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Tiruvarur Chariot Festival
Tiruvarur Chariot festival, known in Tamil as Tiruvarur Therottam, is a festival following the rituals and traditions associated with the Thyagaraja Swamy temple, Tiruvarur, in Tamil Nadu, India. During the festival, a representation of the Lord Veethividangar (வீதிவிடங்கர்) now called as Thiyagarajaswami (Shiva) comes out of the massive ancient temple, with his consort Kondi (கொண்டி) (Parvathi) to bless devotees while riding in one of the world's largest chariots. The chariot was constructed by Kothanars and it is Asia's biggest chariot. Description The chariot is known for being one of the largest of its kind in the country. The festival is one of the ancient festivals that are often mentioned in the devotional hymns of saints like (Appar, Tirugnanasambandar and Sundarar) and many Tamil literature, usually held during the summer between months of March and April every year, lasts more than 25 days. On the day of the chariot festival, the uths ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil Literature
Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from Tamil people from South India, including the land now comprising Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Eelam Tamils from Sri Lanka, as well as the Tamil diaspora. The history of Tamil literature follows the history of Tamil Nadu, closely following the social, economical, political and cultural trends of various periods. The early Sangam literature, dated before 300 BCE, contain anthologies of various poets dealing with many aspects of life, including love, war, social values and religion.Akananuru (1, 15, 31, 55, 61, 65, 91, 97, 101, 115, 127, 187, 197, 201, 211, 233, 251, 265, 281, 311, 325, 331, 347, 349, 359, 393, 281, 295), Kurunthogai (11), and Natrinai (14, 75) are dated before 300 BCE. This was followed by the early epics and moral literature, author ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Festival Or Ritual
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in which their body consists of a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described—of which around 1 million are insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million animal species in total. Animals range in length from to . They have complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs. The scientific study of animals is known as zoology. Most living animal species are in Bilateria, a clade whose members have a bilaterally symmetric body plan. The Bilateria include the protostomes, containing animals such as nematodes, arthropods, flatworms, annelids and molluscs, and the deuterostomes, containing the echinoderms an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiruvarur District
Thiruvarur district is one of the 38 districts in the Tamil Nadu state of India. As of 2011, the district had a population of 1,264,277 with a sex-ratio of 1,017 females for every 1,000 males. Geography The district occupies an area of 2,161 km². The district is bounded by Nagapattinam district on the east, Mayiladuthurai district on the north, Thanjavur District on the west, Palk Strait on the south and a small border on the northeast with the Karaikal district of the union territory Puducherry. Demographics According to 2011 census, Thiruvarur district had a population of 1,264,277 with a sex-ratio of 1,017 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 121,973 were under the age of six, constituting 62,280 males and 59,693 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 34.08% and 0.24% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the district was 74.86%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil Culture
Tamil culture is the culture of the Tamil people. Tamil culture is rooted in the arts and ways of life of Tamils in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, and across the globe. Tamil culture is expressed in language, literature, music, dance, theatre, folk arts, martial arts, painting, sculpture, architecture, sports, media, comedy, cuisine, costumes, celebrations, philosophy, religions, traditions, rituals, organizations, science, and technology. Language and literature Tamils have strong attachment to the Tamil language, which is often venerated in literature as "''Tamil̲an̲n̲ai''", "the Tamil mother". It has historically been, and to large extent still is, central to the Tamil identity. Like the other languages of South India, it is unrelated to the Indo-European languages of northern India. The Tamil language preserves many features of Proto-Dravidian, though modern-day spoken Tamil in Tamil Nadu freely uses loanwords from Sanskrit and English and vice versa. Also, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Festivals
Across the globe, Hindus celebrate a diverse number of festivals and celebrations, typically marking events from ancient Indian, ancient India and often coinciding with seasonal changes. These celebrations take place either on a fixed annual date on the solar calendar, or on a specific day of the lunisolar calendar. There is some regional variation with the observance of the festivals, and numerous festivals that are primarily celebrated by specific sects or in certain regions of the Indian subcontinent. Terminology Utsava ''Utsava'' is the Sanskrit word for festivals. The Sanskrit word ''Utsava'' comes from the word "''ut''" meaning "removal" and "''sava''" which means "worldly sorrows" or "grief". Observance periods (''tithi'') Hindu calendar dates are usually prescribed according to a lunisolar calendar. In Vedic timekeeping, a ''māsa'' is a lunar month, a ''pakṣa'' is a lunar fortnight and a tithi, ''tithi'' is a lunar