1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
Sidereal year
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A sidereal year is the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun once with respect to the fixed stars. Hence it is also the time taken for the Sun to return to the position with respect to the fixed stars after apparently travelling once around the ecliptic. It equals 365.25636 SI days for the J2000.0 epoch, the sidereal year differs from the tropical year, the period of time required for the ecliptic longitude of the sun to increase 360 degrees, due to the precession of the equinoxes. The sidereal year is 20 min 24.5 s longer than the tropical year at J2000.0. Before the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes by Hipparchus in the Hellenistic period, anomalistic year Gaussian year Orbital period Julian year Precession Sidereal time Tropical year
5.
Vikramaditya
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Vikramaditya was a legendary emperor of ancient India. He is characterised as the king, known for his generosity, courage. There are hundreds of legends about Vikramaditya, including the ones in Baital Pachisi, most of the legends present him as a universal ruler with his capital at Ujjain. According to the tradition, Vikramaditya started the Vikrama Samvat era in 57 BCE. For this reason, those who believe him to be based on a historical figure place him around the 1st century BCE. However, this era is mentioned as Vikrama Samvat only after the 9th century CE, other scholars argue that Vikramaditya is a mythical character as several of the legends about him are fantastic in nature. Vikramaditya was a title adopted by several Indian kings, and it is possible that the various Vikramaditya legends are embellished accounts of different kings. Many Vikramaditya legends, especially the Jain ones, associate him with another legendary king—Shalivahana of Pratishthana. In some of them, he is defeated by Shalivahana while in others, he is an ancestor of Shalivahana, the political rivalry between the two kings is sometimes also extended to patronage of language, with Vikramaditya supporting Sanskrit and Shalivahana supporting Prakrit. The name of the means the Sun of Valour. He is also known as Vikrama, Bikramjit and Vikramarka, Vikramaditya is mentioned in a couple of works dated before the Gupta period. However, the parts that mention Vikramaditya might be later Gupta-era interpolations in these works, the earliest work to mention the legendary Vikramaditya was probably Brihatkatha of Gunadhya, who flourished somewhere between the 1st century BCE and 3rd century CE. This Paisachi language work is now lost and its existence is only deduced by its adaptations in other surviving works dated 6th century and later. Gaha Sattasai attributed to the Satavahana king Hāla mentions a king named Vikramaditya who gave away his wealth in charity, however, a large number of stanzas in this work are not common to its various recensions, they appear to be interpolations added during the Gupta period. The verse about Vikramaditya is similar to a phrase—Anekago-shatasahasra-hiranya-kotipradasya—found in the Gupta inscriptions about Samudragupta and Chandragupta II, thus, there is a possibility that this phrase might have been a later Gupta-era insertion in the work attributed to Hala. The earliest uncontested mentions of Vikramaditya, free from any interpolational controversy, appear in the 6th-century works, paramaratha quotes a Vikramaditya legend, which names the kings capital as Ayodhya. According to this legend, the king gave 300,000 gold coins to the Samkhya scholar Vindhyavasa, Vasubandhu then wrote Paramartha Saptati, which demonstrated the deficiencies of the Samkhya philosophy. Vikramaditya was pleased with Vasubandhus arguments, and gave him 300,000 gold coins as well, Vasubandhu later taught Buddhism to prince Baladitya, and converted the queen to Buddhism after the kings death
6.
Saka
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The Saka or Saca was the term used in Persian and Sanskrit sources for the Scythians, a large group of Eastern Iranian nomadic tribes on the Eurasian Steppe. Modern scholars usually use the term Saka to refer to Iranians of the Eastern Steppe, rené Grousset wrote that they formed a particular branch of the Scytho-Sarmatian family originating from nomadic Iranian peoples of the northwestern steppe in Eurasia. They migrated into Sogdiana and Bactria in Central Asia and then to the northwest of the Indian subcontinent where they were known as the Indo-Scythians, modern debate about the identity of the Saka is partly from ambiguous usage of the word by ancient, non-Saka authorities. According to Herodotus, the Persians gave the name Saka to all Scythians, however, Pliny the Elder claims that the Persians gave the name Sakai only to the Scythian tribes nearest to them. The Scythians to the far north of Assyria were also called the Saka suni by the Persians, the Assyrians, of the time of Esarhaddon, record campaigning against a people they called in the Akkadian the Ashkuza or Ishhuza. However, modern consensus is that the Saka language, ancestor to the Pamir languages in northern India and Khotanese in Xinjiang. Another people, the Gimirrai, who were known to the ancient Greeks as the Cimmerians, were associated with the Sakas. In ancient Hebrew texts, the Ashkuz are considered to be an offshoot from the Gimirri. The Saka were regarded by the Babylonians as synonymous with the Gimirrai, the Sakā paradraya were the western Scythians or Sarmatians. Both the Sakā tigraxaudā and Sakā haumavargā are thought to be located in Central Asia east of the Caspian Sea, Sakā haumavargā is considered to be the same as Amyrgians, the Saka tribe in closest proximity to Bactria and Sogdiana. In the modern era, the archaeologist Hugo Winckler was the first to associate the Sakas with the Scyths, J. M. Sakā and Skuthai evidently constituted a generic name for the nomads on the northern frontiers. Persian sources often treat them as a tribe called the Saka. Modern scholars usually use the term Saka to refer to Iranian-speaking tribes who inhabited the Eastern Steppe, the Saka people were an Iranian people who spoke a language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. They are known to the ancient Greeks as Scythians and are attested in historical and archaeological records dating to around the 8th century BC. In the Achaemenid-era Old Persian inscriptions found at Persepolis, dated to the reign of Darius I, likewise an inscription dated to the reign of Xerxes I has them coupled with the Dahae people of Central Asia. The contemporary Greek historian Herodotus noted that the Achaemenid Persians called all of the Iranian Scythian peoples as the Saka. According to Herodotus, Cyrus the Great confronted the Massagetae, a related to the Saka. Darius the Great also waged wars against the eastern Sakas, who fought him with three armies led by three kings according to Polyaenus, in 520–519 BC, Darius I defeated the Sakā tigraxaudā tribe and captured their king Skunkha
7.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
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It is located in the heart of South Mumbai near the Gateway of India. The museum was renamed in the 1990s or early 2000s after Shivaji, prior to this, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, formerly the Victoria and Albert Museum, was established in 1855, just opposite Byculla railway station, Mumbai. This museum is located in side the Victoria Garden, now called Jijamata Udyaan and this Gothic architecture building was revived a few years ago by the Mumbai municipal corporation authorities. The building is built in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, incorporating elements of styles of architecture like the Mughal, Maratha. The museum building is surrounded by a garden of palm trees, the museum houses approximately 50,000 exhibits of ancient Indian history as well as objects from foreign lands, categorized primarily into three sections, Art, Archaeology and Natural History. The museum houses Indus Valley Civilization artefacts, and other relics from ancient India from the time of the Guptas, Mauryas, Chalukyas and Rashtrakuta. In 1904, some leading citizens of Bombay decided to provide a museum to commemorate the visit of the Prince of Wales, the future King George V. On 1 March 1907, the government of the Bombay Presidency granted the museum committee a piece of land called the Crescent Site, following an open design competition, in 1909 the architect George Wittet was commissioned to design the Museum building. Wittet had already worked on the design of the General Post Office and in 1911 would design one of Mumbais most famous landmarks, the museum was funded by the Royal Visit Memorial Funds. Additionally, the Government and the Municipality granted Rs.300,000, Sir Currimbhoy Ibrahim donated another Rs.300,000 and Sir Cowasji Jehangir gave Rs.50,000. The Museum was established under Bombay Act No, the museum is now maintained by annual grants from the Government and the Bombay Municipal Corporation. The latter pays for these grants from the interest accruing on the funds at the disposal of the Trust of the Museum. The museum building was completed in 1915, but was used as a Childrens Welfare Centre, the Prince of Wales Museum was inaugurated on January 10,1922, by Lady Lloyd, the wife of George Lloyd, Governor of Bombay. The museum building is a Grade I Heritage Building of the city and was awarded first prize by the Bombay Chapter of the Indian Heritage Society for heritage building maintenance in 1990. In 1998 the Museum was renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya after the king and founder of the Maratha Empire. It is surrounded by a garden of trees and formal flower beds. The museum building, built of locally quarried grey Kurla basalt and it is a three-storied rectangular structure, capped by a dome set upon a base, which adds an additional storey in the centre of the building. A cluster of pinnacles, topped with miniature domes surround the central dome, the building incorporates features like Islamic dome with a finial along with protruding balconies and inlaid floors, inspired by Mughal palace architecture
8.
Mumbai
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Mumbai is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India and the ninth most populous agglomeration in the world, Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2008, Mumbai was named a world city. It is also the wealthiest city in India, and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West, Mumbai has the highest number of billionaires and millionaires among all cities in India. The seven islands that came to constitute Mumbai were home to communities of fishing colonies, during the mid-18th century, Bombay was reshaped by the Hornby Vellard project, which undertook reclamation of the area between the seven islands from the sea. Along with construction of roads and railways, the reclamation project, completed in 1845. Bombay in the 19th century was characterised by economic and educational development, during the early 20th century it became a strong base for the Indian independence movement. Upon Indias independence in 1947 the city was incorporated into Bombay State, in 1960, following the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, a new state of Maharashtra was created with Bombay as the capital. Mumbai is the financial, commercial and entertainment capital of India and it is also home to some of Indias premier scientific and nuclear institutes like BARC, NPCL, IREL, TIFR, AERB, AECI, and the Department of Atomic Energy. The city also houses Indias Hindi and Marathi film and television industry, Mumbais business opportunities, as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living, attract migrants from all over India, making the city a melting pot of many communities and cultures. The oldest known names for the city are Kakamuchee and Galajunkja, in 1508, Portuguese writer Gaspar Correia used the name Bombaim, in his Lendas da Índia. This name possibly originated as the Old Portuguese phrase bom baim, meaning good little bay, in 1516, Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa used the name Tana-Maiambu, Tana appears to refer to the adjoining town of Thane and Maiambu to Mumbadevi. Other variations recorded in the 16th and the 17th centuries include, Mombayn, Bombay, Bombain, Bombaym, Monbaym, Mombaim, Mombaym, Bambaye, Bombaiim, Bombeye, Boon Bay, and Bon Bahia. After the English gained possession of the city in the 17th century, Ali Muhammad Khan, imperial diwan or revenue minister of the Gujarat province, in the Mirat-i-Ahmedi referred to the city as Manbai. By the late 20th century, the city was referred to as Mumbai or Mambai in the Indian statewise official languages of Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Kannada and Sindhi, the Government of India officially changed the English name to Mumbai in November 1995. According to Slate magazine, they argued that Bombay was a corrupted English version of Mumbai, Slate also said The push to rename Bombay was part of a larger movement to strengthen Marathi identity in the Maharashtra region. A resident of Mumbai is called mumbaikar in the Marathi language, the term has been in use for quite some time but it gained popularity after the official name change to Mumbai. Mumbai is built on what was once an archipelago of seven islands, Bombay Island, Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli and it is not exactly known when these islands were first inhabited
9.
Ujjain
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Ujjain is the largest city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the centre of Ujjain district. An ancient city situated on the bank of the Kshipra River. It emerged as the centre of central India around 600 BCE. It was the capital of the ancient Avanti kingdom, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas and it remained an important political, commercial and cultural centre of central India until the early 19th century, when the British administrators decided to develop Indore as an alternative to it. Ujjain continues to be an important place of pilgrimage for Shaivites, Vaishnavites, Ujjain has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under PM Narendra Modis flagship Smart Cities Mission. Excavations at Kayatha have revealed chalcolithic agricultural settlements dating to around 2000 BCE, chalcolithic sites have also been discovered at other areas around Ujjain, including Nagda, but excavations at Ujjain itself have not revealed any chalcolithic settlements. H. D. Sankalia theorized that the settlements at Ujjain were probably destroyed by the Iron Age settlers. According to Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, Avanti, whose capital was Ujjain, was one of the earliest outposts in central India, around 600 BCE, Ujjain emerged as the political, commercial and cultural centre of Malwa plateau. The ancient walled city of Ujjain was located around the Garh Kalika hill on the bank of river Kshipra and this city covered an irregular pentagonal area of 0.875 km2. It was surrounded by a 12 m high mud rampart, the archaeological investigations have also indicated the presence of a 45 m wide and 6.6 m deep moat around the city. According to F. R. Allchin and George Erdosy, these city defences were constructed between 6th and 4th centuries BCE, dieter Schlingloff believes that these were built before 600 BCE. This period is characterised by structures made of stone and burnt-brick, tools and weapons made of iron, according to the Puranic texts, a branch of the legendary Haihaya dynasty ruled over Ujjain. In the Mauryan period, Ujjain remained the centre of the region. From this period, Northern Black Polished Ware, copper coins, terracotta ring wells, during the reign of his father Bindusara, Ashoka served as the viceroy of Ujjain. Ujjain was subsequently controlled by a number of empires and dynasties, including the Shungas, the Western Satraps, the Satavahanas, the Guptas, the Paramaras shifted the regions capital from Ujjain to Dhar. Raja Bharthari wrote his epics, Virat Katha, Neeti Sataka. The writings of Bhasa are set in Ujjain, and he lived in the city
10.
Indo-Scythians
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Indo-Scythians is a term used to refer to Scythians, who migrated into parts of central, northern and western South Asia from the middle of the 2nd century BC to the 4th century AD. The first Saka king in south Asia was Maues who established Saka power in Gandhara, Indo-Scythian rule in northwestern India ended with the last Western Satrap Rudrasimha III in 395 CE who was defeated by the Indian Emperor Chandragupta II of the Gupta Empire. The power of the Saka rulers started to decline in the 2nd century CE after the Indo-Scythians were defeated by the south Indian Emperor Gautamiputra Satakarni of the Satavahana dynasty, later the Saka kingdom was completely destroyed by Chandragupta II of the Gupta Empire in the 4th century. The invasion of India by Scythian tribes from Central Asia, often referred to as the Indo-Scythian invasion, ancient Roman historians including Arrian and Claudius Ptolemy have mentioned that the ancient Sakas were basically nomads. However, Italo Ronca, in his study of Ptolemys chapter vi, marks the statement, The land of the Sakai belongs to nomads, they have no towns but dwell in forests. The ancestors of the Indo-Scythians are thought to be Sakas tribes, one group of Indo-European speakers that makes an early appearance on the Xinjiang stage is the Saka. According to these ancient sources Modu Shanyu of the Xiongnu tribe of Mongolia attacked the Yuezhi, leaving behind a remnant of their number, most of the population moved westwards. Around 175 BC, the Yuezhi tribes, were defeated by the Xiongnu tribes, there, they displaced the Sakas, who migrated south into Ferghana and Sogdiana. According to the Chinese historical chronicles, The Yuezhi attacked the king of the Sai who moved a distance to the south. The Sakas seem to have entered the territory of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom around 145 BC, the Sakas called home, an area of Southern Afghanistan, called after them Sistan. From there, they expanded into present day Iran as well as northern India, where they established various kingdoms. The region is known as Seistan. The presence of the Sakas in Sakastan in the 1st century BC is mentioned by Isidore of Charax in his Parthian stations, the first Indo-Scythian kingdom in south western Asia was located in Pakistan in the areas from Abiria to Surastrene, from around 110 to 80 BC. They progressively further moved north into Indo-Greek territory until the conquests of Maues, before it there lies a small island, and inland behind it is the metropolis of Scythia, Minnagara. The Indo-Scythians ultimately established a kingdom in the northwest, based in Taxila, in the southeast, the Indo-Scythians invaded the area of Ujjain, but were subsequently repelled in 57 BC by the Malwa king Vikramaditya. To commemorate the event Vikramaditya established the Vikrama era, a specific Indian calendar starting in 57 BC, more than a century later, in AD78 the Sakas would again invade Ujjain and establish the Saka era, marking the beginning of the long-lived Saka Western Satraps kingdom. Maues first conquered Gandhara and Taxila around 80 BCE, but his kingdom disintegrated after his death, in the east, the Indian king Vikrama retook Ujjain from the Indo-Scythians, celebrating his victory by the creation of the Vikrama Era. Indo-Greek kings again ruled after Maues, and prospered, as indicated by the profusion of coins from Kings Apollodotus II, not until Azes I, in 55 BC, did the Indo-Scythians take final control of northwestern India, with his victory over Hippostratos
11.
