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Leogryph
''Chinthe'' ( my, ခြင်္သေ့ (); mnw, ဇာဒိသိုၚ် (); shn, သၢင်ႇသီႈ ()) is the Burmese word for 'lion'. The leograph of ''Chinthe'' is a highly stylized lion commonly depicted in Burmese iconography and architecture, especially as a pair of guardians flanking the entrances of Buddhist pagodas and ''kyaung'' (or Buddhist monasteries). Natural lion In contrast to popular foreign beliefs, the ''Chinthe'' is not a mythical creature but instead an entirely natural lion, although often associated with Buddho-Burmese myths. The Burmese leograph is related to other stylized lions in the Asian region, including the ''sing'' (สิงห์) of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and the ''simha'' (සිංහ) of Sri Lanka, where it is featured prominently on the Sri Lankan rupee. It is also related to East Asian leographs, such as the guardian lions of China, ''komainu'' of Japan, ''shisa'' of Okinawa and Snow Lion of Tibet. Origins The st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane. It is a social species, forming groups called ''prides''. A lion's pride consists of a few adult males, related females, and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. The lion is an apex predator, apex and keystone predator; although some lions scavenge when opportunities occur and have been known to hunt Human, humans, lions typically don't actively seek out and prey on humans. The lion inhabits grasslands, savannas and shrublands. It is usually more diurnality, diurnal than other wild cats, but when persecuted, it adapts to being active nocturnality, at night and crepuscular, at twilight. During the Neolithic period, the li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. At the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Vientiane. Present-day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang, which existed from the 14th century to the 18th century as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Because of its central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom became a hub for overland trade and became wealthy economically and culturally. After a period of internal conflict, Lan Xang broke into three separate kingdoms: Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
State Seal Of Myanmar
The State Seal of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် နိုင်ငံတော်အထိမ်းအမှတ်တံဆိပ်) is used in all official government documents, including publications. As the seal is an official symbol, there are State Seal Law and Principles regarding appropriate usage of it. Description *At the centre of the Seal is the map of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The sprigs of ''Eugenia'' containing fourteen leaves each are on either side of the map. *The sprigs of ''Eugenia'' are flanked on each side by an artistic Myanmar lion. The lion on the left side faces towards the left and the lion on the right side faces towards the right *The name of the country in Burmese, , is expressed on the ribbon at the foot of the Seal. The expression is on the scroll which is under the left lion. The expression is under the map. The expre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burmese Zodiac
The Burmese zodiac ( my, ဇာတာ ရာသီခွင် ) is the traditional Burmese system of astronomy and astrology. While it is still an important component of the Burmese calendar, today, the zodiac is closely identified with Burmese astrology, called ''Bedin'' (). Largely derived from Hindu astronomy and Vedic astrology, the Burmese zodiac consists of not only the same 12 signs of the Western zodiac but also 27 lunar mansions of the month and eight weekday signs. Structure Seasons The Burmese zodiac, like the Western zodiac, is divided into 12 signs called ''yathi'' ( ). The Burmese signs are identical to Indian and Western signs as they were derived from Indian and ultimately Western zodiac. Each ''yathi'' is divided into 30 degrees ( ); each degree into 60 minutes ( ); and each minute into 60 seconds ( ).Irwin 1909: 7–8 Lunar mansions The zodiac month consists of 27 days, approximating the mean sidereal month of 27.321661 days. Thus each zodiac day, called ''n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palin (throne)
''Palin'' ( my, ပလ္လင်; from pi, pallaṅka, or 'sofa') refers to any one of six types of thrones recognized in traditional Burmese scholarship. The ''palin'' is an important symbol of the Burmese monarchy and features prominently in Burmese architecture and Burmese Buddhist iconography. The ''palin'' is featured on the seal of Myanmar's Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture. Types of ''palin'' Traditional Burmese scholarship recognizes six types of thrones, namely: # () – the Buddha's throne # () – Brahma's throne # () – nat's throne # () – monarch's throne # () – Buddhist monk's throne # () – judge's throne Usage by Burmese monarchs In pre-colonial times, the (Burmese ''yazapalin'') seated the sovereign and his chief consort. Traditionally, Burmese palaces possessed eight types of thrones, housed in nine palace halls, leading to the Burmese adage, "eight thrones, nine palace halls" (ပလ္လင်ရှစ်ခန်း ရွ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhabahu
Sinhabahu (Sinha = Lion, Bahu = Arm) is a legendary king of ancient India, mentioned in Sri Lankan texts. He was father of Vijaya of Sri Lanka and king of Sinhapura. He was the son of Supadevi, a Vanga Kingdom princess. According to the Mahavamsa's folklore (the chronicled history of Sri Lanka), Sinhabahu's father was a lion and his mother a princess of Vanga, who was kidnapped by the lion. His hands and feet were like a lion's paws. When Sinhabahu was sixteen, he escaped with his mother and sister Sinhasivali, and arrived in the capital of Vanga. He later killed his father for a reward and was offered the throne of Vanga. He refused the throne, instead founding the city of Sinhapura, in the country of Lála. He lived there with his sister Sinhasivali, whom he made his consort. They had thirty-two children, of whom Vijaya was the eldest and Sumitta the second. See also * Incest in folklore Incest in folklore and mythology is suggested to be a motif that hides origin my ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predominantly covering present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. Geographically, it consists of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta system, the largest river delta in the world and a section of the Himalayas up to Nepal and Bhutan. Dense woodlands, including hilly rainforests, cover Bengal's northern and eastern areas, while an elevated forested plateau covers its central area; the highest point is at Sandakphu. In the littoral southwest are the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest. The region has a monsoon climate, which the Bengali calendar divides into six seasons. Bengal, then known as Gangaridai, was a leading power in ancient South Asia, with extensive trade networks forming connections to as far away as Roman Egypt. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanga Kingdom
Vanga was an ancient kingdom and geopolitical division within the Ganges delta in the Indian subcontinent. The kingdom is one of the namesakes of the Bengal region. It was located in southern Bengal, with the core region including present-day southern West Bengal (India) and southwestern Bangladesh. Vanga features prominently in the epics and tales of ancient India as well as in the history of Sri Lanka. Vanga was probably the center of the Gangaridai Empire mentioned by numerous Greco-Roman writers. The exact capital of ancient Vanga kingdom could not be identified. After the rule of Gupta empire, ancient Bengal was divided into two independent states. They were the Gauda Kingdom and Vanga kingdom and archaeologists think that Kotalipara in present-day Bangladesh was the capital of the independent Vanga kingdom. Indian and Greco-Roman writers referred to the region's war elephants. In Indian history, Vanga is notable for its strong navy. There are numerous references to Vang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shisa
is a traditional Ryukyuan cultural artifact and decoration derived from Chinese guardian lions, often seen in similar pairs, resembling a cross between a lion and a dog, from Okinawan mythology. Shisa are wards, believed to protect from some evils. People place pairs of shisa on their rooftops or flanking the gates to their houses, with the left shisa traditionally having a closed mouth, the right one an open mouth. The open mouth shisa traditionally wards off evil spirits, and the closed mouth shisa keeps good spirits in. History Like the ''komainu'' ("lion dogs"), the shisa are a variation of the guardian lions from China. From the Edo period, they started to be called "guardian dogs" in general in mainland Japan. Gender is variously assigned to the shisa. Some Okinawans believe the male has his mouth closed to keep bad out of the home, while the female has her mouth open to share goodness. Others believe the female has her mouth closed to "keep in the good", while the male ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Komainu
, often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures either guarding the entrance or the ''honden'', or inner shrine of many Japanese Shinto shrines or kept inside the inner shrine itself, where they are not visible to the public. The first type, born during the Edo period, is called , the second and much older type . They can sometimes be found also at Buddhist temples, nobility residences or even private homes. Symbolic meaning Meant to ward off evil spirits, modern ''komainu'' statues usually are almost identical, but one has the mouth open, the other closed (however, exceptions exist, where both ''komainu'' have their mouth either open or closed.Shogakukan Encyclopedia, ''Komainu''). The two forms are called and or referred to collectively as ''a-un''.Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version This is a very common characteristic in religious statue pairs at both temples and shrines. The pattern is Buddhist in origin (see the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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