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Sundarkand
Sundara Kanda ( sa, सुन्दरकाण्ड , lit=beautiful chapter, translit=Sundara Kāṇḍa) is the fifth book in the Hindu epic Ramayana. The original ''Sundara Kanda'' is in Sanskrit, and was composed in popular tradition by Valmiki, who was the first to scripturally record the ''Ramayana''. Sundara Kanda is the only chapter of the ''Ramayana'' in which the principal protagonist is not Rama, but Hanuman. The work depicts the adventures of Hanuman and his selflessness, strength, and devotion to Rama are emphasised in the text. Hanuman is believed to have been fondly called “Sundara” by his mother Anjana, and Sage Valmiki is stated to have chosen this name over others as the Sundara Kanda is about Hanuman's journey to Lanka. Summary The Sundara Kanda forms the heart of Valmiki's Ramayana and consists of a detailed, vivid account of Hanuman's adventures. After learning about Sita, Hanuman assumes a gargantuan form and makes a colossal leap across the ocean to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tulsidas
Tulsidas (; born Rambola Dubey; also known as Goswami Tulsidas; c.1511pp. 23–34.–1623) was a Ramanandi Vaishnava Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. He wrote several popular works in Sanskrit and Awadhi, but is best known as the author of the ''Hanuman Chalisa'' and of the epic '' '', a retelling of the Sanskrit ''Ramayana'' based on Rama's life in the vernacular Awadhi. Tulsidas spent most of his life in the city of Varanasi and Ayodhya. The Tulsi Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi is named after him. He founded the Sankatmochan Temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman in Varanasi, believed to stand at the place where he had the sight of the deity. Tulsidas started the Ramlila plays, a folk-theatre adaptation of the Ramayana.: ... this book ... is also a drama, because Goswami Tulasidasa started his ''Ram Lila'' on the basis of this book, which even now is performed in the same manner everywhere. He has been acclaimed as one of the greatest poet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in the Rig Veda, a colle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sundara Kandam
''Sundara Kandam'' () is 1992 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film, written and directed by K. Bhagyaraj, and produced by his wife Poornima. The film stars Bhagyaraj, Bhanupriya and Sindhuja. It revolves around a student (Sindhuja) who loves her teacher (Bhagyaraj), but he does not reciprocate. ''Sundara Kandam'' was released on 15 January 1992, in the week of Pongal, and emerged a success. Bhagyaraj won the Best Story Writer award at the 13th Cinema Express Awards. The film was remade in Telugu as '' Sundarakanda'' (1992), in Hindi as '' Andaz'' (1994) and in Kannada as ''Sundara Kanda'' (2001). Plot Shanmugamani arrives as a Tamil language teacher to a school. He is an alumnus of the same school, from where he studied very well, despite his poor background, he was state first in his twelfth (+2) exams. He is fooled by the students of twelfth standard, headed by a brilliant, but mischievous student Priya. Shanmugamani is irritated by her indiscipline and finds fault ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rakshasa
Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma when he assumed a body of ''tamas'' (darkness), the beings springing forth and promising to protect the waters of creation. They are often depicted to be man-eaters (''nri-chakshas'', ''kravyads''), acting as embodiments of the powers of evil in the Vedic scriptures. They are offered a distinction from yakshas, their cousins who are depicted to be forces of destruction. The term is also used to describe asuras, a class of power-seeking beings that oppose the benevolent devas. They are often depicted as antagonists in Hindu scriptures, as well as in Buddhism and Jainism. The female form of rakshasa is rakshasi. Hinduism In Vedas The Hymn 87 of the tenth mandala of the ''Rigveda'' mentions about Rakshasas. They are classified amongst the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shuka
Shuka ( sa, शुक , also Shukadeva ) is a rishi (sage) in Hinduism. He is the son of the sage Vyasa and the main narrator of the scripture ''Bhagavata Purana''. Most of the ''Bhagavata Purana'' consists of Shuka reciting the story to the king Parikshit in his final days. Shuka is depicted as a sannyasi, renouncing the world in pursuit of moksha (liberation), which most narratives assert that he achieved. Legends Birth According to the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', after one hundred years of austerity by Vyasa, Shuka was churned out of a stick of fire, born with ascetic power and with the Vedas dwelling inside him, just like his father. As per ''Skanda Purana'', Vyasa had a wife, Vatikā (also known by the name Pinjalā), daughter of a sage named Jābāli. Their union produced a son, who repeated everything what he heard, thus receiving the name Shuka (lit. Parrot).Skanda Purāṇa, Nāgara Khanda, ch. 147 Other texts including the ''Devi Bhagavata Purana'' also narrate the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vibhishana