Jainism
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Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is an ancient Indian religion belonging to the śramaṇa tradition. The central tenet is non-violence and respect all living beings. The three main principles of Jainism are ahimsa, anekantavada and aparigraha, followers of Jainism take five main vows, ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha. Jain monks and nuns observe these vows absolutely whereas householders observe them within their practical limitations, self-discipline and asceticism are thus major focuses of Jainism. The word Jain derives from the Sanskrit word jina, a human being who has conquered all inner passions like attachment, desire, anger, pride, greed, etc. is called Jina. Followers of the path practiced and preached by the jinas are known as Jains, Parasparopagraho Jivanam is the motto of Jainism. Jains trace their history through a succession of teachers and revivers of the Jain path known as Tirthankaras. In the current era, this started with Rishabhdeva and concluded with Mahavira, Jains believe that Jainism is eternal and while it may be forgotten, it will be revived from time to time. The majority of Jains reside in India, with 6-7 million followers, Jainism is smaller than many other major world religions. Outside of India, some of the largest Jain communities are present in Canada, Europe, Kenya, the UK, Suriname, Fiji, contemporary Jainism is divided into two major sects, Digambara and Śvētāmbara. Namokar Mantra is the most common and basic prayer in Jainism, major Jain festivals include Paryushana and Daslakshana, Mahavir Jayanti, and Diwali. The principle of ahimsa is the most fundamental and well-known aspect of Jainism, the everyday implementation of the principle of non-violence is more comprehensive than in other religions and is the hallmark for Jain identity. Jains believe in avoiding harm to others thoughts, speech. According to the Jain text, Purushartha Siddhyupaya, killing any living being out of passions is hiṃsā, Jains extend the practice of nonviolence and kindness not only towards other humans but towards all living beings. For this reason, vegetarianism is a hallmark of Jain identity, if there is violence against animals during the production of dairy products, veganism is encouraged. Jainism has an elaborate framework on types of life and includes life-forms that may be invisible. Therefore, after humans and animals, insects are the living being offered protection in Jain practice. For example, insects in the home are often escorted out instead of killed, Jainism teaches that intentional harm and the absence of compassion make an action more violent
12.
Sistan
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Sīstān, known in ancient times as Sakastan, is a historical and geographical region in present-day eastern Iran, southern Afghanistan, and the Nok Kundi region of Balochistan. Sistan derives its name from Sakastan, the Sakas were a Scythian tribe which from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century migrated to the Iranian Plateau and India, where they carved a kingdom known as the Indo-Scythian Kingdom. In the Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian scripture written in Pahlavi, the province is called Seyansih, after the Arab conquest of Iran, the province became known as Sijistan/Sistan. The more ancient Old Persian name of the region - prior to Saka dominance - was zaranka and this older form is also the root of the name Zaranj, capital of the Afghan Nimruz Province. Encyclopædia Iranica says The name of the country and its inhabitants is first attested as Old Persian z-r-k in the great Bīsotūn inscription of Darius I, in the Shahnameh, Sistan is also referred to as Zabulistan, after the region in the eastern part of Iran. In Ferdowsis epic, Zabulistan is in turn described to be the homeland of the mythological hero Rostam, in prehistoric times, the Jiroft Civilization covered parts of Sistan and Kerman Province. Later the area was occupied by Aryan tribes related to the Indo-Aryans, eventually a kingdom known as Arachosia was formed, parts of which were ruled by the Medean Empire by 600 BC. The Medes were overthrown by the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 550 BC, in the 4rd century BC, Macedonian king Alexander the Great annexed the region during his conquest of the Persian Empire and founded the colony of Alexandria in Arachosia. Alexanders Empire fragmented after his death, and Arachosia came under control of the Seleucid Empire, after the fall of the Mauryans, the region fell to their Greco-Bactrian allies in 180 BC, before breaking away and becoming part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. Indo-Parthian king Gondophares was leader of Sistan around c, 20–10 BCE as it was part of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom which was also called Gedrosia, its Hellenistic name. After the mid 2nd century BC, much of the Indo-Greek Kingdom was overrun by tribes known as the Indo-Scythians or Saka, from which Sistan eventually derived its name. The Kushans were defeated by the Sassanid Persian Empire in the mid 3rd century, first becoming part of a vassal Kushansha state, Sassanid armies reconquered Sistan in by 565 AD, but lost the area to the Arab Rashidun Caliphate after the mid 640s. The province was formed in ca, shapurs son Narseh was the first to appointed as the governor of province, which he would govern until 271, when the Sasanian prince Hormizd was appointed as the new governor. 281, Hormizd revolted against his cousin Bahram II, during the revolt, the people of Sakastan was one of his supporters. Nevertheless, Bahram II managed to suppress the revolt in 283, during his early reign, Shapur II appointed his brother Shapur Sakanshah as the governor of Sakastan. Peroz I, during his reign, put an end to dynastic rule in province by appointing a Karenid as its governor. The reason behind the appointment was to further family conflict in the province. During the Muslim conquest of Persia, the last Sasanian king Yazdegerd III fled to Sakastan in the mid-640s, however, Yazdegerd III quickly ended this support when he demanded tax money that he had failed to pay
13.
Pratishthana
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Paithan pronunciation, formerly Pratiṣṭhāna, is a city and a municipal council in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, India. It was the capital of the Satavahana dynasty, which ruled from the second century BCE to the second century CE and it is one of the few inland towns mentioned in the famous first-century Greek book, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Paithan is located 56 kilometres south of present-day Aurangabad on the Godavari River, mungi Village, Paithan was the birthplace of Nimbarka, the founder of the Nimbarka Sampradaya tradition of Vaishnavism. Paithan was also the home of the great Marathi saint Eknath, people flock yearly to his shirne during the time of the Paithan yatra, Paithan is also a famous Digambar Jain atishay kshetra. A beautiful Black coloured Sand Idol of 20th Jain Tirthankar, Bhagwan Munisuvratnath is installed in temple here, Paithan is mostly famous today for its saris — the Paithani beautiful silk saris that sport intricately embroidered gold or silver borders. The city is home to many noted personalities like Shankarrao Chavan, Yogiraj maharaj Gosavi, dnyaneshwar Udyanat Paithan is developed on the lines of Brindavan Gardens, Mysore. Pratishthana was capital of First Satavahana king from where it grew into Empire covering almost half of present India. The Satavahana known as Trisamudratoyapitvahana. Later, under the name Pishtapura, it was taken by the Chalukya ruler Pulakesin II who commissioned the recording of the event in a poem as reducing Pishtapuram to flour, pratishthanapura or present day Paithan is said to be the capital of Mulaka desh. Aurangabad, Nashik, Jalna, Washim are parts of Mulaka, thus, Muluka+Naadu=Mulukanadu, people of the Muluka land. Muluka or Mulaka is identified and it is known as Moolaka or Moolaka desha along with Ashmaka. As per legends Pratishthana was built by King Ila, Ila, who was the king of Bahlika, strayed into Shivas forest during his hunting trip and was cursed to become a woman by Shiva. By praying Shivas consort Parvati, Il a managed to stay as man and woman alternatively every month and he would not remember events of one stage in the other. When he was a woman, he married Budha through whom he had a son, Budha helped Ila to attain his former self by pleasing Shiva through Ashwamedha Yagna. After leaving Budha, Ila left Bahlika and established the city Pratishthana from where he ruled for long, after him, Pururavas became the king of Pratishthana. In ancient times it was called Pratishthanpura and it has seen many ups and downs in its long, because of its long and continued existence it was the seat of a number of dynasties and dynastic rules. It was credited to be the capital of the ancient Janpadas like Asmaka and its importance has also been vouchsafed in the writings of the foreign travelers and geographers. As a great commercial centre, it was well linked with the other important towns of ancient India. Its exports had earned great reputation in the markets and had achieved international renown
14.
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
15.
