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Vadathika Cave Inscription
__NOTOC__ The Vadathika Cave Inscription, also called the Nagarjuni Hill Cave Inscription of Anantavarman, is a 5th- or 6th-century CE Sanskrit inscriptions in Gupta script found in the Nagarjuni hill cave of the Barabar Caves group in Gaya district Bihar. The inscription is notable for including symbol for Om in Gupta era. It marks the dedication of the cave to a statue of Bhutapati (Shiva) and Devi (Parvati). The statue was likely of Ardhanarishvara that was missing when the caves came to the attention of archaeologists in the 18th-century. History The Vadathika Cave, also called ''Vadathi ka Kubha'' is one of three caves found in the Nagarjuni Hill cluster near the Barabar Caves in Bihar. The other two are Vapiyaka Cave and Gopika Cave, also called ''Vapiya ka Kubha'' and ''Gopi ka Kubha'' respectively. These are near the Lomas Rishi Cave, the earliest known cave excavated in 3rd century BCE and gifted by Ashoka to the Ajivikas monks. The Nagarjuni Caves were excavated in 214 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barabar Caves
The Barabar Hill Caves are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, dating from the Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), some with Ashokan inscriptions, located in the Makhdumpur region of Jehanabad district, Bihar, India, north of Gaya. These caves are situated in the twin hills of Barabar (four caves) and Nagarjuni (three caves); caves of the -distant Nagarjuni Hill are sometimes singled out as the Nagarjuni Caves. These rock-cut chambers bear dedicatory inscriptions in the name of "King Piyadasi" for the Barabar group, and "Devanampiya Dasaratha" for the Nagarjuni group, thought to date back to the 3rd century BCE during the Maurya period, and to correspond respectively to Ashoka (reigned 273–232 BCE) and his grandson, Dasharatha Maurya. The sculptured surround to the entrance to the Lomas Rishi Cave is the earliest survival of the ogee shaped " chaitya arch" or chandrashala that was to be an important feature of Indian rock-cut architecture and sculptural decoration f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Vasu Doorjamb Inscription
__NOTOC__ The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is an early 1st-century CE Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script dedicated to the deity Vāsudeva, related to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. It is also one of the several dedicatory inscriptions from Mathura bearing the name of the Indo-Scythian Northern Satrap ruler Sodasa, which are useful as historic markers for the first half of the 1st century CE. The inscription was found on a red sandstone temple doorjamb dumped in an old well in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The doorjamb is about long, wide and thick. It is intricately carved on one side while the other side is flat. On the flat side, British India era archaeologists discovered that there is a 12-line inscription, which has been named the ''Vasu Doorjamb Inscription''. The artifact is now at the Mathura Museum and a much studied item. It mentions a 1st-century Vishnu temple, a ''torana'' (temple gateway) and a ''vedika'' (railing). The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is another ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gopika Cave Inscription
__NOTOC__ The Gopika Cave Inscription, also called the Nagarjuni Hill Cave Inscription II of Anantavarman or formerly the Gya inscription (referring to the nearby city of Bodh Gaya, Gaya), is a 5th- or 6th-century CE Sanskrit inscription in Late Brahmi found in the Nagarjuni hill cave of the Barabar Caves group in Gaya district, Bihar, India. The inscription is from the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism. It is notable for its dedicatory verse to Durga and for including the symbol for Om in the Gupta era. The inscription states that king Anantavarman is dedicating a statue of the goddess Katyayani (Durga-Mahishasuramardini) to the cave. The statue was missing when the caves came to the attention of archaeologists in the late 18th century. History The Gopika Cave, also called ''Gopi ka Kubha'' is one of three caves found in the Nagarjuni Hill cluster near the Barabar Caves in Bihar. The other two are Vapiyaka Cave and Vadathika Cave, also called ''Vapiya ka Kubha'' and ''Vadathi ka Kub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakulisa Mathura Pillar Inscription
The Lakulisa Mathura Pillar Inscription is a 4th-century CE Sanskrit inscription in early Gupta script related to the Shaivism tradition of Hinduism. Discovered near a Mathura well in north India, the damaged inscription is one of the earliest evidences of ''murti'' (statue) consecration in a temple made to celebrate gurus (preceptors, ''gurvayatane''). It is, according to the Indologist Michael Willis, crucial to understanding the "history of Pashupata Shaivism" and a floruit for the antiquity of its practices. The Lakulisha Mathura inscription is one of the earliest epigraphical evidence of a developed Shaiva initiation tradition. Description The inscription was found in 1928 on the central section of a pillar attached to a well in Chandul Mandul Bagichi, Mathura, not far from a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. After its discovery, an antique dealer removed it and put it in his house. The locals complained and the pillar was seized by the police, from where it arrived in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devi
