Taj Mahal: One solitary tear on the cheek of time.

Avantivarman: Kashmir's Development Man

In the history of Kashmir, the Utpala dynasty holds a special place. The founder of the Utpala dynasty was Avantivarman who ruled from AD 855 to 883. He was more interested in internal administration than military conquests. New towns and irrigation works were constructed. One of these towns was Suyyapura (modern Sopar), called after his minister and engineer Suyya who gave a further impetus to the agriculture of Kashmir by draining marshes and protecting the fields against the deluge of avalanches. It is said of Suyya that he “made the streams of Indus and Jhelum flow according to his will, like a snake charmer his snakes.”

Avantivarman founded a new city Avantipur (Bantipur). A patron of learning , Avantivarman, in his court, has two poets, Ratnakara and Anandavardhan. In his time, according to the Kashmiri poet Kalhana, author of Rajatarangini (“rivers of kings”), rice was sold for 36 dinaras per khari, as against 2000 dinaras earlier, showing the revival of the country’s prosperity,

Descent of the Ganges: Masterpiece of the Pallava Architecture

Since ancient times rivers have been held scared by the Hindus. Ganga is the most sacred river of India. Sacred because according to Hindu mythology, Ganga sprang from the foot of Vishnu, flowed over the sky in the form of the milky way (Mandakini) and then fell to earth from the matted locks of Shiva. 

Himalayas is the source of Ganga. It is at Hardwar in the sate of Uttarakhand that this holy river debouches on the plain, known as the Gangetic plain. Ganga joins the Bay of Bengal at Ganga Sagar in West Bengal where it forms a large delta. 

Ganga is mentioned only once in a late hymn of Rigveda, the earliest of the Vedas. It seems that during the Rigvedic period, the Aryans had not expanded beyond Yamuna. 

The relief of "The Descent of the Ganges", also known as Arjuna's Penance, in the rock-cut temples of Mamallapuram (Tami Nadu), now known as Mahabalipuram, is the most striking of the sculptures for which the Pallavas are known all over the world. 

Covering a rock face of over90 feet long and 40 feet high, Ganga is watched on either side by gods, demigods, ascetics and elephants as she descends from the head of Shiva. The sinuous snake spirits (nagas) of Shiva are shown swimming in the waters of the Ganga. The sense of humour of the artists of this relief is representative by the carving of a cat standing on one leg and performing penance in order to lure the mice to doom.

Pritilata Waddedar: Brave Woman from Bengal

Pritilata Waddedar (1911-32) was a woman revolutionary from Bengal. An active member of the Jugantar and the Chittagong Republican Army, formed by Surya Sen, also known as “Masterda”. She led a group of revolutionaries and attacked a European club at Pahartali on September 24, 1932 in which a number of European were killed or wounded. After successfully raiding the club, she swallowed poison and committed suicide with a written statement in her pocket, which was a clarion call to the womanhood of India to rise up in arms against the foreign oppressions and to stand by the side of their brothers fighting for freedom.

Pritilata Waddedar

Ashutosh Gowariker's period film "Khele Hum Jee Jaan Se" is based on the Chittagong Uprising. The film is based on based on the book Do And Die by Manini Chatterjee, a veteran journalist. Role of Preetilata Waddedar is played by Vishakha Singh. Abhishek Bachchan plays the role of Surya Sen, that of other woman revolutionary Kalpana Dutt is being played by Deepika Padukone.

Sivaga-sindamani: A literary Masterpiece

Sivaga-sindamani or Civaka Cintamani is a famous epic in Tamil. Written in elegant and ornate style, it is third most popular epic after Silappadigaram (the jeweled Anklet) and Manimegalai. 

Attributed to the Jaina monk Tiruttakkadevar in the 10th century AD, the epic describes the heroics of the hero Sivaga or Jivaka, a superman who excels in every art form from archery to the curing of snake bite. The hero wins a new bride for his harem with every feat. After his many heroic deeds, Jivaka embraces the Jaina faith and becomes an ascetic.

Sivaga-sindamani, which means "fabulous gem", is also known as Mana nool or "Book of Marriages". 

Rigveda- The Earliest Scripture of Hinduism

Of the four Vedas (Veda means knowledge), the Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda, the Rigveda is the oldest religious text in the world still looked on as sacred, and therefore, is also known as the first testament of mankind. Dating the Rigveda is a subject of conjecture.  the probable date for its composition may be around 1700 BC.

Vedas are written is Sanskrit. The first three Vedas are collectively known as Trayi or trio. Each Veda is further divided into Samhitas or collections. These were learnt by heart and then passed on from the teachers to the disciples.



© Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

The Rigveda is neither a historical nor a heroic poem but is mainly a collection of hymns of praise composed by many authors. It describes the religious life of the early Aryans in India. The hymns of Rig Veda were recited at the time of sacrificial rites and other rituals with utmost devotion. These hymns are still recited by the Hindus at different ceremonies that include weddings and funerals. In fact they are daily devotions of many Brahmins.

The Rigveda contains 1028 hymns (sukta) and is divided into ten “circles” (mandalas). The tenth mandala is said to have been added later as its language differs slightly from other mandalas, contains the famous Purushasukta which explains the four varnas (Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra) were born from the mouth, arms, thighs and feet of the creator.

Rigveda contains the famous Gayatri mantra, addressed to the old solar god Savitr, still considered to be the most sacred by the Hindus. The oldest exegetical work on Rig Veda is the Nirukta (Etymology) of Yashka dating back to 500 BC.

80000 year old Stone Tools & Weapons unearthed near Chennai

Archaeologists have unearthed a large number of stone tools and weapons dating back to more than 80,000 years ago from a dry lake bed in Singadivakkam, a remote village some 65 km south of Chennai, according to report published in Times of India.

The discovery was the result of an ongoing excavation work, in cooperation with the Archaeological Survey of India , by Professor S Rama Krishna Pisipaty and his student S Shanmugavelu of the department of Sanskrit and culture at Sri Chandrasekaharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya in Enathur, Kancheepuram.

According to Professor S Rama Krishna Pisipaty and his team, so far hand-axes, choppers, scrappers and borers as well as microlithic tools (small stone implements) and pointed tools of different sizes and shapes have been found. The tools could have been used for hunting and fishing.

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