1.
Yakshi (novel)
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Yakshi is a Malayalam novel written by Malayattoor Ramakrishnan in 1967. This novel is about a college lecturer, Srinivasan, who is disfigured in an accident in his college lab and he meets a beautiful woman who is willing to accept him despite his disfigurement. But after a while, Srinivasan has doubts about the identity of this woman, the novel was adapted into a film with same name starring Sathyan in 1968. In 1993, Yakshi was shown in BBCs Off the Shelf program as 12 episodes, in 1995, Hemamalini directed a telefilm in Hindi for Zee TV titled Mohini with Sudesh Berry and Madhoo. In 2013, a retelling of the novel titled Akam was released
2.
Didarganj Yakshi
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The Didarganj Yakshi is one of the finest examples of Mauryan art. Alternatively, it is dated to the 2nd century CE, based on the analysis of shape. The sculpture is located in the Patna Museum in Bihar. It is 64 tall, carved out of a piece of stone. This life-size standing image is tall, well-proportioned, free-standing sculpture is made of sandstone with well polished surface, the chauri is held in the right hand whereas the left hand is broken. The lower garment create a transparent effect. The Didarganj Yakshi is estimated to date from ca, 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE. It was excavated by Maulavi Qazi Sayyid Muhammad Azimul on the banks of the Ganges River, at the hamlet of Didarganj Kadam Basual, the Yakshi was moved to the Patna museum by noted archaeologist and historian, Dr. J N Samaddar. Samaddar published several books on Buddhist history, most noted amongst which is the condensation of his lecture series The Glories of Magadha. The statues nose was damaged during an exhibition, The Festival of India, en route to Smithsonian Institution. The Didarganj Chauri Bearer is widely viewed by archaeologists as one of the finest and most precious artefacts of ancient Indian sculptural art, Didarganj Yakshi at Patna Museum Didarganj Yakshi Didarganj Yakshi About Yakshi
3.
Patna Museum
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Patna Museum is the state museum of the Indian state of Bihar. The Museum was constructed by the British to conserve and display the artifacts found in the vicinity of the state capital. The concept of having a museum arose in 1912, after Bihar, Patna Museum started functioning in 1915 from the commissioners bungalow, on the campus of A. N. Sinha Institute. The artifacts were then shifted to new rooms at the Patna High Court building before being taken to the present building in 1929, the land that was selected for the museum, in 1925, was on Patna-Gaya road. The two-storeyed building, designed by Rai Bahadur Bishnu Swarup, was completed in 1928 and it was opened as the first museum of Bihar and Orissa Province by then Governor of Bihar and Orissa, Sir Hugh Lansdown Stephenson. It has a collection of British-period paintings depicting day-to-day life, as well as a fine collection related to the first President of India. It also houses a World War I cannon, a Didarganj Yakshi statue, discovered on a Ganges riverbank in 1917, is the museums most prized collection. Beginning November 2009, a project was started to build a replacement museum in Patna to enable the display of larger collections
4.
Patna
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Acharya Shri Sudarshan Patna Central School is a co-educational school in Patna, India. The school has nursery, primary and high schools, one of the popular schools in Patna, Bihar. Over the last 32 years, Acharya Shri Sudarshan Patna central school, has been cruising ahead from strength to excellence adding new feathers to its cap, located in plush premises at New Bye Pass, Patna the School got affiliation from CBSE up to +2 level in 1993
5.
Devi
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Devī is the Sanskrit word for goddess, the masculine form is Deva. Devi – the feminine form, and Deva – the masculine form, mean heavenly, divine, anything of excellence, and are also gender specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept and reverence for goddesses appears in the Vedas, which were composed in the 2nd millennium BC, however, goddesses such as Saraswati and Usha have continued to be revered into the modern era. The divine feminine has the strongest presence as Devi in Hinduism, among major world religions, the goddess is viewed as central in Shakti and Saiva Hindu traditions. Devi and Deva are Sanskrit terms found in Vedic literature of the 2nd millennium BC, Deva is masculine, and the related feminine equivalent is devi. Monier Williams translates it as heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of excellence, exalted. Etymologically, the cognates of Devi are Latin dea and Greek thea, when capitalized, Devi or Mata refers to goddess as divine mother in Hinduism. Deva is also referred to as Devatā, while Devi as Devika, according to Douglas Harper, the etymological root Dev- means a shining one, from *div- to shine, and it is a cognate with Greek dios divine and Zeus, and Latin deus. The Devi Sukta of the Rigveda 10.125.1 through 10.125, however, the goddesses are not discussed as frequently as gods. Sri, also called Lakshmi, appears in late Vedic texts dated to be pre-Buddhist, Devi is the supreme being in the Shakta tradition of Hinduism, while in the Smarta Tradition, she is one of the five primary forms of Brahman revered. She is the power of Shiva, and this theme is also found in the Tripura Upanishad, Bahvricha Upanishad. Devi asserts that she is creator of earth and heaven and resides there and her creation of sky as father, seas as mother is reflected as the Inner Supreme Self. Her creations are not prompted by any Higher being and she resides in all her creations and she is, states Devi, the eternal and infinite consciousness engulfing earth and heaven, and all forms of bliss and non-bliss, knowledge and ignorance, Brahman and Non-Brahman. The tantric aspect in Devi Upanishad, states June McDaniel is the usage of the yantra, bindu, bija, mantra, shakti. Among the major religions, the concept of goddess in Hinduism as the divine feminine, has had the strongest presence since the ancient times. Parvati is the Hindu goddess of love, fertility and devotion and she is the gentle and nurturing aspect of the Hindu goddess. She is the goddess in Hinduism and has many attributes. Each of her aspects is expressed with a different name, giving her over 100 names in regional Hindu mythologies of India, along with Lakshmi and Saraswati, she forms the trinity of Hindu goddesses
6.
Mathura
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Mathura is a city in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately 50 kilometres north of Agra, and 145 kilometres south-east of Delhi, about 11 kilometres from the town of Vrindavan and it is the administrative centre of Mathura District of Uttar Pradesh. During the ancient period, Mathura was a hub, located at the junction of important caravan routes. The 2011 census of India estimated the population of Mathura to be 441,894, Mathura is believed to be the birthplace of Krishna which is located at the centre of Braj or Brij-bhoomi, called Shri Krishna Janma-Bhoomi, literally, Lord Krishnas birthplace. It is one of the seven cities considered holy by Hindus, the Keshav Dev Temple was built in ancient times on the site of Krishnas birthplace. Mathura was the capital of the Surasena Kingdom, ruled by Kansa the maternal uncle of Krishna, Mathura has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India. Mathura has an ancient history and also homeland and birthplace of Krishna who was born in Yadu dynasty, according to the Archaeological Survey of India plaque at the Mathura Museum, the city is mentioned in the oldest Indian epic, the Ramayana. In the epic, the Ikshwaku prince Shatrughna slays a demon called Lavanasura, afterwards, the place came to be known as Madhuvan as it was thickly wooded, then Madhupura and later Mathura. In the 6th century BCE Mathura became the capital of the Surasena mahajanapada, the city was later ruled by the Maurya empire. Megasthenes, writing in the early 3rd century BCE, mentions Mathura as a city under the name Μέθορα. It seems it never was under the control of the following Shunga dynasty as not a single archaeological remain of a Shunga presence were ever found in Mathura. However, this corresponds to the presence of the native Mitra dynasty, in Mathura. After a period of rule, Mathura was conquered by the Indo-Scythians during the 1st century BCE. The Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura are sometimes called the Northern Satraps, as opposed to the Western Satraps ruling in Gujarat, mathuran art and culture reached its zenith under the Kushan dynasty which had Mathura as one of their capitals, the other being Purushapura. The city was sacked and many of its temples destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1018 CE and again by Sikandar Lodhi, sikander Lodhi earned the epithet of Butt Shikan, the Destroyer of Hindu deities. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, built the Shahi-Eidgah Mosque during his rule, in 2016,24 people including 2 police officers were killed in the Jawahar Bagh clash, when the police tried to evict a large number of squatters from the public park. Mathura is located at 27. 28°N77. 41°E /27.28,77.41 and it has an average elevation of 174 metres. The 2011 census of India estimates the population of Mathura to be 441,894, males account for 54% and females for 46% of this population
7.
Pali
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Pali is a Prakrit language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of much of the earliest extant literature of Buddhism as collected in the Pāli Canon or Tipiṭaka and is the language of Theravāda Buddhism. The word Pali is used as a name for the language of the Theravada canon, Childers translates the word as series and states that the language bears the epithet in consequence of the perfection of its grammatical structure. However, modern scholarship has regarded Pali as a mix of several Prakrit languages from around the 3rd century BCE, combined together and partially Sanskritized. The closest artifacts to Pali that have found in India are Edicts of Ashoka found at Gujarat, in the west of India. There is persistent confusion as to the relation of Pāḷi to the vernacular spoken in the ancient kingdom of Magadha, Pali, as a Middle Indo-Aryan language, is different from Sanskrit more with regard to its dialectal base than the time of its origin. A number of its morphological and lexical features show that it is not a continuation of Ṛgvedic Vedic Sanskrit. Instead it descends from one or more dialects that were, despite many similarities, however, this view is not shared by all scholars. Some, like A. C. Woolner, believe that Pali is derived from Vedic Sanskrit, Paiśācī is a largely unattested literary language of classical India that is mentioned in Prakrit and Sanskrit grammars of antiquity. e. Evidence which lends support to this interpretation is that literature in Paiśācī is fragmentary and extremely rare, many Theravada sources refer to the Pali language as Magadhan or the language of Magadha. This identification first appears in the commentaries, and may have been an attempt by Buddhists to associate more closely with the Maurya Empire. The Buddha taught in Magadha, but the four most important places in his life are all outside of it and it is likely that he taught in several closely related dialects of Middle Indo-Aryan, which had a high degree of mutual intelligibility. There is no attested dialect of Middle Indo-Aryan with all the features of Pali, Pali has some commonalities with both the western Ashokan Edicts at Girnar in Saurashtra, and the Central-Western Prakrit found in the eastern Hathigumpha inscription. In Sri Lanka, Pali is thought to have entered into a period of decline ending around the 4th or 5th century, the work of Buddhaghosa was largely responsible for its reemergence as an important scholarly language in Buddhist thought. Another scholar states that at time it was a refined. Modern scholarship has not arrived at a consensus on the issue, after the death of the Buddha, Pali may have evolved among Buddhists out of the language of the Buddha as a new artificial language. According to K. R. Norman, it is likely that the viharas in North India had separate collections of material, in the early period it is likely that no degree of translation was necessary in communicating this material to other areas. Around the time of Ashoka there had been more linguistic divergence, following this period, the language underwent a small degree of Sanskritisation
8.
