A sabhā in

Ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by ...

was an assembly, congregation, or council. Personified as a deity, Sabhā is a daughter of

Prajapati Prajapati ( sa, प्रजापति, Prajāpati, lord and protector of creation) is a Vedic deity of Hinduism. In later literature, Prajapati is identified with the creator god Brahma, but the term also connotes many different gods, depe ...

in the Atharvaveda. The term has also given rise to modern terms of

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

, such as

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...

(Lower House) and

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, wikisource:Constitution of India/Part V#Article 80, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legisl ...

(Upper House), and the Indian states' Legislative Assembly,

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha, or also Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in the states and union territories of India. In the 28 states and 3 union territories with a unicameral state legislature, it is the sole legislativ ...

. In Epic Sanskrit, the term refers also to an assembly hall or council-chamber, and to a hostel, eating-house, or gambling-house. The ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

'', Book 2, has a ''Sabha Parva'' or Sabha episode, which describes the sabha under King

Yudhishthira ''Yudhishthira'' (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his first ...

.Mahabharata, Book 2, ''Sabha Parva''
''

'' sacred-texts.com.

Monier-Williams Sir Monier Monier-Williams (; né Williams; 12 November 1819 – 11 April 1899) was a British scholar who was the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, England. He studied, documented and taught Asian languages, especially ...

compares the word to Old English ''sibb'' "clan" (Old High German ''sippa''), in Modern English surviving in the term ''

gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important mean ...

'' (from ''god-sib''). A Sabha in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, popularly refers to a body or organization involved in the promotion of fine arts such as Saastriya Sangeetham,

Bharathanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

, Drama among numerous other arts. These Sabhas are concentrated at a place called as ylaporein Chennai and are instrumental in ensuring the connoisseurs (known as Rasikaas) from all parts of the world treated with variety during the Music and

Dance Season of Maargazhi Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

(December / January mostly). Sabha ( ne, सभा) in nepali meaning assembly, meeting or gathering of people. For example: *

Pratinidhi Sabha The Pratinidhi (the Viceroy) was an important member of the ministry in the Maratha Empire. The title of ''Pratinidhi'' means ''the representative of the King,'' and such officials were entitled to sign and seal papers and to issue orders in the ab ...

= House of Representatives (lower house) of National Parliament of Nepal *

Rastriya Sabha The National Assembly or Rastriya Sabha ( ne, राष्ट्रिय सभा; ) is the upper house of the Federal Parliament of Nepal, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Assembly are es ...

= National Assembly (upper house) of National Assembly of Nepal *

Pradesh Sabha The Provincial Assembly ( ne, प्रदेश सभा; ''Pradesh Sabha'') is the unicameral legislative assembly for a federal province of Nepal. According to Article 176 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015, following the dissolution of ...

= Provincial Assemblies of Nepal * Jansabha = Gathering of people

References

Ancient India Hindi words and phrases {{India-hist-stub