1.
Hindi language
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Hindi, or Modern Standard Hindi is a standardised and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language. Along with the English language, Hindi written in the Devanagari script, is the language of the Government of India. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India, Hindi is the lingua franca of the so-called Hindi belt of India. Outside India, it is a language which is known as Fiji Hindi in Fiji, and is a recognised regional language in Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana. Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world, after Mandarin, apart from specialized vocabulary, Hindi is mutually intelligible with Standard Urdu, another recognized register of Hindustani. Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with Official Language, under Article 343, official language of the Union has been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English. Gujarat High Court, in 2010, has observed that there was nothing on record to suggest that any provision has been made or order issued declaring Hindi as a language of India. Article 343 of the Indian constitution states The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script, the form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals. It was envisioned that Hindi would become the working language of the Union Government by 1965. Each may also designate a co-official language, in Uttar Pradesh, for instance, depending on the formation in power. Similarly, Hindi is accorded the status of language in the following Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu. National-language status for Hindi is a long-debated theme, an Indian court clarified that Hindi is not the national language of India because the constitution does not mention it as such. Outside Asia, Hindi is a language in Fiji as per the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It is spoken by 380,000 people in Fiji, Hindi is also spoken by a large population of Madheshis of Nepal. Hindi is quite easy to understand for some Pakistanis, who speak Urdu, apart from this, Hindi is spoken by the large Indian diaspora which hails from, or has its origin from the Hindi Belt of India. Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi is considered to be a descendant of an early form of Sanskrit, through Sauraseni Prakrit. It has been influenced by Dravidian languages, Turkic languages, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi emerged as Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A. D. By the 10th century A. D. it became stable, Braj Bhasha, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Khari Boli etc. are the dialects of Hindi
Hindi language
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The word "Hindi" in
Devanagari script
2.
Nepali language
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Nepali, originally known as Khas Kura, Parbate Bhasa or Gorkhali, is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal. It is also spoken in parts of India, particularly by Indian Gorkha. In India, Nepali language is listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India having a status in the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepali developed in proximity to a number of Indo-Aryan languages, most notably the Pahari languages and Magahi, however, owing to Nepals geographical area, it has also been influenced by Tibeto-Burman languages. Nepali is mainly differentiated from Central Pahari, both in grammar and vocabulary, by Tibeto-Burman idioms owing to close contact with the language group. Nepali language shares 40% lexical similarity with the Bengali language, in the nineteenth century, the British resident at Kathmandu Brian Houghton Hodgson observed that it was, in eight-tenths of its vocabulary, substantially Hindi. Historically, the language was first called the Khas language, then Gorkhali or Gurkhali before the term Nepali was adopted, in 1920, during Rana regime in Nepal, the term Nepal which resembled the Nepal Mandala was taken from its people. Soon after that, Nepal Bhasa was renamed into Newari and Parbate/Khas language took over as Nepali language, other names include Parbatiya and Dzongkha Lhotshammikha. It is also known as the Khey language or Partya language among the Newar people and Pahari language among Madhesi, however, due to protests for identity, Newars have restored their languages name as Nepal Bhasa and voices have been raise to re-instate Parbate language in its original name. Nepali developed a significant literature within a period of a hundred years in the 19th century. This literary explosion was fueled by Adhyatma Ramayana, Sundarananda Bara, Birsikka, a collection of folk tales. The contribution of trio-laureates Lekhnath Paudyal, Laxmi Prasad Devkota, the contribution of expatriate writers outside Nepal, especially in Darjeeling and Varanasi in India, is also notable. In the past decade, there have been many contributions to Nepali literature from the Nepali diaspora in Asia, Europe, America, according to the 2011 national census,44.6 percent of the population of Nepal speaks Nepali as a first language. The Ethnologue website reports 12,300,000 speakers within Nepal, Nepali is traditionally spoken in the Hill Region of Nepal, especially in the western part of the country. Although the Newar language dominated the Kathmandu valley, Nepali is currently the most dominant, Nepali is used in government and as the everyday language of a growing portion of the local population. Nevertheless, the use of Nepali in the courts and government of Nepal is being challenged. Recognition of other languages in Nepal was one of the objectives of the Communist Party of Nepals long war
Nepali language
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Calligraphy
Nepali language
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The word "Nepali" written in
Devanagari
3.
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
Hindu calendar
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A page from the Hindu calendar 1871-72.
Hindu calendar
4.
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
India
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Flag
India
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The granite
tower of
Brihadeeswarar Temple in
Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by
Raja Raja Chola I.
India
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Writing the will and testament of the Mughal king court in Persian, 1590–1595
5.
Nepal
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Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises,13 sub-metropolises,246 municipal councils and 481 village and it has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area. Bordering China in the north and India in the south, east, Nepal does not border Bangladesh, which is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip. It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between, Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the worlds ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. It is a nation with Nepali as the official language. The territory of Nepal has a history since the Neolithic age. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, in the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet, the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilization. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala, the Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valleys traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture, by the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, the country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged ties with regional powers. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008, modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. Nepal is a nation, ranking 144th on the Human Development Index in 2016. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic and it also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022
Nepal
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Lumbini, listed as the birthplace of
Gautama Buddha by the
UNESCO World Heritage Convention
Nepal
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Flag
Nepal
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Former royal palace at
Basantapur, Kathmandu
Nepal
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Hindu temples in
Patan, capital of one of the three medieval
Newar kingdoms
6.
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
Sidereal year
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Key concepts
7.