Mythology
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Mythology refers variously to the collected myths of a group of people or to the study of such myths. Myths are the people tell to explain nature, history. Myth is a feature of every culture, mythologizing continues, as shown in contemporary mythopoeia such as urban legends and the expansive fictional mythoi created by fantasy novels and comics. A cultures collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experiences, behavioral models, the study of myth began in ancient history. Rival classes of the Greek myths by Euhemerus, Plato and Sallustius were developed by the Neoplatonists, the nineteenth-century comparative mythology reinterpreted myth as a primitive and failed counterpart of science, a disease of language, or a misinterpretation of magical ritual. Recent approaches often view myths as manifestations of psychological, cultural, or societal truths, the term mythology predates the word myth by centuries. It first appeared in the fifteenth-century, borrowed from the Middle French term mythologie, the word mythology, comes from Middle French mythologie, from Late Latin mythologia, from Greek μυθολογία mythología from μῦθος mythos and -λογία -logia. The word mythología appears in Plato, but was used as a term for fiction or story-telling of any kind, combining mỹthos. From Lydgate until the seventeenth or eighteenth-century, mythology was similarly used to mean a moral, fable, from its earliest use in reference to a collection of traditional stories or beliefs, mythology implied the falsehood of the stories being described. It came to be applied by analogy with similar bodies of traditional stories among other cultures around the world. The Greek loanword mythos and Latinate mythus both appeared in English before the first example of myth in 1830, in present use, mythology usually refers to the collected myths of a group of people, but may also mean the study of such myths. For example, Greek mythology, Roman mythology and Hittite mythology all describe the body of myths retold among those cultures, dundes defined myth as a sacred narrative that explains how the world and humanity evolved into their present form. Lincoln defined myth as ideology in narrative form, scholars in other fields use the term myth in varied ways. In a broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story, due to this pejorative sense, some scholars opted for the term mythos. Its use was similarly pejorative and now commonly refers to its Aristotelian sense as a plot point or to a collective mythology. The term is distinguished from didactic literature such as fables. Main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods or supernatural humans, however, many exceptions or combinations exist, as in the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid. Myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and are linked to religion or spirituality
9.
Hinduism
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Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period, although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti and these texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, karma, samsara, and the various Yogas. Hindu practices include such as puja and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals. Some Hindus leave their world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion, with over one billion followers or 15% of the global population, known as Hindus. The majority of Hindus reside in India, Nepal, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term, the Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as an alternative name of India. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism, then spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th-century to denote the religious, philosophical, because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion defies our desire to define and categorize it, Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and a way of life. From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion, in India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term religion. Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma, the study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of Hinduism, has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents
10.
Buddhism
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Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
11.
Jainism
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Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is an ancient Indian religion belonging to the śramaṇa tradition. The central tenet is non-violence and respect all living beings. The three main principles of Jainism are ahimsa, anekantavada and aparigraha, followers of Jainism take five main vows, ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha. Jain monks and nuns observe these vows absolutely whereas householders observe them within their practical limitations, self-discipline and asceticism are thus major focuses of Jainism. The word Jain derives from the Sanskrit word jina, a human being who has conquered all inner passions like attachment, desire, anger, pride, greed, etc. is called Jina. Followers of the path practiced and preached by the jinas are known as Jains, Parasparopagraho Jivanam is the motto of Jainism. Jains trace their history through a succession of teachers and revivers of the Jain path known as Tirthankaras. In the current era, this started with Rishabhdeva and concluded with Mahavira, Jains believe that Jainism is eternal and while it may be forgotten, it will be revived from time to time. The majority of Jains reside in India, with 6-7 million followers, Jainism is smaller than many other major world religions. Outside of India, some of the largest Jain communities are present in Canada, Europe, Kenya, the UK, Suriname, Fiji, contemporary Jainism is divided into two major sects, Digambara and Śvētāmbara. Namokar Mantra is the most common and basic prayer in Jainism, major Jain festivals include Paryushana and Daslakshana, Mahavir Jayanti, and Diwali. The principle of ahimsa is the most fundamental and well-known aspect of Jainism, the everyday implementation of the principle of non-violence is more comprehensive than in other religions and is the hallmark for Jain identity. Jains believe in avoiding harm to others thoughts, speech. According to the Jain text, Purushartha Siddhyupaya, killing any living being out of passions is hiṃsā, Jains extend the practice of nonviolence and kindness not only towards other humans but towards all living beings. For this reason, vegetarianism is a hallmark of Jain identity, if there is violence against animals during the production of dairy products, veganism is encouraged. Jainism has an elaborate framework on types of life and includes life-forms that may be invisible. Therefore, after humans and animals, insects are the living being offered protection in Jain practice. For example, insects in the home are often escorted out instead of killed, Jainism teaches that intentional harm and the absence of compassion make an action more violent
12.
Yaksha
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Yaksha is the name of a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, who are caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, the feminine form of the word is yakṣī or Yakshini. In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts, the yakṣa has a dual personality, in the Hindu Mythology Kubera, also spelt Kuber, the Lord of Wealth and prosperity is considered as the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas. He is regarded as the regent of the North, and a protector of the world and his many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of the world. Kubera is often depicted with a body, adorned with jewels, and carrying a money-pot. His plump body denotes that Kubera the lord of Yakshas, is indeed a Yaksha and his is the viverrine. He is often seen with another religious figure, Lakshmi the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity. Kubera was originally described as the chief of spirits in Vedic-era texts, Kubera acquired the status of a Deva only in the Puranas. In Kālidāsas poem Meghadūta, for instance, the narrator is a romantic figure. By contrast, in the didactic Hindu dialogue of the Yakṣapraśnāḥ Questions of the Yakṣa, the yakṣas may have originally been the tutelary gods of forests and villages, and were later viewed as the steward deities of the earth and the wealth buried beneath. In Indian art, male yakṣas are portrayed either as fearsome warriors or as portly, stout, female yakṣas, known as yakṣiṇīs, are portrayed as beautiful young women with happy round faces and full breasts and hips. Several monumental Yashas are known from the time the Mauryan Empire period and they are variously dated from around the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century BCE. These statues are monumental, and often bear inscriptions related to their identification as Yakshas and they are considered as the first known monumental stone sculptures in India. Two of these monumental Yakshas are known from Patna, one from Vidisha and one from Parkham, in Buddhist literature, the yakṣa are the attendants of Vaiśravaṇa, the guardian of the northern quarter, a beneficent god who protects the righteous. The term also refers to the Twelve Heavenly Generals who guard Bhaiṣajyaguru, according to the Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya encountered the royalty of the yakkhas queen, Kuveni, in her capital of Lankapura, and conquered them. The Yakkhas served as subjects with the House of Vijaya. Yakshas are an important element in Thai temple art and architecture and they are common as guardians of the gates in Buddhist temples throughout the country since at least the 14th century. Ceramic sculptures of guardian Yakshas were produced in Thailand, during the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya periods and they are mostly depicted with a characteristic face, having big round bulging eyes and protruding fangs, as well as a green complexion. Yakshas and their counterparts are common in the Buddhist literature of Thailand, such as in the The Twelve Sisters
13.
Kubera
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Kubera, also spelt Kuber, is the Lord of Wealth and the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas in Hindu mythology. He is regarded as the regent of the North, and a protector of the world and his many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of the world. Kubera is often depicted with a body, adorned with jewels, and carrying a money-pot. Originally described as the chief of spirits in Vedic-era texts, Kubera acquired the status of a Deva only in the Puranas. The scriptures describe that Kubera once ruled Lanka, but was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, descriptions of the glory and splendours of Kuberas city are found in many scriptures. Kubera has also assimilated into the Buddhist and Jain pantheons. In Buddhism, he is known as Vaisravana, the used of the Hindu Kubera and is also equated with Pañcika, while in Jainism. Kubera is often depicted as a dwarf, with fair complexion and he is described as having three legs, only eight teeth, one eye, and being adorned with jewels. He is sometimes depicted riding a man, the description of deformities like the broken teeth, three legs, three heads and four arms appear only in the later Puranic texts. Kubera holds a mace, a pomegranate or a bag in his hand. He may also carry a sheaf of jewels or a mongoose with him, in Tibet, the mongoose is considered a symbol of Kuberas victory over Nāgas—the guardians of treasures. Kubera is usually depicted with a mongoose in Buddhist iconography, in the Vishnudharmottara Purana, Kubera is described as the embodiment of both Artha and Arthashastras, the treatises related to it—and his iconography mirrors it. Kuberas complexion is described as that of lotus leaves and he rides a man—the state personified, adorned in golden clothes and ornaments, symbolizing his wealth. He wears an armour and a necklace down to his large belly and his wife Riddhi, representing the journey of life, is seated on his left lap, with her left hand on the back of Kubera and the right holding a ratna-patra. Kubera should be four-armed, holding a gada and a shakti in his left pair, and standards bearing a lion—representing Artha, the nidhi treasures Padma and Shankha stand beside him in human form, with their heads emerging from a lotus and a conch respectively. The Agni Purana states that Kubera should be installed in temples as seated on a goat, Kuberas image is prescribed to be that of gold, with multi-coloured attributes. In some sources, especially in Jain depictions, Kubera is depicted as a drunkard, the exact origins of the name Kubera are unknown. Kubera or Kuvera as spelt in later Sanskrit, means deformed or monstrous or ill-shaped one, another theory suggests that Kubera may be derived from the verb root kumba, meaning to conceal
14.