''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' 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 around the 2nd millennium BCE. However, they did not play a vital role in that era. Goddesses such as Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, Parvati, Radha, Saraswati and Sita have continued to be revered in the modern era. The medieval era Puranas witness a major expansion in mythology and literature associated with Devi, with texts such as the ''Devi Mahatmya'', wherein she manifests as the ultimate truth and supreme power. She has inspired the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism. Further, Devi is viewed as central in the Hindu traditions of Shaktism and Shaivism. Etymology ''Devi'' and ''deva'' are Sanskrit terms found in Vedic literature around the 3rd millennium BCE. ''Deva'' is masculi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matras
Matras is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Agnieszka Matras-Clement (born 1982), Polish and Canadian chess player * Christian Matras (poet) (1900–1988), Faroese poet * Christian Matras (cinematographer) (1903–1977), French cinematographer * Fabien Matras (born 1984), French politician * Klæmint Matras (born 1981), Faroese footballer * Maria Wankijf (née Matras, died after 1705), Swedish printer and publisher * Mateusz Matras (born 1991), Polish footballer * Yaron Matras (born 1963), linguist See also * Matra (other) *, a village in Ēdole Parish, Latvia * Teitur Matras Gestsson (born 1992), Faroese footballer * Matrass, a glass vessel {{surname, Matras ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaktism
Shaktism () is a major Hindu denomination in which the God in Hinduism, deity or metaphysics, metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically to be a woman. Shaktism involves a galaxy of goddesses, all regarded as different aspects, manifestations, or personifications of the divine feminine energy called ''Shakti''. It includes various modes of worship, ranging from those focused on the most worshipped Durga, to gracious Parvati, and the fierce Kali. After the decline of Buddhism in India, various Hindu and Buddhist goddesses were combined to form the Mahavidya, a Pantheon (religion), pantheon of ten goddesses. The most common forms of the Mahadevi worshipped in Shaktism include: Durga, Kali, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Parvati, and Tripura Sundari. Also worshipped are the various Gramadevatas across the Indian villages. Shaktism also encompasses various Tantra#Śaiva and Śākta tantra, tantric sub-traditions, including Vidyapitha and Kulamārga. Shaktism emphasizes that intense ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Murti
In the Hinduism, Hindu tradition, a ''murti'' (, ) is a devotional image, such as a statue or icon, of a Hindu deities, deity or Hindu saints, saint used during ''Puja (Hinduism), puja'' and/or in other customary forms of actively expressing devotion or reverence – whether at Hindu temples or shrines. A ''mūrti'' is a symbolic icon representing divinity for the purpose of devotional activities. Thus, not all icons of gods and saints are ''mūrti''; for example, purely decorative depictions of divine figures often adorn Hindu temple architecture in intricately carved doorframes, on colourfully painted walls, and ornately sculpted rooftop domes. A ''mūrti'' itself is not God, but it is merely a representative shape, symbolic embodiment, or iconic manifestation of God. ''Murti'' are also found in some nontheistic Jainism, Jain traditions, where they serve as symbols of revered mortals inside Jain temples, and are worshiped in ''murtipujaka'' rituals. A ''murti'' is typically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by area, 12th largest by area, and the List of Indian states and union territories by GDP, 14th largest by GDP in 2024. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Bengal to the east, and Jharkhand to the south. Bihar is split by the river Ganges, which flows from west to east. On 15 November 2000, a large chunk of southern Bihar was ceded to form the new state of Jharkhand. Around 11.27% of Bihar's population live in urban areas as per a 2020 report. Additionally, almost 58% of Bihari people, Biharis are below the age of 25, giving Bihar the highest proportion of young people of any Indian state. The official language is Hindi, which shares official status alongside that of Urdu. The main native languag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