Vedic time keeping
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Vedic and Puranic texts describe units of Kala measurements, from Paramaṇu to Maha-Manvantara. According to these texts and other sources, such as the Pachipala family, the creation and destruction of the universe is a cyclic process. Each cycle starts with the birth and expansion of the Universe equaling 311.04 trillion years and this is currently 51st year of Brahma, and this is the year when the solar system was created according to Hindu astrology, and is the first maha yuga for humanity. The unit given as 311.04 trillion years may be calculated as 3.1104 trillion or 31.104 trillion years depending on which source, calculated by multiplying other time units, some texts accept some intermittent units where some do not figure these into the solution. However, the value of 33104 is constant and the real conflict is the exponential value. Various units of time are used across the Vedas, Puranas, a summary of the Hindu metrics of time follows. Sidereal time is a system that astronomers use to keep track of the direction to point their telescopes to view a given star in the night sky. A Tithi or lunar day is defined as the time it takes for the angle between the moon and the Sun to increase by 12°. Tithis begin at varying times of day and vary in duration from approximately 19 to approximately 26 hours, a Paksa or lunar fortnight consists of 15 tithes. 1 human month =1 day and night of the Pitṛs,30 days of the Pitṛs =1 month of the Pitṛs =. 12 months of the Pitṛs =1 year of the Pitṛs =.5 million years, statistically, we can also look it as,12000 Deva Years = Life Span of Devas =1 Mahā-Yuga. The charaṇas are divided as follows, The cycle repeats itself, thus a day of Brahma, Kalpa, is of duration,4.32 billion solar years. Two Kalpas constitute a day and night of Brahma, a Manvantara consists of 71 Mahā-Yuga. Each Manvantara is ruled by a Manu, after each Manvantara follows one Saṃdhi Kāla of the same duration as a Kṛta Yuga. A Kalpa consists of a period of 4.32 Billion solar years followed by 14 Manvataras, a day of Brahma equals + =994 Mahā-Yuga + =994 Mahā-Yuga + /6 =12,000 viz. one maha yuga. Currently,50 years of Brahma have elapsed, the last Kalpa at the end of 50th year is called Padma Kalpa. We are currently in the first day of the 51st year and this Brahmas day, Kalpa, is named as Shveta-Varaha Kalpa. Within this Day, six Manvantaras have already elapsed and this is the seventh Manvantara, within the Vaivasvatha Manvantara,27 Mahayugas, and the Krita, Treta and Dwapara Yugas of the 28th Mahayuga have elapsed
Vedic time keeping
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Astrology portal
Vedic time keeping
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Hindu measurements in
logarithmic scale (approx.).
8.
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
Vikramaditya
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A picture of
vetala hanging by a tree and Vikram in the background.
9.
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
Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
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First page of the papal bull
Inter gravissimas
Gregorian calendar
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Detail of the pope's tomb by
Camillo Rusconi (completed 1723); Antonio Lilio is genuflecting before the pope, presenting his printed calendar.
10.
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
Bhaktapur
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Bhaktapur Durbar Square
Bhaktapur
Bhaktapur
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A panoramic view of the Dattatraya Temple and Surroundings.
Bhaktapur
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Nyatapola Temple
11.
Indian national calendar
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The Indian national calendar, sometimes called the Saka calendar, is the official civil calendar in use in India along with the Vikram Samvat calendar. It is used, alongside the Gregorian calendar, by The Gazette of India, in broadcasts by All India Radio and in calendars. The Saka calendar is used in Java and Bali among Indonesian Hindus. Nyepi, the Day of Silence, is a celebration of the Saka new year in Bali, nepals Nepal Sambat evolved from the Saka calendar. The term may also refer to the Hindu calendar, the Saka era is also commonly used by other calendars. The calendar months follow the signs of the tropical zodiac rather than the sidereal zodiac normally used with Hindu calendar, in leap years, Chaitra has 31 days and starts on March 21 instead. The months in the first half of the year all have 31 days, the names of the months are derived from older, Hindu lunisolar calendars, so variations in spelling exist, and there is a possible source of confusion as to what calendar a date belongs to. Years are counted in the Saka Era, which starts its year 0 in the year 78 of the Common Era. To determine leap years, add 78 to the Saka year - if the result is a year in the Gregorian calendar. Its structure is like the Persian calendar, despite this effort, local variations based on older sources such as the Surya Siddhanta may still exist. Senior Indian Astrophysicist Meghnad Saha was the head of the Calendar Reform Committee under the aegis of the Council of Scientific, other members of the Committee were, A. C. Banerjee, K. K. Daftari, J. S. Karandikar, Gorakh Prasad, R. V. Vaidya and it was Saha’s effort, which led to the formation of the Committee. The task before the Committee was to prepare an accurate calendar based on scientific study, the Committee had to undertake a detailed study of different calendars prevalent in different parts of the country. The task was complicated by the fact that religion and local sentiments were integral to those calendars. Indias first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in his preface to the Report of the Committee, published in 1955, wrote, “They represent past political divisions in the country…. ”Usage started officially at Chaitra 1,1879, Saka Era, or March 22,1957, Dionysian Era. However, government officials seem to ignore the New Years Day of this calendar in favour of the religious calendar. Mapping Time, The Calendar and its History by E. G, Calendars and their History Indian Calendars Positional astronomy in India Indian National Calendar abstract
Indian national calendar
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Mohar of Gorkha king
Prithvi Narayan Shah dated
Saka Era 1685 (AD 1763)
12.
