1.
Hindu
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Hindu refers to any person who regards themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism. It has historically used as a geographical, cultural, or religious identifier for people indigenous to South Asia. The historical meaning of the term Hindu has evolved with time, by the 16th century, the term began to refer to residents of India who were not Turks or Muslims. The historical development of Hindu self-identity within the Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear, competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era, or that it developed post-8th century CE after the Islamic invasion and medieval Hindu-Muslim wars. A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and regional languages. The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati, Kabir and Eknath used the phrase Hindu dharma, the Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term Hindu in religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, the European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus, in contrast to Mohamedans for Mughals, scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon. Hindoo is a spelling variant, whose use today may be considered derogatory. At more than 1.03 billion, Hindus are the third largest group after Christians. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million, live in India, according to Indias 2011 census. After India, the next 9 countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom and Myanmar. These together accounted for 99% of the worlds Hindu population, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit word Sindhu, which means a large body of water, covering river, ocean. It was used as the name of the Indus river and also referred to its tributaries, the Punjab region, called Sapta Sindhava in the Vedas, is called Hapta Hindu in Zend Avesta. The 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I mentions the province of Hidush, the people of India were referred to as Hinduvān and hindavī was used as the adjective for Indian in the 8th century text Chachnama. The term Hindu in these ancient records is an ethno-geographical term, the Arabic equivalent Al-Hind likewise referred to the country of India. Among the earliest known records of Hindu with connotations of religion may be in the 7th-century CE Chinese text Record of the Western Regions by the Buddhist scholar Xuanzang, Xuanzang uses the transliterated term In-tu whose connotation overflows in the religious according to Arvind Sharma. The Hindu community occurs as the amorphous Other of the Muslim community in the court chronicles, wilfred Cantwell Smith notes that Hindu retained its geographical reference initially, Indian, indigenous, local, virtually native. Slowly, the Indian groups themselves started using the term, differentiating themselves, the poet Vidyapatis poem Kirtilata contrasts the cultures of Hindus and Turks in a city and concludes The Hindus and the Turks live close together, Each makes fun of the others religion
2.
Purnima
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Purnima is the Indian and Nepali word for Full Moon. The day of Purnima is the day in each month in which the full moon occurs, the Shukla Paksha is the fortnight before, and the Krishna Paksha is the fortnight after, Purnima. The following festivals occur on Purnima, Kartik Poornima, is celebrated on the full moon day of Kartik of Nepali Calendar. It is also called Tripura Purnima, Shravan Poornima, is the full moon day in the month of Shravan. This day has a number of different names, hayagriva Jayanti is also celebrated on Shravana Purnima. It is also known as Narali Purnima Vat Purnima is celebrated on the full day of the month of Jyeshta. Women pray for their husbands by tying threads around a tree on this day. It honors Savitri, the wife of Satyavan who escaped death for her husbands life. It is the day for worshipping Yama deva Guru Purnima, devotees offer puja to their Guru. This is well known as Vyasa Purnima after the birthday of the author of Mahabharata who is declared as the guru of all in the Shiva Purana. Sharad Purnima or Kojagiri purnima, the Autumn Harvest Festival, on a full moon day, Buddha Poornima, the day of birth, enlightenment and passing away of Gautama Buddha, on a full moon day. Holi/Phalgun Purnima, the Spring Festival of Colours in Hinduism/Buddhism/Jainism, the full day in the month of Phalgun. Dattātreya Jayanti is celebrated on the full day of the month of Margashira Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated on the full mon of the lunar month Chaitra. However, this is celebrated on different days in different states, Chaitra Purnima is the chosen day for donation of rice to please Sri Chandra Deva, Moon god. Shakambhari Purnima is celebrated on the full day of the month of Pausha Madhu Purnima is celebrated on the full moon day of the month of Bhaadra. On this day Uma Maheswara Vrata as well as Shakra Vrata where Indra is worshiped for children, satyanarayan Puja vrata is observed on all full moon days Introduction to the Hindu Calendar
3.
Bhai Dooj
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Bhai Dooj / Bhau-Beej / Bhai Tika / Bhai Phonta is a festival celebrated by Hindus of India and Nepal on the second lunar day of Shukla Paksha in the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar month of Kartika. It is the last day of the five-day-long Diwali or Tihar festival, the celebrations of this day are similar to the festival of Raksha Bandhan. On this day, sisters get gifts from brothers, in the southern part of the country, the day is celebrated as Yama Dwitiya. The festival is known as, Bhai Dooj in entire Northern part of India and this is also the second day of the Vikrami Samvat New Year, the calendar followed in Northern India, which starts from the lunar month of Kārtika. The first day of this New Year is observed as Govardhan Pūja, Bhai Tika in Nepal, where it is the most important festival after Dashain. Observed on the day from Tyohar festival, it is widely celebrated by Newari, Maithali, Tharu, Bahun. Also known as Bhai Dooj in Nepal, too, Bhai Phonta in Bengal and it takes place every year on the first or the second day of the Kali Puja festival. Bhai Bij, Bhau Beej, or Bhav Bij amongst the Gujarati, Marathi and Konkani-speaking communities in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. Another name for the day is Yamadwitheya or Yamadvitiya, after a meeting between Yama the god of Death and his sister Yamuna on Dwitheya. Other names include Bhatru Dviteeya, or Bhatri Ditya, according to a popular legend in Hindu mythology, after slaying the evil demon Narkasur, Lord Krishna visited his sister Subhadra who gave him a warm welcome with sweets and flowers. She also affectionately applied tilak on Krishnas forehead, some believe this to be the origin of the festival. On the day of the festival, sisters invite their brothers for a meal often including their favorite dishes/sweets. The procedure may be different in bihar and central india, the whole ceremony signifies the duty of a brother to protect his sister, as well as a sisters blessings for her brother. Carrying forward the ceremony in traditional style, sisters perform aarti for their brother and this tika ceremony on the occasion of Bhai Bij signifies the sisters sincerest prayers for the long and happy life of her brother and treat them with gifts. In return brothers bless their sisters and may treat them also with gifts or cash, as it is customary in Haryana, Maharashtra to celebrate the auspicious occasion of Bhau-beej, women who do not have a brother worship the moon god instead. They apply mehendi on girls as their tradition, the sister whose brother lives far away from her and can not go to her house, sends her sincerest prayers for the long and happy life of her brother through the moon god. She performs aarti for the moon and this is the reason why children of Hindu parents affectionately call the moon Chandamama. Bhai Phonta in West Bengal is celebrated with much splendor, the ceremony is marked with many rituals along with a grand feast arranged for the brothers. It is necessary that, both brother and sister are more than 5 years of age
4.
Indian subcontinent
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Geologically, the Indian subcontinent is related to the land mass that rifted from Gondwana and merged with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago. Geographically, it is the region in south-central Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west. Politically, the Indian subcontinent usually includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, sometimes, the term South Asia is used interchangeably with Indian subcontinent. There is no consensus about which countries should be included in each and it is first attested in 1845 to refer to the North and South Americas, before they were regarded as separate continents. Its use to refer to the Indian subcontinent is seen from the twentieth century. It was especially convenient for referring to the region comprising both the British India and the states under British Paramountcy. The term Indian subcontinent also has a geological significance and it was, like the various continents, a part of the supercontinent of Gondwana. A series of tectonic splits caused formation of basins, each drifting in various directions. The geological region called the Greater India once included the Madagascar, Seychelles, Antartica, as a geological term, Indian subcontinent has meant that region formed from the collision of the Indian basin with Eurasia nearly 55 million years ago, towards the end of Paleocene. The Indian subcontinent has been a particularly common in the British Empire. The region, state Mittal and Thursby, has also labelled as India, Greater India. The BBC and some sources refer to the region as the Asian Subcontinent. Some academics refer to it as South Asian Subcontinent, the terms Indian subcontinent and South Asia are sometimes used interchangeably. There is no accepted definition on which countries are a part of South Asia or Indian subcontinent. In dictionary entries, the term subcontinent signifies a large, distinguishable subdivision of a continent, the region experienced high volcanic activity and plate subdivisions, creating Madagascar, Seychelles, Antartica, Austrolasia and the Indian subcontinent basin. The Indian subcontinent drifted northeastwards, colliding with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago and this geological region largely includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The zone where the Eurasian and Indian subcontinent plates meet remains one of the active areas. The English term mainly continues to refer to the Indian subcontinent, physiographically, it is a peninsular region in south-central Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east
5.