Himalayas
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The Himalayas, or Himalaya, form a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The Himalayan range has the Earths highest peaks, including the highest, the Himalayas include over a hundred mountains exceeding 7,200 metres in elevation. By contrast, the highest peak outside Asia – Aconcagua, in the Andes – is 6,961 metres tall. The Himalayas are spread across five countries, Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, the Himalayan range is bordered on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Some of the major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, rise in the Himalayas. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia, many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism. Lifted by the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate under the Eurasian Plate and its western anchor, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river. Its eastern anchor, Namcha Barwa, is just west of the bend of the Tsangpo river. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres in the west to 150 kilometres in the east, the name of the range derives from the Sanskrit Himā-laya, from himá and ā-laya. They are now known as the Himalaya Mountains, usually shortened to the Himalayas, formerly, they were described in the singular as the Himalaya. This was also previously transcribed Himmaleh, as in Emily Dickinsons poetry and Henry David Thoreaus essays. The mountains are known as the Himālaya in Nepali and Hindi, the Himalaya or The Land of Snow in Tibetan, the Hamaleh Mountain Range in Urdu, the flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice, the amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall and soil conditions combined with the high snow line supports a variety of distinct plant. The extremes of high altitude combined with extreme cold favor extremophile organisms, the unique floral and faunal wealth of the Himalayas is undergoing structural and compositional changes due to climate change. The increase in temperature is shifting various species to higher elevations, the oak forest is being invaded by pine forests in the Garhwal Himalayan region. There are reports of early flowering and fruiting in some species, especially rhododendron, apple. The highest known tree species in the Himalayas is Juniperus tibetica located at 4,900 metres in Southeastern Tibet, the Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock
15.
Mantra
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A Mantra is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit believed by practitioners to have psychological and spiritual powers. A mantra may or may not have syntactic structure or literal meaning, the earliest mantras were composed in Vedic Sanskrit by Hindus in India, and are at least 3000 years old. Mantras now exist in various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, in Japanese Shingon tradition, the word Shingon means mantra. Similar hymns, chants, compositions and concepts are found in Zoroastrianism, Taoism, Christianity, the use, structure, function, importance, and types of mantras vary according to the school and philosophy of Hinduism and of Buddhism. Mantras serve a role in tantra. In this school, mantras are considered to be a sacred formula, in other schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism or Sikhism, initiation is not a requirement. Mantras come in forms, including ṛc and sāman. They are typically melodic, mathematically structured meters, believed to be resonant with numinous qualities, at its simplest, the word ॐ serves as a mantra. In more sophisticated forms, mantras are melodic phrases with spiritual interpretations such as a longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge. Some mantras have no meaning, yet are musically uplifting. The Sanskrit word mantra- consists of the root man- to think, scholars consider mantras to be older than 1000 BC. By the middle Vedic period—1000 BC to 500 BC—claims Frits Staal, mantras in Hinduism had developed into a blend of art, the Chinese translation is zhenyan 眞言, 真言, literally true words, the Japanese onyomi reading of the Chinese being shingon. Mantras are neither unique to Hinduism, nor to other Indian religions such as Buddhism, similar creative constructs developed in Asian, mantras, suggests Frits Staal, may be older than language. There is no accepted definition of mantra. Renou has defined mantra as thought, mantras are structured formulae of thoughts, claims Silburn. Farquhar concludes that mantras are a religious thought, prayer, sacred utterance, zimmer defines mantra as a verbal instrument to produce something in one’s mind. There is no universally applicable uniform definition of mantra because mantras are used in different religions, in some schools of Hinduism for example, suggests Gonda, mantra is sakti to the devotee in the form of formulated and expressed thought. Staal clarifies that mantras are not rituals, they are what is recited or chanted during a ritual, There is a long history of scholarly disagreement on the meaning of mantras and whether they are really instruments of mind, as implied by the etymological origin of the word mantra
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Ritual
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A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects, performed in a sequestered place, and performed according to set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community, Rituals are characterized but not defined by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism, and performance. Rituals are a feature of all human societies. Even common actions like hand-shaking and saying hello may be termed rituals, the field of ritual studies has seen a number of conflicting definitions of the term. One given by Kyriakidis is that a ritual is an outsiders or etic category for a set activity that, to the outsider, seems irrational, non-contiguous, or illogical. The term can be used also by the insider or emic performer as an acknowledgement that this activity can be seen as such by the uninitiated onlooker, the English word ritual derives from the Latin ritualis, that which pertains to rite. In Roman juridical and religious usage, ritus was the way of doing something, or correct performance. The word ritual is first recorded in English in 1570, there are hardly any limits to the kind of actions that may be incorporated into a ritual. Catherine Bell argues that rituals can be characterized by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism, Ritual utilizes a limited and rigidly organized set of expressions which anthropologists call a restricted code. Maurice Bloch argues that ritual obliges participants to use this formal oratorical style, which is limited in intonation, syntax, vocabulary, loudness, in adopting this style, ritual leaders speech becomes more style than content. Because this formal speech limits what can be said, it induces acceptance, compliance, Bloch argues that this form of ritual communication makes rebellion impossible and revolution the only feasible alternative. Ritual tends to support forms of social hierarchy and authority. Rituals appeal to tradition and are concerned to repeat historical precedents accurately. Traditionalism varies from formalism in that the ritual may not be yet still makes an appeal to historical. An example is the American Thanksgiving dinner, which may not be formal, thus, the appeal to history is important rather than accurate historical transmission. Catherine Bell states that ritual is also invariant, implying careful choreography and this is less an appeal to traditionalism than a striving for timeless repetition. The key to invariance is bodily discipline, as in prayer and meditation meant to mold dispositions. This bodily discipline is frequently performed in unison, by groups, Rituals tend to be governed by rules, a feature somewhat like formalism
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Folklore of India
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The folklore of India compasses the folklore of the nation of India and the Indian subcontinent. India is an ethnically and religiously diverse country, given this diversity, it is difficult to generalize widely about the folklore of India as a unit. It is because of the nature of Hinduism which allows various heterogeneous traditions, numerous regional cultures and even different religions to grow. Folk religion in Hinduism may explain the rationale behind local religious practices and these sorts of local variation have a higher status in Hinduism than comparable customs would have in religions such as Christianity or Islam. The folk and tribal arts of India speak volumes about the rich heritage. Art forms in India have been exquisite and explicit, folk art forms include various schools of art like the Mughal School, Rajasthani School, Nakashi art School etc. Each school has its distinct style of colour combinations or figures, other popular folk art forms include Madhubani paintings from Bihar, Kangra painting from Himachal Pradesh and Warli paintings from Maharashtra. Tanjore paintings from South India incorporate real gold into their paintings, local fairs, festivals, deities and heroes play a vital role in this art form. One such oral epic, telling the story of Pabuji, has collected by Dr. The title character was a figure, a Rajput prince. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the two greatest and most widely read epics of India, other noteworthy collections of Indian traditional stories include the Panchatantra, a collection of traditional narratives made by Vishnu Sarma in the second century BC. The Hitopadesha of Narayana is a collection of anthropomorphic fabliaux, animal fables, in Sanskrit, Indian folklorists during the last thirty years have substantially contributed to the study of folklore. Devendra Satyarthi, Krishna Dev Upadyhayaya, Prafulla Dutta Goswami, Kunja Bihari Dash, Ashutosh Bhatacharya, especially, South Indian universities advocated for folklore as a discipline in the universities and hundreds of scholars trained up on folklore. Ramanjuan was the noted folklorist to analyse folklore from Indian context, study of folklore was strengthened by two stremas, one is Finnish folklorist Lauri Honko and another is Peter J. Claus of American folklore. These two folklorists conducted their work on Epic of Siri and led the Indian folklorists to the new folklore study. The Central Institute of Indian Languages has played a role in promoting folklore studies in India to explore another reality of Indian culture. Recently scholars such as Chitrasen Pasayat, M. D. Muthukumaraswamy, Vivek Rai, Jawaharlal Handoo, Birendranath Dutta, recently the National Folklore Support Center in Chennai has taken the initiative to promote folklore in public domain and bridging the gap of academic domain and community domain. Indian folk heroes like Rama, Krishna in Sanskrit epics and history and they have found a place in written literature
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Treasure
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Treasure is a concentration of riches, often those that originate from ancient history, considered lost and/or forgotten until being rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constitutes treasure, such as in the British Treasure Act 1996, the phrase blood and treasure or lives and treasure has been used to refer to the human and monetary costs associated with massive endeavours such as war that expend both. Searching for hidden treasure is a theme in legend, treasure hunters do exist. A buried treasure is an important part of the beliefs surrounding pirates. According to popular conception, pirates often buried their stolen fortunes in remote places and they differ widely in plot and literary treatment but all are derived from the William Kidd legend. The whole inner spirit and a deal of the material detail of my first chapters. Were the property of Washington Irving, a treasure map is a variation of a map to mark the location of buried treasure, a lost mine, a valuable secret or a hidden location. More common in fiction than in reality, pirate treasure maps are often depicted in works of fiction as hand drawn, regardless of the terms literary use, anything that meets the criterion of a map that describes the location of a treasure could appropriately be called a treasure map. One of the earliest known instances of a document listing buried treasure is the copper scroll, believed to have been written between 50 and 100 AD, the scroll contains a list of 63 locations with detailed directions pointing to hidden treasures of gold and silver. KEN Thus far, no item mentioned in the scroll has been found, scholars remain divided on whether the copper scroll represents real burials, and, if so, the total measurements and the owners. Although buried pirate treasure is a literary theme, there are very few documented cases of pirates actually burying treasure. Drake did not create a map, another case in 1720 involved British Captain Stratton of the Prince Eugene who, after supposedly trading rum with pirates in the Caribbean, buried his gold near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. One of his crew, Morgan Miles, turned him in to the authorities, in any case, Captain Stratton was not a pirate, and made no map. The pirate most responsible for the legends of buried pirate treasure was Captain Kidd, over the years many people have tried to find the supposed remnants of Kidds treasure on Gardiners Island and elsewhere, but none has ever been found. People have claimed to have discovered maps and other clues led to pirate treasure. These claims are not supported by scholars, in the 1985 film The Goonies, an old treasure map leads to the secret stash of a legendary 17th-century pirate, an almost exact imitation of Stevensons plot in Treasure Island. In the 2004 film National Treasure, a treasure map becomes the source of the quest itself, in the 1994 comedy City Slickers II, The Legend of Curlys Gold, a treasure map is made by criminals who are analogous to modern day pirates. In the film Waterworld, a vague and cryptic treasure map has been tattooed on the back of the child character Enola
