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Kush Amavasya
Kusha Amavasya is a special Amavasya in the month of '' Bhadrapada'' in Hindu tradition. It is also known as ''Kushotpatini'' or ''Kushagrahani'' ''Amavasya'' or ''Pithori Amavasya''. In the Mithila region, it is called ''Kushi Amavasya''. On this day, the sacred grass Kush in Hinduism is uprooted and collected by adherents for religious functions, rituals, Karmakanda and Shraddha etc. performed throughout the year. Description On the auspicious day of Kushi Amavasya the adherents after taking sacred bath go for uprooting Kushas in farm fields. Then charity, chanting of mantras, penance and fasting etc. throughout the day are performed. While plucking Kusha, some attentions are given that its leaves are not broken, Kush should not be broken with any weapon or iron and it should be broken with the right hand while facing towards the east or north direction. Kush is an ordinary long and thin grass considered as sacred grass in the Vedic tradition. Kush is very important for r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kusha Grass
Kusha () also known as Darbha () and Pavitram (), are the Sanskrit terms for ''Desmostachya bipinnata'' grass. This grass is of literary and ritual significance in Hinduism. In the performance of Vedic rituals such as the homa and tarpana, the kusha grass is shaped like a ring and is worn by a priest on the ring finger of his right hand. The auspicious day for uprooting the sacred grass Kusha is the amavasya day of Bhadrapada month in Hinduism called as Kusha Amavasya. Literature The Rigveda prescribes the sprinkling on the soma juice upon kusha grass in the performance of a rite. Chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita contains the prescription to use kusha grass along with deerskin and cloth in the ideal seat of mediation. The Garuda Purana states that the kusha grass is born of the hair of Vishnu, and that it offers residence to the essence of all three of the Trimurti. It is among the many substances that is declared to be impossible to become impure despite frequent usage. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified by adherence to the concept of ''dharma'', a Ṛta, cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righteous living, as expounded in the Vedas. The word ''Hindu'' is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, it has also been described by the modern term ''Sanātana Dharma'' () emphasizing its eternal nature. ''Vaidika Dharma'' () and ''Arya dharma'' are historical endonyms for Hinduism. Hinduism entails diverse systems of thought, marked by a range of shared Glossary of Hinduism terms, concepts that discuss God in Hinduism, theology, Hindu mythology, mythology, among other topics in Hindu texts, textual sources. Hindu texts have been classified into Śruti () and Smṛti (). The major Hin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amavasya
Amāvásyā () is the lunar phase of the new moon in Sanskrit. Indian calendars use 30 lunar phases, called tithi in India. The dark moon tithi is when the Moon is within 12 degrees of the angular distance between the Sun and Moon before conjunction ( syzygy). The New Moon tithi (called Pratipada or Prathama) is the 12 angular degrees after syzygy. Amāvásyā is often translated as new moon since there is no standard term for the Moon before conjunction in English. Meaning of Amāvásyā In Sanskrit, "amā" means "together" and "vásya" means "to dwell" or "cohabit". It also means "na" +"ma"+"asya" meaning to "na" = "No, "ma"=Moon, "Asya"="There" in turn meaning to There is no Moon i.e., Moon is not visible. In the ''pūrṇimānta māna'' Hindu lunar calendar used in most parts of the Indian subcontinent, the lunar month starts on the day following the full moon or '' purnima'' and therefore Amāvásyā always falls in the middle of the month. However, in the '' am� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhadra (Hindu Calendar)
Bhadra or Bhadrapada or Bhādo or Bhadraba ( Bengali: ভাদ্র ''bhādro''; Hindi: भादों ''bhādo''; Sanskrit: भाद्रपद ''bhādrapada''; ''Bhādra''; ''Bhādravo''; ''Bhadraba''; ''Bhadô'') is the sixth month of the Hindu calendar, which falls in August and September of the Gregorian calendar.Henderson, Helene. (Ed.) (2005) ''Holidays, festivals, and celebrations of the world dictionary'' Third edition. Electronic edition. Detroit: Omnigraphics, p. xxix. In India's national civil calendar (Shaka calendar), Bhadra is the sixth month of the year, beginning on middle of August and ending on middle of September (date varies). In Hindu astrology, Bhadra begins with the Sun's entry into Leo and is the sixth month of the year. In lunar religious calendars, Bhadra begins on the new moon or full moon in August or September and is the sixth month of the year. The festival of Ganesha Chaturthi, which celebrates the birthday of Ganesha, is observed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindus
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent. It is assumed that the term ''"Hindu"'' traces back to Avestan scripture Vendidad which refers to land of seven rivers as Hapta Hendu which itself is a cognate to Sanskrit term ''Sapta Sindhuḥ''. (The term ''Sapta Sindhuḥ'' is mentioned in Rig Veda and refers to a North western Indian region of seven rivers and to India as a whole.) The Greek cognates of the same terms are "''Indus''" (for the river) and "''India''" (for the land of the river). Likewise the Hebrew cognate ''hōd-dū'' refers to India mentioned in Hebrew BibleEsther 1:1. The term "''Hindu''" also implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mithila (region)
Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal, is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothills of the Himalayas in the north. It comprises certain parts of Bihar and Jharkhand states of India and adjoining districts of the Koshi Province, Bagmati Pradesh and Madhesh Province of Nepal. The native language in Mithila is Maithili language, Maithili, and its speakers are referred to as Maithils. Mithila is commonly used to refer to the Videha Kingdom, as well as to the modern-day territories that fall within the ancient boundaries of Videha. Until the 20th century, Mithila was still ruled in part by the Raj Darbhanga. History In Jainism Mithilā is one of the most significant pilgrimage sites in Jainism. Apart from its association with ''Mahavira'', the 24th Tirthankara, it is also known for its association with ''Mallinatha'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karma Kāṇḍa
Karma Kāṇḍa (Sanskrit: कर्मकाण्ड) refers to the section of the Vedas that lists the performance of rituals and sacrificial rites for material benefits or to acquire values that will lead to liberation, which are performed by anyone without exchange for a Dakshina. See also * Dharma * Karma * Maya * Bhagavad Gita * Hinduism * Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ... References Rituals in Hindu worship {{Hindu-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mantra
A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers. Feuerstein, Georg (2003), ''The Deeper Dimension of Yoga''. Shambala Publications, Boston, MA Some mantras have a syntactic structure and a literal meaning, while others do not. ꣽ, ॐ (Aum, Om) serves as an important mantra in various Indian religions. Specifically, it is an example of a seed syllable mantra ( bijamantra). It is believed to be the first sound in Hinduism and as the sonic essence of the absolute divine reality. Longer mantras are phrases with several syllables, names and words. These phrases may have spiritual interpretations such as a name of a deity, a longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action. Examples of lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitru Paksha
Pitri Paksha (, ), also spelt Pitru Paksha, is a 16-lunar day paksha, period in the Hindu calendar when Hindus Veneration of the dead, pay homage to their ancestors (Pitri), especially through food offerings. The period is also known as Pitarpas, Pitri Paksha/Pitr-Paksha, Pitri Pokkho, Sorah Shraddha ("sixteen shraddhas"), Kanagat, Jitiya, Mahalaya, Apara Paksha and akhadpak. Pitri Paksha is considered by Hindus to be inauspicious, given the death rite performed during the ceremony, known as Śrāddha, Shraddha or Tarpana. In southern and western India, it falls in the second paksha (fortnight) Hindu Calendar, Hindu lunar month of Bhadrapada (September) and follows the fortnight immediately after Ganesh Utsav. It begins on the Pratipada (first day of the fortnight) ending with the Amavasya, no moon day known as Sarvapitri Amavasya, Pitri Amavasya, Peddala Amavasya or Mahalaya Amavasya (simply Mahalaya) Most years, the Equinox, autumnal equinox falls within this period, i.e. the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atharvaveda
The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', 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: Essays in Vedic Interpretation,'' State University of New York Press, , page 57 The language of the Atharvaveda is different from Rigvedic Sanskrit, preserving pre-Vedic Indo-European archaisms. It is a collection of 730 Music of India#History, hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books.Maurice Bloomfield''The Atharvaveda'' Harvard University Press, pages 1-2 About a sixth of the Atharvaveda texts adapt verses from the Rigveda, and exce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agastya
Agastya was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent. He is regarded in some traditions to be a Chiranjivi. He and his wife Lopamudra are the celebrated authors of hymns 1.165 to 1.191 in the Sanskrit text ''Rigveda'' and other Vedic literature. Agastya is considered to be the father of Siddha medicine. Agastya appears in numerous itihasas and Puranas including the major ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata''. He is one of the seven most revered rishis (the Saptarishi) in the Vedic texts, and is revered as one of the Tamil Siddhar in the Shaivism tradition, who invented an early grammar of the Old Tamil language, Agattiyam, playing a pioneering role in the development of Tampraparniyan medicine and spirituality at Saiva centres in proto-era Sri Lanka and South India. He is also revered in the Puranic literature of Shaktism and Vaishnavism. He is one of the Ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Festivals
Hindus celebrate a significant number of festivals and celebrations, many of which commemorate events from ancient India and often align with seasonal changes. These festivities take place either on a fixed annual date on the solar calendar or on a specific day of the lunisolar calendar. The observance of these festivals often varies by region, with many celebrated predominantly by particular sects or in specific areas of the Indian subcontinent. Terminology Dolu Utsava ''Utsava'' is the Sanskrit word for festivals. The Sanskrit word ''Utsava'' comes from the word ''ut'' meaning "starts" and ''sava,'' which means "change" or "decline". ''Dolu'' means "seasonal colouring". Both the solar and the lunisolar calendars operate based on Dolu Utsava. Observance periods (''tithi'') Hindu calendar dates are usually in accordance with a lunisolar calendar. In Vedic timekeeping, a ''māsa'' is a lunar month, a ''pakṣa'' is a lunar fortnight (two weeks), and a '' tithi'' is a lu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