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
6.
British Empire
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The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
7.
Hindu calendar
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Hindu calendar is a collective term for the various lunisolar calendars traditionally used in Hinduism. They adopt a similar underlying concept for timekeeping, but differ in their emphasis to moon cycle or the sun cycle, the names of months. A Hindu calendar is referred to as Panchanga. The ancient Hindu calendar is similar in design to the Jewish calendar. Early Buddhist communities of India adopted the ancient Indian calendar, later Vikrami calendar, Buddhist festivals continue to be scheduled according to a lunar system. The Buddhist calendar and the traditional calendars of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka. Similarly, the ancient Jainism traditions have followed the lunisolar system as the Hindu calendar for festivals, texts. However, the Buddhist and Jaina timekeeping systems have attempted to use the Buddha, the Hindu calendar is also important to the practice of Hindu astrology and zodiac system, most of which it adopted from Greece, in centuries after the arrival of Alexander the Great. The Indian national calendar or Saka calendar was introduced in 1952 based on the traditional Hindu calendars and this study was one of the six ancient Vedangas, or ancillary science connected with the Vedas – the scriptures of Hinduism. The ancient Indian culture developed a time keeping methodology and calendars for Vedic rituals. David Pingree has proposed that the field of timekeeping in Jyotisha may have derived from Mesopotamia during the Achaemenid period. Ohashi states that this Vedanga field developed from actual astronomical studies in ancient India, timekeeping as well as the nature of solar and moon movements are mentioned in Vedic texts. For example, Kaushitaki Brahmana chapter 19.3 mentions the shift in the location of the sun towards north for 6 months. The Vikrami calendar is named after king Vikramaditya and starts in 57 BCE, Hindu scholars attempted to keep time by observing and calculating the cycles of sun, moon and the planets. These texts present Surya and various planets and estimate the characteristics of the respective planetary motion, other texts such as Surya Siddhanta dated to have been complete sometime between the 5th century and 10th century present their chapters on various planets with deity mythologies. The manuscripts of texts exist in slightly different versions, present Surya- and planets-based calculation. These vary in their data, suggesting that the text were open and they tracked the solar year by observing the entrance and departure of surya in the constellation formed by stars in the sky, which they divided into 12 intervals of 30 degrees each. Like other ancient human cultures, Hindus innovated a number of systems of which intercalary months became most used, as their calendar keeping and astronomical observations became more sophisticated, the Hindu calendar became more sophisticated with complex rules and greater accuracy
8.
Shraavana
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Śrāvaṇa is a month of the Hindu calendar. In Indias national civil calendar, Śrāvaṇa is the month of the Hindu year, beginning in late July. In the Tamil calendar, it is known as Āvani and is the month of the solar year. Śrāvaṇa begins with the Suns entry into Leo, in lunar religious calendars, Śrāvaṇa begins on the new moon and is the fifth month of the year. Srabon is the month of the Bengali calendar. This is also the 2nd month of Varsha season, for many Hindus, the month of Shraavana is a month of fasting. Many Hindus will fast every Monday to the Lord Shiva and/or every Tuesday to the Goddess Parvati, fasting on Tuesdays of this month is known locally as Mangala Gauri Vrat. Shravana is considered to be a month in the Hindu calendar due to the many festivals that are celebrated during this time. Krishna Janmashtami, marking the birth of Krishna, falls on the 8th day after the moon and is celebrated with great pomp across the world. Raksha Bandhan, the festival of brothers and sisters, is celebrated on Shraavana Poornima, Raksha Bandhan also called Rakhi Purnima or simply Rakhi in many parts of India and Nepal, is a Hindu religious and secular festival. In simple words, Raksha bandhan means Bond of Protection In western India and parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, on this day, an offering of a coconut is made to the sea, as a mark of respect to Lord Varuna, the God of the Sea. In the coastal regions of Maharashtra i. e. Konkan, Narali Purnima marks the beginning of the fishing season and the fishermen, who depend on the sea for a living, make an offering to Lord Varuna so that they can reap bountiful fish from the sea. Fishermen start fishing in the sea after this ceremony, nag Panchami is also celebrated in many parts of India on the fifth day after Amavasya of Shraavana month. The snake god Nāga is worshiped, the last day of the Shraavana is celebrated as Pola, where the bull is worshiped by farmers from Maharashtra. In Karnataka Basava Panchami is celebrated on 5th day after amavasya. In 1196 AD this day Lingayat dharma guru Basava merged with god, Shraavana Poornima day is also celebrated as Shri Baladeva birth Ceremony. Lord Krishnas elder Brother Prabhu Balarama was born on this Poornima, gamha Purnima is celebrated in Odisha. On this date, all the domesticated Cows and Bullocks are decorated and worshipped, various kinds of country-made cakes called Pitha and sweets mitha are made and distributed within families, relatives and friends. In Oriya Jagannath culture, the lord Krishna & Radha enjoy the season of Shravana starting from Shukla Pakhya Ekadashi
9.
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
10.
Nuclear family
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A nuclear family, elementary family or conjugal family is a family group consisting of two parents and their children. It is in contrast to a single-parent family, to the extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a couple, the nuclear family may have any number of children. Family structures of a couple and their children were present in Western Europe and New England in the 17th century, influenced by church. With the emergence of proto-industrialization and early capitalism, the family became a financially viable social unit. The term nuclear family first appeared in the twentieth century. Little is known about how parental behavior and identification processes work, historians have found that nuclear families have been a primary arrangement in England since the 13th century. In England multi-generational households were uncommon because young adults would save money to move out. Sociologist Brigitte Berger argued, the nuclear family had to be flexible and mobile as it searched for opportunity and property. Forced to rely on their own ingenuity, its members also needed to plan for the future and develop bourgeois habits of work, berge also mentions that this could be one of the reasons why the Industrial Revolution begun in England, and other Northwest European countries. As a fertility factor, single family households generally have a higher number of children than co-operative living arrangements according to studies from both the Western world and India. There have been studies done that shows a difference in the number of children wanted per household according to where they live, families that live in rural areas wanted to have more kids than families in urban areas. A study done in Japan between October 2011 and February 2012 further researched the affect of are of residence on mean desired number of children. Researchers of the came to the conclusion that the women living in rural areas with larger families were more likely to want more children. Merriam-Webster dates the term back to 1947, while the Oxford English Dictionary has a reference to the term from 1925, in its most common usage, the term nuclear family refers to a household consisting of a father, a mother and their children all in one household dwelling. George Murdock, an observer of families, offered a description, The family is a social group characterized by common residence. It contains adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults. Many individuals are part of two families in their lives, the family of origin in which they are offspring
11.
