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Rampurva Capitals
The Rampurva capitals are the capitals of a pair of Ashoka Pillars discovered in by A. C. L. Carlleyle. The archaeological site is called Rampurva, and is located in the West Champaran district of the Indian state of Bihar, situated very close to the border with Nepal. The lion capital is now in the Indian Museum in Kolkota, while the bull capital is located at the center of the porch of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Indian Presidential Palace. Buddhist significance Waddell in 1896 suggested that the death or parinirvana of Gautama Buddha was in the region of Rampurva: "I believe that Kusīnagara, where the Buddha died may be ultimately found to the North of Bettiah, and in the line of the Açōka pillars which lead hither from Patna (Pāțaliputra)." Modern scholarship, based on archaeological evidence, believes that the Buddha died in Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh). Rampurava lion capital The lion pillar is inscribed with the Major Pillar Edicts of the Edicts of Ashoka, Pilla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rampurva Bull In Presidential Palace High Closeup
The Rampurva capitals are the capitals of a pair of Ashoka Pillars discovered in by A. C. L. Carlleyle. The archaeological site is called Rampurva, and is located in the West Champaran district of the Indian state of Bihar, situated very close to the border with Nepal. The lion capital is now in the Indian Museum in Kolkota, while the bull capital is located at the center of the porch of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Indian Presidential Palace. Buddhist significance Waddell in 1896 suggested that the death or parinirvana of Gautama Buddha was in the region of Rampurva: "I believe that Kusīnagara, where the Buddha died may be ultimately found to the North of Bettiah, and in the line of the Açōka pillars which lead hither from Patna (Pāțaliputra)." Modern scholarship, based on archaeological evidence, believes that the Buddha died in Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh). Rampurava lion capital The lion pillar is inscribed with the Major Pillar Edicts of the Edicts of Ashoka, Pillar Ed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kushinagar
Kushinagar ( Hindustani: or ; Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is a town in the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is an important and popular Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha attained ''parinirvana''. Etymology According to Buddhist tradition ''Kushavati'' was named prior to the king Kush. The naming of Kushwati is believed to be due to abundance of Kush grass found in this region. Demographics According to the 2011 Census of India, Kushinagar had 3462 households and a total population of 22,214, of which 11,502 were males and 10,712 were females. The population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 2,897. The total number of literate people in Kushinagar was 15,150, which constituted 68.2% of the population with male literacy of 73.3% and female literacy of 62.7%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 1,117 (5.03%) and 531 (2.39%) respectively. History The present Kushinagar is identified with Kusavati (in the pre-B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodh Gaya
Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment ( pi, bodhi, pi-Latn) under what became known as the Bodhi Tree. Since antiquity, Bodh Gaya has remained the object of pilgrimage and veneration both for Hindus and Buddhists. In particular, archaeological finds including sculptures show that the site was in use by Buddhists since the Mauryan period. For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. History Bodh Gaya is considered to be the holiest site in Buddhism. Known as Uruwela in the Buddha's time, it is situated by the bank of Lilajan River. The first temple at the site was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamond Throne
The Vajrasana (; ''diamond throne''), or Enlightenment Throne of the Buddha, is an ancient stone slab located under the Bodhi tree, directly beside the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya. The slab is thought to have been placed at Bodhgayā by emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire between 250-233 BCE, at the spot where the Buddha meditated.A Global History of Architecture, Francis D. K. Ching, Mark M. Jarzombek, Vikramaditya Prakash, John Wiley & Sons, 201p.570ff/ref> The vajrasana is the bodhimanda ('; ''seat'' or ''platform of enlightenment'') of Gautama Buddha. Being the site where Gautama Buddha achieved liberation, Tibetan texts also use the term vajrasana to refer to Bodh Gaya itself. The empty throne was a focus of devotion in early Buddhism, treated as a cetiya or symbolic relic. It was not intended to be occupied, but operated as a symbol of the missing Buddha. Ancient images show devotees kneeling in prayer before it, as they still do. The throne Discovery The Vajrasa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sankassa
Sankissa (also Sankasia, Sankassa and Sankasya) was an ancient city in India. The city came into prominence at the time of Gautama Buddha. According to a Buddhist source, it was thirty leagues from Savatthi.''Dhammapadatthakathā'', iii, 224 After the Gautama Buddha's Mahaparinirvana (passing away) king Ashoka developed this place and installed one of his famous Pillars of Ashoka in the city, from which the elephant capital survives. He also built a stupa and a temple commemorating the visit of the Buddha. This temple exists even today and the ruins of the stupa are also present as a temple of Vishari Devi. It is said that the name Visahari Devi is given to the mother of the Buddha. Currently it has ruins of old monasteries and Buddhist monuments. It is rarely visited by pilgrims since it is difficult to go to, and there are not many facilities. After a long time Alexander Cunningham (British) discovered the place in 1842. Eighty-seven years later Sir Anagarika Dharmapala (Sri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosette (design)