Constitution of India
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The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It is the longest written constitution of any country in the world. The nation is governed by it, B. R. Ambedkar is regarded as its chief architect. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, with its adoption, the Union of India became the modern and contemporary Republic of India replacing the Government of India Act,1935 as the countrys fundamental governing document. To ensure constitutional autochthony, the framers of the repealed the prior Acts of the British Parliament via Article 395 of the constitution. India celebrates its coming into force on 26 January each year and it declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty, and endeavours to promote fraternity among them. The major portion of the Indian subcontinent was under British rule from 1857 to 1947, when the Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, it repealed the Indian Independence Act. India ceased to be a dominion of the British Crown and became a democratic republic. The date of 26 January was chosen to commemorate the Purna Swaraj declaration of independence of 1930. Articles 5,6,7,8,9,60,324,366,367,379,380,388,391,392,393 and 394 of the Constitution came into force on 26 November 1949 and it is drawn from many sources. Keeping in mind the needs and conditions of India its framers borrowed different features freely from previous legislation viz and it was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was elected by elected members of the provincial assemblies. The 389 member Constituent Assembly took almost three years to complete its task of drafting the Constitution for independent India, during which. Of these,114 days were spent on the consideration of the draft Constitution, on 29 August 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar to prepare a draft Constitution for India, while deliberating upon the draft Constitution, the assembly moved, discussed and disposed of as many as 2,473 amendments out of a total of 7,635 tabled. Ambedkar, Sanjay Phakey, Jawaharlal Nehru, C, there were more than 30 members of the scheduled classes. Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi, the Chairman of the Minorities Committee was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a distinguished Christian who represented all Christians other than Anglo-Indians. Ari Bahadur Gurung represented the Gorkha Community, prominent jurists like Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Benegal Narsing Rau and K. M. Munshi, Ganesh Mavlankar were also members of the Assembly. Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the first temporary 2-day president of the Constituent Assembly was Dr Sachchidananda Sinha
Constitution of India
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The original text of the
Preamble and artwork of Beohar Rammanohar Sinha, before the
42nd Amendment of the Constitution
Constitution of India
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Jawaharlal Nehru signing the Constitution
Constitution of India
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Dr.
Ambedkar is hailed as the prime architect of the Indian Constitution
13.
Constitution
–
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i. e. constitute, some constitutions are uncodified, but written in numerous fundamental Acts of a legislature, court cases or treaties. Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from states to companies. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, within states, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a states rulers cannot cross, the term constitution comes through French from the Latin word constitutio, used for regulations and orders, such as the imperial enactments. Later, the term was used in canon law for an important determination, especially a decree issued by the Pope. The Latin term ultra vires describes activities of officials within an organization or polity that fall outside the constitutional or statutory authority of those officials. Ultra vires gives a justification for the forced cessation of such action. A violation of rights by an official would be ultra vires because a right is a restriction on the powers of government, and therefore that official would be exercising powers they do not have. It was never law, even though, if it had been a statute or statutory provision, in such a case, only the application may be ruled unconstitutional. Historically, the remedy for such violations have been petitions for common law writs, excavations in modern-day Iraq by Ernest de Sarzec in 1877 found evidence of the earliest known code of justice, issued by the Sumerian king Urukagina of Lagash ca 2300 BC. Perhaps the earliest prototype for a law of government, this document itself has not yet been discovered, for example, it is known that it relieved tax for widows and orphans, and protected the poor from the usury of the rich. After that, many governments ruled by codes of written laws. The oldest such document still known to exist seems to be the Code of Ur-Nammu of Ur, some of the better-known ancient law codes include the code of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin, the code of Hammurabi of Babylonia, the Hittite code, the Assyrian code and Mosaic law. In 621 BC a scribe named Draco codified the cruel oral laws of the city-state of Athens, in 594 BC Solon, the ruler of Athens, created the new Solonian Constitution. It eased the burden of the workers, and determined that membership of the class was to be based on wealth. Cleisthenes again reformed the Athenian constitution and set it on a footing in 508 BC. The most basic definition he used to describe a constitution in general terms was the arrangement of the offices in a state
Constitution
–
A painting depicting George Washington at the
Constitutional Convention of 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution
Constitution
–
Detail from
Hammurabi 's
stele shows him receiving the laws of
Babylon from the seated
sun deity.
Constitution
–
The Bendery Constitution by Hetman
Pylyp Orlyk.
Constitution
–
May 3rd Constitution (painting by
Jan Matejko, 1891).
Polish King Stanisław August (left, in regal
ermine -trimmed cloak), enters
St. John's Cathedral, where
Sejm deputies will swear to uphold
the new Constitution; in background,
Warsaw's Royal Castle, where the Constitution has just been adopted.
14.
Angle
–
In planar geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays, called the sides of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle. Angles formed by two rays lie in a plane, but this plane does not have to be a Euclidean plane, Angles are also formed by the intersection of two planes in Euclidean and other spaces. Angles formed by the intersection of two curves in a plane are defined as the angle determined by the tangent rays at the point of intersection. Similar statements hold in space, for example, the angle formed by two great circles on a sphere is the dihedral angle between the planes determined by the great circles. Angle is also used to designate the measure of an angle or of a rotation and this measure is the ratio of the length of a circular arc to its radius. In the case of an angle, the arc is centered at the vertex. In the case of a rotation, the arc is centered at the center of the rotation and delimited by any other point and its image by the rotation. The word angle comes from the Latin word angulus, meaning corner, cognate words are the Greek ἀγκύλος, meaning crooked, curved, both are connected with the Proto-Indo-European root *ank-, meaning to bend or bow. Euclid defines a plane angle as the inclination to each other, in a plane, according to Proclus an angle must be either a quality or a quantity, or a relationship. In mathematical expressions, it is common to use Greek letters to serve as variables standing for the size of some angle, lower case Roman letters are also used, as are upper case Roman letters in the context of polygons. See the figures in this article for examples, in geometric figures, angles may also be identified by the labels attached to the three points that define them. For example, the angle at vertex A enclosed by the rays AB, sometimes, where there is no risk of confusion, the angle may be referred to simply by its vertex. However, in geometrical situations it is obvious from context that the positive angle less than or equal to 180 degrees is meant. Otherwise, a convention may be adopted so that ∠BAC always refers to the angle from B to C. Angles smaller than an angle are called acute angles. An angle equal to 1/4 turn is called a right angle, two lines that form a right angle are said to be normal, orthogonal, or perpendicular. Angles larger than an angle and smaller than a straight angle are called obtuse angles. An angle equal to 1/2 turn is called a straight angle, Angles larger than a straight angle but less than 1 turn are called reflex angles
Angle
–
An angle enclosed by rays emanating from a vertex.
