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Mṛgaśikhāvana
Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no, believed to be a Chinese transcription of Mṛgaśikhāvana (Mriga-shikha-vana), was the site of a Buddhist establishment in eastern India. It is mentioned in the writings of the Chinese traveler Yijing, who states that king Che-li-ki-to (identified with the 3rd century king Gupta) had constructed a temple for Chinese Buddhist pilgrims near it. Yijing's description Yijing mentions Mṛgaśikhāvana (as "Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no") while describing the itinerary of the earlier Korean traveler Hwui-lun alias Prajnavarma, stating that in ancient times, king Che-li-ki-to built a temple for Chinese pilgrims near it. The king is said to have endowed the temple with the revenue of 24 villages for its maintenance. Only the brick foundation of this temple survived in Yijing's time. Location Translations of Yijing's work Contradictory translations of Yijing's ''Kau-fa-kao-sang-chuen'', which refers to Mṛgaśikhāvana, have led to debates among historians ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gupta (king)
Gupta (Gupta script: ''Gu-pta'', fl. late 3rd century CE) was the founder of the Gupta dynasty of northern India. He is identified with king Che-li-ki-to (believed to be the Chinese transcription of "''Shri''-Gupta"), who, according to the 7th century Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing, built a temple near Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no ( Mṛgaśikhāvana) for Chinese pilgrims. Name Gupta is not attested by his own inscriptions or coins, although some seals and coins have been wrongly attributed to him. The earliest description of him occurs in his great-grandson Samudragupta's Allahabad Pillar inscription, and is repeated verbatim in several later records of the dynasty: The Allahabad Pillar inscription names Samudragupta's ancestors as ''Shrī'' Gupta ( ''shri gu-pta''), ''Shrī'' Ghatotkacha, and ''Shrī'' Chandragupta. Some earlier scholars believed that the name of the dynasty's founder was "Shri-gupta" (IAST: Śrigupta), as Gupta does not appear to be a given name. However, it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gupta Dynasty
The Gupta Empire was an Outline of ancient India, ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Golden Age of India by historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by the king Sri Gupta (king), Gupta; the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Skandagupta. The 5th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Persians, Parasikas, the Huna people, Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus river, Oxus valleys, the Kinnara Kingdom, Kinnaras, Kiratas, and others.Raghu Vamsa v 4.60–75 The high points of this period are the great cultural developments which took place primarily during the reigns of Samudragupta, Chandragupta II ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yijing (monk)
Yijing (635–713CE), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as or , born Zhang Wenming, was a Tang dynasty, Tang-era Chinese people, Chinese bhikkhu, Buddhist monk famed as a traveller and translator. His account of his travels is an important source for the history of the medieval kingdoms along the maritime Silk Road, sea route between China and India, especially Srivijaya in Indonesia. A student of the Buddhist university at Nālandā (now in Bihar, India), he was also responsible for the translation of many Buddhist texts from Sanskrit and Pali into Chinese language, Chinese. Journey To Srivijaya and Nālandā Yijing was born . He became a monk at age 14 and was an admirer of Faxian, a famed monk who traveled to India in the 4th and 5th centuries CE. Provided funding by an otherwise unknown benefactor named Fong, he decided to visit the renowned Buddhist university of Nālandā, in Bihar, India, to further study Buddhism. Traveling by a boat out of Guangzhou, he arr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, i.e. ''Mahavishnu''. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or ''Vaishnava''s (), and it includes sub-sects like Krishnaism and Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 641 million or 67.6% of Hindus. The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, and broadly hypothesized as a History of Hinduism, fusion of various regional non-Vedic religions with Vishnu. A merger of several popular non-Vedic theistic traditions, particularly the Bhagavata cults of Vāsudeva, Vāsudeva-krishna and ''Gopala-Krishna, Gopala-Krishna'', and Narayana, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus. The word ''Hindu'' is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as '' Sanātana Dharma'' ( sa, सनातन धर्म, lit='the Eternal Dharma'), a modern usage, which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts. Another endonym is ''Vaidika dharma'', the dharma related to the Vedas. Hinduism is a diverse system of thought marked by a range of philosophies and shared concepts, rituals, cosmological systems, pilgrimage sites, and shared textual sources that discuss theology, metaphysics, mythology, Vedic yajna, yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers (Buddhists) who comprise seven percent of the global population. The Buddha taught the Middle Way, a path of spiritual development that avoids both extreme asceticism and hedonism. It aims at liberation from clinging and craving to things which are impermanent (), incapable of satisfying ('), and without a lasting essence (), ending the cycle of death and rebirth (). A summary of this path is expressed in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind with observance of Buddhist ethics and meditation. Other widely observed practices include: monasticism; " taking refuge" in the Buddha, the , and the ; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shri
Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, Balinese, Sinhala, Thai, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Nepali, Malayalam, Kannada, Sanskrit, Pali, Khmer, and also among Philippine languages. It is usually transliterated as ''Sri'', ''Sree'', ''Shri'', Shiri, Shree, ''Si'', or ''Seri'' based on the local convention for transliteration. The term is used in Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia as a polite form of address equivalent to the English "Mr." in written and spoken language, but also as a title of veneration for deities or as honorific title for local rulers. Shri is also another name for Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, while a ''yantra'' or a mystical diagram popularly used to worship her is called Shri Yantra. Etymology Monier-Williams Dictionary gives the meaning of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bindeshwari Prasad Sinha
Bindeshwari Prasad Sinha (1919-2002) was an Indian archaeologist and historian specialising in ancient Indian history. Sinha was a professor and head of the Department of History and Archaeology at Patna University. He was the founder of Bihar state's Directorate of Archaeology and Museums. He was also the director of the K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute in Patna. B. P. Sinha was born in Bihar Sharif in 1919. He obtained an M.A. degree from the Patna University. He obtained a Ph.D. from SOAS, University of London in 1948. His guide was Lionel Barnett, and his thesis was on the topic ''Decline of the Kingdom of Magadh''. After returning to India, he taught at the Patna College, and later Patna University. He became the University's Head of Department in 1958, and a professor in 1959. He also taught as a visiting professor in Bulgaria, the United States and Yugoslavia. Sinha is known for having carried out the first excavations at Vikramashila, the site of an ancient Buddhist mona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varendra
Varendra ( bn, বরেন্দ্র), also known as Barind ( bn, বারিন্দ, link=no), was a region of North Bengal, now mostly in Bangladesh and a little portion in the Indian state of West Bengal. It formed part of the Pundravardhana or Pundra Kingdom region currently part of Rangpur and Rajshahi Divisions of Bangladesh and included the districts of Bogra, Rajshahi, Pabna and Dinajpur of Bangladesh and West Dinajpur of India. According to Cunningham, the boundary of Varendra was the Ganges and the Mahananda on the west, the Karatoya on the east, the Padma River on the south and the land between Cooch Behar and the Terai on the north. Literature and inscriptions According to R. C. Majumdar, the term Varendra-mandala occurs in the ''Ramacharitam'', which places it between the Ganges and Karatoya rivers. He writes, "Its inclusion with Pundravardhana is proved by the Silimpur, Tarpandighi and Madhainagar inscriptions. The ''Tabaquat-i-nasiri'' mentions Barind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stupa
A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumambulation or ''pradakhshina'' has been an important ritual and devotional practice since the earliest times, and stupas always have a ''pradakhshina'' path around them. The original South Asian form is a large solid dome above a tholobate or drum with vertical sides, which usually sits on a square base. There is no access to the inside of the structure. In large stupas there may be walkways for circumambulation on top of the base as well as on the ground below it. Large stupas have or had ''vedikā'' railings outside the path around the base, often highly decorated with sculpture, especially at the torana gateways, of which there are usually four. At the top of the dome is a thin vertical element, with one of more horizontal discs spreadin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rajshahi District
Rajshahi District ( bn, রাজশাহী জেলা) is a district in mid-western Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rajshahi Division. The metropolitan city of Rajshahi is in Rajshahi District. Geography Rajshahi district is bounded by Naogaon District to the north, Natore District to the east, Chapai Nababganj District to west and little part of Kushtia District & the river Padma to the south. The district consists of alluvial plain. Rivers There are ten rivers in this district, totaling 146 km in length. The main river is the Padma River (Ganges). Some others are Mahananda, Baral and Barnai river. History Rajshahi region was ruled by the Puṭhia Raj family based in the Puṭhia Rajbari. The Mughal Emperor Akbar had given the Rajshahi region to the Puṭhia Raj family to govern, the governor was Pitambar. The Puṭhia family was given the title of Raja by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Rajshahi District was established in 1772. Parts of the districts eventually b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predominantly covering present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. Geographically, it consists of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta system, the largest river delta in the world and a section of the Himalayas up to Nepal and Bhutan. Dense woodlands, including hilly rainforests, cover Bengal's northern and eastern areas, while an elevated forested plateau covers its central area; the highest point is at Sandakphu. In the littoral southwest are the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest. The region has a monsoon climate, which the Bengali calendar divides into six seasons. Bengal, then known as Gangaridai, was a leading power in ancient South Asia, with extensive trade networks forming connections to as far away as Roman Egypt. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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