Consanguinity
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Consanguinity is the property of being from the same kinship as another person. In that aspect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person, the laws of many jurisdictions set out degrees of consanguinity in relation to prohibited sexual relations and marriage parties. Rules of Consanguinity are also used to determine heirs of an estate according to statutes that govern intestate succession, the Knot System is a numerical notation that defines consanguinity. Issues of consanguinity arise in several aspects of the law, Laws prohibiting incest govern the degree of kinship within which marriage or sexual intercourse is permitted. These are almost universally prohibited within the degree of consanguinity. Some jurisdictions forbid marriage between first cousins, while others do not, marriage with aunts and uncles is legal in several countries. Consanguinity is also relevant to inheritance, particularly with regard to intestate succession, in general, the law favors inheritance by persons closely related to the deceased. Some jurisdictions bar citizens from service on a jury on the basis of consanguinity with persons involved in the case, in many countries, laws prohibiting nepotism bar employment of, or certain kinds of contracts with, the near relations of public officers or employees. Under Roman civil law, which early canon law of the Catholic Church followed, in the ninth century the church raised the number of prohibited degrees to seven and changed the method by which they were calculated. Eventually the nobility became too interrelated to marry as the pool of non-related prospective spouses became smaller and they had to either defy the churchs position or look elsewhere for eligible marriage candidates. In 1215 the Fourth Lateran Council made what they believed was a change to canon law reducing the number of prohibited degrees of consanguinity from seven back to four. The method of calculating prohibited degrees was changed also, instead of the former practice of counting up to the common ancestor then down to the proposed spouse, the new law computed consanguinity by counting back to the common ancestor. After 1215 the general rule was that while fourth cousins could marry without dispensation, in fourteenth century England, for example, papal dispensations for annulments due to consanguinity were relatively few. The connotations of degree of consanguinity varies by context, most cultures define a degree of consanguinity within which sexual interrelationships are regarded as incestuous. The rule is strict on the mothers side, where the limit is about four generations back. This rule does not apply to Muslims or other ethnic groups, islamThe category includes those one is forbidden to marry due to relationship of blood as well as some who are forbidden due to marital relations. And do not marry women whom your fathers married except what has already passed and it was indeed obscene, hateful and an evil way. And those already married except those whom your right hand possesses, and allowed for you are all besides these if you seek them with your property seeking chastity not fornication
12.
Rajendra Prasad
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Rajendra Prasad was the first President of the Republic of India. An Indian political leader, lawyer by training, Prasad joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian independence movement, a supporter of Mahatma Gandhi, Prasad was imprisoned by British authorities during the Salt Satyagraha of 1931 and the Quit India movement of 1942. Prasad served one term as President of the Indian National Congress from 1934 to 1935, after the 1946 elections, Prasad served as minister of food and agriculture in the central government. Upon independence in 1947, Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly of India, when India became a Republic in 1950, Prasad was elected its first President by the Constituent Assembly. Following the general election of 1951, he was elected President by the college of the first Parliament of India. As President, Prasad established a tradition of non-partisanship and independence for the office-bearer, although a ceremonial head of state, Prasad encouraged the development of education in India and advised the Nehru government on several occasions. In 1957, Prasad was re-elected to the presidency, becoming the president to have been in the office twice. Rajendra Prasad was a Hindu and born in Zeradai, in the Siwan district of Bihar. His father Mahadev Sahai, was a scholar of both the Sanskrit and Persian languages, while his mother, Kamleshwari Devi, was a woman who would tell stories from the Ramayana to her son. When Prasad was five years old, his parents placed him under the tutelage of a Moulavi, an accomplished Muslim scholar, to learn the Persian language, Hindi and arithmetic. After the completion of elementary education, he was sent to the Chapra District School Meanwhile, in June 1896, at an early age of 12. He, along with his elder brother Mahendra Prasad, then went to study at T. K, ghoshs Academy in Patna for a period of two years. He secured first in the examination to the University of Calcutta and was awarded Rs.30 per month as a scholarship. Prasad joined the Presidency College, Calcutta in 1902, initially as a science student and he passed Intermediate level classes then called as F. A. under the University of Calcutta in March 1904 and further graduated with First Division from there itself in March 1905. Impressed by his intellect, an examiner once had commented on his answer sheet examinee is better than examiner, later he decided to focus on the study of arts and did his M. A. in Economics with first division from the University of Calcutta in December 1907. There he lived with his brother in the Eden Hindu Hostel, a devoted student as well as a public activist, he was an active member of The Dawn Society. It was due to his sense of duty towards his family, Prasad was instrumental in the formation of the Bihari Students Conference in 1906 in the hall of the Patna College. Rajendra Prasad served in various institutions as a teacher
13.
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
14.
Rashtrapati Bhawan
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The Rashtrapati Bhavan, formerly known as Viceroys House, is the official home of the President of India, located at the Western end of Rajpath in New Delhi, India. In terms of area, it is one of the largest residences of a head of state in the world, the British architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens, a major member of the city-planning process, was given the primary architectural responsibility. The completed Governor-Generals palace turned out similar to the original sketches which Lutyens sent Herbert Baker, from Simla. Lutyens design is grandly classical overall, with colours and details inspired by Indian architecture, Lutyens and Baker who had been assigned to work on Viceroys House and the Secretariats, began on friendly terms. Baker had been assigned to work on the two buildings which were in front of Viceroys House. The original plan was to have Viceroys House on the top of Raisina Hill and it was later decided to build it 400 yards back, and put both buildings on top of the plateau. While Lutyens wanted Viceroys House to be higher, he was forced to move it back from the intended position, after completion, Lutyens argued with Baker, because the view of the front of the building was obscured by the high angle of the road. Lutyens campaigned for its fixing, but was not able to get it to be changed, Lutyens wanted to make a long inclined grade all the way to Viceroys House with retaining walls on either side. While this would give a view of the house further back. In 1916 the Imperial Delhi committee dismissed Lutyenss proposal to alter the gradient, Lutyens thought Baker was more concerned with making money and pleasing the government, rather than making a good architectural design. Lutyens travelled between India and England almost every year for twenty years, to work on construction of Viceroys House in both countries. Lutyens reduced the building from 13,000,000 cubic feet to 8,500,000 cubic feet because of the restrictions of Lord Hardinge. While Hardinge demanded that costs be reduced, he wanted the house to retain a certain amount of ceremonial grandeur. On 26 January 1950, when Rajendra Prasad became the first President of India and occupied this building, it was renamed as Rashtrapati Bhavan – the Presidents House. Consisting of four floors and 340 rooms, with an area of 200,000 square feet. The design process of the mansion was long, complicated and politically charged, Lutyens early designs were all starkly classical and entirely European in style. Various Indian designs were added to the building and these included several circular stone basins on top of the building, as water features are an important part of Indian architecture. It blocks harsh sunlight from the windows and also shields the windows from heavy rain during the monsoon season, on the roofline were several chuttris, which helped to break up the flatness of the roofline not covered by the dome
15.
New Delhi
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New Delhi is the capital of India and one of Delhi citys 11 districts. The National Capital Region is a larger entity comprising the entire National Capital Territory along with adjoining districts. The foundation stone of the city was laid by George V and it was designed by British architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker. The new capital was inaugurated on 13 February 1931, by Viceroy, New Delhi has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Prime Minister of India Narendra Modis flagship Smart Cities Mission. Calcutta was the capital of India during the British Raj until December 1911, Delhi had served as the political and financial centre of several empires of ancient India and the Delhi Sultanate, most notably of the Mughal Empire from 1649 to 1857. During the early 1900s, a proposal was made to the British administration to shift the capital of the British Indian Empire, as India was officially named, from Calcutta on the east coast, to Delhi. The Government of British India felt that it would be easier to administer India from Delhi in the centre of northern India. The land for building the new city of Delhi was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1894. The foundation stone of New Delhi was laid by King George V and Queen Mary at the site of Delhi Durbar of 1911 at Kingsway Camp on 15 December 1911, during their imperial visit. Large parts of New Delhi were planned by Edwin Lutyens, who first visited Delhi in 1912, the contract was given to Sobha Singh. The original plan called for its construction in Tughlaqabad, inside the Tughlaqabad fort, construction really began after World War I and was completed by 1931. The city that was later dubbed Lutyens Delhi was inaugurated in ceremonies beginning on 10 February 1931 by Lord Irwin, Lutyens designed the central administrative area of the city as a testament to Britains imperial aspirations. Soon Lutyens started considering other places, however, it was rejected by the Viceroy when the cost of acquiring the necessary properties was found to be too high. The central axis of New Delhi, which faces east at India Gate, was previously meant to be a north-south axis linking the Viceroys House at one end with Paharganj at the other. During the projects early years, many believed it was a gate from Earth to Heaven itself. Eventually, owing to space constraints and the presence of a number of heritage sites in the North side. A site atop the Raisina Hill, formerly Raisina Village, a Meo village, was chosen for the Rashtrapati Bhawan, then known as the Viceroys House. The reason for this choice was that the hill lay directly opposite the Dinapanah citadel, which was considered the site of Indraprastha
16.