15.
Moon
–
The Moon is an astronomical body that orbits planet Earth, being Earths only permanent natural satellite. It is the fifth-largest natural satellite in the Solar System, following Jupiters satellite Io, the Moon is second-densest satellite among those whose densities are known. The average distance of the Moon from the Earth is 384,400 km, the Moon is thought to have formed about 4.51 billion years ago, not long after Earth. It is the second-brightest regularly visible celestial object in Earths sky, after the Sun and its surface is actually dark, although compared to the night sky it appears very bright, with a reflectance just slightly higher than that of worn asphalt. Its prominence in the sky and its cycle of phases have made the Moon an important cultural influence since ancient times on language, calendars, art. The Moons gravitational influence produces the ocean tides, body tides, and this matching of apparent visual size will not continue in the far future. The Moons linear distance from Earth is currently increasing at a rate of 3.82 ±0.07 centimetres per year, since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, the Moon has been visited only by uncrewed spacecraft. The usual English proper name for Earths natural satellite is the Moon, the noun moon is derived from moone, which developed from mone, which is derived from Old English mōna, which ultimately stems from Proto-Germanic *mǣnōn, like all Germanic language cognates. Occasionally, the name Luna is used, in literature, especially science fiction, Luna is used to distinguish it from other moons, while in poetry, the name has been used to denote personification of our moon. The principal modern English adjective pertaining to the Moon is lunar, a less common adjective is selenic, derived from the Ancient Greek Selene, from which is derived the prefix seleno-. Both the Greek Selene and the Roman goddess Diana were alternatively called Cynthia, the names Luna, Cynthia, and Selene are reflected in terminology for lunar orbits in words such as apolune, pericynthion, and selenocentric. The name Diana is connected to dies meaning day, several mechanisms have been proposed for the Moons formation 4.51 billion years ago, and some 60 million years after the origin of the Solar System. These hypotheses also cannot account for the angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system. This hypothesis, although not perfect, perhaps best explains the evidence, eighteen months prior to an October 1984 conference on lunar origins, Bill Hartmann, Roger Phillips, and Jeff Taylor challenged fellow lunar scientists, You have eighteen months. Go back to your Apollo data, go back to computer, do whatever you have to. Dont come to our conference unless you have something to say about the Moons birth, at the 1984 conference at Kona, Hawaii, the giant impact hypothesis emerged as the most popular. Afterward there were only two groups, the giant impact camp and the agnostics. Giant impacts are thought to have been common in the early Solar System, computer simulations of a giant impact have produced results that are consistent with the mass of the lunar core and the present angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system
Moon
–
Full moon as seen from Earth's
northern hemisphere
Moon
–
The Moon, tinted reddish, during a
lunar eclipse
Moon
–
Near side of the Moon
Moon
–
Far side of the Moon
16.
Degree (angle)
–
A degree, usually denoted by °, is a measurement of a plane angle, defined so that a full rotation is 360 degrees. It is not an SI unit, as the SI unit of measure is the radian. Because a full rotation equals 2π radians, one degree is equivalent to π/180 radians, the original motivation for choosing the degree as a unit of rotations and angles is unknown. One theory states that it is related to the fact that 360 is approximately the number of days in a year. Ancient astronomers noticed that the sun, which follows through the path over the course of the year. Some ancient calendars, such as the Persian calendar, used 360 days for a year, the use of a calendar with 360 days may be related to the use of sexagesimal numbers. The earliest trigonometry, used by the Babylonian astronomers and their Greek successors, was based on chords of a circle, a chord of length equal to the radius made a natural base quantity. One sixtieth of this, using their standard sexagesimal divisions, was a degree, Aristarchus of Samos and Hipparchus seem to have been among the first Greek scientists to exploit Babylonian astronomical knowledge and techniques systematically. Timocharis, Aristarchus, Aristillus, Archimedes, and Hipparchus were the first Greeks known to divide the circle in 360 degrees of 60 arc minutes, eratosthenes used a simpler sexagesimal system dividing a circle into 60 parts. Furthermore, it is divisible by every number from 1 to 10 except 7 and this property has many useful applications, such as dividing the world into 24 time zones, each of which is nominally 15° of longitude, to correlate with the established 24-hour day convention. Finally, it may be the case more than one of these factors has come into play. For many practical purposes, a degree is a small enough angle that whole degrees provide sufficient precision. When this is not the case, as in astronomy or for geographic coordinates, degree measurements may be written using decimal degrees, with the symbol behind the decimals. Alternatively, the sexagesimal unit subdivisions can be used. One degree is divided into 60 minutes, and one minute into 60 seconds, use of degrees-minutes-seconds is also called DMS notation. These subdivisions, also called the arcminute and arcsecond, are represented by a single and double prime. For example,40. 1875° = 40° 11′ 15″, or, using quotation mark characters, additional precision can be provided using decimals for the arcseconds component. The older system of thirds, fourths, etc. which continues the sexagesimal unit subdivision, was used by al-Kashi and other ancient astronomers, but is rarely used today
Degree (angle)
–
One degree (shown in red) and eighty nine (shown in blue)
17.