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Earth
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Earth, otherwise known as the World, or the Globe, is the third planet from the Sun and the only object in the Universe known to harbor life. It is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest of the four terrestrial planets, according to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence, Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago. Earths gravity interacts with objects in space, especially the Sun. During one orbit around the Sun, Earth rotates about its axis over 365 times, thus, Earths axis of rotation is tilted, producing seasonal variations on the planets surface. The gravitational interaction between the Earth and Moon causes ocean tides, stabilizes the Earths orientation on its axis, Earths lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over periods of many millions of years. About 71% of Earths surface is covered with water, mostly by its oceans, the remaining 29% is land consisting of continents and islands that together have many lakes, rivers and other sources of water that contribute to the hydrosphere. The majority of Earths polar regions are covered in ice, including the Antarctic ice sheet, Earths interior remains active with a solid iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates the Earths magnetic field, and a convecting mantle that drives plate tectonics. Within the first billion years of Earths history, life appeared in the oceans and began to affect the Earths atmosphere and surface, some geological evidence indicates that life may have arisen as much as 4.1 billion years ago. Since then, the combination of Earths distance from the Sun, physical properties, in the history of the Earth, biodiversity has gone through long periods of expansion, occasionally punctuated by mass extinction events. Over 99% of all species that lived on Earth are extinct. Estimates of the number of species on Earth today vary widely, over 7.4 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and minerals for their survival. Humans have developed diverse societies and cultures, politically, the world has about 200 sovereign states, the modern English word Earth developed from a wide variety of Middle English forms, which derived from an Old English noun most often spelled eorðe. It has cognates in every Germanic language, and their proto-Germanic root has been reconstructed as *erþō, originally, earth was written in lowercase, and from early Middle English, its definite sense as the globe was expressed as the earth. By early Modern English, many nouns were capitalized, and the became the Earth. More recently, the name is simply given as Earth. House styles now vary, Oxford spelling recognizes the lowercase form as the most common, another convention capitalizes Earth when appearing as a name but writes it in lowercase when preceded by the. It almost always appears in lowercase in colloquial expressions such as what on earth are you doing, the oldest material found in the Solar System is dated to 4. 5672±0.0006 billion years ago. By 4. 54±0.04 Gya the primordial Earth had formed, the formation and evolution of Solar System bodies occurred along with the Sun
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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
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Guimet Museum
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The Guimet Museum is an art museum located at 6, place dIéna in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. It has one of the largest collections abroad of Asian art, founded by Émile Étienne Guimet, an industrialist, the museum first opened at Lyon in 1879 but was later transferred to Paris, opening in the place dIéna in 1889. One of its wings, the Panthéon Bouddhique, displays religious artworks, some of the museums artifacts were collected from Southeast Asia by French authorities during the colonial period. List of museums in Paris Musée Guimet
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Shunga Empire
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The Shunga Empire was an ancient Indian dynasty from Magadha that controlled vast areas of the Indian subcontinent from around 187 to 78 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra Shunga, after the fall of the Maurya Empire and its capital was Pataliputra, but later emperors such as Bhagabhadra also held court at Besnagar in eastern Malwa. Pushyamitra Shunga ruled for 36 years and was succeeded by his son Agnimitra, the empire is noted for its numerous wars with both foreign and indigenous powers. They fought the Kalinga, the Satavahana dynasty, the Indo-Greek Kingdom, Shunga rulers helped to establish the tradition of royal sponsorship of learning and art. The script used by the empire was a variant of Brahmi script and was used to write Sanskrit, the Shunga Empire played an imperative role in patronizing culture at a time when some of the most important developments in Hindu thought were taking place. Patanjalis Mahābhāṣya was composed in this period, artistry also progressed with the rise of the Mathura art style. The Kanva dynasty succeeded the Shungas around 73 BCE, Pushyamitra Shunga then ascended the throne. Pushyamitra Shunga became the ruler of Magadha and neighbouring territories, the empire of Pushyamitra was extended to the Narmada River in the south, controlled Jalandhar and Sialkot in the Punjab region in the northwest and the city of Ujjain in Central India. Kabul and much of the Punjab passed into the hands of the Indo-Greeks, Pushyamitra died after ruling for 36 years. He was succeeded by son Agnimitra and this prince is the hero of a famous drama by one of Indias greatest playwrights, Kālidāsa. Agnimitra was viceroy of Vidisha when the story takes place, the power of the Shungas gradually weakened. It is said there were ten Shunga emperors. The Shungas were succeeded by the Kanva dynasty around 73 BCE, buddhist scripture Divyavdan and ancient Tibbatan historian Taranath have written about persecution of Buddhists, However, there is doubt as to whether he did persecute Buddhists actively. Later Shunga emperors were seen as amenable to Buddhism and as having contributed to the building of the stupa at Bharhut, some writers believe that Brahmanism competed in political and spiritual realm with Buddhism in the Gangetic plains. Buddhism flourished in the realms of the Bactrian kings, some Indian scholars are of the opinion that the orthodox Shunga emperors were not intolerant towards Buddhism and that Buddhism prospered during the time of the Shunga emperors. The existence of Buddhism in Bengal in the Shunga period can also be inferred from a tablet that was found at Tamralipti and is on exhibit at the Asutosh Museum in Kolkata. An inscription at Bodh Gaya at the Mahabodhi Temple records the construction of the temple as follows, another inscription reads, The gift of Kurangi, the mother of living sons and the wife of Emperor Indragnimitra, son of Kosiki. The gift also of Srima of the palace shrine
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Vidisha
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Vidisha is a city in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, located near the state capital Bhopal. Vidishā is the headquarters of Bhelsa during the medieval period. Vidisha is located at 23. 53°N77. 82°E /23.53,77.82 and it has an average elevation of 424 metres. As of 2011 India census, Vidisha had a population of 155,959, males constitute 53. 21% of the population and females 46. 79%. Vidisha has an literacy rate of 86. 88%, higher than the national average of 74. 04%, male literacy is 92. 29%. In Vidisha, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age, near the eastern edge of the old town are the remains of a large temple of the late Paramara period known as the Bijamaṇḍal. The building was started in the second half of the 11th century. That it was never finished is shown by carved niches and unfinished architectural pieces found round the base of the temple plinth, on top of the plinth is a small mosque made using pillars, one of which has an inscription dating probably from the time of king Naravarman. It is a devotional inscription revering Carccikā, of whom he was a devotee, the miḥrāb suggests the mosque was constructed in the late 14th century. To one side of the Bijamaṇḍal is a house of the Archaeological Survey of India containing many sculptures collected in the neighbourhood. A step-well of the 7th century is in the campus and has, beside the entrance. These are the earliest Kṛṣṇa scenes in the art of central India, the town is situated east of the Betwa River, in the fork of the Betwa and Bes rivers,9 km from Sanchi. The Emperor Ashoka was the governor of Vidisha during his fathers lifetime and his Buddhist Empress Vidisha Devi who was also his first wife was brought up in Vidisha. It finds mention in Kalidasas Meghdoot, besnagar was abandoned in the 6th century. It came into prominence again as Bhelsa during the medieval period and it became famous for the temple of Sun god Bhillasvanin. It was ruled by the Later Gupta king Devagupta and Rashtrakuta king Krishna III, the name is first noted in an inscription of 878 AD by a merchant Hatiaka of Paravada community. The 12th century Tri-shashthi-shalaka-purusha-charitra mentions an image of Bhillasvamin at Vidisa, minhajuddins Tabaqat-i-Nusiri states that the temple was destroyed by Iltutmish in A D. 1233-34. In 1293, Allauddin Khilji of the Delhi Sultanate sacked the city as a general of Sultan Jalaluddin and it has been described as a very difficult loot which shows that Vidisha had an importance in the medieval era
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Bharhut
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Bharhut is a village located in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, central India. It is known for its famous relics from a Buddhist stupa, the Bharhut sculptures represent some of the earliest examples of Indian and Buddhist art. An epigraph on the gateway of the stupa mentions its erection during the supremacy of the Shungas by Vatsiputra Dhanabhuti, in 1873, Alexander Cunningham visited Bharhut. The next year, he excavated the site, J. D. Beglar, Cunninghams assistant, continued the excavation and recorded the work through numerous photographs. The complex in Bharhut included a temple, which contained a colossal figure of the Buddha, along with fragments of sculptures showing the Buddha with images of Brahma. Beglar also photographed a 10th-century Buddhist Sanskrit inscription, about which nothing is now known, the ruined stupa—nothing but foundations of the main structure —is still in Bharhut, however, the gateways and railings have been dismantled and reassembled at the Indian Museum, Kolkata. They contain numerous birth stories of the Buddhas previous lives, or Jataka tales, many of them are in the shape of large, round medallions. Two of the panels are at the Smithsonian, the style represents the earliest phase of Indian art, and all characters are depicted wearing the Indian dhoti, except for one foreigner thought to be an Indo-Greek soldier, with Buddhist symbolism. The Bharhut carvings are slightly earlier than the Sanchi carvings and the earlier Ajanta frescos, an unusual feature of the Bharhut panels is the inclusion of text in the narrative panels, often identifying the individuals. The inscriptions found at Bharhut are of significance in tracing the history of early Indian Buddhism. These include individuals from Vidisha, Purika, Pataliputra, Karhad, Bhojakata, Kosambi,82 inscriptions serve as labels for panels depicting the Jatakas, the life of the Buddha, former Manushi Buddhas, other stories and Yakshas and Yakshinis. Sanchi Deorkothar Bharhut sculpture images Birth of classic form, BENOY K. BEHL, Frontline, Volume 24 - Issue 17,07,2007, covering the art of the Bharhut Stupa Life of the Historical Buddha on the Bharhut Railing Medallions from Barhut Railing at Indian Museum
