|
Makara (Hindu Mythology)
''Makara'' ( sa, मकर, translit=Makara) is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn. Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river goddess Ganga, Narmada, and of the god of the ocean, Varuna. Makara are considered guardians of gateways and thresholds, protecting throne rooms as well as entryways to temples; it is the most commonly recurring creature in Hindu and Buddhist temple iconography, and also frequently appears as a gargoyle or as a spout attached to a natural spring. Makara-shaped earrings called ''Makarakundalas'' are sometimes worn by Hindu deities, for example Shiva, Vishnu, Surya, and Chandi. Makara is also the insignia of the love god Kamadeva, who has no dedicated temples and is also known as ''Makaradhvaja'', "one whose flag depicts a makara". Etymology ''Makara'' is a Sanskrit word which means "sea-animal, crocodile". Josef Friedrich Kohl of Würzburg University and sever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Makara Face At Konark Temple 01
''Makara'' ( sa, मकर, translit=Makara) is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn (astrology), Capricorn. Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river goddess Ganga in Hinduism, Ganga, Narmada#Signifiance in Hinduism, Narmada, and of the god of the ocean, Varuna. Makara are considered guardians of gateways and thresholds, protecting throne rooms as well as entryways to temples; it is the most commonly recurring creature in Hindu and Buddhist Hindu temple architecture, temple iconography, and also frequently appears as a gargoyle or as a spout attached to a natural spring. Makara-shaped earrings called ''Makarakundalas'' are sometimes worn by Hindu deities, for example Shiva, Vishnu, Surya, and Chandi. Makara is also the insignia of the love god Kamadeva, who has no dedicated temples and is also known as ''Makaradhvaja'', "one whose flag depicts a makara". Etymology ''Makara'' is a Sanskrit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern world, East and Western world, West. The name "Silk Road", first coined in the late 19th century, has fallen into disuse among some modern historians in favor of Silk Routes, on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting East Asia, East and Southeast Asia, the South Asia, Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, the Middle East, East Africa and Southern Europe, Europe. The Silk Road derives its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk, silk textiles that were Silk industry in China, produced almost exclusively in China. The network began with the Han dynasty, Han dynasty's expansion into Central Asia around 114 BCE, Protectorate of the Western Regio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, nature of the world, the lives and activities of List of Greek mythological figures, deities, Greek hero cult, heroes, and List of Greek mythological creatures, mythological creatures, and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' own cult (religious practice), cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece, and to better understand the nature of myth-making itself. The Greek myths were initially propagated in an oral tradition, oral-poetic tradition most likely by Minoan civilization, Minoan and Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean singers starting in the 18th century BC; eventually the myths of the heroes of the Trojan War and its after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cetus (mythology)
In Ancient Greek ''kētŏs'' (, plural ''kētē''=''kētea'', ), Latinized as ''cetus'' (pl. ''ceti'' or ''cetē'' = ''cetea''), is any huge sea creature or sea monster. According to the mythology, Perseus slew Cetus to save Andromeda from being sacrificed to it. The term cetacean (for whale) derives from ''cetus''. In Greek art, ''ceti'' were depicted as serpentine fish. The name of the mythological figure Ceto is derived from ''kētos''. The name of the constellation Cetus also derives from this word. Depictions The Cetus was variously described as a sea monster or sea serpent. Other versions describe Cetus as a monster with the head of a boar or a greyhound and the body of a whale or dolphin, and a divided, fan-like tail. Cetus was said to be a colossal beast the size of a ship, its skull alone measuring 40 feet (12.2 meters) in length, its spines being a cubit in thickness, and its skeleton taller at the shoulder than an elephant. There are notable physical and mythologica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Dragon
The Chinese dragon, also known as ''loong'', ''long'' or ''lung'', is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many Outline of life forms, animal-like forms such as Bixi (mythology), turtles and Chiwen, fish, but are most commonly depicted as snake-like with four legs. Academicians have identified four reliable theories on the origin of the Chinese dragon: snakes, Chinese alligators, thunder and nature worship. They traditionally symbolize potent and wikt:auspicious, auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, typhoons, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy of it in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. During the days of Imperial China, the Emperor of China usually used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial strength and power. In Chinese culture, excellent and outstanding people are compared to a dragon, while incapable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Boardman (art Historian)
