|
Mahadev Temple, Deobaloda
The Mahadev Temple in Deobaloda is dedicated to Lord Shiva in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. This temple belongs to the Kalchuri Period. The temple is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. Temple witnesses high footfall during Mahashivratri when the devotees form nearby villages gather here for Lord Shiva’s blessing. The event is also accompanied by a small fair. Overview It is an ancient temple built by Kalchuris during the 13th century AD. It is said that this temple was built in just 6 months and that is why it is also called 6 Maashi (Maasi or Masi, in English - Months) temple. The temple is having a Kund and it is believed to be connected to another old town Arang of Chhattisgarh state through a tunnel Architecture The temple is east facing, built of sand stone. It has a Garbhagriha and a pillared Navaranga Mandapa(hall). The shikhara which is supposed to have been built in Nagara style is missing. The Garbhagriha houses a Shiva Linga of abo ... [...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] |
Parvati
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in her complete form. She is also revered in her appearances as Durga and Kali.Suresh Chandra (1998), Encyclopedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, , pp 245–246 She is one of the central deities of the goddess-oriented sect called Shaktism, and the chief goddess in Shaivism. Along with Lakshmi and Saraswati, she forms the Tridevi. Parvati is the wife of the Hindu god Shiva. She is the reincarnation of Sati, the first wife of Shiva who immolated herself during a yajna (fire-sacrifice).Edward Balfour, , The Encyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, pp 153 Parvati is the daughter of the mountain-king Himavan and queen Mena.H.V. Dehejia, Parvati: Goddess of Love, Mapin, , pp 11 Parvati is the mother of the Hindu deities Ganesha and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nandi (bull)
Nandi ( sa, नन्दि), also known as Nandikeshwara or Nandideva, is the bull vahana of the Hindu god Shiva. He is also the guardian deity of Kailash, the abode of Shiva. Almost all Shiva temples display stone-images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine. According to Saivite siddhantic tradition, he is considered as the chief guru of eight disciples of Nandinatha Sampradaya, namely, Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Tirumular, Vyagrapada, Patanjali, and Sivayoga Muni, who were sent in eight different directions, to spread the wisdom. The Cham Hindus of Vietnam believes that when they die, the Nandi will come and take their soul to the holy land of India from Vietnam. The Sanskrit word nandi ( sa, नन्दि) has the meaning of happy, joy, and satisfaction, the properties of divine guardian of Shiva- Nandi. It is recently documented, that the application of the name Nandi to the bull (Sanskrit: ''Vṛṣabha''), is in fact a development of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Along with Parvati and Saraswati, she forms the Tridevi of Hindu goddesses. Within the goddess-oriented Shaktism, Lakshmi is venerated as the prosperity aspect of the Mother goddess. Lakshmi is both the consort and the divine energy (''shakti'') of the Hindu god Vishnu, the Supreme Being of Vaishnavism; she is also the Supreme Goddess in the sect and assists Vishnu to create, protect, and transform the universe. She is an especially prominent figure in Sri Vaishnavism, in which devotion to Lakshmi is deemed to be crucial to reach Vishnu. Whenever Vishnu descended on the earth as an avatar, Lakshmi accompanied him as consort, for example, as Sita and Radha or Rukmini as consorts of Vishnu's avatars Rama and Krishna, respectively. The eight ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varaha
Varaha ( sa, वराह, , "boar") is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. Varaha is most commonly associated with the legend of lifting the Earth (personified as the goddess Bhudevi) out of the cosmic ocean. When the asura Hiranyaksha stole the earth and hid her in the primordial waters, Vishnu appeared as Varaha to rescue her. Varaha slew the asura, and retrieved the Earth from the ocean, lifting it on his tusks, and restored Bhudevi to her place in the universe. Varaha may be depicted as completely a boar or in an anthropomorphic form, with a boar's head and the human body. His consort, Bhudevi, the personified Earth, is often depicted as a young woman, lifted by Varaha. Etymology and other names The deity Varaha derives its name from the Sanskrit word ''varāha'' (Devanagari: वराह, ) meaning "boar" or "wild boar". The word ''varāha'' is from P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ganesh
Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva_(Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu denominations worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends Ganesha in world religions, to Jains and Buddhists and includes Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia (Java and Bali), Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and Bangladesh and in countries with large ethnic Indian populations including Fiji, Guyana, Mauritius, and Trinidad and Tobago. Although Ganesha has many attributes, he is readily identified by his Asiatic Elephant, elephant head. He is widely revered, more specifically, as the remover of obstacles and thought to bring good luck; the patron of The arts, arts and Science, sciences; and the Deva (Hinduism), deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radha Krishna
Radha-Krishna (IAST , sa, राधा कृष्ण) are collectively known within Hinduism as the combined forms of feminine as well as the masculine realities of God. Krishna and Radha are the primeval forms of God and his pleasure potency (Hladini Shakti), respectively, in several Vaishnavism, Vaishnavite schools of thought. In Krishnaism, Krishnaite traditions of Vaishnavism, Krishna is referred to as ''Svayam Bhagavan'' and Radha is illustrated as the primeval potency of the three main potencies of God, ''Hladini (immense spiritual bliss), Sandhini (eternality) and Samvit (existential consciousness)'' of which Radha is an embodiment of the feeling of love towards the almighty Lord Krishna (''Hladini''). With Krishna, Radha is acknowledged as the Supreme Goddess. It is said that Krishna is only satiated by devotional service in loving servitude and Radha is the personification of devotional service to the supreme lord. Various devotees worship her with the understandin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Narasimha
Narasimha ( sa, नरसिंह, lit=man-lion, ), sometimes rendered Narasingha, is the fourth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is regarded to have incarnated in the form of a part-lion, part-man being to slay Hiranyakashipu, to end religious persecution and calamity on earth, thereby restoring dharma. Narasimha is often depicted with three eyes, and is described in Vaishnavism to be the God of Destruction; he who destroys the entire universe at the time of the great dissolution (Mahapralaya). Hence, he is known as Kala (time) or Mahakala (great-time), or Parakala (beyond time) in his epithets. There exists a matha (monastery) dedicated to him by the name of Parakala Matha in the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Narasimha is also described as the God of Yoga, in the form of Yoga-Narasimha. Narasimha iconography shows him with a human torso and lower body, with a leonine face and claws, typically with the asura Hiranyakashipu in his lap, whom he is in the process of defeating. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kirtimukha
Kirtimukha (Sanskrit: कीर्तिमुख ,', also ', a bahuvrihi compound translating to "glorious face") is the name of a swallowing fierce monster face with huge fangs, and gaping mouth, very common in the iconography of Hindu temple architecture in India and Southeast Asia, and often also found in Buddhist architecture. Unlike other Hindu legendary creatures, for example the makara sea-monster, the kirtimukha is essentially an ornamental motif in art, which has its origin in a legend from the Skanda Purana and Shiva Purana - Yuddha khand of Rudra Samhita. Origin and characteristics The word ''mukha'' in Sanskrit refers to the face while ''kīrti'' means "fame, glory". The story of Kirtimukha begins when a great king Jalandhara, who "by virtue of extraordinary austerities ... accumulated to himself irresistible powers." In a burst of pride, he sent forth his messenger, the monster Rahu, whose main task is eclipsing the moon, to challenge Shiva. "The challenge ... was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahishasura
Mahishasura is a bovine asura in Hinduism. He is depicted in literature to be a deceitful demon who pursued his evil ways by shape-shifting. Mahishasura was the son of Mahisi (Buffalo) and the great-grandson of Brahmarshi Kashyapa. He was ultimately killed by goddess Durga with her trishula (trident) after which she gained the epithet Mahishasuramardini ("Slayer of Mahishasura"). The Navaratri ("Nine Nights") festival eulogises this battle between Mahishasura and Durga, culminating in Vijaya Dasami, a celebration of his ultimate defeat. This story of the "triumph of good over evil" carries profound symbolism in Hinduism, particularly Shaktism, and is both narrated as well as reenacted from the Devi Mahatmya at many South and Southeast Asian Hindu temples. Legend Mahishasura is a Sanskrit word composed of ''Mahisha'' meaning “buffalo” and ''asura'' meaning “demon”, translating to “Buffalo Demon”. As an asura, Mahishasura waged war against the devas, as the devas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
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, transcend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