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Sanchi
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Sanchi the Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, is located on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is 46 km north-east of Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh, the Great Stupa at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure in India and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, the original construction work of this stupa was overseen by Ashoka, whose wife Devi was the daughter of a merchant of nearby Vidisha. Sanchi was also her birthplace as well as the venue of her, in the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carved toranas and a balustrade encircling the entire structure were added. The sanchi stupa built during Mauryan period was made of bricks, the complex flourished until the 11th century. Sanchi is the center of a region with a number of stupas including Satdhara, Morel Khurd, Andher, Mawas, the Great Stupa at Sanchi is the oldest structure and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, the old stupa was later covered when it was expanded under the Shungas. A pillar of finely polished sandstone was also erected, the bottom part of the pillar still stands. The upper parts of the pillar are placed under a canopy nearby, the pillar has an Ashokan inscription and an inscription in the ornamental Sankha Lipi from the Gupta period. It has been suggested that Pushyamitra may have destroyed the original stupa, the original brick stupa was covered with stone during the Shunga period. During the later rule of the Shunga, the stupa was expanded with stone slabs to almost twice its original size, the dome was flattened near the top and crowned by three superimposed parasols within a square railing. With its many tiers it was a symbol of the dharma, the dome was set on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase. A second stone pathway at ground level was enclosed by a balustrade with four monumental gateways facing the cardinal directions. The buildings which seem to have been commissioned during the rule of the Shungas are the Second and Third stupas, from the 1st century BCE, the gateways and the balustrade were built and colored, the work being apparently commissioned by the Satavahana. The gateways and toranas are generally dated to the 1st century CE, kharavela in his inscription mentions one Satakarni, who is identified as Satakarni II, who is also identical to the one who inscribed in Sanchi. If this is true, then the dating of Sanchi gateway, although made of stone, they were carved and constructed in the manner of wood and the gateways were covered with narrative sculptures
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Stupa
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A stupa is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics that is used as a place of meditation. Stupas originated as pre-Buddhist tumuli in which śramaṇas were buried in a position called chaitya. After the parinirvana of the Buddha, his remains were cremated, the earliest archaeological evidence for the presence of Buddhist stupas dates to the late 4th century BCE in India. Buddhist scriptures claim that stupas were built at least a century earlier, however, some later stupas, such as at Sarnath and Sanchi, seem to be embellishments of earlier mounds. The earliest evidence of monastic stupas dates back to the 2nd century BCE and these are stupas that were built within Buddhist monastic complexes and they replicate in stone older stupas made of baked bricks and timber. Sanchi, Sarnath, Amaravati and Bharhut are examples of stupas that were shaped in stone imitating previously existing wooden parts, the stupa was elaborated as Buddhism spread to other Asian countries, becoming, for example, the chörten of Tibet and the pagoda in East Asia. The pagoda has varied forms that also include bell-shaped and pyramidal styles, in the Western context, there is no clear distinction between a stupa and a pagoda. Stupas were built in Sri Lanka soon after Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura converted to Buddhism, the first stupa to be built was the Thuparamaya. Later, many more were built over the years, some like the Jetavanaramaya in Anuradhapura being one of the tallest ancient structures in the world, the earliest archaeological evidence for the presence of Buddhist stupas dates to the late 4th century BCE. In India, Sanchi, Sarnath, Amaravati and Bharhut are among the oldest known stupas, the tallest is the Phra Pathommachedi in Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand, at a height of 127 metres. The Swat Valley hosts a well-preserved stupa at Shingardar near Ghalegay, another stupa is located near Barikot, in Sri Lanka, the ancient city of Anuradhapura includes some of the tallest, most ancient and best preserved stupas in the world, such as Ruwanwelisaya. The most elaborate stupa is the 8th century Borobudur monument in Java, the upper rounded terrace with rows of bell-shaped stupas contained Buddha images symbolizing Arūpajhāna, the sphere of formlessness. The main stupa itself is empty, symbolizing complete perfection of enlightenment, borobudurs unique and significant architecture has been acknowledged by UNESCO as the largest buddhist monument in the world. It is also the world’s largest Buddhist temple, as well as one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. Object stupa, in which the items interred are objects belonged to the Buddha or his disciples, such as a bowl or robe. Commemorative stupa, built to commemorate events in the lives of Buddha or his disciples, symbolic stupa, to symbolise aspects of Buddhist theology, for example, Borobudur is considered to be the symbol of the Three Worlds and the spiritual stages in a Mahayana bodhisattvas character. Votive stupa, constructed to commemorate visits or to gain spiritual benefits, the shape of the stupa represents the Buddha, crowned and sitting in meditation posture on a lion throne. His crown is the top of the spire, his head is the square at the base, his body is the vase shape, his legs are the four steps of the lower terrace
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Fertility
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Fertility is the natural capability to produce offspring. As a measure, fertility rate is the number of offspring born per mating pair, Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction. A lack of fertility is infertility while a lack of fecundity would be called sterility, Human fertility depends on factors of nutrition, sexual behavior, consanguinity, culture, instinct, endocrinology, timing, economics, way of life, and emotions. In demographic contexts, fertility refers to the production of offspring. While fertility can be measured, fecundity cannot be, demographers measure the fertility rate in a variety of ways, which can be broadly broken into period measures and cohort measures. Period measures refer to a cross-section of the population in one year, cohort data on the other hand, follows the same people over a period of decades. Both period and cohort measures are widely used, crude birth rate - the number of live births in a given year per 1,000 people alive at the middle of that year. One disadvantage of this indicator is that it is influenced by the age structure of the population, general fertility rate - the number of births in a year divided by the number of women aged 15–44, times 1000. It focuses on the potential mothers only, and takes the age distribution into account, child-Woman Ratio - the ratio of the number of children under 5 to the number of women 15–49, times 1000. It is especially useful in historical data as it not require counting births. This measure is actually a hybrid, because it involves deaths as well as births, TFR equals the sum for all age groups of 5 times each ASFR rate. Gross Reproduction Rate - the number of girl babies a synthetic cohort will have and it assumes that all of the baby girls will grow up and live to at least age 50. NRR is always lower than GRR, but in countries where mortality is low, almost all the baby girls grow up to be potential mothers. In countries with high mortality, NRR can be as low as 70% of GRR, when NRR =1.0, each generation of 1000 baby girls grows up and gives birth to exactly 1000 girls. When NRR is less one, each generation is smaller than the previous one. When NRR is greater than 1 each generation is larger than the one before, NRR is a measure of the long-term future potential for growth, but it usually is different from the current population growth rate. A parents number of children strongly correlates with the number of children that each person in the generation will eventually have. Factors generally associated with increased fertility include religiosity, intention to have children, Factors generally associated with decreased fertility include wealth, education, female labor participation, urban residence, intelligence, increased female age and increased male age
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Sanskrit
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Sanskrit is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, a philosophical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and a literary language and lingua franca of ancient and medieval South Asia. As a result of transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia and parts of Central Asia, as one of the oldest Indo-European languages for which substantial written documentation exists, Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies. The body of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical, the compositions of Sanskrit were orally transmitted for much of its early history by methods of memorization of exceptional complexity, rigor, and fidelity. Thereafter, variants and derivatives of the Brahmi script came to be used, Sanskrit is today one of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which mandates the Indian government to develop the language. It continues to be used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals and Buddhist practice in the form of hymns. The Sanskrit verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- may be translated as refined, elaborated, as a term for refined or elaborated speech, the adjective appears only in Epic and Classical Sanskrit in the Manusmṛti and the Mahabharata. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit, with the language of the Rigveda being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini, around the fourth century BCE. Sanskrit, as defined by Pāṇini, evolved out of the earlier Vedic form, the present form of Vedic Sanskrit can be traced back to as early as the second millennium BCE. Scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or Pāṇinian Sanskrit as separate dialects, although they are quite similar, they differ in a number of essential points of phonology, vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a collection of hymns, incantations and theological and religio-philosophical discussions in the Brahmanas. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita to be the earliest, for nearly 2000 years, Sanskrit was the language of a cultural order that exerted influence across South Asia, Inner Asia, Southeast Asia, and to a certain extent East Asia. A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of Indian epic poetry—the Ramayana, the deviations from Pāṇini in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or innovations, and not because they are pre-Paninian. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ārṣa, meaning of the ṛṣis, in some contexts, there are also more prakritisms than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There were four principal dialects of classical Sanskrit, paścimottarī, madhyadeśī, pūrvi, the predecessors of the first three dialects are attested in Vedic Brāhmaṇas, of which the first one was regarded as the purest. In the 2001 Census of India,14,035 Indians reported Sanskrit to be their first language, in India, Sanskrit is among the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The state of Uttarakhand in India has ruled Sanskrit as its official language. In October 2012 social activist Hemant Goswami filed a petition in the Punjab. More than 3,000 Sanskrit works have been composed since Indias independence in 1947, much of this work has been judged of high quality, in comparison to both classical Sanskrit literature and modern literature in other Indian languages