New moon
–
In astronomy, new moon is the first phase of the Moon, when it orbits not seen from the Earth, the moment when the Moon and the Sun have the same ecliptical longitude. The Moon is not visible at this time except when it is seen in silhouette during a solar eclipse when it is illuminated by earthshine, see the article on phases of the Moon for further details. A lunation or synodic month is the time from one new moon to the next. In the J2000.0 epoch, the length of a lunation is 29.530588 days. However, the length of any one month can vary from 29.26 to 29.80 days due to the perturbing effects of the Suns gravity on the Moons eccentric orbit. In a lunar calendar, each corresponds to a lunation. Each lunar cycle can be assigned a unique Lunation Number to identify it, the length of a lunation is about 29.53 days. Its precise duration is linked to many phenomena in nature, such as the variation between spring and neap tides, an approximate formula to compute the mean moments of new moon for successive months is, d =5.597661 +29. For all new moons between 1601 and 2401, the difference is 0.592 days = 14h13m in either direction. The duration of a lunation varies in this period between 29.272 and 29.833 days, i. e. −0. 259d = 6h12m shorter, or +0. 302d = 7h15m longer than average. This range is smaller than the difference between mean and true conjunction, because during one lunation the periodic terms cannot all change to their maximum opposite value, see the article on the full moon cycle for a fairly simple method to compute the moment of new moon more accurately. These are now outdated, Chapront et al. published improved parameters, quadratic term, In ELP2000–85, D has a quadratic term of −5. 8681T2, expressed in lunations N, this yields a correction of +87. 403×10–12N2 days to the time of conjunction. The term includes a contribution of 0. 5×. The most current estimate from Lunar Laser Ranging for the acceleration is, therefore, the new quadratic term of D is = -6. 8498T2. Indeed, the polynomial provided by Chapront et alii provides the same value and this translates to a correction of +14. 622×10−12N2 days to the time of conjunction, the quadratic term now is, +102. 026×10−12N2 days. For UT, analysis of historical observations shows that ΔT has an increase of +31 s/cy2. Converted to days and lunations, the correction from ET to UT becomes, the theoretical tidal contribution to ΔT is about +42 s/cy2 the smaller observed value is thought to be mostly due to changes in the shape of the Earth. Because the discrepancy is not fully explained, uncertainty of our prediction of UT may be as large as the difference between these values,11 s/cy2
New moon
–
Physical lunar features
New moon
–
A graphic depicting the new moon phase
18.
Full moon
–
A full moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is completely illuminated as seen from Earth. This occurs when Earth is located directly between the Sun and the Moon and this means that the hemisphere of the Moon that is facing Earth is almost fully illuminated by the Sun and appears round. On some occasions at the time of full moon there is also a lunar eclipse so the face appears reddish due to the rayleigh scattering of blue light in Earths atmosphere. Lunar eclipses can occur only at full moon, where the Moons orbit allows it to pass through Earths shadow, Lunar eclipses do not occur every month because the Moon usually passes above or below Earths shadow. Lunar eclipses can only when the full moon occurs near the two nodes of the orbit, either the ascending or descending node. This causes eclipses to occur about every 6 months. The time interval between similar lunar phases—the synodic month—averages about 29.53 days, therefore, in those lunar calendars in which each month begins on the new moon, the full moon falls on either the 14th or 15th of the lunar month. Because calendar months have a number of days, lunar months may be either 29 or 30 days long. A full moon is thought of as an event of a full nights duration. This is somewhat misleading because the Moon seen from Earth is continuously becoming larger and/or smaller and its absolute maximum size occurs at the moment expansion has stopped. For any given location, about half of these absolute maximum full moons will be visible, as the other half occur during the day. Many almanacs list full moons not just by date, but by their time as well. Typical monthly calendars that include phases of the Moon may be offset by one day if intended for use in a different time zone, Full moons are generally a poor time to conduct astronomical observations, because the bright reflected sunlight from the Moon overwhelms the dimmer light from stars. On 12 December 2008, the moon occurred closer to the Earth than it had been at any time for the previous 15 years. On 19 March 2011, another full moon occurred, closer to the Earth than at any time for the previous ~18 years. On 14 November 2016, a full moon occurred closer to the Earth than at any time for the previous 68 years. The true time of a full moon may differ from this approximation by up to about 14.5 hours as a result of the non-circularity of the moons orbit, see New moon for an explanation of the formula and its parameters. The age and apparent size of the full moon vary in a cycle of just under 14 synodic months, Full moons are traditionally associated with temporal insomnia, insanity and various magical phenomena such as lycanthropy
Full moon
–
Photograph of the full moon as viewed through a 9.25 inch
Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. This moon was near its greatest northern ecliptic latitude, so the southern craters are especially prominent.
Full moon
–
Photograph of full moon during the partial
lunar eclipse of 26 June 2010
Full moon
–
Composite image of the Moon as taken by the
Galileo spacecraft on 7 December 1992. The color is "enhanced" in the sense that the CCD camera is sensitive to near infrared wavelengths of light beyond human vision.
Full moon
–
Full moon with
reflex camera and
telescope Orion 80ED.
19.
Falgun
–
Falgun or Phalgun is the eleventh month in the Bengali calendar and Nepali calendar. This month is named after the star Uttorfalguni and it marks the arrival of spring, the sixth and final season in Bangladesh, Nepal and Assam. The first of Falgun usually falls on 13 February of the Gregorian Calendar, the first day of Falgun is celebrated as Pohela Falgun in Bangladesh. In Nepal the first day of Falgun is marked with colourful celebration of the advent of spring called Holi, traditionally, women wear yellow saris to celebrate this day. Bangla Calendar Culture of Bangladesh Culture of Nepal
Falgun
–
Celebration stage of
1st day of Falgun, beginning of spring season in
Bangladesh, 2014
20.
Saka
–
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
Saka
–
Gold artifacts of the Saka in Bactria, at the site of
Tillia tepe.
Saka
–
Approximate extent of
Eastern Iranian languages in the 1st century BC is shown in orange.
Saka
–
A
cataphract -style parade armour of a Saka royal, also know as " The Golden Warrior ", from the
Issyk kurgan, an historic burial near ex-capital city of
Almaty,
Kazakhstan
Saka
–
Artifacts found the tombs 2 and 4 of Tillia Tepe and reconstitution of their use on the man and woman found in these tombs
21.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
–
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
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
–
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
–
A portrait of
Sivaji the Great at the entrance of the museum
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
–
Main Lobby of Museum
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
–
Karl and Meherbai Khandalavala collection - Gallery
22.