R. S. McGregor
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Ronald Stuart McGregor, commonly R. S. McGregor, was a philologist of the Hindi language. McGregor was born in New Zealand in 1929, after obtaining his BA, he studied early English philology at Oxford, and learned Hindi. He attended the University of Allahabad in 1959–60 to study Hindi and his Ph. D. thesis, The Language of Indrajit of Orchā – A Study of Early Braj Bhāsā Prose, was published in 1968. Outline of Hindi Grammar, With Exercises, the Language of Indrajit of Orchā, A Study of Early Braj Bhāsā Prose. McGregor, R. S. Devotional Literature in South Asia, Current Research, pauwels, Heidi, Review of The Oxford Hindi–English dictionary. Edited by R. S. McGregor, pp. xx,1083, Oxford and Delhi, Oxford University Press,1993, £50.00, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,5, 454–455, doi,10. 1017/s1356186300006969 Trivedi, Harish
17.
Hindi
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Hindi, or Modern Standard Hindi is a standardised and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language. Along with the English language, Hindi written in the Devanagari script, is the language of the Government of India. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India, Hindi is the lingua franca of the so-called Hindi belt of India. Outside India, it is a language which is known as Fiji Hindi in Fiji, and is a recognised regional language in Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana. Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world, after Mandarin, apart from specialized vocabulary, Hindi is mutually intelligible with Standard Urdu, another recognized register of Hindustani. Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with Official Language, under Article 343, official language of the Union has been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English. Gujarat High Court, in 2010, has observed that there was nothing on record to suggest that any provision has been made or order issued declaring Hindi as a language of India. Article 343 of the Indian constitution states The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script, the form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals. It was envisioned that Hindi would become the working language of the Union Government by 1965. Each may also designate a co-official language, in Uttar Pradesh, for instance, depending on the formation in power. Similarly, Hindi is accorded the status of language in the following Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu. National-language status for Hindi is a long-debated theme, an Indian court clarified that Hindi is not the national language of India because the constitution does not mention it as such. Outside Asia, Hindi is a language in Fiji as per the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It is spoken by 380,000 people in Fiji, Hindi is also spoken by a large population of Madheshis of Nepal. Hindi is quite easy to understand for some Pakistanis, who speak Urdu, apart from this, Hindi is spoken by the large Indian diaspora which hails from, or has its origin from the Hindi Belt of India. Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi is considered to be a descendant of an early form of Sanskrit, through Sauraseni Prakrit. It has been influenced by Dravidian languages, Turkic languages, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi emerged as Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A. D. By the 10th century A. D. it became stable, Braj Bhasha, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Khari Boli etc. are the dialects of Hindi
18.
Madhya Pradesh
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Madhya Pradesh is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, nicknamed the heart of India due to its geographical location in India, Madhya Pradesh is the second-largest state in the country by area. With over 75 million inhabitants, it is the fifth-largest state in India by population and it borders the states of Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the southeast, Maharashtra to the south, Gujarat to the west, and Rajasthan to the northwest. Its total area is 308,252 km², subsequently, the region was ruled by the major dynasties of India. By the early 18th century, the region was divided into small kingdoms which were captured by the British and incorporated into Central Provinces and Berar. This state was the largest in India by area until 2000, in recent years, the states GDP growth has been above the national average. Rich in mineral resources, MP has the largest reserves of diamond, more than 30% of its area is under forest cover. Its tourism industry has seen growth, with the state topping the National Tourism Awards in 2010–11. Isolated remains of Homo erectus found in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley indicate that Madhya Pradesh might have been inhabited in the Middle Pleistocene era, painted pottery dated to the later mesolithic period has been found in the Bhimbetka rock shelters. Chalcolithic sites belonging to Kayatha culture and Malwa culture have been discovered in the part of the state. The city of Ujjain arose as a centre in the region. It served as the capital of the Avanti kingdom, other kingdoms mentioned in ancient epics — Malava, Karusha, Dasarna and Nishada — have also been identified with parts of Madhya Pradesh. Chandragupta Maurya united northern India around 320 BCE, establishing the Mauryan Empire, ashoka the greatest of Mauryan rulers brought the region under firmer control. After the decline of the Maurya empire, the region was contested among the Sakas, the Kushanas, the Satavahanas, Heliodorus, the Greek Ambassador to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra erected the Heliodorus pillar near Vidisha. Ujjain emerged as the predominant commercial centre of western India from the first century BCE, the Satavahana dynasty of the northern Deccan and the Saka dynasty of the Western Satraps fought for the control of Madhya Pradesh during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. The Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni inflicted a defeat upon the Saka rulers and conquered parts of Malwa. Subsequently, the region came under the control of the Gupta empire in the 4th and 5th centuries, and their southern neighbours, the attacks of the Hephthalites or White Huns brought about the collapse of the Gupta empire, which broke up into smaller states. The king Yasodharman of Malwa defeated the Huns in 528, ending their expansion, later, Harsha ruled the northern parts of the state
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J. Gordon Melton
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He is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor Universitys Institute for Studies of Religion. He is a minister in the United Methodist Church, and he is affiliated with the New Cult Awareness Network. He is the author of more than books, including several encyclopedias, handbooks. He lives in Santa Barbara, California and his areas of research include major religious traditions, new and alternative religions, occultism and parapsychology, New Age, and vampirology. Melton was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of Burnum Edgar Melton, in 1964 he graduated from Birmingham Southern College with the B. A. degree and then proceeded to theological studies at Garrett Theological Seminary. He married Dorothea Dudley in 1966, with one daughter, Melanie, the marriage ended in divorce in 1979. His second wife is named Suzie, in 1968, Melton was ordained as an elder in the United Methodist church and remains under bishops appointment to this day. He was the pastor of the United Methodist church in Wyanet, Illinois and he was also a member of the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship. Melton received a Master of Divinity degree from Garrett Theological Seminary with a concentration in church history, Melton pursued further graduate studies at Northwestern University where he received his Ph. D. in 1975 in the History and Literature of Religions with a specialty in American history. His doctoral dissertation surveyed some 800 religious groups known to exist in the United States at the time, Melton recounts that vocationally, the most influential force in my life was the writings of a man I never met but who became my hero, Elmer Talmage Clark. While my contemporaries became enthused with UFOs, Elvis Presley, or Alabama football, during my last year in high school one of Clarkes books, The Small Sects in America, after reading it I wanted to consume everything written on American alternative religions. Much of Meltons professional career has involved literary and field-research into alternative, other noteworthy reference works include his Biographical Dictionary of American Cult and Sect Leaders, Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, New Age Almanac, and Prime-time Religion. Several of these reference works provide significant information for the study of American religious history and he is a contributor to academic journals such as Syzygy, and Nova Religio. He has also contributed chapters to various multi-authored books on new religions, Meltons major emphasis has been on collating primary source data on religious groups and movements. His approach to research is shaped, in part, by his training in church history, the purpose of such contact has been to obtain the groups main religious literature to ascertain their principal teachings and practices. His inquiries also comprise, gathering membership statistics, details of the groups history and these details then take shape in the profiles Melton drafts up in reference texts like the Encyclopedia of American Religions. Some of Meltons criticisms concerning the secular anti-cult movement revolve around his rejection of the concept of brainwashing as an explanation of religious conversion and indoctrination, during the 1970s and 1980s he was a prominent opponent of the controversial methods of deprogramming. In his Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America he drew a distinction between the Christian countercult movement and the secular anti-cult movement
20.
