Valli Raita
Vaḷḷi ( ta, வள்ளி) ("Creeper, Sweet potato plant") is a Hindu goddess, and the second consort of the deity Murugan. An incarnation of the goddess Sundaravalli, daughter of Vishnu, Valli is born on earth as the daughter of a chieftain, leading a life of a huntress. Murugan, the god of war, eventually woos and weds her, according to Tamil folklore. Both of their legends originate from the mountain region also known as Kurunji in Tamilakam. Her sister, Amritavalli (Devasena), also succeeds in marrying Murugan as the adopted daughter of Indra, making them sister-wives. Nomenclature ''Vaḷḷi'' is used to refer to many local or Village gods in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in India and by the Rodiya and Vedda peoples of Sri Lanka. Vaḷḷi is also known as ''Pongi'' at Vallimalai in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, and the pond from which she drew water to quench the thirst of Murugan is still there. This pond, though in an open ground, does not receive the rays of the su ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Raja Ravi Varma
Raja Ravi Varma ( ml, രാജാ രവിവർമ്മ; 29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) was an Indian painter and artist. He is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art. His works are one of the best examples of the fusion of European academic art with a purely Indian sensibility and iconography. Specially, he was notable for making affordable lithographs of his paintings available to the public, which greatly enhanced his reach and influence as a painter and public figure. His lithographs increased the involvement of common people with fine arts and defined artistic tastes among common people. Furthermore, his religious depictions of Hindu deities and works from Indian epic poetry and Puranas have received profound acclaim. He was part of the royal family of erstwhile Parappanad, Malappuram district. Raja Ravi Varma was closely related to the royal family of Travancore of present-day Kerala state in India. Later in his life, two of his grandda ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grāmadevatā
A gramadevata () is the tutelary deity of a given locality in Hinduism, primarily worshipped in the villages of India. Of diverse origins, gramadevatas are regarded to protect the inhabitants of their villages from bandits, epidemics, and natural disasters when propitiated, failing which they are believed to cause these afflictions. A gramadevata is typically female in South India. In this region, a village goddess, acting as a fertility figure, is enshrined, and a guardian of the village is situated at the village boundary. Etymology The term gramadevata is derived from the Sanskrit words grāma, "village, village settlement" and devatā, "deity". Development The earliest appearance of the "Mother Goddess" found in South Asia is in Mehrgarh in the form of female terracotta figurines dating to the 4th millennium BCE. These figurines are believed to represent the "Mother Goddess." Similar female figurines are found in 3rd-2nd millennium figures from Harappan civilization si ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vamana
Vamana (), also known as Trivikrama (), Urukrama (), Upendra (), Dadhivamana (), and Balibandhana () is an avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. He is the fifth avatar of Vishnu, and the first Dashavatara in the Treta Yuga, after Narasimha. Originating in the Vedas, Vamana is most commonly associated in the Hindu epics and Puranas with the legend of taking back the three worlds (collectively referred to as the ''Trailokya'') from the daitya-king Bali by taking three steps to restore the cosmic order. He is the youngest among the adityas, the sons of Aditi and the sage Kashyapa. Nomenclature and etymology 'Vāmana' (Sanskrit वामन) means 'dwarf', 'small' or 'small or short in stature'. It also means 'dwarfish bull', which is notable as Vishnu is directly associated with dwarfish animals (including bulls) in the Vedas (see below). Stated in Puranic literature to be born of the great sage Kashyapa and his wife Aditi, other names or epithets referring to Vamana include: ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hindu Mythology
Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and regional literature like the Tamil ''Periya Puranam'' and ''Divya Prabandham'', and the '' Mangal Kavya'' of Bengal. Hindu myths are also found in widely translated popular texts such as the fables of the '' Panchatantra'' and the ''Hitopadesha'', as well as in Southeast Asian texts. Primary sources * Vedas ** Rig ** Sama ** Yajur ** Atharva * Itihasa ** Ramayana ** Mahabharata * Maha-Puranas **Agni Purana **Brahma Purana ** Brahmanda Purana **Bhagavata Purana **Devi-Bhagavata Purana **Garuda Purana **Kurma Purana **Shiva Purana **Skanda Purana **Markandeya Purana **Matsya Purana ** Narada Purana **Linga Purana **Padma Purana **Varaha Purana **Vayu Purana **Vishnu Purana *Bengali literature **Mangal-Kāvya *Tamil literature ** Divya ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kartikeya
Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha and a god whose legends have many versions in Hinduism. Kartikeya has been an important deity in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times, worshipped as Mahasena and Kumara in North India and is predominantly worshipped in the state of Tamil Nadu and other parts of South India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia as Murugan. Murugan is widely regarded as the "God of the Tamil people". It has been postulated that the Tamil deity of Murugan was syncretised with the Vedic deity of Subrahmanya following the Sangam era. Both Muruga and Subrahmanya refer to Kartikeya. The iconography of Kartikeya varies significantly; he is typically represented as an ever-youthful man, riding or near an Indian peafowl, called Paravani, bearing a vel and so ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Skanda Purana