Mumbai
–
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
Mumbai
–
Clockwise from top:
Cuffe Parade skyline,
Taj Mahal Palace Hotel,
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus,
Bandra–Worli Sea Link, and the
Gateway of India.
Mumbai
–
The temple of local Hindu goddess
Mumbadevi, from whom the city of Mumbai derives its name
Mumbai
–
Kanheri Caves served as a centre of Buddhism in Western India during ancient times
23.
Ujjain
–
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
Ujjain
–
Ujjain Junction
24.
Indo-Scythians
–
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
Indo-Scythians
–
A Scythian horseman from the general area of the
Ili river,
Pazyryk, c 300 BC.
Indo-Scythians
–
Territories (full line) and expansion (dotted line) of the Indo-Scythians Kingdom at its greatest extent.
Indo-Scythians
–
The treasure of the royal burial
Tillia tepe is attributed to 1st century BC Sakas in
Bactria.
Indo-Scythians
–
Bearded man with cap, probably Scythian,
Bamiyan, 3rd–4th centuries.
25.
Jainism
–
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. With 6-7 million followers, the majority of Jains reside in India, outside of India, some of the largest Jain communities are present in Canada, Europe, Kenya, the UK, Suriname, Fiji, and the United States. Contemporary Jainism is divided into two 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
Jainism
–
Sculpture depicting Ahimsa, the fundamental tenet of Jainism (Photo:
Ahinsa Sthal)
Jainism
–
Mahāvīra employed anekānta extensively to explain Jain philosophical concepts (painting from
Rajasthan, ca. 1900)
Jainism
–
Image of
Rishabha, first
tīrthaṅkara of the present Avsarpini era (Photo - Kundalpur, Madhya Pradesh)
Jainism
–
Siddhas (the liberated beings), although they are formless, this is how they are depicted in Jain temples
26.
Sistan
–
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
Sistan
–
The gates of Haozdar, in Sistan
Sistan
–
Map of Sakastan, with the capital Sigal.
27.
Pratishthana
–
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
Pratishthana
–
Clockwise from top left:
All Saints Cathedral,
Khusro Bagh, the
Allahabad High Court, the
New Yamuna Bridge near
Sangam, skyline of
Civil Lines, the
University of Allahabad,
Thornhill Mayne Memorial at
Alfred Park and
Anand Bhavan.
Pratishthana
–
Allahabad Fort, built by Akbar in 1575
Pratishthana
–
Mahatma Gandhi at a January 1940
Congress Working Committee meeting with
Vallabhbhai Patel and
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit at Anand Bhavan in Allahabad
Pratishthana
–
The
Yamuna in Allahabad during the rainy season
28.
Maharashtra
–
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
Maharashtra
–
Trimurti sculpture of
Lord Dattatreya from
Elephanta Caves, an
UNESCO World Heritage Site in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
–
Ajanta Caves in
Aurangabad, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
–
Late Harappa figure from
Daimabad hoard,
Indus Valley Civilization
Maharashtra
–
Bronze statue of
Shivaji Maharaj in the collection of the Shri Bhavani Museum of
Aundh, Maharashtra.
29.
Chauhan
–
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
Chauhan
–
Prithvi Raj Chauhan
30.
Dholpur
–
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
Dholpur
–
Chhatri of
Rana Udaybhanu Singh at Dholpur
Dholpur
–
Dholpur Bus Stand
Dholpur
–
Dholpur State part of the
Rajputana Agency, 1909
Dholpur
–
Talab-e-Shahi
31.
Vaishakha
–
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
Vaishakha
–
Pohela Boishakh celebration in
Dhaka
Vaishakha
–
Astrology portal
32.
Chandragupta II
–
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
Chandragupta II
–
From Views of India from an atlas by the geographer Thunot Duvotenay (1796-1875), published in Paris, 1843
Chandragupta II
–
Coin of Vikramadytia Chandragupta II with the name of the king in
Brahmi script, 380–415 CE.
Chandragupta II
–
Gold coins of Chandragupta II the Great. The one on the left is the obverse of a so-called "Chhatra" type of Chandragupta II, while the one on the right is the obverse of a so-called "Archer" type of Chandragupta II.
Chandragupta II
–
Vikramaditya goes forth to war
33.
Yashodharman
–
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
Yashodharman
–
The defeat of the Ephalites, or White Huns by King Yasodharman in A.D. 528
Yashodharman
–
Victory pillar of Yashodharman at Sondani,
Mandsaur.
34.
Rajatarangini
–
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
Rajatarangini
–
The Kashmir region (Kashmir valley is left of the centre of the map - see enlargement)
Rajatarangini
–
Kushan territories and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under Kanishka (127–147 CE)
Rajatarangini
–
Lands of the Kushanshas (Indo-Sassanian) and Hunas (Kushano-Hepthalites) in 565 AD
35.
Azes I
–
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
Azes I
–
Coin of Azes I. Obv: Azes I in military dress, on a horse, with couched spear. Greek legend: BASILEOS BASILEON MEGALOU AZOU "of the Great King of Kings Azes".
British Museum.
Azes I
–
Coin of Azes I (c. 48/47 – 25 BCE). Obv: Azes I in military dress, on a horse, with couched spear. Greek legend: BASILEOS BASILEON MEGALOU AZOU "of the Great King of Kings Azes".
Azes I
–
Coin of Azes I, portrait of the king (detail).
Azes I
–
Coin from
Azes Era depicting the king.
British Museum.
36.
Vijayamitra
–
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
Vijayamitra
–
Silver coin of Vijayamitra in the name of
Azes. Buddhist
triratna symbol in the left field on the reverse.
37.
North India
–
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. The Northern Zonal Council is one of the 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. 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 as well. 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. Though cool or cold winters, hot summers and moderate monsoons are the general pattern, North India is one of the most climatically diverse regions on Earth
North India
–
Shilla (7026 m) above the
Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh
North India
–
States in the North and North Central Zones of India, as defined by the Indian Government.