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Tribhanga
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Tribhaṅga or Tribunga is a standing body position or stance used in the traditional Indian sculpture, art and Indian classical dance forms like the Odissi. It has been associated with the Hindu deity Krishna who is often portrayed in this posture. The Sanskrit term Tribhanga means Three Bhanga and according to K. M, like many other poses used in traditional Indian dance, including Odissi, Bharata Natyam and Kathak, Tribhangi or Tribhanga can be found in Indian sculpture as well. The Agamic texts suggest that Shiva sculptures are to be made in tribhanga posture facing the east as seen in temple dating 8th-12th centuries, the central deity at the Simhachalam temple near Visakhapatnam, the lion-man incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu is in the tribhanga posture. In the back it carries an inscription dating it 1098, the period of the Chola King Kuloththunga, the Tirumala Rama Idol at the famous Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Andhra Pradesh is also in the same posture. This style has also travels with Indian influence as in China where some sculptures at the Maijishan Grottoes built in the Later Qin era. Some Buddha images in Thailand are also in the position and so are some of Boddhisattva in the ancient Yakushi-ji Buddhist temples in Nara, Japan, built in 680 CE. Odissi Directory Odissi Performing Dancers in USA Bharat Bhavan, a Kerala-based Department of Culture information website
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Tree deity
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A tree deity or tree spirit is a nature deity related to a tree. Such deities are present in many cultures and they are usually represented as a young woman, often connected to ancient fertility and tree worship lore. The status of tree deities varies from that of a fairy, ghost, sprite or nymph. The Yakshis or Yakshinis, mythical maiden deities of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology are associated with trees, especially the ashoka tree. Although these tree deities are usually benevolent, there are also yakshinis with malevolent characteristics in Indian folklore, panaiveriyamman, named after panai, the Tamil name for the Palmyra palm, is an ancient fertility deity linked to this palm that is so important in Tamil culture. This deity is known as Taalavaasini, a name that further relates her to all types of palm trees. Some other Tamil tree deities are related to ancient agricultural deities, such as Puliyidaivalaiyamman, the deity of the tamarind tree and these were seen as manifestations of a goddess who offers her blessings by giving fruits in abundance. In Thailand the village ghosts or fairies related to such as Nang Takian. There are also other tree ghosts that are male, Tree deities were common in ancient Northern European lore. In Charlemagnes time, following the Capitulatio de partibus Saxione in 782 offerings to sacred trees or any form of worship of the spirits of trees. Even as late as 1227 the Synod of Trier decreed that the worship of trees and sources was forbidden, splendens the living embodiment of Bathoubwrai, the supreme deity in the Bathouist religion of the Bodo people or Mech of Assam and Nepal. Tāne-mahuta, atua of the forests and birds and one of the children of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku Maori mythology Akathaso Ent Nymph Salabhanjika Talking tree Tree worship Vegetation deity
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Indian art
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Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including plastic arts, visual arts, and textile arts. Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan, a strong sense of design is characteristic of Indian art and can be observed in its modern and traditional forms. The origin of Indian art can be traced to pre-historic Hominid settlements in the 3rd millennium BC, on its way to modern times, Indian art has had cultural influences, as well as religious influences such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam. In spite of this mixture of religious traditions, generally the prevailing artistic style at any time. In historic art, sculpture in stone and metal, mainly religious, has survived the Indian climate better than other media, many of the most important ancient finds that are not in carved stone come from surrounding, drier regions rather than India itself. Indian funeral and philosophic traditions exclude grave goods, which are a source of ancient art in other cultures. Rock art of India includes rock relief carvings, engravings and paintings and it is estimated there are about 1300 rock art sites with over a quarter of a million figures and figurines. The earliest rock carvings in India were discovered by Archibald Carlleyle, twelve years before the Cave of Altamira in Spain, dr. V. S. Wakankar discovered several painted rock shelters in Central India, situated around the Vindhya mountain range. Of these, the Bhimbetka rock shelters have been deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the paintings in these sites commonly depicted scenes of human life alongside animals, and hunts with stone implements. Their style varied with region and age, but the most common characteristic was a red wash made using a mineral called geru. For further details on the art of India, please see South Asian Stone Age. Despite its wide spread and sophistication, the Indus Valley civilization seems to have no interest in public large-scale art. A number of gold, terracotta and stone figurines of girls in dancing poses reveal the presence of forms of dance. Additionally, the terracotta figurines included cows, bears, monkeys, the animal depicted on a majority of seals at sites of the mature period has not been clearly identified. Part bull, part zebra, with a horn, it has been a source of speculation. The most famous piece is the bronze Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-Daro, seals have been found at Mohenjo-Daro depicting a figure standing on its head, and another sitting cross-legged in what some call a yoga-like pose. This figure, sometimes known as a Pashupati, has been variously identified, sir John Marshall identified a resemblance to the Hindu god, Shiva. After the end of the Indus Valley Civilization there is an absence of art of any great degree of sophistication until the Buddhist era
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Salabhanjika
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A salabhanjika or shalabhanjika is the sculpture of a woman, displaying stylized feminine features, standing near a tree and grasping a branch. The name of these comes from the Sanskrit śālabhañjikā meaning breaking a branch of a sala tree. They are also known as madanakai, madanika or shilabalika, the salabhanjikas female features, like breasts and hips, are often exaggerated. Frequently these sculpted figures display complex hairdos and an abundance of jewelry, placed at an angle, salabhanjika figures also were used in temple architecture as a bracket figures. Salabhanjikas are also mentioned in ancient and modern Indian literature. Some of the most renowned salabhanjika sculptures are to be found in the 12th-century Hoysala temples of Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura, in south-central Karnataka. The shalabhanjika on the East gateway, is the best known sculpture of the Sanchi Stupa near Bhopal, another less-known location famous for its outstanding salabhanjikas is a Chalukya period temple in Jalasangvi, Homnabad Taluk on the Gulbarga-Bidar state highway, at the northern end of Karnataka. Its well-endowed Madanika figures in seductive tribhanga poses are. moon breasted, swan-waisted and elephant-hipped and these older feminine sculptures were the source of inspiration for the later Hoysala bracket-figures. The sal tree is often confused with the tree in the ancient literature of the Indian Subcontinent. The position of the Salabhanjika is also related to the position of Queen Māyā of Sakya when she gave birth to Gautama Buddha under a tree in a garden in Lumbini. Some authors hold that Salabhanjika, as young girl at the foot of a tree, is based on an ancient tree deity related to fertility, ashoka tree Caryatid, a similar element in Western architecture List of tree deities Yakshini
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Shorea robusta
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Shorea robusta, also known as śāl, sakhua or shala tree, is a species of tree belonging to the Dipterocarpaceae family. This tree is native to the Indian subcontinent, ranging south of the Himalaya, from Myanmar in the east to Nepal, India, in India, it extends from Assam, Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand west to the Shivalik Hills in Haryana, east of the Yamuna. The range also extends through the Eastern Ghats and to the eastern Vindhya and it is often the dominant tree in the forests where it occurs. In Nepal, it is mostly in the Terai region from east to west, especially. There are many protected areas, such as Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park and Shukla Phat Wildlife Reserve and it is also found in the lower belt of the Hilly region and inner terai. Sal tree is known as Sakhua in northern India including Madhya Pradesh, Odisha. Sal is moderate to slow growing, and can attain heights of 30 to 35 m, the leaves are 10–25 cm long and 5–15 cm broad. In wetter areas, it is evergreen, in areas, it is dry-season deciduous. In Hindu tradition, the sal tree is said to be favoured by Vishnu. Its name shala, shaal or sal, comes from Sanskrit, jains state that the 24th tirthankara, Mahavira, achieved enlightenment under a sal. There is a decorative element of Hindu Indian sculpture which originated in a yakshi grasping the branch of a flowering tree while setting her foot against its roots. This decorative sculptural element was integrated into Indian temple architecture as salabhanjika or sal tree maiden, on arrival, he said to Ven. Ananda, Ananda, please prepare a bed for me between the twin sal-trees, with its head to the north, I am tired, and will lie down. Quoting the four-character idiom jōsha hissui from a passage in the Humane King Sutra, The prosperous inevitably decline, the full inevitably empty. In Asia, the sal tree is often confused with the Couroupita guianensis or cannonball tree, the cannonball tree has since then been planted at Buddhist and Hindu religious sites in Asia in the belief that it is the tree of sacred scriptures. In Sri Lanka, Thailand and other Theravada Buddhist countries it has planted at Buddhist monasteries. In India the cannonball tree has been planted at Shiva temples and is called Shiv Kamal or Nagalingam since its flowers are said to resemble the hood of a Nāga protecting a Shiva lingam. An example of a cannonball tree erroneously named sal tree is at the Pagoda at the Royal Palace of Phnom Penh in Cambodia, in Japan the sal tree of Buddhist scriptures is identified as the deciduous camellia, called shāra, 沙羅, from Sanskrit śāla
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Sculpture in South Asia
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The first known sculpture in the Indian subcontinent is from the Indus Valley civilization, found in sites at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa in modern-day Pakistan. These include the small bronze female dancer. However such figures in bronze and stone are rare and greatly outnumbered by pottery figurines and stone seals, often of animals or deities very finely depicted. After the collapse of the Indus Valley civilization there is record of sculpture until the Buddhist era. Although India had a sculptural tradition and a mastery of rich iconography, the Buddha was never represented in human form before this time. This may be because Gandharan Buddhist sculpture in modern Afghanistan displays Greek, artistically, the Gandharan school of sculpture is said to have contributed wavy hair, drapery covering both shoulders, shoes and sandals, acanthus leaf decorations, etc. Carving is often highly detailed, with a backing behind the main figure in high relief. Though dating is uncertain, it appears that strongly Hellenistic styles lingered in the East for several centuries after they had declined around the Mediterranean, Greek foliage decration was also influential, with Indian versions of the Corinthian capital appearing. Sculptures of Bangladesh List of rock-cut temples in India Boardman, John ed, the Oxford History of Classical Art,1993, OUP, ISBN0198143869 Harle, J. C. The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, 2nd edn,1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, ISBN0300062176 Paine, Robert Treat, in, Paine, R. T. The flame and the lotus, Indian and Southeast Asian art from the Kronos collections, new York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Architecture of India