Sir John Boardman, (; born 20 August 1927) is a classical archaeologist and art historian. He has been described as "Britain's most distinguished historian of ancient Greek art." Biography John Boardman was educated at Chigwell School (1938–1945); then Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read Classics beginning in 1945. After completing two years' national service in the Intelligence Corps he spent three years in Greece, from 1952 to 1955, as the Assistant Director of the British School at Athens. He married Sheila Stanford in 1952 (d. 2005), and has two children, Julia and Mark. On his return to England in 1955, Boardman took up the post of Assistant Keeper at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, thus beginning his lifelong affiliation with it. In 1959 he was appointed Reader in Classical Archaeology in the University of Oxford, and in 1963 was appointed a Fellow of Merton College. Here he remained until his appointment as Lincoln Professor of Classical Art and Arch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Water Monitor
The Asian water monitor (''Varanus salvator'') is a large varanid lizard native to South and Southeast Asia. It is one of the most common monitor lizards in Asia, ranging from coastal northeast India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, mainland Southeast Asia, and southern China to Indonesian islands where it lives close to water. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It was described by Laurenti in 1768 and is among the largest squamates in the world. Etymology The generic name ''Varanus'' is derived from the Arabic ''waral'' (), which translates as "monitor". The specific name is the Latin word for "saviour", denoting a possible religious connotation. The water monitor is occasionally confused with the crocodile monitor (''V. salvadorii'') because of their similar scientific names. Some common names for the species are ''Malayan water monitor'', ''common water monitor'', ''two-banded monitor'', ''rice lizard'', ''ring lizard'', ''plain lizard'', ''no-mark lizard'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mugger Crocodile
The mugger crocodile (''Crocodylus palustris'') is a medium-sized broad- snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from southern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marshes, lakes, rivers and artificial ponds. It rarely reaches a body length of and is a powerful swimmer, but also walks on land in search of suitable waterbodies during the hot season. Both young and adult mugger crocodiles dig burrows to which they retreat when the ambient temperature drops below or exceeds . Females dig holes in the sand as nesting sites and lay up to 46 eggs during the dry season. The sex of hatchlings depends on temperature during incubation. Both parents protect the young for up to one year. They feed on insects, and adults prey on fish, reptiles, birds and mammals. The mugger crocodile evolved at least and has been a symbol for the fructifying and destructive powers of the rivers since the Vedic period. It was first sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard Tibetan
Lhasa Tibetan (), or Standard Tibetan, is the Tibetan dialect spoken by educated people of Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. It is an official language of the Tibet Autonomous Region. In the traditional "three-branched" classification of Tibetic languages, the Lhasa dialect belongs to the Central Tibetan branch (the other two being Khams Tibetan and Amdo Tibetan). In terms of mutual intelligibility, speakers of Khams Tibetan are able to communicate at a basic level with Lhasa Tibetan, while Amdo speakers cannot. Both Lhasa Tibetan and Khams Tibetan evolved to become Tone (linguistics), tonal and do not preserve the word-initial consonant clusters, which makes them very far from Classical Tibetan, especially when compared to the more Linguistic conservatism, conservative Amdo Tibetan. Registers Like many languages, Lhasa Tibetan has a variety of Register (sociolinguistics), language registers: * (Wylie transliteration, Wylie: , literally "wikt:demot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Asian River Dolphin
South Asian river dolphins are toothed whales in the genus ''Platanista'', which inhabit fresh water habitats in the northern Indian subcontinent. They were historically considered to be one species (''P. gangetica'') with the Ganges river dolphin and the Indus river dolphin being subspecies (''P. g. gangetica'' and ''P. g. minor'' respectively). Genetic and morphological evidence in 2021 has shown them to be separate species. The Ganges and Indus river dolphins are estimated to have diverged 550,000 years ago. They are the only living members of the family Platanistidae and the superfamily Platanistoidea. Fossils of ancient relatives date to the late Oligocene. South Asian river dolphins are small but stocky cetaceans with long snouts or rostra, broad flippers, and small dorsal fins. They have several unusual features. Living in murky river waters, their eyes are tiny and lensless, relying instead on echolocation for navigation. The skull has large crests over the melon, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jain Agamas (Digambara)
Jain literature (Sanskrit: जैन साहित्य) refers to the literature of the Jainism, Jain religion. It is a vast and ancient literary tradition, which was initially transmitted orally. The oldest surviving material is contained in the canonical ''Jain Agamas,'' which are written in Ardhamagadhi Prakrit, Ardhamagadhi, a Prakrit (Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle-Indo Aryan) language. Various commentaries were written on these canonical texts by later Jain monasticism, Jain monks. Later works were also written in other languages, like Sanskrit and Maharashtri Prakrit. Jain literature is primarily divided between the canons of the ''Digambara'' and ''Śvētāmbara'' orders. These two main sects of Jainism do not always agree on which texts should be considered authoritative. More recent Jain literature has also been written in other languages, like Marathi language, Marathi, Tamil language, Tamil, Rajasthani language, Rajasthani, Dhundari language, Dhundari, Marw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