Bina Agarwal
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Bina Agarwal is a prize-winning development economist and Director and Professor of Economics at the Institute of Economic Growth in University of Delhi. This work has inspired research in Latin America and globally. Bina Agarwal earned her doctorate in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, her dissertation was Mechanization in Indian Agriculture, prior, she earned a B. A. and M. A. from the University of Cambridge. Her university positions include posts at Princeton, Harvard, Michigan, Minnesota, at Harvard she was the first Daniel Ingalls Visiting Professor Agarwal has also been President of the International Society for Ecological Economics. She has served on the UN Committee for Development Policy and UNRISD and she holds honorary doctorates from the Institute of Social Studies in the Netherlands and the University of Antwerp in Belgium. Agarwals expertise is on subjects related to rural economy and she deals especially with the connectedness of gender inequality, social exclusion, property, and development. Her pioneering work has had an impact both within the academia and among policy makers and practitioners. A large part of her work compares countries, especially within South Asia, in A Field of Ones Own, her most famous work, Agarwal stresses that the single most important factor affecting womens situation is the gender gap in command over property. She is also on the board of the Journal of Women. Spurred on by Agarwals work, and the movement she led in 2004–2005. This Act gives all Hindu women equal rights with men in the ownership and inheritance of property, Agarwal has consistently challenged standard economic analysis and assumptions. She also demonstrates the interconnectedness of the family, the community, the market and her paper Bargaining and Gender Relations is the single most downloaded paper to date in the journal Feminist Economics. In another article Bargaining and Legal Change, Agarwal examines how women in India were able to bargain with the State to pass the laws of 1956. Her recent books include, Psychology, Rationality and Economic Behaviour, Capabilities, Freedom and her most recently authored book is Gender and Green Governance which has been widely cited and favourably reviewed in both academic journals and the popular press. In 2006–07, Agarwal was also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University, Agarwal is a founding member of the Indian Society for Ecological economics. She is one of two women who served on the Commission for the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, chaired by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz. She has also been consultant to the Planning Commission of India and is on the boards of several international academic journals. In 2009 Agarwal was nominated to the board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development – such nominations are approved by the United Nations Economic and Social Council
21.
Bangalore
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Bangalore /bæŋɡəˈlɔːr/, officially known as Bengaluru, is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of about 8.42 million and a population of about 8.52 million, making it the third most populous city. It is located in southern India on the Deccan Plateau and its elevation is over 900 m above sea level, the highest of Indias major cities. In 1638, the Marāthās conquered and ruled Bangalore for almost 50 years, after which the Mughals captured and it was captured by the British after victory in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, who returned administrative control of the city to the Maharaja of Mysore. The old city developed in the dominions of the Maharaja of Mysore and was capital of the Princely State of Mysore. In 1809, the British shifted their cantonment to Bangalore, outside the old city, and a grew up around it. Following Indias independence in 1947, Bangalore became the capital of Mysore State, the two urban settlements of Bangalore – city and cantonment – which had developed as independent entities merged into a single urban centre in 1949. The existing Kannada name, Bengalūru, was declared the name of the city in 2006. Bangalore is sometimes referred to as the Silicon Valley of India because of its role as the leading information technology exporter. Indian technological organisations ISRO, Infosys, Wipro and HAL are headquartered in the city, a demographically diverse city, Bangalore is the second fastest-growing major metropolis in India. Numerous state-owned aerospace and defence organisations, such as Bharat Electronics, Hindustan Aeronautics, the city also houses the Kannada film industry. The name Bangalore represents a version of the Kannada language name. It is the name of a village near kodegehalli and was copied by Kempegowda to the city of Bangalore, Bangalore was built on a venue earlier called as Shivanasamudram in the 16th century. The earliest reference to the name Bengalūru was found in a ninth-century Western Ganga Dynasty stone inscription on a vīra gallu, in this inscription found in Begur, Bengalūrū is referred to as a place in which a battle was fought in 890 CE. It states that the place was part of the Ganga Kingdom until 1004 and was known as Bengaval-uru, an apocryphal story recounts that the 12th century Hoysala king Veera Ballala II, while on a hunting expedition, lost his way in the forest. Tired and hungry, he came across an old woman who served him boiled beans. The grateful king named the place benda-kaal-uru, which evolved into Bengalūru. On 11 December 2005, the Government of Karnataka announced that it had accepted a proposal by Jnanpith Award winner U. R. Ananthamurthy to rename Bangalore to Bengalūru, on 27 September 2006, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike passed a resolution to implement the proposed name change
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West Bengal
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West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language
23.
Odisha
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Odisha (/ɒˈrɪsə, ɔː-, oʊ-/, is one of the 29 states of India, located in the eastern coast. It is surrounded by the states of West Bengal to the north-east, Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west and north-west, Odisha has 485 kilometres of coastline along the Bay of Bengal on its east, from Balasore to Malkangiri. It is the 9th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population and it is also the 3rd most populous state of India in terms of tribal population. Odia is the official and most widely spoken language, spoken by 33.2 million according to the 2001 Census. The ancient kingdom of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in 261 BCE resulting in the Kalinga War, the modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April 1936, as a province in British India, and consisted predominantly of Odia-speaking regions. April 1 is celebrated as Odisha Day, the region is also known as Utkala and is mentioned in Indias national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. Cuttack was made the capital of the region by Anantavarman Chodaganga in c,1135, after which the city was used as the capital by many rulers, through the British era until 1948. Thereafter, Bhubaneswar became the capital of Odisha, the term Odisha is derived from the ancient Prakrit word Odda Visaya as in the Tirumalai inscription of Rajendra Chola I, which is dated to 1025. Sarala Das, who translated the Mahabharata into the Odia language in the 15th century, calls the region Odra Rashtra, the inscriptions of Kapilendra Deva of the Gajapati Kingdom on the walls of temples in Puri call the region Odisha or Odisha Rajya. After a brief debate, the house, Lok Sabha, passed the bill. On 24 March 2011, Rajya Sabha, the house of Parliament, also passed the bill. Prehistoric Acheulian tools dating to Lower Paleolithic era have been discovered in places in the region. Kalinga has been mentioned in ancient texts like Mahabharata, Vayu Purana, the Sabar people of Odisha have also been mentioned in the Mahabharata. Baudhayana mentions Kalinga as not yet being influenced by Vedic traditions, Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty conquered Kalinga in the bloody Kalinga War in 261 BCE, which was the eighth year of his reign. According to his own edicts, in that war about 100,000 people were killed,150,000 were captured, the resulting bloodshed and suffering of the war is said to have deeply affected Ashoka. He turned into a pacifist and converted to Buddhism, by c.150 CE, emperor Kharavela, who was possibly a contemporary of Demetrius I of Bactria, conquered a major part of the Indian sub-continent. He also built the monastery atop the Udayagiri hill, subsequently, the region was ruled by monarchs, such as Samudragupta and Shashanka. It was also a part of Harshas empire, later, the kings of the Somavamsi dynasty began to unite the region
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Maharashtra