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The architecture of India is rooted in its history, culture and religion. Indian architecture progressed with time and assimilated the many influences that came as a result of Indias global discourse with other regions of the world throughout its millennia-old past. The architectural methods practiced in India are a result of examination and implementation of its established building traditions, though old, this Eastern tradition has also incorporated modern values as India became a modern nation state. The economic reforms of 1991 further bolstered the urban architecture of India as the country became more integrated with the worlds economy, traditional Vastu Shastra remains influential in Indias architecture during the contemporary era. The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization in the region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan. Flourishing around the Indus River basin, the civilization primarily centred along the Indus and the Punjab region, extending into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley and the Ganges-Yamuna Doab. Geographically, the civilization was spread over an area of some 1,260,000 square km, the Indus Valley is one of the worlds earliest urban civilizations, along with its contemporaries, Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. At its peak, the Indus Civilization may have had a population of well over five million, inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley developed new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, the baths and toilets system the cities had is acknowledged as one of the most advanced in the ancient world. The grid layout planning of the cities with roads at right angles is a modern system that was implemented in the cities of this particular civilization. The urban agglomeration and production scale of this civilization was unsurpassed at the time. Excavation of Harappan sites has been ongoing since 1920, with important breakthroughs occurring as recently as 1999, to date, over 1,052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region of the Ghaggar-Hakra river and its tributaries. Among the settlements were the urban centres of Harappa, Lothal, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira, Kalibanga. The Buddhist stupa, a dome shaped monument, was used in India as a commemorative monument associated with storing sacred relics, the stupa architecture was adopted in Southeast and East Asia, where it became prominent as a Buddhist monument used for enshrining sacred relics. Fortified cities with stūpas, viharas, and temples were constructed during the Maurya empire, wooden architecture was popular and rock cut architecture became solidified. Guard rails—consisting of posts, crossbars, and a coping—became a feature of safety surrounding a stupa, temples—build on elliptical, circular, quadrilateral, or apsidal plans—were constructed using brick and timber. The Indian gateway arches, the torana, reached East Asia with the spread of Buddhism, some scholars hold that torii derives from the torana gates at the Buddhist historic site of Sanchi. Rock-cut stepwells in India date from 200–400 AD, subsequently, the construction of wells at Dhank and stepped ponds at Bhinmal took place
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Indian subcontinent
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Geologically, the Indian subcontinent is related to the land mass that rifted from Gondwana and merged with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago. Geographically, it is the region in south-central Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west. Politically, the Indian subcontinent usually includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, sometimes, the term South Asia is used interchangeably with Indian subcontinent. There is no consensus about which countries should be included in each and it is first attested in 1845 to refer to the North and South Americas, before they were regarded as separate continents. Its use to refer to the Indian subcontinent is seen from the twentieth century. It was especially convenient for referring to the region comprising both the British India and the states under British Paramountcy. The term Indian subcontinent also has a geological significance and it was, like the various continents, a part of the supercontinent of Gondwana. A series of tectonic splits caused formation of basins, each drifting in various directions. The geological region called the Greater India once included the Madagascar, Seychelles, Antartica, as a geological term, Indian subcontinent has meant that region formed from the collision of the Indian basin with Eurasia nearly 55 million years ago, towards the end of Paleocene. The Indian subcontinent has been a particularly common in the British Empire. The region, state Mittal and Thursby, has also labelled as India, Greater India. The BBC and some sources refer to the region as the Asian Subcontinent. Some academics refer to it as South Asian Subcontinent, the terms Indian subcontinent and South Asia are sometimes used interchangeably. There is no accepted definition on which countries are a part of South Asia or Indian subcontinent. In dictionary entries, the term subcontinent signifies a large, distinguishable subdivision of a continent, the region experienced high volcanic activity and plate subdivisions, creating Madagascar, Seychelles, Antartica, Austrolasia and the Indian subcontinent basin. The Indian subcontinent drifted northeastwards, colliding with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago and this geological region largely includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The zone where the Eurasian and Indian subcontinent plates meet remains one of the active areas. The English term mainly continues to refer to the Indian subcontinent, physiographically, it is a peninsular region in south-central Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east
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Maya (mother of the Buddha)
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Queen Māyā of Sakya was the birth mother of Gautama Buddha, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded, and the sister of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, the first Buddhist nun ordained by the Buddha. Thus Maya did not raise her son who was raised by his maternal aunt Mahapajapati Gotami. Maya would, however, on occasion descend from Heaven to give advice to her son, Māyā is also called Mahāmāyā and Māyādevī. In Tibetan she is called Gyutrulma and in Japanese is known as Maya-bunin, also Sinhalese known as මහාමායා දේවී. In Buddhist literature and art Queen Maya is portrayed as a beautiful woman in the prime of life. Her beauty sparkles like a nugget of pure gold and she has perfumed curls like the large black bee. Eyes like lotus petals, teeth like stars in the heavens, Maya is usually shown giving birth standing under a tree and reaching overhead to hold on to a branch for support. Buddhist scholar Miranda Shaw, states that Queen Mayas depiction in the nativity scene follows an established in earlier Buddhist depictions of the tree spirits known as yaksini. Māyā married King Śuddhodana, the ruler of the clan of Kapilvastu. She was the daughter of King Śuddhodhanas uncle and therefore his cousin, Māyā and King Suddhodhana did not have children for twenty years into their marriage. According to legend, one full night, sleeping in the palace. She felt herself being carried away by four devas to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas, after bathing her in the lake, the devas clothed her in heavenly cloths, anointed her with perfumes, and bedecked her with divine flowers. Soon after an elephant, holding a white lotus flower in its trunk, appeared. Finally the elephant disappeared and the queen awoke, knowing she had delivered an important message. According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha-to-be was residing as a bodhisattva in the Tuṣita heaven, Māyā gave birth to Siddharta c.563 BCE. The pregnancy lasted ten lunar months, following custom, the Queen returned to her own home for the birth. On the way, she stepped down from her palanquin to have a walk under the Sal tree, often confused with the Ashoka tree, in the flower garden of Lumbini Park, Lumbini Zone. Maya Devi was delighted by the park and gave birth standing while holding onto a sal branch, legend has it that Prince Siddhārtha emerged from her right side
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Lumbini
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Lumbinī is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama in 563 BCE, Gautama, who achieved Enlightenment some time around 528 BCE, became the Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism. Lumbini is one of many magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of Gautama Buddha, Lumbini has a number of temples, including the Mayadevi Temple and several others which are still under construction. Many monuments, monasteries and a museum, the Lumbini International Research Institute, are also within the holy site, also there is the Puskarini, or Holy Pond, where the Buddhas mother took the ritual dip prior to his birth and where he had his first bath. At other sites near Lumbini, earlier Buddhas were, according to tradition, born, then achieved ultimate Enlightenment, Lumbini was made a World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 1997. In the Buddhas time, Lumbini was situated in east of Kapilavastu and it was there, that the Buddha was born. A pillar discovered in 1896 is believed to mark the spot of Ashokas visit to Lumbini, the site was not known as Lumbini before the pillar was discovered. According to an inscription on the pillar, it was placed there by the then in charge of the park to commemorate Ashokas visit. The park was known as Rummindei,2 mi north of Bhagavanpura. The Sutta Nipáta states that the Buddha was born in a village of the Sákyans in the Lumbineyya Janapada, the Buddha stayed in Lumbinívana during his visit to Devadaha and there preached the Devadaha Sutta. In 1896, Nepalese archaeologists discovered a stone pillar at Lumbini. Führer postulated that the pillar was placed at the site by Ashoka circa 245 BCE, records made by the Chinese pilgrim Faxian in the early fifth century CE were also used in the process of identifying this religiously acclaimed site. The layout of the Ashokan shrine closely follows that of the timber structure. Lumbini is 4.8 km in length and 1.6 km in width, the holy site of Lumbini is bordered by a large monastic zone in which only monasteries can be built, no shops, hotels or restaurants. It is separated into an eastern and western zone, the eastern having the Theravadin monasteries. From early morning to evening, pilgrims from various countries perform chanting. The venture was a China-UN joint project, a broader Lumbini Development National Director Committee under the leadership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal was formed on 17 October 2011. The six-member committee included Communist Party of Nepal leader Mangal Siddhi Manandhar, Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal, Forest Minister Mohammad Wakil Musalman, nipponzan Myohoji decided to build a Peace Pagoda in the park in 2001, which is visited by many different cultures and religions every day
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Ambika (Jainism)
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In Jainism, Ambika or Ambika Devi is the Yakṣi dedicated attendant deity or Śāsana Devī protector goddess of the 22nd Tirthankara, Neminatha. She is also known as Ambai, Amba, Kushmandini and Amra Kushmandini, a sculpture of Ambika was discovered at Karajagi village in Haveri taluk. The sculpture has a two-line Sanskrit inscription in Nagari script about the date of its installation - “Ambikadevi, Shaka 1173 and this corresponds to Thursday, April 27,1251 AD. According to the tradition, her colour is golden and her vehicle is lion, in her two right hands she carries a mango and in the other a branch of a mango tree. In one of her hands, she carries a rein and in the other she has her two sons, Priyankara and Shubhankara. The major temples of Shri Ambika Devi include, Shri Neminath Adhisthayaka Nagotra Solanki Gotria Kuladevi Shri Ambikadevi Jinalaya in Santhu near Bagra |Bagra, Shri Kuladevi Ambikadevi Jain Temple, Takhatgarh in Pali district of Rajasthan state. Shri Kuladevi Ambikadevi Jain Temple, Padarli in Rajasthan state, Ambika in Jaina arts and literature, New Delhi, Bharatiya Jnanpith
40.
