Hiranya Varna Mahavihar
Hiraṇyavarṇa Mahāvihāra ( ne, हिरण्यवर्ण महाविहार), also Kwa Baha: ( ne, क्वबहा:) informally called The Golden Temple with literal meaning "Gold-colored Great Monastery", is a historical vihara (Buddhist monastery) situated in Patan, Nepal.Hiranya Varna Mahabihar.htm History This golden of was built in the twelfth century by King[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Patan, Nepal
Lalitpur Metropolitan City, historically Patan ( sa, पाटन ''Pāṭana'', Nepal bhasa : '' Yela'', ), is the fourth most populous city of Nepal after Kathmandu, Pokhara and Bharatpur, and it is located in the south-central part of Kathmandu Valley, a new metropolitan city of Nepal. Lalitpur is also known as Manigal. It is best known for its rich cultural heritage, particularly its tradition of arts and crafts. It is city renowned for its festival and feast, fine ancient art, and the making of metallic, wood and stone carved statues. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 226,728 in 54,748 individual households. The city received extensive damage from an earthquake on 25 April 2015. Geography Lalitpur is on the elevated tract of land in Kathmandu Valley on the south side of the Bagmati River, which separates it from the city of Kathmandu on the northern and western side. The Karmanasa Khola acts as the boundary on the eastern side. It was develope ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah
Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah ( ne, श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज पृथ्वी वीर विक्रम शाह देव ) (18 August 1875 – 11 December 1911) was King of Nepal from 1881 until 1911. Among the most notable events of his reign were the introduction of the first automobiles to Nepal, and the creation of strict water and sanitation systems for much of the country. King Prithvi's eldest child was Princess Royal Lakshmi Rajya Lakshmi Devi, who was married to Field Marshal Kaiser Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana. She was made the Crown Princess and was heir to Nepal's throne until she was in her late teens, when her brother King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev was born. Until then King Prithvi only had four daughters and four from another wife. While King Prithivi was kept as a glorified prisoner and ceremonial monarch at Narayanhiti Royal Palace, his Sahebjyu brothers, who were his closest allies and confidants were exiled to Palaces across Ne ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but Great Renunciation, renounced his Householder (Buddhism), home life to live as a wandering ascetic ( sa, śramaṇa). After leading a life of begging, asceticism, and meditation, he attained Enlightenment in Buddhism, enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in what is now India. The Buddha thereafter wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a Sangha, monastic order. He taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to Nirvana (Buddhism), Nirvana, that is, Vimutti, freedom from Avidyā (Buddhism), ignorance, Upādāna, craving, Saṃsāra (Buddhism), rebirth, and suffering. His teachings are summarized in the Noble ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Refuge In Buddhism
In Buddhism, refuge or taking refuge refers to a religious practice, which often includes a prayer or recitation performed at the beginning of the day or of a practice session. Since the period of Early Buddhism until present time, all Theravada and mainstream Mahayana schools only take refuge in the Three Jewels (also known as the Triple Gem or Three Refuges, Pali: ''ti-ratana'' or ''ratana-ttaya''; Sanskrit: ''tri-ratna'' or ''ratna-traya'') which are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. However, only Vajrayana school includes an expanded refuge formula known as the Three Jewels and Three Roots. Taking refuge is a form of aspiration to lead a life with the Triple Gem at its core. Taking refuge is done by a short formula in which one names the Buddha, the dharma and the saṅgha as refuges. In early Buddhist scriptures, taking refuge is an expression of determination to follow the Buddha's path, but not a relinquishing of responsibility. Refuge is common to all major school ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tara (Buddhism)