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Four Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India and is Indias second-most populous state and third-largest state by area. It is the wealthiest Indian state and it is also the worlds second-most populous sub-national entity. It has over 112 million inhabitants and its capital, Mumbai, has a population of approximately 18 million, Nagpur is Maharashtras second capital as well as its winter capital. Maharashtras business opportunities along with its potential to offer a standard of living attract migrants from all over India. Ancient and medieval Maharashtra included the empires of the Satavahana dynasty, Rashtrakuta dynasty, Western Chalukyas, Mughals, the major rivers of the state are Godavari, and Krishna. The Narmada and Tapti Rivers flow near the border between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, Maharashtra is the second most urbanised state in India. The state has several popular Hindu places of pilgrimage including Pandharpur, Dehu and Alandi, other places that attract pilgrims from other parts of India and beyond include Hazur Sahib Gurudwara at Nanded, Sai Baba shrine at Shirdi and Dikshabhumi at Nagpur. Maharashtra is the wealthiest and one of the most developed states in India, as of 2011, the state had a per capita income of ₹1.0035 lakh, more than the national average of ₹0.73 lakh. Its GDP per capita crossed the ₹1.20 lakh threshold for the first time in 2013, however, as of 2014, the GDP per capita reduced to ₹1.03 lakh Agriculture and industries are the largest parts of the states economy. Major industries include chemical products, electrical and non-electrical machinery, textiles, petroleum, Jai Maharashtra The modern Marathi language developed from the Maharashtri Prakrit, and the word Mahratta is found in the Jain Maharashtri literature. The terms Maharashtra, Maharashtri, Marathi and Maratha may have derived from the same root, however, their exact etymology is uncertain. But the Marathas as a people do not seem to be mentioned before the thirteenth or fourteenth century, the most widely accepted theory among the linguistic scholars is that the words Maratha and Maharashtra ultimately derived from a combination of Maha and rashtrika. The word rashtrika is a Sanskritized form of Ratta, the name of a tribe or dynasty of petty chiefs ruling in the Deccan region. Another theory is that the term is derived from Maha and ratha / rathi, an alternative theory states that the term derives from the word Maha and Rashtra. However, this theory has not found acceptance among scholars who believe it to be the Sanskritised interpretation of later writers. Maharashtra was ruled by the Maurya Empire in the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, around 230 BCE Maharashtra came under the rule of the Satavahana dynasty for 400 years. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni, in 90 CE Vedishri, son of the Satavahana king Satakarni, the Lord of Dakshinapatha, wielder of the unchecked wheel of Sovereignty, made Junnar, thirty miles north of Pune, the capital of his kingdom. The state was ruled by Western Satraps, Gupta Empire, Gurjara-Pratihara, Vakataka, Kadambas, Chalukya Empire, Rashtrakuta Dynasty, and Western Chalukya before finally
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North India
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North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indus-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, other states sometimes included are Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat and West Bengal. North India has been the centre of the Mughal, Delhi Sultanate. The languages that have official status in one or more of the states and union territories located in North India are Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu, Punjabi, Kashmiri/Koshur, Dogri, different authorities and sources define North India differently. Rajasthan is also included in North Central Culture Zone as well as West Cultural Zone, the Northern Zonal Council is one of the advisory councils, created in 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act to foster inter-state cooperation. It differs from the North Cultural Zone in its inclusion of Delhi, in contrast, the Geological Survey of India included Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in its Northern Region, but excluded Rajasthan and Chandigarh, with a regional headquarters in Lucknow. The Hindu newspaper puts Bihar as well as Uttar Pradesh and Delhi related articles on its North pages, however according to the Government of Bihar official page as well as Indian Zonal Coucil, it is considered to be an Eastern Indian state instead. North Indian states which are entirely above the Tropic of Cancer are Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The term North Indian is sometimes used to people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, often using the term bhaiya in a derogatory sense. In Punjab, people from the region are often referred to as Purabias. Some publications of the Government of Bihar place that state in the part of India. Within Uttar Pradesh itself, the divide between the east and the west is considerable, with the purabiyas often being clubbed with Biharis in the perception of the westerners. One demarcation between northern and southern nations has been the Vindhya mountain range, in centuries past this sometimes formed a border during periods of imperial expansion, such as the one ruled by the Gupta emperor Samudragupta. The Vindhyas also find mention in the narrative of Rishi Agastya as a dividing feature between North and South India, the Manusmṛti also describes the southern limit of Aryavarta as being defined by the Vindhya range. North India lies mainly on continental India, north of peninsular India, towards its north are the Himalayas which define the boundary between the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau. To its west is the Thar desert, shared between North India and Pakistan and the Aravalli Range, beyond lies the state of Gujarat. The Vindhya mountains are, in some interpretations, taken to be the boundary of North India. The state of Madhya Pradesh has large areas under forest cover, as do Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, North India lies mainly in the north temperate zone of the Earth
26.
Jammu Division
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Jammu /ˈdʒɑːmuː/ is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India. It consists of the districts of Jammu, Doda, Kathua, Ramban, Reasi, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Samba. Most of the land is hilly or mountainous, including the Pir Panjal Range which separates it from the Kashmir Valley and part of the Great Himalayas in the districts of Doda. Its principal river is the Chenab, Chenab Valley is another important division in Jammu region. Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the capital of Jammu. It is also known as City of Temples as it has many temples and shrines, with glittering shikhars soaring into the sky, Home to some of Indias most popular Hindu shrines, such as Vaishno Devi, Jammu is a major pilgrimage centre for Hindus. A majority of Jammus population practices Hinduism, while Islam and Sikhism enjoy a cultural heritage in the region. Due to relatively better infrastructure, Jammu has emerged as the economic center of the state. Remains from the Maurya, Kushan, Kushanshahs and Gupta periods have found in Jammu. After 480 CE the area was dominated by the Hephthalites and ruled from Kapisa and they were succeeded by the Kushano-Hephthalite dynasty from 565 to 670 CE, then by the Shahi from 670 to the early 11th century, when the Shahi were destroyed by the Ghaznavids. Tradition believes that the city of Jammu was founded by a ruler called Jambu Lochan in remote antiquity, during one of his hunting campaigns, he is said to have reached the Tawi River where he saw a goat and a lion drinking water side by side. Having satisfied their thirst, the animals went their own ways, amazed, the raja decided that this place was a place of peace and tranquility and established a palace and the new capital for his kingdom be established on that site. The hilly regions to the south and southwest of the Kashmir Valley formed the Jammu Province of the state of Jammu. During the declining years of the Mughal Empire, the region comprised 22 hill states that emerged from the Mughal suzerainty, hutchison and Vogel, who first studied these states, called them the Dugar group of states. The state of Jammu is believed to have been the most prominent among the Dugar group, the term Durgara is witnessed in a copper plate inscription from Chamba in the 11th century. The inscription refers to an attack on Chamba by the Lord of Durgara allied with Saumatikas, however no kingdom by that name is mentioned in the Rajatarangini. Durgara could have been a reference to Vallapura or Babbapura, some scholars believe it to have been a regional or ethnic name current in the region. Jammu is mentioned by name in the chronicles of Timur, who invaded Delhi in 1398, in the Mughal chronicles of Babur in the early 16th century, Jammu is mentioned as a powerful state in the Punjab hills
27.