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design. Origin The rosette derives from the natural shape of the botanical rosette, formed by leaves radiating out from the stem of a plant and visible even after the flowers have withered. History The rosette design is used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity, appearing in Mesopotamia, and in funeral steles' decoration in Ancient Greece. The rosette was another important symbol of Ishtar which had originally belonged to Inanna along with the Star of Ishtar. It was adopted later in Romaneseque and Renaissance architecture, and also common in the art of Central Asia, spreading as far as India where it is used as a decorative motif in Greco-Buddhist art. Ancient origins One of the earliest appearances of the rosette in ancient art is in early fourth millennium BC Egypt. Another early Mediterranean occurrence of the rosette design derives from Minoan Crete; Among other places, the design appears on the Phaistos Disc, recove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palmette
The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear relatively little resemblance to the original. In ancient Greek and Roman uses it is also known as the anthemion (from the Greek ανθέμιον, a flower). It is found in most artistic media, but especially as an architectural ornament, whether carved or painted, and painted on ceramics. It is very often a component of the design of a frieze or border. The complex evolution of the palmette was first traced by Alois Riegl in his ''Stilfragen'' of 1893. The half-palmette, bisected vertically, is also a very common motif, found in many mutated and vestigial forms, and especially important in the development of plant-based scroll ornament. Description The essence of the palmette is a symmetrical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honeysuckles
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both continents. Widely known species include '' Lonicera periclymenum'' (common honeysuckle or woodbine), '' Lonicera japonica'' (Japanese honeysuckle, white honeysuckle, or Chinese honeysuckle) and '' Lonicera sempervirens'' (coral honeysuckle, trumpet honeysuckle, or woodbine honeysuckle). ''L. japonica'' is an aggressive, highly invasive species considered a significant pest on the continents of North America, Europe, South America, Australia, and Africa. Some species are highly fragrant and colorful, so are cultivated as ornamental garden plants. In North America, hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers, especially ''L. sempervirens'' and ''L. ciliosa'' (orange honeysuckle). Honeysuckle derives its name from the edible sweet nectar obtaina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Art
Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the subsequent Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods (with further developments during the Hellenistic Period). It absorbed influences of Eastern civilizations, of Roman art and its patrons, and the new religion of Orthodox Christianity in the Byzantine era and absorbed Italian and European ideas during the period of Romanticism (with the invigoration of the Greek Revolution), until the Modernist and Postmodernist. Greek art is mainly five forms: architecture, sculpture, painting, pottery and jewelry making. Ancient period Artistic production in Greece began in the prehistoric pre-Greek Cycladic and the Minoan civilizations, both of which were influenced by local traditions and the art of ancient Egypt. There are three scholarly divisions of the stages of later ancient Greek art that correspond roughly with historical periods of the same names. These are the Archai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zebu
The zebu (; ''Bos indicus'' or ''Bos taurus indicus''), sometimes known in the plural as indicine cattle or humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in the Indian sub-continent. Zebu are characterised by a fatty hump on their shoulders, a large dewlap, and sometimes drooping ears. They are well adapted to withstanding high temperatures, and are farmed throughout the tropical countries, both as pure zebu and as hybrids with taurine cattle, the other main type of domestic cattle. Zebu are used as draught and riding animals, dairy cattle, and beef cattle, as well as for byproducts such as hides and dung for fuel and manure. Some small breeds such as the miniature zebu are also kept as pets. In 1999, researchers at Texas A&M University successfully cloned a zebu. In some regions, such as parts of India, cattle, especially zebu, have significant religious meaning. Taxonomy and name The scientific name ''Bos indicus'' was introduced by Carl Linnae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abacus (architecture)
In architecture, an abacus (from the Greek ''abax'', slab; or French ''abaque'', ''tailloir''; plural abacuses or abaci) is a flat slab forming the uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, above the bell. Its chief function is to provide a large supporting surface, tending to be wider than the capital, as an abutment to receive the weight of the arch or the architrave above. The diminutive of abacus, abaculus, is used to describe small mosaic tiles, also called abaciscus or tessera, used to create ornamental floors with detailed patterns of chequers or squares in a tessellated pavement. Definition In classical architecture, the shape of the abacus and its edge profile varies in the different classical orders. In the Greek Doric order, the abacus is a plain square slab without mouldings, supported on an echinus. In the Roman and Renaissance Doric orders, it is crowned by a moulding (known as "crown moulding"). In the Tuscan and Roman Doric capital, it may r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Plants Known As Lotus
Lotus identifies various plant taxa: * ''Nelumbo'', a genus of aquatic plants with showy flowers ** ''Nelumbo nucifera'', the Sacred or Indian lotus ** ''Nelumbo lutea'', the American or yellow lotus * Certain species of ''Nymphaea'' (water lilies or Egyptian lotuses): ** ''Nymphaea caerulea'', also known as blue lotus ** ''Nymphaea lotus'', white lotus or sacred lotus ** ''Nymphaea nouchali'', also known as blue or star lotus (sometimes thought to be the same species as ''Nymphaea caerulea'' above) * ''Lotus'' (genus) (including bird's-foot trefoils and deervetches), a terrestrial genus with small flowers * ''Saussurea'' (snow lotus), a herbaceous species from the Himalayan vicinity * ''Ziziphus lotus'', a shrub species with edible fruit * ''Diospyros lotus'' (date-plum, Caucasian persimmon) a tree with edible fruit See also * Lotus (other) * Lotus tree The lotus tree ( grc-gre, λωτός, ''lōtós'') is a plant that is referred to in stories from Greek and Roman my ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