Chauhan
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Chauhan, Chouhan, Chohan, or Chohhan, is an Indian Rajput caste. The word Chauhan is the form of the Sanskrit term Chahamana. Several Chauhan inscriptions name a hero called Chahamana as their ancestor. The earliest extant inscription that describes the origin of the Chauhans is the 1119 CE Sevadi inscription of Ratnapala, according to this inscription, the ancestor of the Chahamanas was born from the eye of Indra. The 1170 CE Bijolia rock inscription of the Shakambhari Chahamana king Someshvara states that his ancestor Samantaraja was born at Ahichchhatrapura in the gotra of sage Vatsa. The 1262 CE Sundha hill inscription of the Jalor Chahamana king Chachiga-deva states that the dynastys ancestor Chahamana was a source of joy to the Vatsa, the Ajmer inscription of the Shakambhari Chahamana ruler Vigraharaja IV claims that Chahamana belonged to the solar dynasty, descending from Ikshavaku and Rama. The 12th-century Prithviraja Vijaya mahakavya, composed by Prithviraja IIIs court poet Jayanaka, according to this text, Chahamana came to earth from Arkamandal. He ultimately chose the place where a lotus from his hand fell, Brahma wanted to protect his sacrificial ceremony against interference from danavas. Therefore, he remembered the Sun, and a hero came into being from the suns orb and this hero was Chohan, the ancestor of the Hammiras dynasty. The earliest extant recension of Prithviraj Raso of Chand Bardai, dated to 15th or 16th century, the 16th-century Surjana-Charita, composed by the Bengali poet Chandra Shekhara under patronage of the Ranthambore ruler Rao Surjana, contains a similar account. It states that Brahma created the first Chahamana from the Suns disc during a ceremony at Pushkara. Despite these earlier myths, it was the Agnivanshi myth that became most popular among the Chauhans, according to this myth, some of the Rajput clans originated from Agni, in a sacrificial fire pit. This legend was invented by the 10th-century Paramara court poet Padmagupta. The inclusion of Chauhans in the Agnivanshi myth can be traced back to the recensions of Prithviraj Raso. In this version of the legend, once Vashistha and other great sages begin a major sacrificial ceremony on Mount Abu, the ritual was interrupted by miscreant daityas. To get rid of demons, Vashistha createed progenitors of three Rajput dynasties from the sacrificial fire pit. These were Parihar, Chaluk, and Parmar and these heroes were unable to defeat the demons. So, the sages prayed again, and this time a fourth warrior appeared and this fourth hero slayed the demons
16.
Dholpur
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Dholpur is a city in eastern-most parts of the Rajasthan state of India. It is the headquarters of Dholpur District and was formerly seat of the Dholpur princely state. Dhaulpur became a district in 1982 comprising four tehsils of Bharatpur, Dholpur, Rajakhera. It is bordered by Bharatpur district of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Pradesh to the south, Karauli district to the west and Uttar Pradesh, the geographical coordinates for Dholpur are 26°420 North, 77°540 East. Total area of Dholpur district is 3,034 sq. kilometers, to liberate the country, many people sacrificed their lives for the country. Similarly, the names of martyrs of Tasimo village of Dholpur come as martyrs Chhatar Singh Parmar, who sacrificed his life for the country. The important event in the history of Dhaulpur was on 11th April,1947 when the workers of the society gathered at Tasimo village gathering place, then there was a ban on hoisting the flag, but the neem tree had a tricolor wave and the meeting was going on. In that very same, the police shot Thakur Chhattar Singh, then Pancham Singh Kushwaha came forward and the police shot him too. And the shouting of the name of Bharat Mata, the police retreated, due to this martyrdom of freedom fighters, Tasimo village was recorded not only in Rajasthan but in the entire history of India, which is known in history as Tasimo Goli Kand. He, who did not care for his life, left his life for the Tricolor, such were our heroes of Shaheed Chhattar Singh Parmar and Pancham Singh Kushvah of Dhaulpur. Pandit Roshanlal 83, who witnessed the incident, points out that the marks of bullets run by the police at the behest of the monarchy have not even blurred on their hands. The same witness, 86-year-old Jamunadas Mittal, said that for the shame of the Tricolor, during Buddha’s time there were sixteen Mahajanapadas in Bharatvarsh. Dholpur at that time was included in Matsya Janpad, during the Mauryan rule it was included in the Mauryan Empire. From Gupta period to the arrival of Chinese traveler Huansuang Bharatpur, Karauli, around the 8th to 10th centuries, Chauhans ruled over it. In the year 1194 it remained under Mohammed Gauri, Dholpur or Dhawalpuri was established in 700 AD by Raja Dholan Dev Tomar and most likely the name of city was changed to Dholpur after him. He resided 10 km south west of Dholpur at a place called Bilpur near chambal where a still exists. His descendant Raja Dhawal Deo built the new town of Dholpur in 1050 AD and their descendants are still living in the area and till independence were rulers of many small chieftainships in Morena and Gwalior. He was ruler of country between Chambal and Banganga, the Dholeshwar Mahadev Temple built by this Raja was washed away in Chambal floods of 1868 AD
17.
Vaishakha
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Vaisakha Vaishakha or Baisakha is a month of the Hindu calendar that corresponds to April/May in the Gregorian Calendar. In the Indian national calendar Vaisakha is the month of the year. It is the first month of the Nepali calendar, Odia Calender, Punjabi calendar, regional calendars used on the sub-continent have two aspects, lunar and solar. Lunar months begin with Chaitra and solar months start with Vaisakha Sankranti, however, regional calendars mark one one official new year is celebrated. In regions such as Maharashtra which begin the new year with the commencement of the lunar year. Conversely, regions starting the new year with Vaisakha Sankranti, give prominence to the start of the year in Chaitra. In the Hindu solar calendar, Vaisakha begins in mid-April in Bengal, Nepal, in Tamil Nadu, it is known as Vaikasi and represents the second month of the Tamil solar calendar. In the Hindu lunar calendar, Vaisakha begins with the new moon in April, the name of the month is derived from the position of the moon near the star Vishakha on full moon day. In the Vaishnava calendar, Madhusudana governs this month, the month of Boishakh also marks the official start of Summer. The month is notorious for the afternoon storms called Kalboishakhi, the storms usually start with strong gusts from the north-western direction at the end of a hot day and cause widespread destruction. The first day of Baishakh is celebrated as the Pôhela Boishak or Bangla New Years Day, the day is observed with cultural programs, festivals and carnivals all around the country. The day of is also the beginning of all activities in Bangladesh. The traders starts new fiscal account book called Halkhata, the accounting in the Halkhata begins only after this day. It is celebrated with sweets and gifts with customers, the harvest festival of Vaisakhi is celebrated on in this month which marks the Punjabi new year according to the Punjabi calendar. Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on the Punjabi New year day, Vaisakha Purnima is celebrated as Buddha Purnima or the birthday of Gautama Buddha amongst southern Buddhists or the Theravada school. Purnima refers to the Full Moon, known in Sinhalese as Vesak, it is observed in the full moon of May. Vaishakha purnima is known as vaikasi vishakam in Tamil Nadu which is celebrated as the birthday of lord murugan, Vaisakha sukla chaturdasi is celebrated as Narasimha Jayanthi Festival in Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamivari Temple at Simhachalam. Baisakhi Vesākha Hindu units of measurement Hindu astronomy Jyotish
18.