Haryana
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Haryana is one of the 29 states in India, situated in North India. It was carved out of the state of East Punjab on 1 November 1966 on a linguistic basis. It stands 21st in terms of its area, which is spread about 44,212 km2, as of 2011 census of India, the state is eighteenth largest by population with 25,353,081 inhabitants. The city of Chandigarh is its capital while the NCR city of Faridabad is the most populous city of the state, Haryana is one of the most economically developed regions in South Asia, and its agricultural and manufacturing industries have experienced sustained growth since the 1970s. Since 2000, the state has emerged as the largest recipient of investment per capita in India and it is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south. The river Yamuna defines its border with Uttar Pradesh. Haryana surrounds the countrys capital Delhi on three sides, forming the northern, western and southern borders of Delhi, consequently, a large area of south Haryana is included in the National Capital Region for purposes of planning for development. The name Haryana is found in the works of the 12th-century AD Apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar, the name Haryana has been derived from the Sanskrit words Hari and ayana, meaning the Abode of God. However, scholars such as Muni Lal, Murli Chand Sharma, HA Phadke and Sukhdev Singh Chib believe that the name comes from a compound of the words Hari and Aranya. Vedic state of Brahmavarta is claimed to be located in a new research in south Haryana, manusmriti, a flood time document composed by Manu and Bhrigu is now dated 10,000 years old. Rakhigarhi village in the Hisar district is home to the largest and one of the oldest ancient Indus Valley Civilization sites, evidence of paved roads, a drainage system, a large-scale rainwater collection storage system, terracotta brick and statue production, and skilled metal working have been uncovered. According to archeologists, Rakhigarhi may be the origin of Harappan civilisation, the area that is now Haryana has been ruled by major empires of India. Panipat is known for three seminal battles in the history of India, in the First Battle of Panipat, Babur defeated the Lodis. In the Second Battle of Panipat, Akbar defeated the local Haryanvi Hindu Emperor of Delhi, hemu, had earlier won 22 battles across India from Punjab to Bengal defeating Mughals and Afghans. Hemu had defeated Akbars forces twice at Agra and Battle of Delhi in 1556 to become last Hindu Emperor of India with formal Coronation at Purana Quila in Delhi on 7th Oct.1556, in the Third Battle of Panipat, the Afghan king Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas. Haryana state was formed on 1 November 1966, the commission delivered its report on 31 May 1966 whereby the then-districts of Hisar, Mahendragarh, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Karnal were to be a part of the new state of Haryana. Further, the tehsils of Jind and Narwana in the Sangrur district—along with Naraingarh, Ambala, the commission recommended that the tehsil of Kharad, which includes Chandigarh, the state capital of Punjab, should be a part of Haryana. However, only a portion of Kharad was given to Haryana
28.
Tihar (festival)
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Tihar, also known as Deepawali and Yamapanchak, is a five-day-long Hindu festival celebrated in Nepal and in the Indian states of Assam and Sikkim including in Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It is the festival of lights, as diyas are lit inside and outside the houses to make it illuminate at night and it is popularly known as Swanti among the Newars and as Deepawali among Madhesis. Set in the Vikram Samvat calendar, the festival begins with Kaag Tihar in Trayodashi of Kartik Krishna Paksha, Tihar is the second biggest Nepalese festival after Dashain. The first day of the festival is called Kaag Tihar, crows and ravens are worshiped by offerings of sweets and dishes placed on the roofs of houses. The cawing of crows and ravens symbolizes sadness and grief in Hinduism, so devotees offer crows and ravens food to avert grief, Tihar among Gorkhas represents the divine attachment between humans and other animals. The second day is called Kukur Tihar and it is called the Khicha Puja by the Newars. People offer garlands, tika and delicious food to dogs and acknowledge the relationship between humans and dogs. Dogs occupy a place in Hindu mythology. As mentioned in the Mahabharata, Bhairava, a manifestation of Lord Shiva, had a dog as a vahana. Yama, the god of death, is believed to own two guard dogs – each with four eyes, the dogs are said to watch over the gates of Naraka, the Hindu concept of Hell. Owing to this belief, this day is observed as Naraka Chaturdashi. The morning of day is Gai Tihar. In Hinduism, cow signifies prosperity and wealth, in ancient times people benefited a lot from the cow. Its milk, dung, even urine was used for purposes like purification, thus, on this day people show their gratefulness to the cow by garlanding and feeding them with the best grass. Houses are cleaned and the doorways and windows are decorated with garlands made of sayapatri, from the third day onward tihar is celebrated with Deusi and Bhailo with light and fireworks. Deusi is mostly sung by the boys while the Bhailo is sung by the girls, Deusi is balladic and tells the story of the festival, with one person narrating and the rest as the chorus. In return the home owners give them money, fruit and selroti, nowadays social workers, politician, and young people visit local homes, sing these songs, and collect funds for welfare and social activities. Coincidentally, Laxmi Puja also marks the birthday of Laxmi Prasad Devkota, on the fourth day of Tihar, there are three different known pujas, depending on the peoples cultural background
29.
Diwali
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Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere. It is a holiday in Fiji, Guyana, India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago. One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, it signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance. Its celebration includes millions of lights shining on housetops, outside doors and windows, around temples, in the Gregorian calendar, Diwali night falls between mid-October and mid-November. Before Diwali night, people clean, renovate, and decorate their homes and offices, after puja, fireworks follow, then a family feast including mithai, and an exchange of gifts between family members and close friends. Deepavali also marks a major shopping period in nations where it is celebrated, the name of festive days as well as the rituals of Diwali vary significantly among Hindus, based on the region of India. Dhanteras usually falls eighteen days after Dussehra, Diwali or Sanskrit dīpāvali means series of lights, and is derived from dīpam light, lamp and oli glow of light. Diwali is also known as festival of lights. Diwali dates back to ancient times in India, as a festival after the summer harvest in the Hindu calendar month of Kartika. The diyas are mentioned in Skanda Purana to symbolically represent parts of sun, the giver of light and energy to all life. Hindus in some regions of India associate Diwali with the legend of Yama, the Nachiketa story about right versus wrong, true wealth versus transient wealth, knowledge versus ignorance is recorded in Katha Upanishad composed in 1st millennium BC. King Harsha in the 7th century Sanskrit play Nagananda mentions Deepavali as Deepapratipadutsava, the Persian traveller and historian Al Biruni, in his 11th century memoir on India, wrote of Deepavali being celebrated by Hindus on New Moon day of the month of Kartika. Diwali is one of the happiest holidays in India and Nepal with significant preparations, people clean their homes and decorate them for the festivities. People also buy gifts for family members and friends which typically include sweets, dry fruits and it is also the period when children hear ancient stories, legends about battles between good and evil or light and darkness from their parents and elders. Girls and women go shopping and create rangoli and other creative patterns on floors, near doors, youth and adults alike help with lighting and preparing for patakhe. There is significant variation in practices and rituals. Depending on the region, prayers are offered one or more deities, with most common being Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth. On Diwali night, fireworks light up the neighborhood skies, later, family members and invited friends celebrate the night over food and sweets
30.
Shaivism
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Shaivism is one of the major traditions within Hinduism that reveres Shiva as the Supreme Being or its metaphysical concept of Brahman. The followers of Shaivism are called Shaivas or Saivas, like much of Hinduism, the Shaiva have many sub-traditions, ranging from devotional dualistic theism such as Shaiva Siddhanta to yoga-oriented monistic non-theism such as Kashmiri Shaivism. It considers both the Vedas and the Agama texts as important sources of theology, Shaivism has ancient roots, traceable in the Vedic literature of 2nd millennium BCE, but this is in the form of the Vedic deity Rudra. In the early centuries of the era is the first clear evidence of Pāśupata Shaivism. Both devotional and monistic Shaivism became popular in the 1st millennium CE and it arrived in Southeast Asia shortly thereafter, leading to thousands of Shaiva temples on the islands of Indonesia as well as Cambodia and Vietnam, co-evolving with Buddhism in these regions. In the contemporary era, Shaivism is one of the aspects of Hinduism. Shaivism theology ranges from Shiva being the creator, preserver, destroyer to being the same as the Atman within oneself and it is closely related to Shaktism, and some Shaiva worship in Shiva and Shakti temples. It is the Hindu tradition that most accepts ascetic life and emphasizes yoga, Shaivism is one of the largest traditions within Hinduism. Shiva literally means kind, friendly, gracious, or auspicious, as a proper name, it means The Auspicious One. The word Shiva is used as an adjective in the Rig Veda, as an epithet for several Rigvedic deities, the term Shiva also connotes liberation, final emancipation and the auspicious one, this adjective sense of usage is addressed to many deities in Vedic layers of literature. The term evolved from the Vedic Rudra-Shiva to the noun Shiva in the Epics, the Sanskrit word śaiva or Shaiva means relating to the god Shiva, while the related beliefs, practices, history, literature and sub-traditions constitute Shaivism. The reverence for Shiva is one of the traditions, found widely across India, Sri Lanka. While Shiva is revered broadly, Hinduism itself is a complex religion, Shaivism is a major tradition within Hinduism, with a theology that is predominantly related to the Hindu god Shiva. Shaivism has many different sub-traditions with regional variations and differences in philosophy, Shaivism has a vast literature with different philosophical schools, ranging from nondualism, dualism, and mixed schools. The origins of Shaivism are unclear and a matter of debate among scholars, some trace the origins to the Indus Valley civilization, which reached its peak around 2500–2000 BCE. Archeological discoveries show seals that suggest a deity that appears like Shiva. Of these is the Pashupati seal, which scholars interpreted as someone seated in a meditating yoga pose surrounded by animals. This Pashupati seal has been interpreted by scholars as a prototype of Shiva
31.