North India
–
The
Thar desert near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
North India
–
Chinkara in
Madhya Pradesh, India
38.
East India
–
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
East India
–
The extent of the
Maurya Empire.
East India
–
East India पूर्वी भारत
East India
–
Famed Buddhist Nalanda University & Monastery ruins in
Bihar
East India
–
Software Technology Park of India, IIT Patna
39.
Gujarat
–
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
Gujarat
–
Clockwise from top: High Court of Gujarat, Dwarka Beach, Laxmi Vilas Palace, Kankaria Lakefront, Gandhi Ashram, Salt Desert of Kutch
Gujarat
–
The docks of ancient Lothal as they are today
Gujarat
–
Ancient sophisticated water reservoir at Dholavira
Gujarat
–
Rani ki vav 11th century.
40.
Vesak
–
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
Vesak
–
The birth of the Buddha:
Queen Maya holds on to the branch of a tree while giving birth to the Buddha, who is received by god
Indra as other gods look on.(Iconographic Collections)
Vesak
–
Vesākha
Vesak
–
Young novice on Vesākha Day Parade
Vesak
–
Vesak is celebrated in
Jetavana, India, 2011
41.
Diwali
–
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
Diwali
–
Rangoli decorations, made using coloured powder, are popular during Diwali
Diwali
–
Indoor
Diya decoration on
Naraka Chaturdasi night
Diwali
–
Outdoor Diya decoration on Diwali night
Diwali
–
Diwali lanterns before
Dhanteras in
Maharashtra
42.
Hindu calendars
–
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
Hindu calendars
–
A page from the Hindu calendar 1871-72.
43.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
International Standard Book Number
–
A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an
EAN-13 bar code
44.
The Free Press Journal
–
The Free Press Journal is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1930 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India and it is published in Mumbai, India. The founder editor was Swaminathan Sadanand and it was founded in 1930 to support Free Press of India, a news agency that dispatched nationalist news to its subscribers. In the colonial context, Colaco describes it as an independent newspaper supporting nationalist causes and she quotes Lakshmi as saying that The nationalist press marched along with the freedom fighters. It played a significant role in mobilising public opinion during the independence movement. Among its founders was Stalin Srinivasan who founded Manikkodi in 1932, bal Thackeray worked as a cartoonist for the newspaper until being removed from the job. Three years into the job, he was asked by his proprietor not to make fun at communists, Laxman left and it supported the practice of Jewish doctors who had taken refugee in Mumbai fleeing persecution in Germany, in the 1930s. Indian doctors opposed their right to practice claiming that Germany did not have reciprocal arrangements for Indian doctors, the Free Press Journal argued that this was against the ancient Indian traditions of affording shelter from persecution. Seema Mustafa, Seema Mustafa is a Resident Editor for The Sunday Guardian and she writes a column Frankly Speaking Seema Mustafa. S. S. Tarapore, S. S. Tarapore writes the weekly column Common Voice
The Free Press Journal
–
The 1 June 2012 front page of the
Mumbai edition of The Free Press Journal
45.
Wikisource
–
Wikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project, the projects aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, the project officially began in November 24,2003 under the name Project Sourceberg. The name Wikisource was adopted later that year and it received its own domain name seven months later, the project has come under criticism for lack of reliability but it is also cited by organisations such as the National Archives and Records Administration. The project holds works that are either in the domain or freely licensed, professionally published works or historical source documents, not vanity products. Verification was initially made offline, or by trusting the reliability of digital libraries. Now works are supported by online scans via the ProofreadPage extension, some individual Wikisources, each representing a specific language, now only allow works backed up with scans. While the bulk of its collection are texts, Wikisource as a whole hosts other media, some Wikisources allow user-generated annotations, subject to the specific policies of the Wikisource in question. Wikisources early history included several changes of name and location, the original concept for Wikisource was as storage for useful or important historical texts. These texts were intended to support Wikipedia articles, by providing evidence and original source texts. The collection was focused on important historical and cultural material. The project was originally called Project Sourceberg during its planning stages, in 2001, there was a dispute on Wikipedia regarding the addition of primary source material, leading to edit wars over their inclusion or deletion. Project Sourceberg was suggested as a solution to this, perhaps Project Sourceberg can mainly work as an interface for easily linking from Wikipedia to a Project Gutenberg file, and as an interface for people to easily submit new work to PG. Wed want to complement Project Gutenberg--how, exactly, and Jimmy Wales adding like Larry, Im interested that we think it over to see what we can add to Project Gutenberg. It seems unlikely that primary sources should in general be editable by anyone -- I mean, Shakespeare is Shakespeare, unlike our commentary on his work, the project began its activity at ps. wikipedia. org. The contributors understood the PS subdomain to mean either primary sources or Project Sourceberg, however, this resulted in Project Sourceberg occupying the subdomain of the Pashto Wikipedia. A vote on the name changed it to Wikisource on December 6,2003. Despite the change in name, the project did not move to its permanent URL until July 23,2004, since Wikisource was initially called Project Sourceberg, its first logo was a picture of an iceberg
Wikisource
–
The original Wikisource logo
Wikisource
–
Screenshot of wikisource.org home page
Wikisource
–
::: Original text
Wikisource
–
::: Action of the modernizing tool
46.