Ellora Caves
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Ellora is one of the largest rock-cut monastery-temple caves complexes in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Maharashtra, India. The site presents monuments and artwork of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism from the 600-1000 CE period, Cave 16 of Ellora features the largest single monolithic rock excavation in the world, the Kailasha temple, a chariot shaped monument dedicated to Shiva. The Kailasha temple excavation also presents the gods, goddesses and mythologies found in Vaishnavism, Shaktism, the site features over 100 caves, of which 34 caves are open to public. These were excavated out of the basalt cliff in the Charanandri hills. These consist of 12 Buddhist,17 Hindu and 5 Jain caves, each group presents the respective deities and mythologies prevalent in 1st millennium CE, as well as the monasteries of that religion. They were built in proximity and illustrate the religious harmony prevalent in ancient India. All Ellora monuments were built by Hindu dynasties, such as the Rashtrakuta dynasty who built some of the Hindu & Buddhist group of caves, Ellora was an important historic commercial center of the Deccan region, located on an ancient trade route of South Asia. The caves served as monasteries for monks, temples for prayers and a place for pilgrims to rest and it is 29 kilometres north-west of the city of Aurangabad, and about 300 kilometres east-northeast from Mumbai. Ellora Caves, along with the nearby Ajanta Caves, form one of the major tourist attractions in Marathwada region of Maharashtra, Ellora is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. In the Indian tradition, each cave is named and has a suffix Guha, Lena or Leni, Ellora caves are located in the Indian state of Maharashtra. They are about 29 kilometres northwest from the city of Aurangabad,300 kilometres east-northeast from Mumbai, Ellora occupies a relatively flat rocky region of the Western Ghats. Ancient volcanic activity in this area created many layered basalt formations, formed during the volcanic activity of the Cretaceous geological period, one such west-facing cliff houses the Ellora Caves. Its vertical face made access to many layers of rock formations easier, the disagreements have broadly been two fold. One being whether Buddhist or Hindu caves were carved first, the earliest Ellora caves may have been built during the rule of the Hindu dynasties of Vakataka and Traikutakas. The later Hindu caves and early Jaina caves were built by the Hindu Rashtrakuta dynasty and these caves are located on the southern side of the Ellora cave collection, and were built between 600-730 CE. It was initially thought that the Buddhist caves were the earliest structures that were created between the fifth and eighth centuries, with caves 1-5 in the first phase and 6-12 in the later phase, modern scholarship places some of the Hindu caves before the Buddhist caves were built. The earliest Buddhist cave is Cave 6, chronologically followed by 5,2,3,5,4,7,8,10 and 9, Caves 11 and 12, also called the Do Thal and Tin Thal respectively, were the last. All the Buddhist caves were constructed between 630-700, the monastery caves have shrines including carvings of Gautama Buddha, bodhisattvas and saints
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Chakreshvari
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In Jain cosmology, Chakeshvari or Apraticakra is the guardian goddess or Yakshini of Rishabha, the first Tirthankara. She is the deity of the Sarawagi Jain community. The color of the goddess is golden and she is shown with a chakra in one of her hands. In Punjab, at village Attewali there is a temple of Goddess Chakreshvari. Mata Shri Chakreshwari Devi Jain Tirth Village Attewal via Manupur, Sirhind-Chandigarh Road, district, Fatehgarh Sahib India Tirth Phone No. 232246,290091, Website, www. matachakreshwaridevi. com This ancient temple is believed to be around 1000 years old and is situated in village Attewali in Sirhind town on Sirhind-Chandigarh Road. The pilgrims had also brought an idol of Mata Chakreshwari Devi, on their way, the caravan halted for the night at Sirhind, the present site of this temple. Next morning when the caravan was all set to move, the Rath carrying the idol of Mata Shri Chakreshwari Devi did not move despite of the best efforts of the pilgrims, the devotees were at a loss to know the reason and were perplexed. Then all of a sudden, there was flood of light inside the carrying the idol. The pilgrims said Mother, this is all sandy area, there is no water, around here, the voice replied, “A few yards towards north of this place dig the land and you will get water”. To the astonishment of pilgrims, they just dug a few feet, the pilgrims were very much pleased and they installed the idol of Mata Chakreshwari Devi at this place and built a beautiful temple there. The place where a fountain of water had erupted has been developed into a well known as amrit-kund. Even today, the water of this tank is held sacred by the devotees, a big temple of Lord Aadinath is under construction in the vicinity. The spiritual powers of Mata Chakreshwari Devi have been depicted very nicely on one of the walls of the temple through very fine work in a majestic style. Every year a fair is held here in the month of Kartik, people, cutting across religions visit this place with great reverence from all over the world in huge numbers every year. The glory of this place is increasing with every passing day, Sirhind town is situated approximately halfway between Ambala and Ludhiana, around 50 km from these stations. The place is accessible by road. The temple is situated very near to the famous Gurdwara Jyoti Swarup, shah, Umakant P. Jaina-rūpa-maṇḍana, Jaina iconography, Abhinav Publications, ISBN 81-7017-208-X
42.
Padmavati (Jainism)
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Padmāvatī is the protective goddess or shashan devi of Lord Parshvanatha, twenty-third Jain tirthankara complimenting parshwa yaksha, the sashan dev. There ia another pair of souls of a nag and nagin which was saved by lord while being burnt alive in a log of wood by the tapas kamath, according to the tradition, Padmavati and her husband Dharanendra protected Lord Parshvanatha when he was harassed by Meghmali. A snakes hood covers her head, and she sits on a lotus flower, often a small image of the Lord Parshvanatha is placed in her crown
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Tiloyapannatti
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Tiloya Panatti or Trilokaprajnapati is one of the earlier Prakrit texts on Jain cosmology composed by Acharya Yativrshabha. Jain cosmology has a unique perception of the Universe and it perceives different solar and lunar entities in a manner that is different from the current cosmology as well those put forward by different cultures. According to Jain cosmology, this universe is an uncreated entity existing since beginningless time, the Universe is made up of what Jains call six dravya or reals or substances - Living beings, non-living things or matter, space, time and the principles of motion and rest. The universe itself is divided abode of gods, abode of humans and animals, the Tiloya Panatti is a Prakrit work in the Jain Shauraseni dialect and has been composed primarily in the Arya metre. The work has a total of 5677 verses divided into 9 chapters, the chapter scheme is as under, The Entire Universe The World of Hells The World of Mansion-dwelling demigods The World of Humans The World of Sub-human species - plants, animals, insects, etc. In addition to cosmology, this work sheds light on Jain dogmatics, culture, history, mythology, of the 5677 gathas, most are in the Arya metre, but other metres such as Shardulavikridita, Vasantatilaka, Indravajra, Dodhaka, Svagata and Malini have also been used. Apart from the gathas, there are long passages in prose. Acharya Yativrshabha authored the Tiloya Panatti in seventh century CE and he is known for his important commentary on the Kasayapahuda, which is dated in the early centuries of the Common Era. Hence it is speculated that Acharya Yativrshabha belonged to 4-5th century CE, Jain Agamas Jainism Jaini, Padmanabh S. The Jaina Path of Purification, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1578-5 Shah, Umakant P. Jaina-rūpa-maṇḍana, Jaina iconography, Abhinav Publications, ISBN 81-7017-208-X
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Kali
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Kālī, also known as Kālikā, is a Hindu goddess. Kali is one of the ten Mahavidyas, a list which combines Sakta, Kalis earliest appearance is that of a destroyer principally of evil forces. She is the goddess of one of the four subcategories of the Kulamārga, over time, she has been worshipped by devotional movements and tantric sects variously as the Divine Mother, Mother of the Universe, Adi Shakti, or Adi Parashakti. Shakta Hindu and Tantric sects additionally worship her as the reality or Brahman. She is also seen as protector and the one who bestows moksha. Kali is often portrayed standing or dancing on her consort, the Hindu god Shiva, Kali is worshipped by Hindus throughout India. Kālī is the form of kālam. Kālī also shares the meaning of time or the fullness of time with the masculine noun kāla—and by extension, other names include Kālarātri, and Kālikā. The homonymous kāla, appointed time, which depending on context can mean death, is distinct from kāla black, the association is seen in a passage from the Mahābhārata, depicting a female figure who carries away the spirits of slain warriors and animals. She is called kālarātri and also kālī, Kālī is also the feminine form of Kāla, an epithet of Shiva, and thus the consort of Shiva. Hugh Urban notes that although the word Kālī appears as early as the Atharva Veda, Kali appears in the Mundaka Upanishad not explicitly as a goddess, but as the black tongue of the seven flickering tongues of Agni, the Hindu god of fire. According to David Kinsley, Kāli is first mentioned in Hindu tradition as a distinct goddess around 600 CE, and she is often regarded as the Shakti of Shiva, and is closely associated with him in various Puranas. Her most well known appearance on the battlefield is in the sixth century Devi Mahatmyam, when Vishnu woke up he started a war against the two demons. After a long battle with lord Vishnu when the two demons were undefeated Mahakali took the form of Mahamaya to enchant the two asuras, when Madhu and Kaitabha were enchanted by Mahakali, Vishnu killed them. In the later chapters the story of two demons can be found who were destroyed by Kali, Chanda and Munda attack the goddess Durga. Durga responds with anger that her face turns dark and Kali appears out of her forehead. Kalis appearance is black, gaunt with sunken eyes, and wearing a tiger skin and she immediately defeats the two demons. Later in the battle, the demon Raktabija is undefeated because of his ability to reproduce himself from every drop of his blood that reaches the ground