Chandragupta II
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Chandragupta II was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta Empire in India. His rule spanned c. 380 – c. 415 CE during which the Gupta Empire reached its peak, art, architecture, and sculpture flourished, and the cultural development of ancient India achieved new heights. The period of prominence of the Gupta dynasty is referred to as the Golden Age of India. Chandragupta II was the son of the ruler, Samudragupta. He attained success by pursuing both a favourable marital alliance and an aggressive expansionist policy in which his father and grandfather set the precedent, Samudragupta set the stage for the emergence of classical art, which occurred under the rule of Chandragupta II. Chandragupta II extended great support to the arts, from 388 to 409 he subjugated Gujarat, the region north of Mumbai, Saurashtra, in western India, and Malwa, with its capital at Ujjain. Chandragupta IIs mother, Datta Devi, was the queen of Samudragupta. Dhruvadevi was Chandragupta IIs chief queen, as seen in the Vaisali Terracotta Seal that calls her Mahadevi Dhruvasvamini, the Bilsad Pillar Inscription of their son Kumaragupta I also refers to her as Mahadevi Dhruvadevi. Chandragupta himself went to Rudrasimha III disguised as the queen, sircar, the only facts in this story are that Dhruvadevi was Chandraguptas queen and the Saka ruler Rudrasimha III held power in western India. Everything else is Vishakhadattas own imagination or some current popular legends embellished by his imagination, the Allahabad Pillar inscription mentions the marriage of Chandragupta II with a Naga princess Kuberanaga. A pillar from Mathura referring to Chandragupta II has recently been dated to 388 CE, Chandragupta IIs daughter, Prabhavatigupta, by his Naga queen Kuberanaga was married to the powerful Vakataka dynasty ruler Rudrasena II. His son-in-law died in 385 CE after a short reign. During this twenty-year period, the Vakataka realm was practically a part of the Gupta empire, Chandragupta is believed to have defeated the Western Kshatrapas led by Rudrasimha III, capturing Malwa and Gujarat in the process. The geographical location of the Vakataka kingdom allowed Chandragupta II to take the opportunity to defeat the Western Kshatrapas once for all, many historians refer to this period as the Vakataka-Gupta Age. Chandragupta II controlled a vast empire, from the mouth of the Ganges to the mouth of the Indus River, Pataliputra continued to be the capital of his huge empire but Ujjain too became a sort of second capital. The large number of gold coins issued by the Gupta dynasty are a testament to the grandeur of that age. Chandragupta II also started producing coins in the Saka tradition. Chandragupta II was succeeded by his second son Kumaragupta I, born of Mahadevi Dhruvasvamini, faxian was the first of three great Chinese pilgrims who visited India from the fifth to the seventh centuries CE, in search of knowledge, manuscripts and relics
19.
Yashodharman
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Yashodharman was the ancient ruler of Malwa, in central India, during the early part of the 6th century. He belonged to the Aulikara dynasty, the Gupta empire had been weakened by the attacks of the Indo-Hephthalites, known in India as the Hunas, towards the end of the 5th century, which caused it to break up into smaller states. Yasodharman and the Gupta Emperor Narasimhagupta defeated a Huna army and their ruler Mihirakula in 528 AD, twin monolithic pillars at Sondani in Mandsaur District were erected by Yasodharman as a record of his victory. Three inscriptions of Yasodharman have been found in Mandsaur, one of these is of samvat 589. Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of Vishnuvardhana Mandasor Pillar Inscription of Yashodharman
20.
Rajatarangini
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Rajatarangini is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western Indian subcontinent, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE, the work consists of 7826 verses, which are divided into eight books called Tarangas. The Rajataringini provides the earliest source on Kashmir that can be labeled as a text on this region. Little is known about the author Kalhana, apart from what is written in the book and his father Champaka was the minister in the court of Harsha of Kashmir. In the first Taranga of Rajatarangini, Kalhana expresses his dissatisfaction with the historical books. Fairness, That noble-minded author is alone worthy of praise whose word, like that of a judge, suvratas poem, though it has obtained celebrity, does not show dexterity in the exposition of the subject-matter, as it is rendered troublesome by misplaced learning. Owing to a want of care, there is not a single part in Ksemendras List of Kings free from mistakes. Eleven works of former scholars containing the chronicles of the kings, I have inspected, despite these stated principles, Kalhanas work is also full of legends and inconsistencies. The kings of Kashmir described in the Rajatarangini are given below, notes in parentheses refer to a book and verse. Thus is Book IV verse 678, the summary is from J. C. Dutts translation. Kalhanas work uses Kali and Laukika calendar eras, the year in CE. Kalhana mentions that Gonanda I ascended the throne in 653 Kali calendar era, according to Jogesh Chander Dutts calculation, this year corresponds to 2448 BCE. The total reign of the kings is mentioned as 1266 years. The Gonanditya dynasty ruled Kashmir for 1002 years, no kings mentioned in this book have been traced in any other historical source. These kings ruled Kashmir for 192 years, Kalhana was an educated and sophisticated Sanskrit scholar, well-connected in the highest political circles. His writing is full of literary devices and allusions, concealed by his unique, despite the value that historians have placed on Kalhanas work, there is little evidence of authenticity in the earlier books of Rajatarangini. For example, Ranaditya is given a reign of 300 years, toramana is clearly the Huna king of that name, but his father Mihirakula is given a date 700 years earlier. Even where the mentioned in the first three books are historically attested, Kalhanas account suffers from chronological errors
21.
Azes I
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Azes I was an Indo-Scythian ruler who completed the domination of the Scythians in Gandhara. Azess most lasting legacy was the foundation of the Azes era and it was widely believed that the era was begun by Azess successors by simply continuing the counting of his regnal years. However, Prof. Harry Falk has recently presented an inscription at several conferences which dates to Azess reign, most popular historians date the start of the Azes era to 58 BC and believe it is the same as the later era known as the Malwa or Vikrama era. However, a recently discovered inscription, the Bajaur reliquary inscription, the inscription gives the relationship Azes = Greek +128. It is believed that the Greek era may have begun in 173 BCE, if that is the case then the Azes era would begin in about 45 BC. According to Senior, Azes I may have been identical with Azes II, yuezhi Greco-Bactrian Kingdom Indo-Greek Kingdom Indo-Parthian Kingdom Kushan Empire Harry Falk and Chris Bennett. Macedonian Intercalary Months and the Era of Azes, comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies. Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, the Greeks in Bactria and India. Coins of Azes I Discussion of the Azes and Greek Era
22.
Vijayamitra
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File, Vijayamitra king on horse. jpg Vijayamitra was an Indo-Scythian king of the Apracas in Bajaur, western Pakistan. This dedication indicates that King Vijayamitra was a follower of Buddhism and his coins also bear the triratna Buddhist symbol
23.
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
24.
East India
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East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and also the union territory Andaman and Nicobar Islands. West Bengals capital Kolkata is the largest city of this region, the Kolkata Metropolitan Area is the countrys third largest. The state of West Bengal share some cultural and linguistic characteristics with Bangladesh, Odisha is the only state of India, which has a classical language Odia, a classical dance Odissi and a classical music Odissi music. Odia is the language in east India accorded the status of a Classical Language of India. Together with Bangladesh, West Bengal formed the region of Bengal before partition in 1947. The modern state of Odisha was known as Kalinga, Odra desha and it was ruled by indigenous rulers of the Mahameghavahana dynasty, Eastern Ganga dynasty and Gajapati Dynasty. The bulk of the lies on the east coast of India by the Bay of Bengal. Jharkhand, on the Chhota Nagpur plateau, is a hilly, Odisha is also a mineral rich state of India. It is connected to the Seven Sister States of Northeast India by the narrow Siliguri Corridor in the north east of West Bengal, in medieval India, it was incorporated into the Mughal, Maratha and then the British empire. After independence in 1947, the joined the Indian Union. Today, they continue to face problems of overpopulation, environmental degradation and pervasive corruption despite significant economic, after the Kalinga War the Maurya king Ashoka sent emissaries to spread Buddhism across Asia. The famous university of Nalanda was in Bihar, chinese travellers visited Buddhist and Hindu temples and libraries in the universities of Magadha Empire. The Emperor of Kalinga Mahameghavahana Aira Kharavela was one of the most powerful monarchs of ancient India, the Jain thirkhankar Mahaveer was born here and founded Jainism. Islamic invasions in the 13th century resulted in the collapse of Hindu kings and most Buddhists, especially in East Bengal, East India including Bihar and West Bengal was part of the Mughal Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries. Odisha remained a powerful Hindu dynasty under the rule of Soma/Keshari Dynasty, Eastern Ganga Dynasty, the mighty Nalanda University existed at Nalanda which was destroyed by Bakhtiar Khilji during the 12th century and also defeated Sena Dynasty. Sher Shah Suri, who became king of India after defeating Humayun, with the arrival of the Europeans in the 17th century, outposts were established in Odisha Coast and Bengal. The European traders established their trade centres in the ports of Balasore, Pipili. The Portuguese were in Chittagong, Dutch in Chinsura, French in Pondicherry, in 1756, the British East India Company defeated the local Indian Muslim rulers in Plassey and established British Rule in the subcontinent
25.
