|
Agnicayana Ritual
The Agnicayana ('; ) or Athirathram () is a category of advanced Śrauta rituals. After one has established the routine of the twice-daily routine of Agnihotra offerings and biweekly ''darśa-purna-masa'' offerings (Full and New Moon rites), one is eligible to perform the Agnistoma, the simplest soma rite. After the agnistoma, one is eligible to perform more extensive soma rites and Agnicayana rites. There are various varieties of Agnicayana. Agnicayana continues to be performed in Kerala. Overview The entire ritual takes twelve days to perform, in the course of which a great bird-shaped altar, the ''uttaravedi'' "northern altar" is built out of 1005 bricks. The liturgical text is in Chapters 20 through 25 of the ''Krishna Yajurveda''. The immediate purpose of the Agnicayana is to build up for the sacrificer an immortal body that is permanently beyond the reach of the transitory nature of life, suffering and death that, according to this rite, characterizes man's mortal ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaushambi District
Kaushambi district is a district in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Manjhanpur is the district headquarters. The district was carved from Prayagraj district on 4 April 1997. Manauri Bajar connects Prayagraj and Kaushambi districts by railway over a bridge on SH-95. Manjhanpur is south-west of Prayagraj on the north bank of the Yamuna river, about from the city. It is surrounded by Chitrakoot district on the south, Pratapgarh district on the north, Prayagraj district on the east and Fatehpur district on the west. Kaushambi is part of Prayagraj division. The nearest railway station, in Bharwari, connects with Delhi, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Gaya and Kanpur.kaushambi district have two river like yamuna ganga. Mythology and history Kaushambi was the capital of the ancient Indian Vatsa Mahajanapada, one of 16 such kingdoms. According to the Puranas, Vatsa was named after a Kāśī king. The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'' attribute the founding of its capital' Kauśāmb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culture Of Kerala
The culture of Kerala has developed over the past millennia, with influences from other parts of India and abroad.. It is defined by its antiquity and the organic continuity sustained by the Malayali people.. Modern Kerala society took shape owing to migrations from different parts of India and abroad throughout Classical Antiquity. Kerala traces its non-prehistoric cultural genesis to its membership (around the AD 3rd century) in a vaguely defined historical region known as ''Thamizhagom'' – a land defined by a common Tamil culture and encompassing the Chera, Chola, and Pandya kingdoms. At that time, the music, dance, language (first ''Dravida Bhasha'' – "Dravidian language (possibly Proto-Tamil)". – then Tamil), and '' Sangam'' (a vast corpus of Tamil literature composed between 1,500–2,000 years ago) found in Kerala were all similar to that found in the rest of ''Thamizhagom'' (today's Tamil Nadu). The culture of Kerala evolved through the Sanskritization of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vedic Priesthood
Priests of the Vedic religion are officiants of the ''yajna'' service. Yajna is an important part of Hinduism, especially the Vedas. Persons trained for the ritual and proficient in its practice were called ( ' regularly- sacrificing'). As members of a social class, they were generically known as 'sage' or 'seer'. Specialization of roles attended the elaboration and development of the ritual corpus over time. Eventually a full complement of sixteen 's became the custom for major ceremonies. The sixteen consisted of four chief priests and their assistants. Chief priests The older references uniformly indicate ' as the presiding priest, with perhaps only the ''adhvaryu'' as his assistant in the earliest times. The phrase "seven hotars" is found more than once in the Rigveda. Hymn 2.1.2 of Rigveda states it as follows, The above hymn enumerate the priests as the ', ', ', ''agnīdh'', ' (meaning the ''maitrāvaruna'') and ''adhvaryu''. Vedic ( Shrauta) yajnas are typicall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yajna
In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, [jɐd͡ʒɲə], ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedas, Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called Brahmanas, as well as Yajurveda. The tradition has evolved from offering oblations and libations into sacred fire to symbolic offerings in the presence of sacred fire (Agni). Yajna rituals-related texts have been called the ''Karma-kanda'' (ritual works) portion of the Vedic literature, in contrast to the ''Jnana-kanda'' (knowledge) portion found in the Vedic Upanishads. The proper completion of Yajna-like rituals was the focus of Mimansa school of Hindu philosophy. Yajna have continued to play a central role in a Hindu's rites of passage, such as weddings. Modern major Hindu temple ceremonies, Hindu community celebrations, or monastic initiations may also include Vedic Yajna rites, or alternatively be based on Āgama (Hinduism), A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahmanas
The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedas, Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rigveda, Rig, Samaveda, Sama, Yajurveda, Yajur, and Atharvaveda, Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within each Veda, which explain and instruct on the performance of Yajna, Vedic rituals (in which the related Samhitas are recited). In addition to explaining the symbolism and meaning of the Samhitas, Brahmana literature also expounds scientific knowledge of the Vedic period, Vedic Period, including observational astronomy and, particularly in relation to altar construction, geometry. Divergent in nature, some Brahmanas also contain mystical and philosophical material that constitutes Aranyakas and Upanishads. Each Veda has one or more of its own Brahmanas, and each Brahmana is generally associated with a particular Shakha or Vedic school. Less ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frits Staal