Newar people
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The Newar or Newah are the historical inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding areas in Nepal, and the creators of its historic heritage and civilization. Newars form a linguistic and cultural community of primarily Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman ethnicities following Hinduism and Buddhism with Nepal Bhasa as their common language, Newars have developed a division of labour and a sophisticated urban civilization not seen elsewhere in the Himalayan foothills. Newars have continued their traditions and practices, and pride themselves as the true custodians of the religion, culture. The valley and surrounding territories constituted the former Newar kingdom of the Nepal Mandala, Indo-Aryan immigrants like the Licchavis and Mallas that arrived at different periods eventually merged with the local population by adopting their language and customs. Newar rule in Nepal Mandala ended with its conquest by the Gorkha Kingdom in 1768, Newars are known for their contributions to culture, art and literature, trade, agriculture and cuisine. Today, Newars consistently rank as the most economically, politically and socially advanced community of Nepal, nepals 2011 census ranks Newars as the nations sixth-largest ethnicity/community, with 1,321,933 Newars throughout the country. The terms Nepāl, Newār, Newāl and Nepār are phonetically different forms of the same word, Nepal is the learned form and Newar is the colloquial form. The term Newar referring to inhabitant of Nepal appeared for the first time in an inscription dated 1654 in Kathmandu, italian Jesuit priest Ippolito Desideri who traveled to Nepal in 1721 has written that the natives of Nepal are called Newars. It has been suggested that Nepal may be a sanskritization of Newar, according to another explanation, the words Newar and Newari are vulgarisms arising from the mutation of P to V, and L to R. As a result of the process of dropping the last consonant and lengthening the vowel, Newā for Newār or Newāl. For about a thousand years, the Newar civilization in Central Nepal preserved a microcosm of classical North Indian culture in which Brahmanic, snellgrove and Richardson speak of the direct heritage of pre-Islamic India. The different divisions of Newars had different historical developments, the common identity of Newar was formed in the Kathmandu Valley. Until the conquest of the valley by the Gorkha Kingdom in 1769, so, the history of Newar correlates to the history of the Kathmandu Valley prior to the establishment of the modern state of Nepal. The earliest known history of Newar and the Kathmandu Valley blends with mythology recorded in historical chronicles, one such text, which recounts the creation of the valley, is the Swayambhu Purana. According to this Buddhist scripture, the Kathmandu Valley was a giant lake until the Bodhisattva Manjusri, with the aid of a sword, cut a gap in the surrounding hills. This apocryphal legend is supported by evidence of an ancient lakebed. According to the Swayambhu Purana, Manjusri then established a city called Manjupattan, now called Manjipā, a shrine dedicated to Manjusri is still present in Majipā. No historical documents have been found after this era till the advent of the Gopal era, a genealogy of kings is recorded in a chronicle called Gopalarajavamsavali
32.
Indra
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Indra is a Vedic deity in Hinduism, a guardian deity in Buddhism, and the king of first heaven called Saudharmakalpa in Jainism. His mythologies and powers are similar, though not identical to those of the Indo-European deities such as Zeus, Jupiter, Perun, Thor, in the Vedas, Indra is the king of Svarga and the Devas. He is the god of lightning, thunder, storms, rains, Indra is the most referred to deity in the Rigveda. He is celebrated for his powers, and the one who kills the great symbolic evil named Vritra who obstructs human prosperity, Indra destroys Vritra and his deceiving forces, and thereby brings rains and the sunshine as the friend of mankind. In Buddhism, Indra has been a popular deity, referred by many names and he is featured in Buddhism somewhat differently than Hinduism, such as being shown as less war oriented and one paying homage to the Buddha. Indra rules over the much sought Devas realm of rebirth within the Samsara doctrine of Buddhist traditions, however, like the Hindu texts, Indra also is a subject of ridicule and reduced to a figurehead status in Buddhist texts, shown as a god that suffers rebirth and redeath. In the Jainism traditions, like Buddhism and Hinduism, Indra is the king of gods, Indras iconography shows him wielding a lightning thunderbolt known as Vajra, riding on a white elephant known as Airavata. In Buddhist iconography the elephant sometimes features three heads, while Jaina icons sometimes show the elephant with five heads, sometimes a single elephant is shown with four symbolic tusks. Indras heavenly home is on or near Mount Meru, the etymological roots of Indra are unclear, has been a contested topic among scholars since the 19th-century, one with many proposals. The significant proposals have been, root ind-u, or rain drop, based on the Vedic mythology that he conquered rain, root ind, or equipped with great power. Root idh or kindle, and ina or strong, root indha, or igniter, for his ability to bring light and power that ignites the vital forces of life. This is based on Shatapatha Brahmana, root idam-dra, or It seeing which is a reference to the one who first perceived the self-sufficient metaphysical Brahman. This is based on Aitareya Upanishad, roots in ancient Indo-European, Indo-Aryan deities. Later scholarship has linked Vedic Indra to the European Aynar, Abaza, Ubykh, colarusso suggests a Pontic origin and that both the phonology and the context of Indra in Indian religions is best explained from Indo-Aryan roots and a Circassian etymology. Indra is also called Śakra frequently in the Vedas and in Buddhism, Indra has many epithets in the Indian religions, notably Śakra, Vṛṣan, Vṛtrahan, Meghavāhana, Devarāja, Devendra, Surendra, Svargapati, Vajrapāṇī and Vāsava. Indra is of ancient but unclear origin, the similarities between Indra of Hindu mythologies and of Thor of Nordic and Germanic mythologies are significant states Max Muller. Michael Janda suggests that Indra has origins in the Indo-European *trigw-welumos smasher of the enclosure, brave and heroic Innara or Inra, which sounds like Indra, is mentioned among the gods of the Mitanni, a Hurrian-speaking people of Hittite region. Indra as a deity had a presence in northeastern Asia minor and this tablet mentions a treaty, but its significance is in four names it includes reverentially as Mi-it-ra, U-ru-w-na, In-da-ra and Na-sa-at-ti-ia
33.
Mahabali
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Mahabali, also known as Mahabali or Māveli, was a benevolent Asura King in ancient Hindu mythology. Mahabali was the great grandson of sage Kashyapa, great grandson of Hiranyakshipu. However, Mahabali was a king and very kind to his subjects in the state of Kerala. The time under his rule was considered one of great prosperity and it is in fact this success as a King that led the Gods to be wary of him and bring his demise at the hands of Vamana. To appease his subjects who were distraught at his death, Mahabali is allowed to return to Earth once every year on the festival of Onam. His subjects deck up their houses and themselves in order to show their happiness and prosperity to their King
34.
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
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