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Guru Narasimha Temple, Saligrama
The Guru Narasimha Temple, Saligrama is a Hindu temple dedicated to Narasimha, the lion-headed form of Vishnu. Srimad Yogananda Guru Narasimha is the chief deity of the town of Saligrama, Udupi, Karnataka, India. The main image of Narashima, lion-faced and two-handed, is dated to the 8th century.''Archaeology of Karnataka'', p. 322, ed. A. V. Narasimha Murthy, Prasārānga, University of Mysore, 1978 The temple of Guru Narasimha is located on NH 66 at a distance of 22 km from Udupi City. Kshetra Purana (Significance of the history of the place) The 'Sri Saligrama Kshetra Mahatmyam' of the Pushkara khanda of the Padma Purana, the Sahyadri khanda of the Skanda Purana and the Lokadityapaddati provide the details of the significance of this temple. *According to the Padma Purana, the deity of Guru Narasimha appeared at the bottom of a pipal tree holding Shankha(conch) and Chakra(disc) in its hands. Narada muni who had heard this through an akashavani (celestial message) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka.", "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahmins
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru or acharya). The other three varnas are the Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. The traditional occupation of Brahmins is that of priesthood at the Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies, and rite of passage rituals such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers.James Lochtefeld (2002), Brahmin, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, , page 125 Traditionally, the Brahmins are accorded the highest ritual status of the four social classes. Their livelihood is prescribed to be one of strict austerity and voluntary poverty ("A Brahmin should acquire what just suffices for the time, what he earns he should spend all that the same day"). In practice, Indian texts suggest that some Brahmins historically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upanayana
''Upanayana'' ( sa, उपनयनम्, lit=initiation, translit=Upanāyanam) is a Hindu educational sacrament, one of the traditional saṃskāras or rites of passage that marked the acceptance of a student by a preceptor, such as a ''guru'' or ''acharya'', and an individual's initiation into a school in Hinduism. Some traditions consider the ceremony as a spiritual rebirth for the child or future ''dvija'', twice born. It signifies the acquisition of the knowledge of God and the start of a new and disciplined life as a brahmachari. According to the given community and region, it is also known by numerous terms such as ''janai'' or ''janea'', ''poita/paita'', ''logun/nagun'', y''agnopavita'', ''bratabandha'', ''bratopanayan.'' The ''Upanayanam'' ceremony is arguably the most important rite for the Brahmin male, ensuring his rights and responsibilities as a Brahmin and signifying his advent into adulthood. The tradition is widely discussed in ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smartha
The ''Smarta'' tradition ( sa, स्मार्त), also called Smartism, is a movement in Hinduism that developed and expanded with the Puranas genre of literature. It reflects a synthesis of four philosophical strands, namely Mimamsa, Advaita, Yoga, and theism. The Smarta tradition rejects theistic sectarianism, and is notable for the domestic worship of five shrines with five deities, all treated as equal – Ganesha, Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu and Surya. The Smarta tradition contrasted with the older Shrauta tradition, which was based on elaborate rituals and rites. There has been a considerable overlap in the ideas and practices of the Smarta tradition with other significant historic movements within Hinduism, namely Shaivism, Brahmanism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism.Sanderson, Alexis. "The Saiva Age: The Rise And Dominance Of Saivism During The Early Medieval Period". In ''Genesis And Development of Tantrism'', Edited By Shingo Einoo. Tokyo: Institute Of Oriental Culture, Un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advaita Vedanta
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hinduism, Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the Āstika and nāstika, orthodox Hindu school Vedanta, Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' (literally "non-secondness", but usually rendered as "nondualism", and often equated with monism) refers to the idea that ''Brahman'' alone is ultimately Satya, real, while the transient phenomenon (philosophy), phenomenal world is an illusory appearance (''Maya (religion), maya'') of Brahman. In this view, (''jiv)Ātman (Hinduism), Ātman'', the experiencing self, and ''Ātman-Brahman'', the highest Self and ultimate Reality, Absolute Reality, is non-different. The ''jivatman'' or individual self is a mere reflection or limitation of singular ''Ātman'' in a multitude of apparent individual bodies. In the Advaita tradition, ''moksha'' (liberation from suffering and rebirth) is attained through recogni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva.Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism' (1996), p. 17. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme being who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Adi Shakti, is described as the supreme Para Brahman, yet Vishnu is revered along with Shiva and Brahma. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. According to Vaishnavism, the highest form of Ishvara is with qualities (Saguna), and have certain form, but is limitless, transcende ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madhvacharya