Tara ( sa, तारा, ; bo, སྒྲོལ་མ, ), Ārya Tārā, or Shayama Tara, also known as Jetsun Dölma (Tibetan: ''rje btsun sgrol ma'') is an important figure in Buddhism, especially revered in Tibetan Buddhism. She appears as a female bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism, and as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. She is known as ''Duōluó Púsà'' (多羅菩薩) in Chinese Buddhism, and as ''Tara Bosatsu'' (多羅菩薩) in Japan. Tārā is a meditation deity revered by practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and to understand outer, inner and secret teachings such as karuṇā (compassion), mettā (loving-kindness), and shunyata (emptiness). Tārā may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered personifications of Buddhist methods. Ther ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Five Tathāgatas
In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, the Five Tathāgatas (Sanskrit: पञ्चतथागत, ''pañcatathāgata''; ) or Five Wisdom Tathāgatas (), the Five Great Buddhas, the Five Dhyani Buddhas and the Five Jinas (Sanskrit for "conqueror" or "victor"), are five Buddhas which are often venerated together. Various sources provide different names for these Buddhas, though the most common today are: Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Vairocana, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi. They are sometimes seen as emanations and representations of the five qualities of the Adi-Buddha or "first Buddha", which is associated with the Dharmakāya. Some sources also include this "first Buddha" as a sixth Buddha along with the five. These five Buddhas are a common subject of Vajrayana mandalas and they feature prominently in various Buddhist Tantras. The Five Tathagathas are the primary object of realization and meditation in Shingon Buddhism, a school of Vajarayana Buddhism founded in Japan by Kūkai. I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs about twenty-five times independently via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, altho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vasuki
Vasuki (IAST: ) is the second king of the nagas in Hinduism. He is described as having a gem called ''Nagamani'' (serpent's ornament) on his head. Adishesha, the first king of the serpents and the mount of Narayana, is his elder brother, and Manasa, another ''naga'', is his sister. Vasuki is Shiva's snake, depicted around his neck. He is known in Chinese and Japanese mythology as being one of the "eight Great Dragon Kings" (八大龍王 pinyin: Bādà lóngwáng; Japanese: Hachidai Ryūō), amongst Nanda (Nāgarāja), Upananda, Sāgara (Shakara), Takshaka, Balavan, Anavatapta, and Utpala. Legends Vasuki is famous for coiling around Shiva's neck, who blessed and wore him as an ornament. Vasuki took part in the incident of Samudra Manthana by allowing both the devas and the asuras to bind him to Mount Mandara, so that they could use him as their churning rope to extract the amrita from the ocean of milk. Vasuki is also mentioned in other Hindu scriptures, such as the ''Rama ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leogryph
''Chinthe'' ( my, ခြင်္သေ့ (); mnw, ဇာဒိသိုၚ် (); shn, သၢင်ႇသီႈ ()) is the Burmese word for 'lion'. The leograph of ''Chinthe'' is a highly stylized lion commonly depicted in Burmese iconography and architecture, especially as a pair of guardians flanking the entrances of Buddhist pagodas and ''kyaung'' (or Buddhist monasteries). Natural lion In contrast to popular foreign beliefs, the ''Chinthe'' is not a mythical creature but instead an entirely natural lion, although often associated with Buddho-Burmese myths. The Burmese leograph is related to other stylized lions in the Asian region, including the ''sing'' (สิงห์) of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and the ''simha'' (සිංහ) of Sri Lanka, where it is featured prominently on the Sri Lankan rupee. It is also related to East Asian leographs, such as the guardian lions of China, ''komainu'' of Japan, ''shisa'' of Okinawa and Snow Lion of Tibet. Origins The st ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Chaitya
A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded apse at the end opposite the entrance, and a high roof with a rounded profile. Strictly speaking, the chaitya is the stupa itself, and the Indian buildings are chaitya halls, but this distinction is often not observed. Outside India, the term is used by Buddhists for local styles of small stupa-like monuments in Nepal, Cambodia, Indonesia and elsewhere. In Thailand a stupa, not a stupa hall, is called a chedi. In the historical texts of Jainism and Hinduism, including those relating to architecture, ''chaitya'' refers to a temple, sanctuary or any sacred monument. Most early examples of chaitya that survive are Indian rock-cut architecture. Scholars agree that the standard form follows a tradition of free-standing halls made of wood and o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |