Sao Chingcha
The Giant Swing, also known as Sao Chingcha, (, ', ) is a 21 feet (21.15 meter) tall swing-shaped religious structure and a prominent landmark in Sao Chingcha Subdistrict of Phra Nakhon District in Bangkok in Thailand. Located in front of Wat Suthat, it was formerly used in an old Brahmin ceremony and is one of Bangkok's tourist attractions. It is also located in front of the Devasthan ("Thewasathan Bot Phram" in Thai meaning 'the abode of the gods', or Royal Brahmin Office of Thai Royal Court), is central to the Tripavai ceremony, a sacred Thai Brahman ritual rooted in the recitation of Tamil devotional Tiruppavai hymns. History The Giant Swing was constructed in 1784 in front of the Devasathan shrine by King Rama I. During the reign of Rama II, the swing ceremony was discontinued as the swing had become structurally damaged by lightning. In 1920, it was renovated and moved to its current location in order to make space for a gas plant. The ceremony was again performe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej (5 December 192713 October 2016), titled Rama IX, was King of Thailand from 1946 until Death and funeral of Bhumibol Adulyadej, his death in 2016. His reign of 70 years and 126 days is the longest of any List of Thai monarchs, Thai monarch, the longest on record of any independent Asian sovereign, and the List of longest-reigning monarchs, third-longest of any sovereign state. Born in the United States, Bhumibol spent his early life in Switzerland, in the aftermath of the 1932 Siamese revolution, which toppled Thailand's centuries-old absolute monarchy, ruled at the time by his uncle, King Prajadhipok (Rama VII). He ascended to the throne in June 1946, succeeding his brother, King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), who had died under mysterious circumstances. In the course of his rule, Bhumibol presided over Thailand's transformation into a major US ally and a regional economic power. Between 1985 and 1994, Thailand was the world's fastest-growing e ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Monarchy Of Thailand
The monarchy of Thailand is the constitutional monarchy, constitutional form of government of Thailand (formerly ''Siam''). The king of Thailand (, historically, ''king of Siam''; ) is the head of state and head of the ruling Chakri dynasty. Although the current Chakri dynasty was created in 1782, the existence of the institution of monarchy in Thailand is traditionally considered to have its roots in the founding of the Sukhothai Kingdom in 1238, with a brief interregnum from the death of Ekkathat to the accession of Taksin in the 18th century. The institution was transformed into a constitutional monarchy in 1932 after the bloodless socialist-leaning Siamese Revolution of 1932. The monarchy's official ceremonial residence is the Grand Palace in Bangkok, while the private residence has been at the Dusit Palace. The king of Thailand is head of state, Highest Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, Highest Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, adherent of Buddhism in Tha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or ''Vaishnava''s (), and it includes sub-sects like Krishnaism and Ramanandi Sampradaya, Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2020 estimate by The World Religion Database (WRD), hosted at Boston University’s Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA), Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 399 million Hindus. The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, and broadly hypothesized as a History of Hinduism, fusion of various regional non-Vedic religions with worship of Vishnu. It is considered a merger of several popular non-Vedic theistic traditio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Manikkavacakar
Manikkavacakar was a 3rd-century Tamil saint and poet who wrote '' Thiruvasagam and Thirukkovaiyar'', books of Shaiva hymns. Tamil scholars and researchers share that he was a minister to the Pandya king Nedunjeliyan II (3rd Century CE) and lived in Madurai (or) he was a minister to the Pandya king Arikesari (6th Century CE ). He is revered as one of the Nalvar (''"group of four"'' in Tamil), a set of four prominent Tamil saints alongside Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar. The other three contributed to the first seven volumes (Tevaram) of the twelve-volume Saivite work Tirumurai, the key devotional text of Shaiva Siddhanta. Manikkavacakar's ''Thiruvasagam'' and Thirukkovaiyar form the eighth volume. These eight volumes are considered to be the ''Tamil Vedas'' by the Shaivites, and the four saints are revered as ''Samaya Kuravar'' (''religious preceptors'') His works are celebrated for their poetic expression of the anguish of being separated from God, and the joy of God-experie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shaivism
Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in South India, Southern India), Sri Lanka, and Nepal.Keay, p.xxvii. The followers of Shaivism are called Shaivas or Shaivites. According to Chakravarti, Shaivism developed as an amalgam of pre-Aryan religions and traditions, Vedic Rudra, and post-Vedic traditions, accommodating local traditions and Yoga, puja and bhakti. According to Bisschop, early shaivism is rooted in the worship of vedic deity Rudra. The earliest evidence for sectarian Rudra-Shiva worship appears with the Pasupata (early CE), possibly owing to the Origins of Hinduism, Hindu synthesis, when many local traditions were aligned with the Brahmanism, Vedic-Brahmanical fold. The Pāśupata movement rapidly expanded through ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thiruvempavai
The ''Tiruvempavai'' () is a collection of songs composed by the poet-saint Manikkavacakar. It consists of 20 stanzas devoted to the Hinduism, Hindu deity Shiva. It forms part of the collection called the Thiruvasagam, ''Tiruvasagam'', and the 8th book of the ''Tirumurai'', a canonical text of the Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. The songs form part of the pavai ritual for unmarried young girls during the Tamil month of Tamil calendar, Margali. Triyampawai ceremony, ''Triyampawai'', one of the Royal Ceremonies of the Twelve Months, twelve month ceremonies in Hinduism in Thailand, royal Thai Hinduism, descended from the tradition of ''Tiruvempavai''. Pavai genre The pavai songs are part of an ancient tradition amongst unmarried young girls, where they would light lamps in the early mornings of Margali, and sing songs in praise of Shiva. The 20 stanzas are sung, one on every day and then followed by the 10 songs of the Thiruvasagam, Tirupalliyeluchi. It is believed that such rituals woul ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tamil Language
Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India" (p. 7). attested since 300 BC, 300 BCE.: "...the most acceptable periodisation which has so far been suggested for the development of Tamil writing seems to me to be that of A Chidambaranatha Chettiar (1907–1967): 1. Sangam Literature – 200BC to AD 200; 2. Post Sangam literature – AD 200 – AD 600; 3. Early Medieval literature – AD 600 to AD 1200; 4. Later Medieval literature – AD 1200 to AD 1800; 5. Pre-Modern literature – AD 1800 to 1900" at p. 610 Tamil was the lingua franca for early maritime traders in South India, with Tamil inscriptions found outside of the Indian subcontinent, such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Egypt. The language has a well-documented history wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Swinging Festival
''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the Most common words in English, most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a con ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation (sattva). Vishnu is known as ''The Preserver'' within the Trimurti, the triple deity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva.Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism' () (1996), p. 17. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme Lord who creates, protects, and transforms the Hindu cosmology, universe. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. According to Vaishnavism, the supreme being is with qualities (Saguna Brahman, Saguna), and has definite form, but is limitless, transcendent and unchanging absolute Brahman, and the primal Atma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sukhothai (city)
Sukhothai (, ) was the capital of the Sukhothai Kingdom (also known as the Kingdom of Siam). Sukhothai is 12 km west of the modern city of Sukhothai Thani. History Sukhothai is from Sanskrit ''sukha'' (सुख "happiness") + ''udaya'' (उदय "rise, emergence"), meaning "dawn of happiness". Founded in 1238, it is about 427 km north of Bangkok. Sukhothai was the capital of the Thai Empire for approximately 140 years. As of 2014, 193 temples have been excavated and partly reconstructed. The stele of Ram Khamhaeng states the city had a triple wall and four gates. At its center was a pond, a "marvelous pond of clear and delicious water like the water of the Mekong in the dry season." The Aranyika monastery was west of the city, a great lake to the east, a market to the north, and the Khao Luang hill to the south. Old Sukhothai is a small town with nearly no hotels. Most visitors stay in New Sukhothai. Sukhothai occupies an area of 6,596 km2. The historic tow ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |