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Śālā
A śālā (shala) is a Sanskrit term that means any "house, space, covered pavilion or enclosure" in Indian architecture.Monier Monier Williams (1994 updated), Sanskrit English Dictionary page 260 In other contexts śālā – also spelled ''calai'' or ''salai'' in South India – means a feeding house or a college of higher studies linked to a Hindu or Jain temple and supported by local population and wealthy patrons.S.R. Rajakrishnan and Ajit Kumar (2016), Organisation and Conduct of Parthivapuram Sala as Gleaned from the Huzur Office Copper Plates, Heritage, University of Kerala, Volume 4, pp. 454-458 In the early Buddhist literature of India, ''śālā'' means a "hut, cell, hall, pavilion or shed" as in Vedic śālā (pavilion for Vedic recitation), Aggiśālā (hall with a fire), Paniyaśālā (water room). Etymology The word ''śālā'' (Skt: शाला) appears extensively in the Vedic literature, such as verse 3.12.1, 5.31.5 and others of ''Atharva Veda'', verse 1.2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Architecture
Hindu architecture is the traditional system of Indian architecture for structures such as temples, monasteries, statues, homes, market places, gardens and town planning as described in Hindu texts. The architectural guidelines survive in Sanskrit manuscripts and in some cases also in other regional languages. These texts include the Vastu shastras, Shilpa Shastras, the ''Brihat Samhita'', architectural portions of the Puranas and the Agamas, and regional texts such as the Manasara among others. By far the most important, characteristic and numerous surviving examples of Hindu architecture are Hindu temples, with an architectural tradition that has left surviving examples in stone, brick, and rock-cut architecture dating back to the Gupta Empire. These architectures had influence of Ancient Persian and Hellenistic architecture. Far fewer secular Hindu architecture have survived into the modern era, such as palaces, homes and cities. Ruins and archaeological studies provide a v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parthasarathy Temple, Parthivapuram
Parthasarathy Temple, also spelled Parthasarathi Temple, is a 9th-century Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India. Spread over 2.5 acres, the temple is notable for the extensive records about it that have been discovered in Huzur Plates of Kollam. The inscriptions on these plates describe how the temple was built along with a ''Śālā, salai'' (boarding school) for 95 students to study the Vedas and other subjects in the Taittiriya, Talavakara and Bhavishya ''sakhas''.T.A. Gopinatha Rao (1910), Travacore Archaeological Series, Volume 1, pp. 1-14 The temple has a square plan from adhisthana to its sikhara for the main shrine as well as smaller shrines in the compound. The main temple illustrates a tritala vimana with a Garuda namaskara mandapa in front. Inside the main temple is a raised mukha-mandapa that connects to the ''garbhagriha'' (sanctum). Around the sanction is an open pradakshina-patha (circumambulation path), which is surrounded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parthivapuram
Parthasarathy Temple, also spelled Parthasarathi Temple, is a 9th-century Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India. Spread over 2.5 acres, the temple is notable for the extensive records about it that have been discovered in Huzur Plates of Kollam. The inscriptions on these plates describe how the temple was built along with a '' salai'' (boarding school) for 95 students to study the Vedas and other subjects in the Taittiriya, Talavakara and Bhavishya ''sakhas''.T.A. Gopinatha Rao (1910), Travacore Archaeological Series, Volume 1, pp. 1-14 The temple has a square plan from adhisthana to its sikhara for the main shrine as well as smaller shrines in the compound. The main temple illustrates a tritala vimana with a Garuda namaskara mandapa in front. Inside the main temple is a raised mukha-mandapa that connects to the ''garbhagriha'' (sanctum). Around the sanction is an open pradakshina-patha (circumambulation path), which is surrounded by walls ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canopy (biology)
In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns. In forest ecology, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms (epiphytes, lianas, arboreal animals, etc.). The communities that inhabit the canopy layer are thought to be involved in maintaining forest diversity, resilience, and functioning. Sometimes the term canopy is used to refer to the extent of the outer layer of leaves of an individual tree or group of trees. Shade trees normally have a dense canopy that blocks light from lower growing plants. Observation Early observations of canopies were made from the ground using binoculars or by examining fallen material. Researchers would sometimes erroneously rely on extrapolation by using more reachable samples taken from the understory. In some cases, they would use unconventional methods such as chairs sus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pavilions
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia, there may be pavilions that are either freestanding or connected by covered walkways, as in the Forbidden City (Chinese pavilions), Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, and in Mughal buildings like the Red Fort. * As part of a large palace, pavilions may be symmetrically placed building ''blocks'' that flank (appear to join) a main building block or the outer ends of wings extending from both sides of a central building block, the '' corps de logis''. Such configurations provide an emphatic visual termination to the composition of a large building, akin to bookends. The word is from French (Old French ) and it meant a small palace, from Latin (accusative of ). In Late Latin and Old French, it meant both ‘butterfly’ and ‘tent’, becaus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Kandalur Salai
The battle of Kandalur salai (c. 988 CE), also spelled Kanthaloor salai, was a naval engagement of the Cholas under Rajaraja I (985—1014 CE) against the "salai" at Kandalur in Trivandrum Kerala.Noburu Karashmia (ed.), ''A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations.'' New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 122-24. The exact location of Kandalur—somewhere south Kerala—is a subject of scholarly debate.Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumals of Kerala: Brahmin Oligarchy and Ritual Monarchy'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013 972 115 - 117.Narayanan, M. G. S. ''Perumāḷs of Kerala.'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 135. The above (988 CE) event is sometimes assumed to be identical with the "conquest of Vizhinjam by a general of Rajaraja , before the burning of Lanka, given in the Tiruvalangadu Grant/Plates. The phrase "Kandalur salai kalamarutta" is again used as a title with distinction of three other Chola kings also ( Rajendra, Rajadhiraja and Kulottunga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration population is around 1.68 million. Located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland, Thiruvananthapuram is a major information technology hub in Kerala and contributes 55% of the state's software exports as of 2016. Referred to by Mahatma Gandhi as the "Evergreen city of India", the city is characterised by its undulating terrain of low coastal hills. The present regions that constitute Thiruvananthapuram were ruled by the Ays who were feudatories of the Chera dynasty. In the 12th century, it was conquered by the Kingdom of Venad. In the 18th century, the king Marthanda Varma expanded the territory, founded the princely state of Travancore, and made Thiruvananthapuram its capital. Travancore became the most dominan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talagunda Pillar Inscription
The Tālagunda pillar inscription of Kakusthavarman is an epigraphic record in Sanskrit found in the ruined Pranavalingeshwara temple northwest of village Talagunda, Karnataka, India. It is engraved on hard grey granite and dated to between 455 and 470 CE. It gives an account of a Brahmin Kadamba dynasty and the times of king Śāntivarma in northwest Karnataka. Location The pillar is located in front of the ruined and partially restored Prāṇaveśvara Śiva temple – also called Pranavalingeshwara temple – in Talagunda village, Shikaripur taluk in Shimoga district, Karnataka, India. It is close to the Karnataka State Highway 1, about 90 kilometers west of Davanagere and 80 kilometers northwest of Shivamogga city. Publication The inscription was discovered in 1894 by B. L. Rice, then Director of Archaeological Researches in Mysore and a celebrated pioneer of historical studies in Karṇāṭaka. He gave a photograph to the colonial era Indologist Buhler, who published ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandapa Of Adi Shankara Temple, Kanyakumari Tamil Nadu
A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture. Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, one or more mandapas very often lie between the sanctuary and the temple entrance, on the same axis. In a large temple other mandapas may be placed to the sides, or detached within the temple compound. Temple architecture In the Hindu temple the ''mandapa'' is a porch-like structure through the (''gopuram'') (ornate gateway) and leading to the temple. It is used for religious dancing and music and is part of the basic temple compound. The prayer hall was generally built in front of the temple's ''sanctum sanctorum'' (''garbhagriha''). A large temple would have many ''mandapa''. If a temple has more than one ''mandapa'', each one is allocated for a different function and given a name to reflect its use. For example, a ''mandapa' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atharva Veda
The Atharva Veda (, ' from ' and ''veda'', meaning "knowledge") is the "knowledge storehouse of ''atharvāṇas'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, , page 38 The text is the fourth Veda, and is a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism.Laurie Patton (1994), Authority, Anxiety, and Canon: ys in Vedic Interpretation, State University of New York Press, , page 57 The language of the Atharvaveda is different from Vedic Sanskrit, preserving pre-Vedic Indo-European archaisms. It is a collection of 730 hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books.Maurice BloomfieldThe Atharvaveda Harvard University Press, pages 1-2 About a sixth of the Atharvaveda texts adapts verses from the Rigveda, and except for Books 15 and 16, the text is mainly in verse deploying a diversity of Vedic meters. Two different recensions of the text – the and the – have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645 CE, his efforts to bring over 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts.Li Rongxi (1996), ''The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions'', Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, , pp. xiii-xiv Xuanzang was born on 6 April 602 in Chenliu, what is now Kaifeng municipality in Henan province. As a boy, he took to reading religious books, and studying the ideas therein with his father. Like his elder brother, he became a student of Buddhist studies at Jingtu monastery. Xuanzang was ordained as a ''śrāmaṇera'' (novice monk) at the age of thirteen. Due to the political and social unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