New International Encyclopedia
–
The New International Encyclopedia was an American encyclopedia first published in 1902 by Dodd, Mead and Company. It descended from the International Cyclopaedia and was updated in 1906,1914 and 1926, the New International Encyclopedia was the successor of the International Cyclopaedia. Initially, the International Cyclopaedia was largely a reprint of Aldens Library of Universal Knowledge, the local Cyclopaedia was much improved by editors Harry Thurston Peck and Selim Peabody. The title was changed to New International Encyclopedia in 1902, with editors Harry Thurston Peck, Daniel Coit Gilman, in 1906 the New International Encyclopedia was expanded from 17 volumes to 20. The 2nd edition appeared in 1914 in 24 volumes, set up from new type and it was very strong in biography. The 1926 material was printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by The University Press, boston Bookbinding Company of Cambridge produced the covers. Thirteen books enclosing twenty-three volumes comprise the encyclopedia, which includes a supplement after Volume 23, each book contains about 1600 pages. A great deal of material is recorded in the New International Encyclopedia. An early description of Adolf Hitler and his activities from 1920 to 1924 is in the supplement to the 1926 edition, many of the names used to describe the scientific identities of plants and animals are now obsolete. Numerous colorful maps which display the nations, states, colonies, the maps are valuable for their depictions of national and colonial borders in Europe, Asia, and Africa at the time of World War I. Drawings, illustrations, and photographs are plentiful, more than 500 men, and some women, submitted and composed the information contained in the New International Encyclopedia. Editors of the First Edition Daniel Coit Gilman, LL. D, President of Johns Hopkins University, President of Carnegie Institution. Frank Moore Colby, M. A. formerly Professor in New York University, editors of the Second Edition Frank Moore Colby, M. A. Talcott Williams, LL. D. Director of the School of Journalism, Columbia University, media related to New International Encyclopedia at Wikimedia Commons 1914 second ed
New International Encyclopedia
–
Marsupials
47.
Calendar
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A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, a date is the designation of a single, specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a record of such a system. A calendar can also mean a list of planned events, such as a calendar or a partly or fully chronological list of documents. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not necessarily, synchronized with the cycle of the sun or the moon. The most common type of calendar was the lunisolar calendar. Latin calendarium meant account book, register, the Latin term was adopted in Old French as calendier and from there in Middle English as calender by the 13th century. The course of the Sun and the Moon are the most evident forms of timekeeping, nevertheless, the Roman calendar contained very ancient remnants of a pre-Etruscan 10-month solar year. The first recorded calendars date to the Bronze Age, dependent on the development of writing in the Ancient Near East, a larger number of calendar systems of the Ancient Near East becomes accessible in the Iron Age, based on the Babylonian calendar. This includes the calendar of the Persian Empire, which in turn gave rise to the Zoroastrian calendar as well as the Hebrew calendar, calendars in antiquity were lunisolar, depending on the introduction of intercalary months to align the solar and the lunar years. This was mostly based on observation, but there may have been attempts to model the pattern of intercalation algorithmically. The Roman calendar was reformed by Julius Caesar in 45 BC, the Julian calendar was no longer dependent on the observation of the new moon but simply followed an algorithm of introducing a leap day every four years. This created a dissociation of the month from the lunation. The Islamic calendar is based on the prohibition of intercalation by Muhammad and this resulted in an observationally based lunar calendar that shifts relative to the seasons of the solar year. The first calendar reform of the modern era was the Gregorian calendar. Such ideas are mooted from time to time but have failed to gain traction because of the loss of continuity, massive upheaval in implementation, a full calendar system has a different calendar date for every day. Thus the week cycle is by not a full calendar system. The simplest calendar system just counts time periods from a reference date and this applies for the Julian day or Unix Time
Calendar
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Sun and
Moon, Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493
Calendar
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Calendar of the
Qahal, 5591 (1831)
Calendar
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A Hindu
almanac (pancanga) for the year 1871/2 from
Rajasthan (Library of Congress, Asian Division)
Calendar
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The Payment of the Tithes (The tax-collector), also known as Village Lawyer. Signed
.P.BREVGHEL
48.
Lunar calendar
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A lunar calendar is a calendar based upon cycles of the Moons phases, in contrast to solar calendars based solely upon the solar year. A purely lunar calendar is also distinguished from lunisolar calendars whose lunar months are brought into alignment with the year through some process of intercalation. The details of when months begin varies from calendar to calendar, with using new, full, or crescent moons. Because each lunation is a less than 29 days,12 hours,44 minutes. Such holidays include Ramadan, the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian New Year, the Nepali New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chuseok, Loi Krathong, and Diwali. The earliest known lunar calendar was found at Warren Field in Scotland and has dated to c. 8000 BC. Some scholars argue for lunar calendars still further back—Rappenglück in the marks on a c. 17, 000-year-old cave painting at Lascaux and Marshack in the marks on a c. 27, most calendars referred to as lunar calendars are in fact lunisolar calendars. Their months are based on observations of the cycle, with intercalation being used to bring them into general agreement with the solar year. The solar civic calendar of ancient Egypt showed traces of its origin in the lunar calendar. Present-day lunisolar calendars include the Chinese, Hindu, and Thai calendars, synodic months are 29 or 30 days in length, making a lunar year of 12 months about 11 days shorter than a solar year. Some lunar calendars do not use intercalation, such as most Islamic calendars, for those that do, such as the Hebrew calendar, the most common form of intercalation is to add an additional month every second or third year. Some lunisolar calendars are also calibrated by annual natural events which are affected by lunar cycles as well as the solar cycle, an example of this is the lunar calendar of the Banks Islands, which includes three months in which the edible palolo worm mass on the beaches. These events occur at the last quarter of the lunar month, lunar and lunisolar calendars differ as to which day is the first day of the month. In some lunisolar calendars, such as the Chinese calendar, the first day of a month is the day when a new moon occurs in a particular time zone. In others, such as some Hindu calendars, each month begins on the day after the moon or the new moon. Others were based in the past on the first sighting of a lunar crescent, the length of each lunar cycle varies slightly from the average value. In addition, observations are subject to uncertainty and weather conditions, thus to avoid uncertainty about the calendar, there have been attempts to create fixed arithmetical rules to determine the start of each calendar month. The average length of the month is 29.530589 days
Lunar calendar
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Physical lunar features
Listen (help·info)) is the historical and official Hindu calendar of India and Nepal. It uses lunar months and solar sidereal year (see: Vedic time keeping).
"Samvat". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
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