with Haryana districts of Mahendragarh, bhargava also locates the present day Sahibi River as the Vedic Drishadwati River, which along with Saraswati River formed the borders of the Vedic state of Brahmavarta. Manu and Bhrigu narrated the Manusmriti to a congregation of seers in this area only, the Indo-Scythians invaded the area of Ujjain and established the Saka era, marking the beginning of the long-lived Saka Western Satraps state. Gurjars ruled for many dynasties in this part of the country, up to the tenth century almost the whole of North India, acknowledged the supremacy of the Gurjars with their seat of power at Kannauj. The Gurjar Pratihar Empire acted as a barrier for Arab invaders from the 8th to the 11th century, the chief accomplishment of the Gurjara Pratihara empire lies in its successful resistance to foreign invasions from the west, starting in the days of Junaid. Majumdar says that this was acknowledged by the Arab writers. He further notes that historians of India have wondered at the progress of Muslim invaders in India. Traditionally the Rajputs, Jats, Meenas, REBARI, Gurjars, Bhils, Rajpurohit, Charans, Yadavs, Bishnois, Sermals, PhulMali, all these tribes suffered great difficulties in protecting their culture and the land. Millions of them were killed trying to protect their land, a number of Gurjars had been exterminated in Bhinmal and Ajmer areas fighting with the invaders. Meenas were rulers of Bundi, Hadoti and the Dhundhar region, hem Chandra Vikramaditya, the Hindu Emperor, was born in the village of Machheri in Alwar District in 1501. Hem Chandra was killed in the battlefield at Second Battle of Panipat fighting against Mughals on 5 November 1556, maharana Pratap of Mewar resisted Akbar in the famous Battle of Haldighati and later operated from hilly areas of his kingdom
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Meera
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Meera, also known as Meera Bai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition, Meera Bai was born into a Rajput royal family of Kudki district of Pali, Rajasthan, India. She is mentioned in Bhaktamal, confirming that she was widely known and she has been the subject of numerous folk tales and hagiographic legends, which are inconsistent or widely different in details. Many poems attributed to Meera were likely composed later by others who admired Meera and these poems are commonly known as bhajans, and are popular across India. Hindu temples, such as in Chittorgarh fort, are dedicated to Mira Bais memory, legends about Meeras life, of contested authenticity, have been the subject of movies, comic strips and other popular literature in modern times. Authentic records about Meera are not available, and scholars have attempted to establish Meeras biography from secondary literature that mention her, Meera unwillingly married Bhoj Raj, the crown prince of Mewar, in 1516. Her husband was wounded in one of the ongoing Hindu-Muslim wars of the Delhi Sultanate in 1518, and he died of battle wounds in 1521. Both her own father and her father-in-law were killed within a few years after her husband, after the death of her father-in-law, Vikram Singh became the ruler of Mewar. According to the legends, she was not harmed in either case. In another version of legends, she is asked by Vikram Singh to go drown herself. Other stories state that Mira Bai left the kingdom of Mewar, in her last years, Meera lived in Dwarka, Vrindavan, where legends state she miraculously disappeared by merging into an idol of Krishna in 1547. While thousands of verses are attributed to her, scholars state that only a fraction of those are authentic. There are no surviving manuscripts of her poetry from her century, the largest collection of poems credited to her are in 19th-century manuscripts. Scholars have attempted to establish authenticity based on both the poem and Meera being mentioned in manuscripts as well as from style, linguistics. John Stratton Hawley cautions, When one speaks of the poetry of Mirabai, then, There must always remain a question about whether there is any real relation between the poems we cite and a historical Mira. In her poems, Krishna is a yogi and lover, Meeras style combines impassioned mood, defiance, longing, anticipation, joy and ecstasy of union, always centered on Krishna. Meera speaks of a relationship with Krishna as her lover, lord. The characteristic of her poetry is complete surrender, Meera is often classed with the northern Sant bhaktis who spoke of a formless divinity
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Meera (1945 film)
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M. G. Ramachandran played a minor role thus making Meera the only movie in which two Bharath Ratna laureates acted. The film was directed by American film director Ellis R. Dungan, as Meera grows into a young woman, her devotion to Krishna grows. Much against her wishes, Meera is married to Rana, the king of Mewar, but even after marriage, her love for Krishna remains unchanged. She follows her own ideals and way of living which are not acceptable to Rana and his family, especially his brother Vikraman, Meera requests Rana to construct a temple for Krishna in Chittor, the capital of Mewar. Out of love for her, Rana agrees and constructs a temple, an overjoyed Meera remains in the temple most of the time, singing in praise of Krishna along with other devotees and avoids staying at the palace. On Vijayadasami day, Rana expects Meera to be with him at the royal assembly, but on her way to the assembly, Meera hears Krishnas flute playing, returns to the temple and remains there. The king gets angry when he realises that Meera has gone back to the temple again, to get rid of Meera, Vikraman