Gujarat
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Gujarat is a state in Western India, sometimes referred to as the Jewel of Western India. It has an area of 196,024 km2 with a coastline of 1,600 km, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula, and a population in excess of 60 million. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the north, Maharashtra to the south, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Gujarat is home to the Gujarati-speaking people of India, the state encompasses some sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to be one of the worlds first seaports, Gujarat was known to the ancient Greeks, and was familiar in other Western centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages. Modern-day Gujarat is derived from Sanskrit term Gurjaradesa, the Gurjar nation, parts of modern Rajasthan and Gujarat have been known as Gurjaratra or Gurjarabhumi for centuries before the Mughal period. Gujarat was one of the centres of the Indus Valley Civilization. It contains ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley such as Lothal, Dholavira, the ancient city of Lothal was where Indias first port was established. The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, the most recent discovery was Gola Dhoro. Altogether, about 50 Indus Valley settlement ruins have been discovered in Gujarat, the ancient history of Gujarat was enriched by the commercial activities of its inhabitants. There is clear evidence of trade and commerce ties with Egypt, Bahrain. The early history of Gujarat reflects the grandeur of Chandragupta Maurya who conquered a number of earlier states in what is now Gujarat. Pushyagupta, a Vaishya, was appointed governor of Saurashtra by the Mauryan regime and he ruled Giringer and built a dam on the Sudarshan lake. Between the decline of Mauryan power and Saurashtra coming under the sway of the Samprati Mauryas of Ujjain, in the first half of the 1st century AD there is the story of a merchant of King Gondaphares landing in Gujarat with Apostle Thomas. The incident of the cup-bearer killed by a lion might indicate that the city described is in Gujarat. For nearly 300 years from the start of the 1st century AD, the weather-beaten rock at Junagadh gives a glimpse of the ruler Rudradaman I of the Saka satraps known as Western Satraps, or Kshatraps. Mahakshatrap Rudradaman I founded the Kardamaka dynasty which ruled from Anupa on the banks of the Narmada up to the Aparanta region which bordered Punjab, in Gujarat several battles were fought between the south Indian Satavahana dynasty and the Western Satraps. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni who defeated the Western Satraps, the Kshatrapa dynasty was replaced by the Gupta Empire with the conquest of Gujarat by Chandragupta Vikramaditya
26.
Vesak
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Sometimes informally called Buddhas Birthday, it commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Gautama Buddha in the Theravada or southern tradition. On Vesākha Day, Buddhists all over the world events of significance to Buddhists of all traditions, The birth, enlightenment. As Buddhism spread from India it was assimilated into many foreign cultures, in India, Vaishakh Purnima day is also known as Buddha Jayanti day and has been traditionally accepted as Buddhas birth day. In 1999, the United Nations resolved to observe the day of Vesak at its headquarters. The name of the observance is derived from the Pali term vesākha or Sanskrit vaiśākha, in Mahayana Buddhist traditions, the holiday is known by its Sanskrit name and derived variants of it. Some countries celebrated Vesākha on the 1st, while others celebrated the holiday on the 31st due to different local lunar observance and this difference also manifests in the observance of other Buddhist holidays, which are traditionally observed at the local full moon. In 2014, Vesak is celebrated on 13 May in Myanmar, Singapore, devotees may bring simple offerings of flowers, candles and joss-sticks to lay at the feet of their teacher. Devotees are enjoined to make an effort to refrain from killing of any kind. They are encouraged to partake of food for the day. In some countries, notably Sri Lanka, two days are set aside for the celebration of Vesākha and all shops and slaughter houses are closed by government decree during the two days. Some devout Buddhists will wear a white dress and spend the whole day in temples with renewed determination to observe the eight Precepts. Devout Buddhists undertake to lead a life according to the teaching by making daily affirmations to observe the Five Precepts. However, on days, notably new moon and full moon days. Devotees are expected to listen to talks given by monks, on this day monks will recite verses uttered by the Buddha twenty-five centuries ago, to invoke peace and happiness for the government and the people. Buddhists are reminded to live in harmony with people of other faiths, celebrating Vesākha also means making special efforts to bring happiness to the unfortunate like the aged, the handicapped and the sick. To this day, Buddhists will distribute gifts in cash and kind to various homes throughout the country. Devout Buddhists also vie with one another to provide refreshments and vegetarian food to followers who visit the temple to pay homage to the Enlightened One, tradition ascribes to the Buddha himself instruction on how to pay him homage. Just before he died, he saw his faithful attendant Ananda, the Buddha advised him not to weep, but to understand the universal law that all compounded things must disintegrate
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Buddha's Birthday
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Buddhas Birthday is a holiday traditionally celebrated in Mahayana Buddhism to commemorate the birth of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later the Gautama Buddha and founder of Buddhism. According to the Theravada Tripitaka scriptures, Gautama was born in Lumbini in modern-day Nepal, around the year 563 BCE, Śuddhodana was determined to see his son become a king, so he prevented him from leaving the palace grounds. But at age 29, despite his fathers efforts, Gautama ventured beyond the palace several times and these experiences prompted Gautama to abandon royal life and take up a spiritual quest. In Nepal, the birth-country of Buddha, it is celebrated on the full day of the Vaisakha month of the Buddhist calendar. In Theravada countries following the Buddhist calendar, it falls on a full moon Uposatha day, in China and Korea, it is celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. The date varies from year to year in the Western Gregorian calendar, in leap years it may be celebrated in June. The festival is known as Buddha Purnima, as Purnima means full moon day in Sanskrit and it is also called is Buddha Jayanti, with Jayanti meaning birthday in Sanskrit Language. The date falls from the end of April to the end of May in the Gregorian calendar, as a result of the Meiji Restoration, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in lieu of the Chinese lunar calendar in 1873. In Cambodia, Buddhas birthday known as Visak Bochea is a holiday and monks around the country carry flags, lotus flowers, incense. People also take part in giving to the monks. In China, celebrations often occur in Buddhist temples where people light incense, in Hong Kong, Buddhas birthday is a public holiday. Lanterns are lit to symbolise the Buddhas enlightenment and many people visit the temple to pay their respects, the bathing of the Buddha is a major feature of Buddhas birthday celebrations in the city. Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanthi in South India or Tathagata is a holiday in India. Buddhist People go to common Viharas to observe a rather longer-than-usual, full-length Buddhist sutra, the usual dress is pure white. Kheer, a rice porridge is commonly served to recall the story of Sujata. Informally called Buddhas Birthday, it commemorates the birth, enlightenment. In Indonesia, Buddhas birthday known as Waisak is a public holiday, a large procession beginning in Mendut in Java ends at Borobudur – the largest Buddhist temple in the world. In Japan, Buddhas Birthday is known as Kanbutsu-e or Hana-matsuri and is held on April 8, Buddhas birth is also celebrated according to the Buddhist calendar but is not a national holiday
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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
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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
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Sikh
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A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism, a monotheistic religion which originated during the 15th century in the Punjab region of Northwestern Indian subcontinent. The term Sikh has its origin in the Sanskrit words शिष्य or शिक्ष, Sikh properly refers to adherents of Sikhism as a religion, not an ethnic group. However, because Sikhism has seldom sought converts, most Sikhs share strong ethno-religious ties, many countries, such as the United Kingdom, therefore recognize Sikh as a designated ethnicity on their censuses. Male Sikhs have Singh, and female Sikhs have Kaur as their middle or last name, initiated male and female Sikhs must cover their hair with a turban. The greater Punjab region is the homeland of the Sikhs. Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, was born to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta, in the village of Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib, Guru Nanak was a religious leader and social reformer. However, Sikh political history may be said to begin with the death of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev, Religious practices were formalised by Guru Gobind Singh on 30 March 1699. Gobind Singh initiated five people from a variety of backgrounds, known as the Panj Piare to form the Khalsa. During the period of Mughal rule in India several Sikh gurus were killed by the Mughals for opposing their persecution of minority communities including Sikhs. Sikhs subsequently militarized to oppose Mughal rule, after defeating the Afghan, Mughal and Maratha invaders, the Misls were formed, under Sultan-ul-Quam Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The empire is considered the zenith of political Sikhism, encompassing Kashmir, Ladakh, hari Singh Nalwa, the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army in the North West Frontier, expanded the confederacy to the Khyber Pass. Its secular administration implemented military, economic and governmental reforms, after the annexation of the Sikh kingdom by the British, the latter recognized the martial qualities of the Sikhs and Punjabis in general and started recruiting from that area. During the 1857 Indian mutiny, the Sikhs stayed loyal to the British and this resulted in heavy recruiting from Punjab to the colonial army for the next 90 years of the British Raj. The distinct turban that differentiates a Sikh from other turban wearers is a relic of the rules of the British Indian Army, the British colonial rule saw the emergence of many reform movements in India including Punjab. This included formation in 1873 and 1879 of the First and Second Singh Sabha respectively, the Sikh leaders of the Singh Sabha worked to offer a clear definition of Sikh identity and tried to purify Sikh belief and practice. The later part of British colonial rule saw the emergence of the Akali movement or the Gurdwara Reform Movement to bring reform in the gurdwaras during the early 1920s. The movement led to the introduction of Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, the months leading up to the partition of India in 1947 were marked by conflict in the Punjab between Sikhs and Muslims. This caused the migration of Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus from West Punjab
