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Ghunghat
A ghoonghat (''ghunghat'', ''ghunghta'', ''ghomta'', ''orhni'', odani, ''laaj'', ''chunari'', ''jhund'', ''kundh'') is a headcovering or headscarf, worn primarily in the Indian subcontinent, by some married Hindu, Jain, and Sikh women to cover their heads, and often their faces. Generally ''aanchal'' or ''pallu'', the loose end of a sari is pulled over the head and face to act as a ghoonghat. A ''dupatta'' (long scarf) is also commonly used as a ghoongat. Since the ancient period of India, the veiling of women (what became known as ghoonghat) has been practiced. Today, facial veiling by Hindu women as part of everyday attire is now mostly limited to the Hindi Belt region of India, particularly Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, and some parts of Sindh and Punjab. It has been both romanticized and criticized in religious and folk literature. Etymology The word ''ghoongat'', ''ghunghat'' or ''ghunghta'' is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rajasthan Girl Traditional Dress
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern side, where it comprises most of the wide and inhospitable Thar Desert (also known as the Great Indian Desert) and shares a border with the Pakistani provinces of Punjab to the northwest and Sindh to the west, along the Sutlej-Indus River valley. It is bordered by five other Indian states: Punjab to the north; Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the northeast; Madhya Pradesh to the southeast; and Gujarat to the southwest. Its geographical location is 23.3 to 30.12 North latitude and 69.30 to 78.17 East longitude, with the Tropic of Cancer passing through its southernmost tip. Its major features include the ruins of the Indus Valley civilisation at Kalibangan and Balathal, the Dilwara Temples, a Jain pilgrimage site at Rajasthan's only hill station, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth-most populous state, with a population of 60.4 million. It is bordered by Rajasthan to the northeast, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the south, Maharashtra to the southeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and the Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Gujarat's capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. The Gujaratis are indigenous to the state and their language, Gujarati, is the state's official language. The state encompasses 23 sites of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation (more than any other state). The most important sites are Lothal (the world's first dry dock), Dholavira (the fifth largest site), and Gola Dhoro (where 5 uncommon seals were found). Lothal i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhāsa
Bhāsa is one of the earliest and most celebrated Indian playwrights in Sanskrit, predating Kalidasa. His name was already well-known by the 1st century BCE and he belongs to the late-Mauryan (322-184 BCE) period at the earliest, but the thirteen plays attached to his name are commonly dated closer to the first or second century CE. His plays had been lost for centuries until the manuscripts were rediscovered in 1913 by the Indian scholar Ganapati Shastri. Bhāsa had previously only been known from mentions in other works, like the '' Kavyamimamsa'' on poetics from 880–920 AD. In the Kavyamimamsa, Rajashekhara attributes the play ''Swapnavasavadattam'' to Bhāsa. In the introduction to his first play ''Malavikagnimitram'', Kālidāsa wrote: "Shall we neglect the works of such illustrious authors as Bhāsa, Saumilla, and Kaviputra? Can the audience feel any respect for the work of a modern poet, a Kālidāsa?" Date Bhāsa's date of birth is uncertain, but his name was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Courtesan
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal court, court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudalism, feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together. Prior to the Renaissance, courtesans served to convey information to visiting dignitaries, when servants could not be trusted. In Renaissance Europe, courtiers played an extremely important role in upper-class society. As it was customary during this time for royal couples to lead separate lives—commonly marrying simply to preserve bloodlines and to secure political alliances—men and women would often seek gratification and companionship from people living at court. In fact, the verb 'to court' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vasantasena
Vasantasena (Fifth century BC) was a courtesan of Ujjayini according to ancient Indian literature, who earned fame and prosperity due to her finesse in various art forms such as singing, dancing, poetry, and courting as well as for her beauty. She is the lady protagonist of the Sanskrit play Mṛichchhakatika (The Little Clay Cart) written by Śūdraka. Character in the Play In the play, Vasantasena is depicted as a strong character. She is not a conventional heroine waiting for a hero to come woo her. According to the play, Vasantasena falls in love with Chārudatta, a young Brahmin who loses all his wealth due to his philanthropic and altruistic nature and is seriously impoverished. The wealthy courtesan lives a life of utmost luxury but falls in love with Chārudatta for his extremely noble nature. Despite being happily married and having a son, Chārudatta also falls in love with Vasantasena for her beauty, her refined personality, and her noble nature. In the play, she i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mṛcchakatika
''Mṛcchakatika'' ( sa, Mṛcchakaṭikam मृच्छकटिकम्), also spelled ''Mṛcchakaṭikā'', ''Mrchchhakatika'', ''Mricchakatika'', or ''Mrichchhakatika'' (''The Little Clay Cart'') is a ten-act Sanskrit drama attributed to Śūdraka, an ancient playwright who is possibly from the 5th century CE, and who is identified by the prologue as a Kshatriya king as well as a devotee of Shiva who lived for above 110 years. The play is set in the ancient city of Ujjayini during the reign of the King Pālaka, near the end of the Pradyota dynasty that made up the first quarter of the fifth century BCE. The central story is that of a noble but impoverished young Brahmin, sa, Cārudatta, who falls in love with a wealthy courtesan or nagarvadhu, sa, Vasantasenā. Despite their mutual affection, however, the couple's lives and love are threatened when a vulgar courtier, Samsthānaka, also known as Shakara, begins to aggressively pursue Vasantasenā. Life with romance, co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Śūdraka
Shudraka (IAST: ) was an Indian playwright, to whom three Sanskrit plays are attributed: '' Mrichchhakatika'' (''The Little Clay Cart''), ''Vinavasavadatta'', and a ''bhana'' (short one-act monologue), ''Padmaprabhritaka''.Bhattacharji, Sukumari ''History of Classical Sanskrit Literature'', Sangam Books, London, 1993, , p.93 According to the prologue of ''Mrichchhakatika'', he was a king; according to one theory, he may have been a third century Abhira king. According to another theory, Shudraka is a mythical figure, and the authorship of plays attributed to him is uncertain. Sources In the prologue of the play ''Mrichchhakatika'', the stage manager states that its poet was a wise king renowned as "Shudraka". He had performed Ashvamedha ritual to prove his superiority, and immolated himself at the age of 110 years, after crowning his son as the new king. The prologue describes him as a distinguished wise man, who had gained knowledge of the Rigveda, the Samaveda, mathematics, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gupta Period
The Gupta Empire was an 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; 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 Parasikas, the Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the 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 and Kumaragupta I. Many Hindu epics and literary sources, such as Mahabharata and Rama ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prakrit
The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, excluding earlier inscriptions and the later Pali. ''Prākṛta'' literally means "natural", as opposed to ''saṃskṛta'', which literally means "constructed" or "refined". Prakrits were considered the regional spoken (informal) languages of people, and Sanskrit was considered the standardized (formal) language used for literary, official and religious purposes across Indian kingdoms of the subcontinent. Literary registers of Prakrits were also used contemporaneously (predominantly by śramaṇa traditions) alongside Classical Sanskrit of higher social classes. Etymology The dictionary of Monier Monier-Williams (1819–1899), and other modern authors however, interpret ... [...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] |
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