Vibhishana () is the younger brother of Ravana, the King of Lanka, in the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. Though a rakshasa himself, Vibhishana turned his back on Ravana, and defected to Rama's side, owing to his dharma. After Rama defeated Ravana, the former crowned Prince Vibhishana as the King of Lanka before returning to Ayodhya. Ramayana Prince Vibhishana is portrayed as a pious and pure of heart in the epic. After performing a penance to invoke a boon from Brahma, he begged the deity to always set his mind on the path to righteousness, and nothing more. Vibhishana was the youngest son of the rakshasi Kaikesi and the sage Vishrava, who was himself a son of the sage Pulastya, one of the Prajapati. Vibhishana was the younger brother of the King of Lanka, Ravana, and also the sibling of Kumbakarna. Even though he was born as a rakshasa, he was pious and considered himself a Brahmin, since his father was a sage. Due to Vibhishana's differences with Ravana, and because he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as "The Destroyer" within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity which also includes Brahma and Vishnu. In the Shaivite tradition, Shiva is the Supreme Lord who creates, protects and transforms the universe. In the goddess-oriented Shakta tradition, the Supreme Goddess ( Devi) is regarded as the energy and creative power (Shakti) and the equal complementary partner of Shiva. Shiva is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. Shiva has many aspects, benevolent as well as fearsome. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash as well as a householder with his wife Parvati and his three children, Ganesha, Kartikeya and A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rameswaram
Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kilometres from Mannar Island, Sri Lanka. It is in the Gulf of Mannar, at the tip of the Indian peninsula. Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, is connected to mainland India by the Pamban Bridge. Rameswaram is the terminus of the railway line from Chennai and Madurai. Together with Varanasi, it is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus and is part of the Char Dham pilgrimage. According to Hindu ancient texts, Lord Ram had built a bridge from here across the sea to Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from her abductor Ravana. The Temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is at the centre of the town and is closely associated with Rama and Shiva. The temple and the town are considered a holy pilgrimage site for Shai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramcharitmanas
''Ramcharitmanas'' ( deva, श्रीरामचरितमानस, Rāmacaritamānasa), is an epic poem in the Awadhi language, based on the ''Ramayana'', and composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Tulsidas (c. 1532–1623). This work is also called, in popular parlance, ''Tulsi Ramayana'', ''Tulsikrit Ramayana'', or ''Tulsidas Ramayana''. The word ''Ramcharitmanas'' literally means "Lake of the deeds of Rama". It is considered one of the greatest works of Hindu literature. The work has variously been acclaimed as "the living sum of Indian culture", "the tallest tree in the magic garden of medieval Indian poetry", "the greatest book of all devotional literature" and "the best and most trustworthy guide to the popular living faith of the Indian people".Lutgendorf 1991, p. 1. Tulsidas was a great scholar of Sanskrit. However, he wanted the story of Rama to be accessible to the general public, as many Apabhramsa languages had evolved from Sanskrit and at that time fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Awadhi Language
Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in North India, northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, which is regarded as the homeland of the Hindu god Rama. See also, the Oudh state which was settled in North India during the Mughal Empire, Mughal rule. It was, along with Braj Bhasha, used widely as a literary vehicle before being displaced by Hindustani language, Hindustani in the 19th century. Linguistically, Awadhi is a language at par with Hindustani language, Hindustani. However, it is regarded by the state to be a dialect of the Hindi languages, Central Indo-Aryan (Hindi) languages, and the area where Awadhi is spoken to be a part of the Hindi-language area owing to their cultural proximity. As a result, Hindi, Modern Standard Hindi, rather than Awadhi, is used for school instructions as well as administ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shani
Shani ( sa, शनि, ), or Shanaishchara ( sa, शनैश्चर, ), refers to the divine personification of the planet Saturn in Hinduism, and is one of the nine heavenly objects (Navagraha) in Hindu astrology. Shani is also a male Hindu deity in the Puranas, whose iconography consists of a black figure carrying a sword or danda (sceptre) and sitting on a Crow. He is the god of '' Karma (deeds), ''justice, and retribution and delivers results depending upon one's thoughts, speech, and deeds (karma). Shani is the controller of longevity, misery, sorrow, old age, discipline, restriction, responsibility, delays, ambition, leadership, authority, humility, integrity, and wisdom born of experience. He also signifies spiritual asceticism, penance, discipline, and conscientious work. He married twice, first to Neela, the personification of the Blue Sapphire gemstone and second to Manda, a Gandharva princess. Planet ''Shani'' as a planet appears in various Hindu astronomical te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chhaya
Chhaya or Chaya ( sa, छाया, Chāyā, shadow' or 'shade) is the Hindu personification and goddess of shadow, and a consort of Surya, the Hindu sun god. She is the shadow-image or reflection of Saranyu (Sanjna), the first wife of Surya. Chhaya was born from the shadow of Sanjna and replaced Sanjna in her house, after the latter temporarily left her husband. Chhaya Devi the goddess of shadows is usually described as the mother of Shani, the planet Saturn, and the god of karma and justice: a feared ''graha''; goddess Tapti, the personification of river Tapti; goddess Vishti , the personification of Kala; and a son Savarni Manu, who is destined to be the next and eighth Manu (progenitor of mankind) – the ruler of the next ''Manvantara'' period. Early Vedic and epic legends In the ''Rigveda'' (c. 2nd Millennium BCE), which is the earliest narrative about the Chhaya-prototype. After the birth of twins to Vivasvan (Surya), his consort Saranyu - the daughter of Vishwakarma - a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