gives a poisoned drink through Udra, but Meera is saved by Krishna and the poison does not affect her. Instead, Krishnas idol at the Dwarakadheesh Temple becomes deep blue, the doors close spontaneously. At Delhi, Akbar learns about Meeras singing and devotion to Krishna and he sends her a pearl necklace as a gift, which Meera puts on Krishnas idol. Vikraman goes to the temple and orders Meera and the devotees to come out before the demolition begins. However, Meera refuses, stays back in the temple and continues her bhajans, meanwhile, Rana comes to know from his sister Udra about Vikramans failed attempt to kill Meera by poison. Shocked when he realises Meeras real identity, he rushes to meet her in the temple which is about to be demolished, when a cannon is fired, Rana stops it and gets injured. When Meera hears Krishna calling her, she admits to Rana that she has failed in her duties as a wife and she explains that her heart is with Krishna and seeks Ranas permission to leave palace life and her desire to visit Krishnas temple at Dwaraka. Rana realises her devotion and allows her to go, once Meera leaves, the Mewar kingdom suffers serious drought and the subjects plead with Rana to bring Meera back, so Rana goes in search of her. Meera first goes to Brindavanam and meets the sage who originally predicted about her devotion, together, they leave for Dwaraka, the birthplace of Krishna, on reaching the temple, she starts singing in praise of Krishna. Rana, who has followed her, also reaches the temple, the doors of the temple, which were closed till then, open. Krishna appears and invites Meera inside, Meera runs towards Krishna and falls dead while her soul merges with Him. Rana comes rushing in only to find Meeras corpse, Meeras devotion to Krishna is finally rewarded and she is united with Him
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Sakuntalai
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Sakuntalai is a 1940 Tamil film directed by Ellis R. Dungan and starring M. S. Subbulakshmi and G. N. Balasubramaniam. Subbulakshmi and her husband T. Sadasivam formed Royal Talkies to produce their own films and they decided to make a movie based Shakuntalas life and asked director K. Subramanyam, to direct the film. Subramaniam was not able to do so because of prior commitments, Sadasivam wrote the screenplay and Papanasam Sivan was hired to write the lyrics. Carnatic singer G. N. Balasubramaniam was cast as King Dushyanta, the comedic duo of N. S. Krishnan - T. A. Mathuram were also among the cast. Dungan introduced several new techniques to Tamil cinema in this film, the scene where Shakuntala loses her ring was shot in slow motion through a glass tank filled with water. In his autobiography, Dungan wrote the following about his use of a European dancer for adding glamour to the film, the film advanced the popularity of singing lead actress M. S. Subbulakshmi. Sakuntalai is the story of the mythological queen Shakuntala, whose tale is told in the Mahabarata, a couple of songs were longer than usual and the gramophone company had to issue special large sized records for them. Sakuntalai at the Internet Movie Database YouTube video of Sukumara Ethabam song from Shakuntala Photograph of Sadasivam, M. S. Subbulakshmi, Ellis R. Dungan during the shoot of Meera
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Ellis R. Dungan
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Ellis Roderick Dungan was an American film director, who was well known for working in Indian films, predominantly in Tamil cinema, from 1936 to 1950. He was an alumnus of the University of Southern California and moved to India in 1935. During his film career in South India, Dungan directed the films of several popular Tamil film actors, such as M. G. Ramachandran in Sathi Leelavathi, T. S. Balaiya. An Irish-American, Dungan was born in Barton, Ohio, USA on May 11,1909 and he attended high school in St. Clairsville, where he played quarterback on the school football team. He bought his first box camera to take pictures for the school yearbook and he later enrolled at the University of Southern California in 1932 in the newly established Cinema Department. In 1935, he came to India with his college mate Michael Ormalev at the invitation of another USC student - Manik Lal Tandon of Bombay, tandons family was then planning to enter the film industry. When those plans did not take off, Tandon invited them to Calcutta where he was directing the Tamil film Nandanar, thus Dungan made his directing debut with Sathi Leelavathi which was also the first film of future-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. G. Ramachandran. During 1936-50, Dungan made a number of Tamil films and one Hindi film - Meera, Dungan had no knowledge of Indian languages, a problem which never affected his career as a director of films in Indian languages, especially Tamil. He introduced many new techniques to Indian cinema despite the limitations of that period. Many of his movies were based on the characters of the Hindu religion. Dungan filmed his movies in the temples by passing himself off as a Kashmiri pundit, Dungan is credited with introducing modern make-up, the mobile camera and cabaret dance numbers to Tamil Cinema and moving it away from the influence of stage plays. For his introduction of intimate scenes in Ponmudi, Dungan was criticized by the press for introducing vulgar scenes. His last Tamil film was Manthiri Kumari in 1950 and he returned to America and settled in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1958. There he started his company - Ellis Dungan productions and for the thirty years made documentary movies for the Hollywood producer Duke Goldstone. Dungan died in Wheeling on December 1,2001 at the age of 92, Dungan is credited with having revolutionized Indian cinema and introduced western innovations. In 2013, American film maker Karan Bali made a documentary on Dungan titled An American in Madras by consulting West Virginia State Archives. Ellis R. Dungan at the Internet Movie Database Entry in the Wheeling Hall of Fame NYT blog post on Ellis R. Dungan