Johan Frederik "Frits" Staal (3 November 1930 – 19 February 2012) was the department founder and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and South/Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Staal specialized in the study of Vedic ritual and mantras, and the scientific exploration of ritual and mysticism. He was also a scholar of Greek and Indian logic and philosophy and Sanskrit grammar. Biography Staal was born in Amsterdam, the son of the architect Jan Frederik Staal. In 1954, Staal earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Amsterdam focused in mathematics, physics, and philosophy. In 1957, he earned his doctorate from the University of Madras focused on Indian philosophy and Sanskrit. After earning his doctorate, he served as a lecturer in Sanskrit at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London from 1958 to 1962. From 1961 to 1962, he searched as an Assistant and Associate Professor of Indian Philosophy at the University o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nambudiri
The Nambudiri (), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Namboothiri, Namboodri, Namboori, and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of the traditional feudal elite. Headed by the Azhvanchery Thamprakkal , Azhvanchery Thamprakkal Samrāṭ, the Nambudiris were the highest ranking caste in Kerala. They owned a large portion of the land in the region of Malabar District, and together with the Nair monarchs of Kerala, the Nambudiris formed the landed aristocracy known as the Jenmimar, until the Land reform in Kerala, Kerala Land Reforms starting in 1957. The Nambudiris have traditionally lived in Tharavad, ancestral homes known as Illams and have been described by anthropologist Joan Mencher as, "A wealthy, aristocratic landed caste of the highest ritual and secular rank." Venerated as the carriers of the Sanskrit language and ancient Vedas, Vedic culture, the Nambudiris held m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chola Empire
The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence in southeast Asia. The power and the prestige the Cholas had among political powers in South, Southeast, and East Asia at its peak is evident in their expeditions to the Ganges, naval raids on cities of the Srivijaya Empire on the island of Sumatra, and their repeated embassies to China. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, ''A History of South India'', p. 158 The Chola fleet represented the peak of ancient Indian maritime capacity. Around 1070, the Cholas began to lose almost all of their overseas territories but the later Cholas (1070–1279) continued to rule portions of southern India. The Chola empire went into decline at the beginning of the 13th century with the rise of the Pandyan dynasty, which ultimately caused the Chola's downfall. K. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian subcontinent. This period has been considered as the Golden Age of India by some historians, although this characterisation has been disputed by others. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Gupta (king), Gupta. The high points of this period are the great cultural developments which took place primarily during the reigns of Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Kumaragupta I. Many Hinduism, Hindu Hindu epics, epics and Hindu literature, literary sources, such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana, were canonised during this period. The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira and Vatsyayana, who made significant advancements in many academic fields. History of science and technology in the Indian subcontin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vedic Period
The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the end of the urban Indus Valley Civilisation and a second urbanisation, which began in the central Indo-Gangetic Plain BCE. The Vedas are liturgical texts which formed the basis of the influential Brahmanical ideology, which developed in the Kuru Kingdom, a tribal union of several Indo-Aryan tribes. The Vedas contain details of life during this period that have been interpreted to be historical and constitute the primary sources for understanding the period. These documents, alongside the corresponding archaeological record, allow for the evolution of the Indo-Aryan and Vedic culture to be traced and inferred. The Vedas were composed and orally transmitted with precision by speakers of an Old Indo-Aryan language who had migrated into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kosambi
Kosambi (Pali) or Kaushambi (Sanskrit) was an ancient city in India, characterized by its importance as a trading center along the Ganges Plain and its status as the capital of the Vatsa Kingdom, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas. It was located on the Yamuna River about southwest of its confluence with the Ganges at Prayaga (modern Prayagraj), which made it a powerful center for trade and beneficial for the Vatsa Kingdom. History During the 2nd millennium BCE Ochre Coloured Pottery culture spread in the region. Kosambi was one of the greatest cities in India from the late Vedic period until the end of the Maurya Empire with occupation continuing until the Gupta Empire. As a small town, it was established in the late Vedic period, by the rulers of thu Kuru Kingdom as their new capital. The initial Kuru capital, Hastinapur, was destroyed by floods, and the Kuru King transferred his entire capital with the subjects to a new capital that he built near the Ganga-Jamuna conflue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