Madhvacharya (; ; CE 1199-1278 or CE 1238–1317), sometimes Anglicisation, anglicised as Madhva Acharya, and also known as Purna Prajna () and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the ''Dvaita'' (dualism) school of Vedanta. Madhva called his philosophy ''Dvaita Vedanta, Tattvavāda'' meaning "arguments from a realist viewpoint". Madhvacharya was born on the west coast of Karnataka state in 13th-century India. As a teenager, he became a Sannyasa, Sanyasi (monk) joining Brahma-sampradaya guru Achyutapreksha, of the Ekadandi order. Madhva studied the classics of Hindu philosophy, and wrote commentaries on the Principal Upanishads, the ''Bhagavad Gita'' and the Brahma Sutras (''Prasthanatrayi''), and is credited with thirty seven works in Sanskrit. His writing style was of extreme brevity and condensed expression. His greatest work is considered to be the ''Anuvyakhyana'', a philosophical supplement to his bhasya on the Brahma Sutras ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramanuja
Ramanuja (Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmanuja; 1017 CE – 1137 CE; ; ), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer. He is noted to be one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism. His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement. Ramanuja's guru was Yadava Prakaasa, Yādava Prakāśa, a scholar who according to tradition belonged to the Advaita Vedanta, Advaita Vedānta tradition, but probably was a Bhedabheda scholar. Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that Ramanuja disagreed with his guru and the non-dualistic Advaita Vedānta, and instead followed in the footsteps of Tamil Alvars, Alvārs tradition, the scholars Nathamuni, Nāthamuni and Yamunacharya, Yamunāchārya. Ramanuja is famous as the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedanta, Vedānta, and his disciples were likely authors of texts such as the Shatyayaniya Up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shankaracharya, ), was an Indian Vedic scholar and teacher (''acharya''), whose works present a harmonizing reading of the ''sastras'', with liberating knowledge of the self at its core, synthesizing the Advaita Vedanta teachings of his time. The title of Shankracharya, used by heads of the amnaya monasteries is derived from his name. Due to his later fame, over 300 texts are attributed to his name, including commentaries (''Bhāṣya''), introductory topical expositions (''Prakaraṇa grantha'') and poetry (''Stotra''). However most of these are likely to be by admirers or pretenders or scholars with an eponymous name.W Halbfass (1983), Studies in Kumarila and Sankara, Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik, Monographic 9, Reinbeck Works known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matha
A ''matha'' (; sa, मठ, ), also written as ''math'', ''muth'', ''mutth'', ''mutt'', or ''mut'', is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism.Matha Encyclopædia Britannica Online 2009 An alternative term for such a monastery is ''adheenam''. The earliest epigraphical evidence for ''mathas'' related to Hindu-temples comes from the 7th to 10th century CE. The most famous ''mathas'' or ''peethams'', which came to be affiliated with the Advaita tradition in the 14th century, are Govardhanmaṭha Pīṭhaṃ at |
Durga
Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, prosperity, and dharma, representing the power of good over evil. Durga is believed to unleash her divine wrath against the wicked for the liberation of the oppressed, and entails destruction to empower creation. Durga is seen as a motherly figure and often depicted as a beautiful woman, riding a lion or tiger, with many arms each carrying a weapon and often defeating demons. She is widely worshipped by the followers of the goddess-centric sect, Shaktism, and has importance in other denominations like Shaivism and Vaishnavism. The most important texts of Shaktism, Devi Mahatmya, and Devi Bhagavata Purana, revere Devi (the Goddess) as the primordial creator of the universe and the Brah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saligrama
A shaligrama shila ( deva, शालिग्राम शिला, Śāligrāma-śilā), also rendered as shaligram, is a particular variety of stone collected from riverbed or banks of the Kali Gandaki, a tributary of the Gandaki River in Nepal, used as a non-anthropomorphic representation of God Vishnu by Hindus. They are typically fossils of ammonite shells from the Devonian-Cretaceous period of 400 to 66 million years ago. The fossils are considered holy by Hindus because Madhvacharya received it from Vyasadeva, also called Astamurti, and also they resemble symbols associated with God Vishnu, mainly the Shankha (conch shell). Legends According to the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Brahmavaivarta Purana, and Shiva Purana, shilagrama shilas originated due to the following chain of events. A king named Vrishadhvaja had been cursed by Surya to endure poverty, due to his reluctance to worship any deity other than Shiva. To regain their lost prosperity, his grandsons Dharmadhvaja an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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