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Kuldhara
Kuldhara is an abandoned village in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, India. Established around the 13th century, it was once a prosperous village inhabited by Paliwal Brahmins. It was abandoned by the early 19th century for unknown reasons, possibly because of dwindling water supply, an earthquake, or as a local legend claims, because of the atrocities by the Jaisalmer State's minister Salim Singh. Over years, Kuldhara acquired reputation as a haunted site, and the Government of Rajasthan decided to develop it as a tourist spot in the 2010s. Geography The former village site is located about 18 km south-west of the Jaisalmer city. The village was located on an 861 m x 261 m rectangular site aligned in the north-south direction. The township was centred around a temple of the mother goddess. It had three longitudinal roads, which were cut through by a number of latitudinal narrow lanes. The remains of a city wall can be seen on the north and the south sides of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaisalmer
Jaisalmer , nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the ancient Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a royal palace and several ornate Jain temples. Many of the houses and temples of both the fort and of the town below are built of finely sculptured sandstone. The town lies in the heart of the Thar Desert (the Great Indian Desert) and has a population, including the residents of the fort, of about 78,000. It is the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer District. Jaisalmer was once the capital of Jaisalmer State. Origin of name Jaisalmer was founded by Rawal Jaisal in 1156 AD. ''Jaisalmer'' means ''the Hill Fort of Jaisal''. Jaisalmer is sometimes called the "Golden City of India" because the yellow sandstone used throughout the architecture of both the fort and the town below, imbues both with a certain golden-yellow light. Geography ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern side, where it comprises most of the wide and inhospitable Thar Desert (also known as the Great Indian Desert) and shares a border with the Pakistani provinces of Punjab to the northwest and Sindh to the west, along the Sutlej- Indus River valley. It is bordered by five other Indian states: Punjab to the north; Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the northeast; Madhya Pradesh to the southeast; and Gujarat to the southwest. Its geographical location is 23.3 to 30.12 North latitude and 69.30 to 78.17 East longitude, with the Tropic of Cancer passing through its southernmost tip. Its major features include the ruins of the Indus Valley civilisation at Kalibangan and Balathal, the Dilwara Temples, a Jain pilgrimage site at Rajasthan's only hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gotra
In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotra forms an exogamous unit, with marriage within the same gotra being regarded as incest and prohibited by custom. The name of the gotra can be used as a surname, but it is different from a surname and is strictly maintained because of its importance in marriages among Hindus, especially among castes. Pāṇini defines ''gotra'' as ''apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram'' (IV. 1. 162), which means "the word ''gotra'' denotes the descendance (or descendants), ''apatya'', of a couple consisting of a ''pautra'', a son and a ''bharti'', a mother, i.e. a daughter-in-law." (Based on Monier Williams Dictionary definitions.) When a person says "I am Vipparla-gotra", he means that he traces his descent to the ancient sage Vipparla by an unbroken male descen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jowar
''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a grass species cultivated for its grain, which is used for food for humans, animal feed, and ethanol production. Sorghum originated in Africa, and is now cultivated widely in tropical and subtropical regions. Sorghum is the world's fifth-most important cereal crop after rice, wheat, maize, and barley, with 59.34 million metric tons of annual global production in 2018. ''S. bicolor'' is typically an annual, but some cultivars are perennial. It grows in clumps that may reach over 4 m high. The grain is small, ranging from 2 to 4 mm in diameter. Sweet sorghums are sorghum cultivars that are primarily grown for forage, syrup production, and ethanol; they are taller than those grown for grain. ''Sorghum bicolor'' is the cultivated species of sorghum; its wild relatives make up the botanical genus ''Sorghum''. History The first archaeological ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lehenga
The ''lehenga'', ''lehnga'' or ''langa'' (also known as a ''ghagra'' or ''gagra'', ''chaniya'', ''pavadai'', or ''lacha'') is a form of ankle-length skirt from the Indian subcontinent. Different patterns and styles of traditional embroidery are used to decorate the ''aiushi mazumder''. '' Gota patti'' embroidery is often used for festivals and weddings. The ''lehenga'' is sometimes worn as the lower portion of a '' gagra choli'' or '' langa voni''. ''Ghagra'' in Hindi (also ''Ghagro'' in Konknni), was also used to refer to the half slip or petticoat, a skirt worn as an undergarment below the sari. Variations Ghagri The ''ghagri'' is a six-foot-long narrow skirt, the same length as the original ''antariya''. This style of ''lehenga'' is still used today, and is worn by Jain nuns in India. A-line The A-line ''lehenga'' has an A-line skirt and hem and is named for its shape, which resembles the capital letter "A." The skirt is tighter at the waist and flares out at the bottom. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khanjar
A ''khanjar'' ( ar, خنجر, ku, Xencer, bn, খঞ্জর, khôñjôr tr, Hançer, fa, خنجر, ur, خنجر, sh, Handžar) is a traditional dagger originating from Oman, although it has since spread to the rest of the Middle East, South Asia, and the Balkans. Worn by men for ceremonial occasions, it is a short curved sword shaped like the letter "J" and resembles a hook. It can be made from a variety of different materials, depending on the quality of its craftsmanship. It is a popular souvenir among tourists and is sold in souqs throughout the region. A national symbol of the sultanate, the ''khanjar'' is featured on Oman's national emblem and on the Omani rial. It also features in logos and commercial imagery by companies based in Oman. History Although it is not known when the Omani ''khanjar'' was first created, rock carvings epitomizing the dagger were found on gravestones located in the central part of the Ru’us al Jibal region. These are believed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cummerbund
A cummerbund is a broad waist sash, usually pleated, which is often worn with single-breasted dinner jackets (or ''tuxedos''). The cummerbund was adopted by British military officers in colonial India, where they saw it worn by sepoys (Indian soldiers) of the British Indian Army. It was adopted as an alternative to the waistcoat, and later spread to civilian use. The modern use of the cummerbund to Europeans and North Americans is as a component of traditional black tie events. Etymology The word ''cummerbund'' is the Anglicized form of Hindustani ''kamarband'' (Hindustani: कमरबंद; ), which is in turn from Persian (). It entered English vocabulary in 1616 from India. It is a combination of the words ''kamar'' meaning 'waist' and ''band'' meaning 'strap' or 'lacing'. The 'waist-band' was a sash accessory worn by Indian men for many occasions. The word ''cummerband'' (see below), and less commonly the German spelling (a Germanized spelling variation of the English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jama (coat)
The term jama ( Hindustani: जामा, جام ; Bengali: জামা; Odia: ଜାମା ) refers to a long coat which was popular in South Asia during the Mughal period. Styles ]Some styles of the jama were tight around the torso but flared out like a skirt to below the knees or the ankles. * The chakman jama, ended at around the knees. The sleeves tended to be full. The jama was fastened to either side with strings with some styles also opening at the front. What was originally male dress was also adopted by women who wore the jama with a scarf and tight fitting pajamas. The ties of the upper half of the jama are taken under the armpit and across the chest. * ''Chakdar jama'' Jama with chaks (slits) was a particular style of jama. It was the pointed jama which was like the standard Mughal jama but the skirt fell in four to six points instead of the circular hem of the Mughal jama. This jama may be derived from the Rajput court's takauchiah and therefore could be of local ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the dynasty and the empire itself became indisputably Indian. The interests and futures of all concerned were in India, not in ancestral homelands in the Middle East or Central Asia. Furthermore, the Mughal empire emerged from the Indian historical experience. It was the end product of a millennium of Muslim conquest, colonization, and state-building in the Indian subcontinent." For some two hundred years, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus river basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the uplands of the Deccan Plateau in South India. Quote: "The realm so defined and governed was a vast territory of some , ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nandi (bull)
Nandi ( sa, नन्दि), also known as Nandikeshwara or Nandideva, is the bull vahana of the Hindu god Shiva. He is also the guardian deity of Kailash, the abode of Shiva. Almost all Shiva temples display stone-images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine. According to Saivite siddhantic tradition, he is considered as the chief guru of eight disciples of Nandinatha Sampradaya, namely, Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Tirumular, Vyagrapada, Patanjali, and Sivayoga Muni, who were sent in eight different directions, to spread the wisdom. The Cham Hindus of Vietnam believes that when they die, the Nandi will come and take their soul to the holy land of India from Vietnam. The Sanskrit word nandi ( sa, नन्दि) has the meaning of happy, joy, and satisfaction, the properties of divine guardian of Shiva- Nandi. It is recently documented, that the application of the name Nandi to the bull (Sanskrit: ''Vṛṣabha''), is in fact a developm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ganesha
Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu denominations worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains and Buddhists and includes Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia ( Java and Bali), Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and Bangladesh and in countries with large ethnic Indian populations including Fiji, Guyana, Mauritius, and Trinidad and Tobago. Although Ganesha has many attributes, he is readily identified by his elephant head. He is widely revered, more specifically, as the remover of obstacles and thought to bring good luck; the patron of arts and sciences; and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rites and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as a patron of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahishasuramardini
Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, prosperity, and dharma, representing the power of good over evil. Durga is believed to unleash her divine wrath against the wicked for the liberation of the oppressed, and entails destruction to empower creation. Durga is seen as a motherly figure and often depicted as a beautiful woman, riding a lion or tiger, with many arms each carrying a weapon and often defeating demons. She is widely worshipped by the followers of the goddess-centric sect, Shaktism, and has importance in other denominations like Shaivism and Vaishnavism. The most important texts of Shaktism, Devi Mahatmya, and Devi Bhagavata Purana, revere Devi (the Goddess) as the primordial creator of the universe and the Brahman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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