The ''Skanda Purana'' (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest ''Puranas#Mahapuranas, Mukyapurana'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumaram, Kaumara literature, titled after Kartikeya, Skanda, a son of Shiva and Parvati, who is also known as Murugan. While the text is named after Skanda, he does not feature either more or less prominently in this text than in other Shiva-related Puranas. The text has been an important historical record and influence on the Hindu traditions related to the war-god Skanda. The earliest text titled ''Skanda Purana'' likely existed by the 8th century CE, but the ''Skanda Purana'' that has survived into the modern era exists in many versions. It is considered as a living text, which has been widely edited, over many centuries, creating numerous variants. The common elements in the variant editions encyclopedically cover cosmogony, mythology, genealogy, dharma, festivals, gemology, temples, g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kataragama
Kataragama ( si, කතරගම, translit=Kataragama , ta, கதிர்காமம், translit=Katirkrāmam) is a pilgrimage town sacred to Hindu, Buddhist and indigenous Vedda people of Sri Lanka. People from South India also go there to worship. The town has the Kataragama temple, a shrine dedicated to Skanda Kumara also known as Kataragama deviyo. Kataragama is located in the Monaragala District of Uva province, Sri Lanka. It is southeast of Colombo. Although Kataragama was a small village in medieval times, today it is a fast-developing township surrounded by jungle in the southeastern region of Sri Lanka. The ancient Kiri Vehera Buddhist stupa, which is believed to be built by the regional king Mahasena in the 6th century BC is also a major attraction in Kataragama area. The town has a venerable history dating back to the last centuries BCE. It was the seat of government of many Sinhalese kings during the days of Rohana kingdom. Since the 1950s the town has undergon ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vellore District
Vellore district () is one of the 38 districts in the Tamil Nadu state of India. It is one of the eleven districts that form the north region of Tamil Nadu. Vellore city is the headquarters of this district. As of 2011, the district had a population of 1,614,242 with a sex ratio of 1,007 females for every 1,000 males. In 2017 Vellore district ranked eleventh in list of districts in Tamil Nadu by Human Development Index.TAMIL NADU HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2017 -''Status of Human Development'TAMIL NADU HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2017/ref> The Government of India recently included Vellore city in its prestigious smart city project, along with 26 other cities. History Men from the Vellore District fought in the British India Army and sacrificed their lives in the World Wars. This is recorded in the clock tower in the long bazaar at Vellore, raised in 1920, where an inscription reads "Vellore – From this Village 277 men went to the Great war 1914–18, of them 14 gave up their ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vallimalai
Vellore Vallimalai is a village in Katpadi taluk ( Vellore North Taluk ) of Vellore district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located from Vellore City and it is near Ponnai. It is known for Subramaniyar temple, a Hindu temple for Murugan. (; ta, முருகன்; ). is the place where , the daughter of Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi was born (according to legends, via the sweat drop from Lakshmi that fell on the grass at this place, and later on consumed by a female deer, thereafter was born to the Deer). Raised up by the Chief of the tribe, grew up to be a beautiful damsel. Narada muni recounted about to thereafter went to woo the damsel . After several vain attempts and finally with Lord Ganesha's help, and are united. They elope from and get married, settle down at Thanigai ( Thirutthani). There is another place by name Vellimalai, near Kanyakumari and Nagercoil bordering with Kerala State, which subscribes to the same story, where in Valli was born to marry wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and southeast of the Arabian Sea; it is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka shares a maritime border with India and Maldives. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is its legislative capital, and Colombo is its largest city and financial centre. Sri Lanka has a population of around 22 million (2020) and is a multinational state, home to diverse cultures, languages, and ethnicities. The Sinhalese are the majority of the nation's population. The Tamils, who are a large minority group, have also played an influential role in the island's history. Other long established groups include the Moors, the Burghers ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vedda People
The Vedda ( si, වැද්දා , ta, வேடர் (''Vēḍar'')), or Wanniyalaeto, are a minority indigenous group of people in Sri Lanka who, among other sub-communities such as Coast Veddas, Anuradhapura Veddas and Bintenne Veddas, are accorded indigenous status. The Vedda minority in Sri Lanka may become completely assimilated. Most speak Sinhala instead of their indigenous languages, which are nearing extinction. It has been hypothesized that the Vedda were probably the earliest inhabitants of Sri Lanka and have lived on the island since before the arrival of other ethnic groups in India. The Ratnapura District, which is part of the Sabaragamuwa Province, is known to have been inhabited by the Veddas in the distant past. This has been shown by scholars like Nandadeva Wijesekera. The very name ''Sabaragamuwa'' is believed to have meant the village of the ''Sabaras'' or "forest barbarians". Place-names such as ''Vedda-gala'' (Vedda Rock), ''Vedda-ela'' (Vedda Cana ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |