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Dipankha Yatra
Dipankha Yatra (Devanagari: दिपंखा यात्रा ) (also spelt Deepankha Yatra, Dipankar Yatra) is a pilgrimage that takes place around the heart of Nepal "The Kathmandu Valley". Devotees walk through the journey barefooted to 131 religious destinations within 2 days. The timing is decided by the astrological calendar. Dipankha Yatra is mostly celebrated by Buddhist as well as Hindu Newars of the valley. The followers are guided by Gurjus of Newar community. It takes place only when five events fall on the same day: * ''Sauryamas Sankranti'' (First day in solar calendar) * ''Chandramas Purnima'' (Full moon) * ''Rewati Nachetra'' (An astrological event) * ''Harshan Yog'' (An astrological event) * ''Chandra Grahan'' (Lunar Eclipse) It is believed that a single step in the Yatra equals the ''Punya'' gained upon offering 1 tola of gold. The procession begins at Nagbahal, Patan at dawn and ends at Mahalaxmisthan the following day. Partial list of the 131 destinat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devanagari
Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient Brahmi script, ''Brāhmī'' script, used in the northern Indian subcontinent. It was developed and in regular use by the 7th century CE. The Devanagari script, composed of 47 primary characters, including 14 vowels and 33 consonants, is the fourth most widely List of writing systems by adoption, adopted writing system in the world, being used for over 120 languages.Devanagari (Nagari) , Script Features and Description, SIL International (2013), United States The orthography of this script reflects the pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newar People
Newar (; new, नेवार, endonym: Newa; new, नेवा, Pracalit script:) or Nepami, are the historical inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding areas in Nepal and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation. Page 15. Newars form a linguistic and cultural community of primarily Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman ethnicities following Hinduism and Buddhism with Nepal Bhasa as their common language. Newars have developed a division of labour and a sophisticated urban civilisation not seen elsewhere in the Himalayan foothills. Newars have continued their age-old traditions and practices and pride themselves as the true custodians of the religion, culture and civilisation of Nepal. Newars are known for their contributions to culture, art and literature, trade, agriculture and cuisine. Today, they consistently rank as the most economically and socially advanced community of Nepal, according to the annual Human Development Index published by UNDP. Nepal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Full Moon
The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic coordinate system, ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon opposition (astronomy), differ by 180°). This means that the lunar hemisphere facing Earth—the near side of the Moon, near side—is completely sunlit and appears as an approximately circular disk. The full moon occurs roughly once a month. The time interval between a full moon and the next repetition of the same phase, a Lunar month#Synodic month, synodic month, averages about 29.53 days. Therefore, in those lunar calendars in which each month begins on the day of the new moon, the full moon falls on either the 14th or 15th day of the lunar month. Because a calendar month consists of a Natural number, whole number of days, a month in a lunar calendar may be either 29 or 30 days long. Characteristics A full moon is often thought of as an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunar Eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow. Such alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, when the Moon's orbital plane is closest to the plane of the Earth's orbit. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned (in syzygy) with Earth between the other two, which can happen only on the night of a full moon when the Moon is near either lunar node. The type and length of a lunar eclipse depend on the Moon's proximity to the lunar node. When the moon is totally eclipsed by the Earth, it takes on a reddish color that is caused by the planet when it completely blocks direct sunlight from reaching the Moon surface, as only the light reflected from the lunar surface has been refracted by Earth's atmosphere. This light appears reddish due to the Rayleigh scattering of blue light, the same reason sunrise and sunsets are more orange than during the day. Un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tola (unit)
The tola ( hi, तोला; ur, تولا ''tolā'') also transliterated as tolah or tole, is a traditional Ancient Indian and South Asian unit of mass, now standardised as 180 grains () or exactly 3/8 troy ounce. It was the base unit of mass in the British Indian system of weights and measures introduced in 1833, although it had been in use for much longer.. It was also used in Aden and Zanzibar: in the latter, one tola was equivalent to 175.90 troy grains (0.97722222 British tolas, or 11.33980925 grams). The tola is a Vedic measure, with the name derived from the Sanskrit ''tol'' (तोलः root तुल्) meaning "weighing" or "weight". One tola was traditionally the weight of 100 ratti (ruttee) seeds, Martin, Robert Montgomery. ''Statistics of the colonies of the British empire'', London: W.H. Allen and Co., 1839, p. 143. and its exact weight varied according to locality. However, it is also a convenient mass for a coin: several pre-colonial coins, inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nagbahal
Nagbahal is located in the heart of the city of Lalitpur in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Nagbahal was originally a Buddhist monastery, but the original buildings are now gone. What is left is a large courtyard or park. In spite of that, this bahal still retains its religious and cultural significance. Around 5000 people live in the Nagbahal community, mainly from Newar ethnic groups. History The history of Nagbahal is not entirely clear. The presence of an 8th century stele with four Buddhist sculptures on it and two chaityas, likely dating from the Licchavi Kingdom (c.400-750 AD) are an indication of a Buddhist presence in the area at that time.Buddhist Monasteries of Nepal: Survey of Bahas and Bahis of Kathmandu Valley by John K. Locke, Sahayogi Press Pvt. Ltd., Tripureswar, Kathmandu, Nepal, 1985, p 56-58 Many of the residents of the courtyard are Buddhists and affiliated with the ''sangha'' of the Hiranya Varna Mahavihar. The Dhakhwa family is one of the most renowned no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swayambhu
Swayambhu ( sa, स्वयंभू) is a Sanskrit word that means "self-manifested", "self-existing", or "that is created by its own accord". Often, the word swayambhu is used to describe a self-manifested image of a deity, which was not made by human hands, but instead is naturally arisen, or generated by nature. According to the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Vishnu is called swayambhu. The word etymology of swayambhu is 'Svayam' (स्वयं) which means 'self' or 'on its own' and 'bhū' (भू) which means 'to take birth' or 'arising'. This is applicable to the physical and tangible idols of Gods that we see or to the intangible yet existing God whom we cannot see. For example, the jyotirlingas are considered swayambhu- the idol of Venkateshwara at Tirumala and some other ones are considered Swayambu- which means they are not installed by any person but they exist on their own. The word Swayambhu is also applicable to Gods- for example- Vishnu is described as swayambhu in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boudhanath
Bouddha ( ne, बौद्धनाथ; ; , ), also known as Boudhanath, Khasti Chaitya and Khāsa Chaitya is a stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal.Snellgrove, David. ''Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors'', 2 vols., p. 365. (1987) Shambhala Publications, Boston. (v. 1); (v. 2). Located about from the center and northeastern outskirts of Kathmandu, its massive mandala makes it one of the largest spherical stupas in Nepal and the world. The influx of large populations of refugees from Tibet has seen the construction of over 50 gompas (Tibetan monastery) around Boudha. As of 1979, Boudha Stupa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Along with Swayambhu, it is one of the most popular tourist sites in the Kathmandu area. The stupa is on the ancient trade route from Tibet which enters the Kathmandu Valley by the village of Sankhu in the northeast corner and continues to the ancient and smaller stupa of Chabahil named Charumati Stupa (often called "Little Boudha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