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Shanta Apte
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Shanta Apte was an Indian singer-actress who worked in Marathi and Hindi cinema. Renowned for her roles in films like Duniya Na Mane/Kunku and Amar Jyoti under the Prabhat Films banner, Aptes impact on Marathi cinema paralleled that of Kanan Devis in Bengali cinema. Along with Kanan Devi, Apte is cited as one of the singing stars from before the playback singing era. Apte began her career in playing the role of a young Radha in the Marathi film Shyamsunder. She joined Prabhat Films acting in her first Hindi language film Amrit Manthan in and she brought a change in the static style of song renditions in films with her spontaneous gestures and eye movements. A woman of rare mettle she staged a strike in 1939 at the Prabhat Studios gate following a disagreement regarding a clause in her contract. Cited as a domestic guerrilla following her roles in films like Kunku/Duniya Na mane and she was also one of the earliest Indian cinema actor to write her autobiography Jau Mi Cinemat in Marathi. Born in 1916 in Dudhni, Maharashtra, India, to a Brahmin family, following her fathers inclination towards singing, the young Apte took up it up, rendering bhajans at the local Ganesh festivals in Poona. She studied music at the Maharashtra Sangeet Vidyalaya in Pandharpur and she was introduced in films as a child artiste at the age of nine years, by the actor-director Baburao Pendharkar. The guidance of her older brother Baburao Apte, who acted in Aptes first film Shyamsunder as Radhas husband, was stated to be a help in her rise to stardom. Apte started her career when she was discovered at the age of nine years by Baburao Pendharkar. The film is stated to be the first Marathi film to celebrate a jubilee in a single theatre. In 1934 she was cast as the sister in Amrit Manthan directed by V. Shantaram for Prabhat Films. The film was a bonanza and a big break for Apte. It was the first Hindi talkie film to celebrate a silver jubilee and was screened at International Film Festival and it co-starred Durga Khote, Vasanti and Chandra Mohan and was Prabhat Film banners first film to have playback singing. In 1937, she acted in V. Shantarams Duniya Na Mane also called The Unexpected, where she played the role of a girl, Nirmala. She protests and refuses to him as her husband. In the end, the old man realises what hes done and commits suicide, Shanta sang an English song in the film, a version of H. W. Longfellows Psalm of Life
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Chittor V. Nagaiah
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Chittoor V. Nagaiah was a multilingual Indian film actor, thespian, composer, director, producer, writer and playback singer from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, India. Indian film journalist and the editor of Film India, Baburao Patel, in his honor, the Mahati Chittor Nagaiah Kalakshetram of arts was established in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Nagaiah was closely connected to Rama Vilasa Sabha, a Telugu theatre association in Chittoor and he performed and directed several stage plays, such as Sarangadhara, Viswamithra Chitra Nilayam, Savitri, Bruhannala and Ramadasu. He staged the roles of Telugu saint-poets Pothana, Vemana, Ramadasu, Nagaiah developed a life-time association with B. N. Reddy, at this juncture H. M. Reddy formed Rohini Pictures with the association of B. N. Reddy. The firm started its first venture in Telugu through the film Gruhalakshmi in 1938, later, the association worked through several films with Vauhini Studios including social films such as, Vande Matharam, Sumangali, Devata, Swarga Seema, and Beedhalapatlu. Nagaiah made significant contributions to Telugu cinema, and was starred in two hundred Telugu films. Nagaiah was the lead protagonist in the most expensive 1940 Telugu production, Viswa Mohini, in 1964, Nagaiah essayed 17th century saint Kancharla Gopanna in Ramadasu for which he won the National Film Award. Nagaiah was also starred in one hundred and sixty films in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam. He received the Padma Shri from the Government of India in 1965 for his contributions to Indian cinema, Nagaiah was born on 28 March 1904 in a Telugu-speaking Brahmin family in Andhra Pradesh. His parents were Ramalinga Sarma and Venkata Lakshmamba, the family moved to Kuppam and later to Tirupati, in Chittoor district. He took up studies with a provided by the Tirupati Devasthanam. After working as a clerk in a government office, Nagaiah became a journalist with Andhra Patrika and he was married to Jaya Lakshmi, but she died giving birth to a daughter a year after. He then married Girija, and Girija too died due to miscarriage in the eighth month and his first daughter died of an un-diagnosed illness. He then participated in long stays at Ramana Maharshi Ashram and he has family in Tirupati who are his own brothers son by name Vuppaladadiyam S. Haragopal and his children by name Vuppaladadiyam Shyam Sundar and Vuppaladadiyam Pavan Kumar. Padmashri, Government of India in 1965 National Film Awards National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu –1964 for Ramadasu State Awards Abinava Thyagaraju by the Maharaja of Travancore, Nagaiah at the Internet Movie Database The Venerable V. Nagaiah in My Movie Minutes