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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
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Chaitra
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Chaitra is a month of the Hindu calendar. In the standard Hindu calendar and Indias national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year and it is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Choitro. Chaitra or Chait is also the last month in the Nepali calendar, chithirai is the first month in the Tamil calendar. In the Vaishnava calendar, Vishnu governs this month, in the more traditional reckoning, the first month commences in March or April of the Gregorian Calendar, depending upon whether the Purushottam Maas was observed in the year. There is no fixed date in Gregorian calendar for 1st day of Chaitra, the month of Chaitra is also associated with the coming of Spring. Holi, the festival of colour, is celebrated on the full moon day of Phalguna month before Chaitra. Exactly 6 days after which the festival of Chaiti observed, in lunar religious calendars, Chaitra begins with the new moon in March/April and is the first month of the year. The first of Chaitra – is celebrated as New Years Day, known as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, Chaitrai Vishu or Puthandu in Tamil Nadu and Ugadi in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In Bengal people celebrate Charak Puja. The world famous chithirai Thiruvizha which is held on the banks of vaigai is held during this month in Madurai. In the Tamil calendar, Chitterai begins with the Suns entry into Aries in mid-April, the full moon day of chaitra is known as chithira pournami in Tamil which is an auspicious day for Amman. Chaitra is considered to be an auspicious month in which the creation of the universe was started. He also gradually included planets, stars, ruthu, years, in this month, the fifteen days in Shukla paksha are dedicated to fifteen deities. Each day of the month is dedicated to a different god, Chaiti Hindu units of measurement Hindu astronomy Jyotish Template, Indian astronomy-Prem Jotish
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Islamic calendar
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The Islamic, Muslim, or Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries and it is also used by Muslims to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the annual period of fasting and the proper time for the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Islamic calendar employs the Hijri era whose epoch was retrospectively established as the Islamic New Year of AD622, during that year, Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathrib and established the first Muslim community, an event commemorated as the Hijra. In the West, dates in this era are usually denoted AH in parallel with the Christian, in Muslim countries, it is also sometimes denoted as H from its Arabic form. In English, years prior to the Hijra are reckoned as BH, the current Islamic year is 1438 AH. In the Gregorian calendar,1438 AH runs from approximately 3 October 2016 to 21 September 2017, four of the twelve Hijri months are considered sacred, Rajab, and the three consecutive months of Dhū al-Qa‘dah, Dhu al-Ḥijjah and Muḥarram. As the lunar calendar lags behind the solar calendar by about ten days every gregorian year, the cycle repeats every 33 lunar years. Each month of the Islamic calendar commences on the birth of the new lunar cycle, traditionally this is based on actual observation of the crescent marking the end of the previous lunar cycle and hence the previous month, thereby beginning the new month. Consequently, each month can have 29 or 30 days depending on the visibility of the moon, astronomical positioning of the earth and weather conditions. However, certain sects and groups, most notably Dawoodi Bohra Muslims and Shia Ismaili Muslims, use a tabular Islamic calendar in which odd-numbered months have thirty days, in Arabic, the first day of the week corresponds with Sunday of the planetary week. The Islamic weekdays, like those in the Hebrew and Baháí calendars, the Christian liturgical day, kept in monasteries, begins with vespers, which is evening, in line with the other Abrahamic traditions. Christian and planetary weekdays begin at the following midnight, Muslims gather for worship at a mosque at noon on gathering day which corresponds with Friday. Thus gathering day is regarded as the weekly day of rest. A few others have adopted the Saturday-Sunday weekend while making Friday a working day with a midday break to allow time off for worship. Inscriptions of the ancient South Arabian calendars reveal the use of a number of local calendars, at least some of these calendars followed the lunisolar system. For Central Arabia, especially Mecca, there is a lack of epigraphical evidence, both al-Biruni and al-Masudi suggest that the Ancient Arabs used the same month names as the Muslims, though they also record other month names used by the pre-Islamic Arabs. Nevertheless, the Islamic position equating Nisan with Dhū al-Ḥijja has prevailed, for a comparison between the Islamic and pre-Islamic months, see Islamic and Jahili months. The Islamic tradition is unanimous in stating that Arabs of Tihamah, Hejaz, the forbidden months were four months during which fighting is forbidden, listed as Rajab and the three months around the pilgrimage season, Dhu al-Qa‘dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram
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Sikhism
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Sikhism, or Sikhi, is a panentheistic religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent during the 15th century. It is one of the youngest of the world religions. Sikhism has 25-28 million adherents worldwide and is the ninth-largest religion in the world, Sikhism is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru, and the ten successive Sikh gurus. Guru Nanak established Kartarpur around 1520 and gathered the original core of the Sikh Panth there, an Indian religion, Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on Absolute Truth. Sikhism emphasizes simran, that can be expressed musically through kirtan or internally through Nam Japo as a means to feel Gods presence, hand in hand, secular life is considered to be intertwined with the spiritual life. He also established the system of the langar, or communal kitchen, Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru, established the political/temporal and spiritual realms to be mutually coexistent. The development of Sikhism was influenced by the Bhakti movement, however, Sikhism developed while the region was being ruled by the Mughal Empire. Two of the Sikh gurus – Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Islamic era persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa, as an order for freedom of conscience and religion. A Sikh is expected to embody the qualities of a Sant-Sipāhī – a saint-soldier, the majority of Sikh scriptures were originally written in Gurmukhī alphabet, a script standardised by Guru Angad out of Laṇḍā scripts used in North India. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs, which means students or disciples of the Guru, the anglicized word Sikhism is derived from the Punjabi verb Sikhi, with roots in Sikhana, and Sikhi connotes the temporal path of learning. Sikhism is a religion and states that there is one supreme entity holding control of the entire universe. This entity is referred to as Ik Onkar, the basis of Sikhism lies in the teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors. The essence of Sikh teaching is summated by Guru Nanaks words, Sikh teaching emphasizes the principle of equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender. Sikh principles encourage living life as a householder, Sikhism is a monistic form of monotheistic religion. In Sikhism, the concept of God is Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and invisible, niraṅkār, akaal, the beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure 1—signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite with power over everything, Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was God and Gods hukam. God in Sikhism is known as Ik Onkar, the One Supreme Reality or the all-pervading spirit and this spirit has no gender in Sikhism, though translations may present it as masculine. It is also Akaal Purkh and Nirankar, in addition, Nanak wrote that there are many worlds on which it has created life
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Buddhist calendar
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While the calendars share a common lineage, they also have minor but important variations such as intercalation schedules, month names and numbering, use of cycles, etc. In Thailand, the name Buddhist Era is a numbering system shared by the traditional Thai lunisolar calendar. The Southeast Asian lunisolar calendars are based on an older version of the Hindu calendar. One major difference is that the Southeast Asian systems, unlike their Indian cousins, instead, they employ their versions of the Metonic cycle. However, since the Metonic cycle is not very accurate for sidereal years, yet no coordinated structural reforms of the lunisolar calendar have been undertaken. Today, the traditional Buddhist lunisolar calendar is used mainly for Theravada Buddhist festivals, the Thai Buddhist Era, a renumbered Gregorian calendar, is the official calendar in Thailand. The Burmese calendar in turn was based on the original Surya Siddhanta system of ancient India, one key difference with Indian systems is that the Burmese system has followed a variation of the Metonic cycle. It is unclear from where, when or how the Metonic system was introduced, the Burmese system, and indeed the Southeast Asian systems, thus use a strange combination of sidereal years from Indian calendar in combination with the Metonic cycle better for tropical years. In all Theravada traditions, the epochal year 0 date was the day in which the Buddha attained parinibbāna. However, not all agree on when it actually took place. In Burmese Buddhist tradition, it was 13 May 544 BCE, but in Thailand, it was 11 March 545 BCE, the date which the current Thai lunisolar and solar calendars use as the epochal date. In Myanmar, the difference between BE and CE can be 543 or 544 for CE dates, and 544 or 543 for BCE dates, in Sri Lanka, the difference between BE and CE is 544. The calendar recognizes two types of months, synodic month and sidereal month, the Synodic months are used to compose the years while the 27 lunar sidereal days, alongside the 12 signs of the zodiac, are used for astrological calculations. The days of the month are counted in two halves, waxing and waning, the 15th of the waxing is the civil full moon day. The civil new moon day is the last day of the month, because of the inaccuracy of the calendrical calculation systems, the mean and real New Moons rarely coincide. The mean New Moon often precedes the real New Moon, as the Synodic lunar month is approximately 29.5 days, the calendar uses alternating months of 29 and 30 days. Various regional versions of Chula Sakarat/Burmese calendar existed across various regions of mainland Southeast Asia, unlike Cambodian and Burmese systems, Kengtung, Lan Na, Lan Xang and Sukhothai systems refer to the months by numbers, not by names. The Buddhist calendar is a calendar in which the months are based on lunar months
36.