day. Two definitions of the lunar month prevail: Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian census, Chennai is the sixth-most populous city in the country and forms the fourth-most populous urban agglomeration. The Greater Chennai Corporation is the civic body responsible for the city; it is the oldest city corporation of India, established in 1688—the second oldest in the world after London. The city of Chennai is coterminous with Chennai district, which together with the adjoining suburbs constitutes the Chennai Metropolitan Area, the 36th-largest urban area in the world by population and one of the largest metropolitan economies of India. The traditional and de facto gateway of South India, Chennai is among the most-visited Indian cities by foreign tourists. It was ranked the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valluvar Kottam
Valluvar Kottam ( ta, வள்ளுவர் கோட்டம்) is a monument in Chennai, dedicated to the classical Tamil poet philosopher Valluvar. It is the city’s biggest Tamil cultural centre. Location Valluvar Kottam is located at the intersection of the Kodambakkam High road and the Village road in Nungambakkam neighbourhood of Chennai. The monument now stands at what was once the deepest point of a local lake called the Nungambakkam lake. History The construction of the Valluvar Kottam was conceived and executed by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi during the 1970s. It was designed by South Indian traditional architect V. Ganapati Sthapati, who is also the architect of the Thiruvalluvar Statue at Kanyakumari. It was inaugurated in April 1976 by the then President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. The monument The monument consists of a decorative arch, an auditorium that can accommodate around 3,500 people, and the Kural Manimandapam, where all ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sundarar
Sundarar (Tamil: சுந்தரர்), also referred to as Chuntarar, Chuntaramurtti, Nampi Aruran or Tampiran Tolan, was an eighth-century poet-saint of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta tradition of Hinduism. He is among the Tevaram trio, and one of the most prominent Nayanars, the Shaiva bhakti (devotional) poets of Tamil Nadu. His hymns form the seventh volume of the ''Tirumurai'', the twelve-volume compendium of Shaiva Siddhanta. His songs are considered the most musical in ''Tirumurai'' in Tamil language. His life and his hymns in the Tevaram are broadly grouped in four stages. First, his cancelled arranged marriage through the intervention of Shiva in the form of a mad petitioner and his conversion into a Shaiva bhakt. Second, his double marriage to temple dancers Paravai and Cankali with their stay together in Tiruvarur. Third, his blindness and then return of his sight. Finally, his reflections on wealth and material goods. Names Sundarar is referred to by many names. Sunda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil Language
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Puducherry. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is also spoken by the Tamil diaspora found in many countries, including Malaysia, Myanmar, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and Mauritius. Tamil is also natively spoken by Sri Lankan Moors. One of 22 scheduled languages in the Constitution of India, Tamil was the first to be classified as a classical language of India. Tamil is one of the longest-surviving classical languages of India.. "Tamil is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India" (p. 7). A. K. Ramanujan described it as "the on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tirugnanasambandar
Sambandar (Tamil: சம்பந்தர்), also referred to as Tirugnana Sambandar (lit. ''Holy Sage Sambandar''), Tirujnanasambanda, Campantar or Jñāṉacampantar, was a Shaiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived sometime in the 7th century CE. He was a child prodigy who lived just 16 years. According to the Tamil Shaiva tradition, he composed an of 16,000 hymns in complex meters, of which 383 (384) hymns with 4,181 stanzas have survived. These narrate an intense loving devotion (''bhakti'') to the Hindu god Shiva. The surviving compositions of Sambandar are preserved in the first three volumes of the ''Tirumurai'', and provide a part of the philosophical foundation of Shaiva Siddhanta. He is one of the most prominent of the sixty-three Nayanars, Tamil Shaiva bhakti saints who lived between the sixth and the tenth centuries CE. He was a contemporary of Appar, another Shaiva poet-saint.''Encyclopaedia of Jainism, Volume 1, page 5468'' Life Information about Sambandar c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appar
Appar, also referred to as ( ta, திருநாவுக்கரசர்) or Navukkarasar, was a seventh-century Tamil Śaiva poet-saint. Born in a peasant Śaiva family, raised as an orphan by his sister, he lived about 80 years and is generally placed sometime between 570 and 650 CE.Zvelebil 1974, p. 95 Appar composed 4,900 devotional hymns to the god Shiva, out of which 313 have survived and are now canonized as the 4th to 6th volumes of ''Tirumurai''. One of the most prominent of the sixty-three revered Nayanars, he was an older contemporary of Thirugnana Sambandar. His images are found and revered in Tamil Shiva temples. His characteristic iconography in temples show him carrying a farmer's small hoe – a gardening tool and weed puller. Names Appar is also known as Tirunāvukkarasar (''lit.'' "King of the Tongue, Lord of Language"). His birth-name was Marulneekkiyar, and was renamed to Tharumasenar while he studied and later served as the head of a Jain monastery. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