Gregorian calendar
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The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582, the calendar was a refinement to the Julian calendar involving a 0. 002% correction in the length of the year. The motivation for the reform was to stop the drift of the calendar with respect to the equinoxes and solstices—particularly the northern vernal equinox, transition to the Gregorian calendar would restore the holiday to the time of the year in which it was celebrated when introduced by the early Church. The reform was adopted initially by the Catholic countries of Europe, the last European country to adopt the reform was Greece, in 1923. Many countries that have used the Islamic and other religious calendars have come to adopt this calendar for civil purposes. The reform was a modification of a made by Aloysius Lilius. His proposal included reducing the number of years in four centuries from 100 to 97. Lilius also produced an original and practical scheme for adjusting the epacts of the moon when calculating the date of Easter. For example, the years 1700,1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 are. The canonical Easter tables were devised at the end of the third century, when the vernal equinox fell either on 20 March or 21 March depending on the years position in the leap year cycle. As the rule was that the full moon preceding Easter was not to precede the equinox, the date was fixed at 21 March for computational purposes, the Gregorian calendar reproduced these conditions by removing ten days. To unambiguously specify a date, dual dating or Old Style, dual dating gives two consecutive years for a given date, because of differences in the starting date of the year, and/or to give both the Julian and the Gregorian dates. The Gregorian calendar continued to use the calendar era, which counts years from the traditional date of the nativity. This year-numbering system, also known as Dionysian era or Common Era, is the predominant international standard today, the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. A regular Gregorian year consists of 365 days, but as in the Julian calendar, in a leap year, in the Julian calendar a leap year occurs every 4 years, but the Gregorian calendar omits 3 leap days every 400 years. In the Julian calendar, this day was inserted by doubling 24 February. In the modern period, it has become customary to number the days from the beginning of the month, some churches, notably the Roman Catholic Church, delay February festivals after the 23rd by one day in leap years. Gregorian years are identified by consecutive year numbers, the cycles repeat completely every 146,097 days, which equals 400 years
37.
Bhaktapur
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Bhaktapur, literally translates to Place of devotees. Also known as Bhadgaon or Khwopa, it is an ancient Newar city in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, about 8 miles from the capital city and it is located in Bhaktapur District in the Bagmati Zone. Bhaktapur was the largest of the three Newar kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley, and was the capital of Nepal during the great Malla Kingdom until the half of the 15th century. Today it is the third largest city in the Kathmandu Valley, with a population of more than 80,000, historically more isolated than the other two kingdoms, Kathmandu and Patan, Bhaktapur has a distinctly different form of Nepal Bhasa language. Bhaktapur has the best preserved palace courtyards and old city center in Nepal, and is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its culture, temples. This is supported by the restoration and preservation efforts of German-funded Bhaktapur Development Project, the city is famous for special type of curd called Ju Ju dhau. It is experienced by the curd makers that the taste of curd prepared in this location cannot be found all over Nepal KHWOPA is the ancient name of Bhaktapur. The term Bhaktapur refers to The City Of Devotees and this Bhaktapur City is also known as Khwopa or Bhadgaon or Ancient Newari Town throughout the Kathmandu Valley. Kh0apa actually refers to the masks which are believed to have worn by gods. Bhaktapur is still an untouched as well as preserved ancient city that is itself a world to explore for tourists, from time immemorial it lay on the trade route between Tibet and India. This position on the caravan route made the town rich. At the time of the 2001 Nepal census it had a population of 72,543, the male inhabitants of this city wear a special type of cap called the Bhadgaunle Topi. Bhaktapur Durbar Square is a conglomeration of pagoda and shikhara-style temples, mostly dedicated to Hindu gods and goddesses grouped around a 55-window palace of brick, the square is one of the most charming architectural showpieces of the valley as it highlights the ancient arts of Nepal. The royal palace was situated at Dattaraya square and was only later moved to the Durbar square location. The square in Bhaktapur was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1934 and hence appears more spacious than the ones at Kathmandu, Nyatapola Temple is a 5-story pagoda located in Bhaktapur, Nepal. The temple was erected by Nepali King Bhupatindra Malla during a 5-month period from late 1701 into 1702 and it is the temple of Siddha Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity. This is another temple of lord Bhairab, the dreadful aspect of Lord Shiva. It stands near the Nyatapola temple and was constructed by King Jagat Jyoti Malla on a modest scale
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Nepal Sambat
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Nepal Era is the national lunar calendar of Nepal. The era started on 20 October 879 AD and was in use for all daily purposes until the beginning of the 20th century when it came under official disapproval. Nepal Sambat appeared on coins, stone and copper inscriptions, royal decrees, chronicles, Hindu and Buddhist manuscripts, legal documents. Today, it is used for purposes and to determine the dates to celebrate religious festivals and commemorate birthdays. The year 2013-14 AD corresponds to 1134 in Nepal Sambat and 2070-71 in the Bikram Sambat or Vikram Samvat calendar, following a century of official neglect and even suppression, Nepal Sambat has been revived as a symbol of Nepals glory and national unity. In 2008, the government named it a national era, on 25 October 2011, the government decided to bring Nepal Sambat into use as the countrys national calendar, and formed a taskforce to make recommendations on its implementation. However, no action has taken after that to bring the era into practice. Nepal Sambat was replaced as the calendar in Rana period of Nepal. The victory of the Gorkha Kingdom resulted in the end of the Malla dynasty, however, Nepal Sambat remained in official use for a time even after the coming of the Shahs. For example, the treaty with Tibet signed during the reign of Pratap Singh Shah is dated Nepal Sambat 895, in 1903, Saka Sambat in turn was superseded by Bikram Sambat as the official calendar. However, the government continued to use Saka Sambat on gold, despite the loss of legal recognition for Nepal Sambat, many people in the Kathmandu Valley and other parts of the country have continued using the calendar for ceremonial purposes. It is used to date manuscripts, books and inscriptions, birth and death anniversaries, and almost all the religious festivals, are observed according to the lunar calendar. Horoscopes are also based on the lunar calendar, the government moved to restore the national status of Nepal Sambat following prolonged lobbying by cultural and social organizations, most prominently by Nepal Bhasa Manka Khala. All the major newspapers now print Nepal Sambat along with dates on their mastheads. New Years Day celebrations have spread from the Kathmandu Valley to other towns in Nepal as well as abroad. New Years Day falls on the first day of the moon during the Swanti festival. Traditionally, traders used to close their ledgers and open new account books on the first day of Nepal Sambat, newars observe New Years Day by performing Mha Puja, a ritual to purify and empower the soul for the coming New Year besides praying for longevity. During this ceremony, family members sit cross-legged in a row on the floor in front of mandalas drawn for each person
Listen (help·info)) (also called the Bikrami calendar or sometimes just Hindu calendar) is the historical Hindu calendar of India and Nepal.[1][2] It uses lunar months and solar sidereal years. It is the official calendar of Nepal.
"Samvat". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
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