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Vaijayanti
The Vaijayanti () is a mythological garland or elemental necklace, primarily associated with Vishnu. Employed in its worship as a garland, this object is also called the Vaijayantimala, or the Vanamala. In Sri Vaishnava tradition, the poet-saint Thondaradippodi Alvar is regarded to be a manifestation of the Vanamala. Literature Vaijayanti finds a mention in '' Vishnu Sahasranama'', a stotram dedicated to Vishnu in the ''Mahabharata'', as ''vanamali'' (forest flowers). The garland of victory is mentioned in the Mahabharata, as made of never-wilting lotuses. In the Skanda Purana, Varuna presents Lakshmi with the garland as a wedding gift. According to the Vishnu Purana, the garland prominently displays five precious gemstones: emerald, sapphire, ruby, pearl, and diamond. These correspond with the five classic elements commonly named earth, water, fire, air, and ether respectively. In the Shiva Purana, Vishnu offers his garland to his son-in-law Kartikeya, before his bat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva.Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism' (1996), p. 17. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme being who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Adi Shakti, is described as the supreme Para Brahman, yet Vishnu is revered along with Shiva and Brahma. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. According to Vaishnavism, the highest form of Ishvara is with qualities (Saguna), and have certain form, but is limitless, transcend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, i.e. ''Mahavishnu''. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or ''Vaishnava''s (), and it includes sub-sects like Krishnaism and Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 641 million or 67.6% of Hindus. The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, and broadly hypothesized as a History of Hinduism, fusion of various regional non-Vedic religions with Vishnu. A merger of several popular non-Vedic theistic traditions, particularly the Bhagavata cults of Vāsudeva, Vāsudeva-krishna and ''Gopala-Krishna, Gopala-Krishna'', and Narayana, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tārakāsura
Tarakasura ( sa, तारकासुर:) also rendered as Tharakasuran (Tamil: தாரக்காசுரன்) and Tarakasura ( te, తారకసుర) is a powerful asura in Hindu mythology. He is the son of the asura Vajranga and his wife Vajrangi. Taraka had three sons: Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali, and Kamalaksha, who were known as the Tripurasura. He is known to be slain by Kartikeya. Birth Diti, ever jealous of her sister Aditi, asked for her consort Kashyapa to provide her a son who would be capable of defeating the devas, who were the sons of Aditi. Consenting, Kashyapa granted his wife Vajranga, possessing adamantine limbs, who performed her bidding by capturing Indra and the devas and punishing them. When Aditi protested, Brahma urged Vajranga to release his captives, who acquiesced, stating that he had only done what his mother had instructed. Pleased, Brahma created a wife for him known as Vajrangi, who was both alluring and loving. When he offered her a bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flowers In Religion
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs. Flowers may facilitate outcrossing (fusion of sperm and eggs from different individuals in a population) resulting from cross-pollination or allow selfing (fusion of sperm and egg from the same flower) when self-pollination occurs. There are two types of pollination: self-pollination and cross-pollination. Self-pollination occurs when the pollen from the anther is deposited on the stigma of the same flower, or another flower on the same plant. Cross-pollination is when pollen is transferred from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower on a different individual of the same species. Self-pollination happens in flowers where the stamen and carpel mature at the same time, and are positioned s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of India (region)
The flora of India is one of the richest in the world due to the wide range of climate, topology and habitat in the country. There are estimated to be over 18,000 species of flowering plants in India, which constitute some 6-7 percent of the total plant species in the world. India is home to more than 50,000 species of plants, including a variety of endemics. The use of plants as a source of medicines has been an integral part of life in India from the earliest times. There are more than 3000 Indian plant species officially documented as possessing into eight main floristic regions : Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Indus plain, Ganges plain, the Deccan, Malabar and the Andaman Islands. Forests and wildlife resources In 1992, around 7,43,534 km2 of land in the country was under forests of which 92 percent belongs to the government. Only 22.7 percent is forested compared to the recommended 33 percent of the National Forest Policy Resolution 1952. The majo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanskrit Words And Phrases
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 collec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one of the most popular and widely revered among Indian divinities. Krishna's birthday is celebrated every year by Hindus on Krishna Janmashtami according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar, which falls in late August or early September of the Gregorian calendar. The anecdotes and narratives of Krishna's life are generally titled as ''Krishna Leela''. He is a central character in the ''Mahabharata'', the '' Bhagavata Purana'', the ''Brahma Vaivarta Purana,'' and the '' Bhagavad Gita'', and is mentioned in many Hindu philosophical, theological, and mythological texts. They portray him in various perspectives: as a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero, and the universal supreme being. Quote: "Krsna's various appearances as a di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Shaligram
A shaligrama shila ( deva, शालिग्राम शिला, Śāligrāma-śilā), also rendered as shaligram, is a particular variety of stone collected from riverbed or banks of the Kali Gandaki, a tributary of the Gandaki River in Nepal, used as a non-anthropomorphic representation of God Vishnu by Hindus. They are typically fossils of ammonite shells from the Devonian-Cretaceous period of 400 to 66 million years ago. The fossils are considered holy by Hindus because Madhvacharya received it from Vyasadeva, also called Astamurti, and also they resemble symbols associated with God Vishnu, mainly the Shankha (conch shell). Legends According to the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Brahmavaivarta Purana, and Shiva Purana, shilagrama shilas originated due to the following chain of events. A king named Vrishadhvaja had been cursed by Surya to endure poverty, due to his reluctance to worship any deity other than Shiva. To regain their lost prosperity, his grandsons Dharmadhvaja a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaustubha
Kaustubha () is a divine ruby or ''ratnam'' (gem) in Hindu mythology. This gem is in the possession of Vishnu, granting him the epithet of ''Kaustubhadhari''. It is believed in Hindu scriptures to be the most magnificent ''ratnam'' in all of creation, at the time of the churning of the ocean, and acts as a symbol of divine authority. Legend In Hindu mythology, the devas and the asuras performed the churning of the ocean of milk (Samudra Manthana) in order to obtain amrita, the elixir of immortality. During this process, fourteen jewels ( ratnas) emerged from the ocean. Among the first few treasures that emerged was the kaustubha, described to be an "excellent gem, the lotus-hued ruby". The Skanda Purana describes the nature of this gem: Krishna is described to be wearing the ruby in the Mahabharata: See also * Chintamani Gem *Navaratna *Shrivatsa The Shrivatsa (Sanskrit: ; IAST: ''Śrīvatsa,'' ) is an ancient symbol, considered auspicious in Hinduism and other I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Padma (Vishnu)
Padma () is one of the four attributes borne by Vishnu in his iconography. It is associated with Vishnu's abode upon water, as well as his role in creation and birth. Mythology In the Vishnu Purana, in the beginning of time, Brahma is described to have been created within a lotus blooming from the navel of Vishnu. The ''padma'' is hence prominent in the Vaishnava narrative of cosmogony, where Brahma is instructed by Vishnu to start generating the universe and the rest of creation. The lotus is regarded to be a representation of dharma, the cosmic law, as well the epitome of purity, as it rose beneath the impure seabed towards the sun. During the Samudra Manthanam, when Lakshmi chooses Vishnu as her eternal consort, she throws a garland of lotuses around his neck, and is also eulogised as the lotus-faced one. In the legend of the Gajendra Moksham, the elephant Gajendra holds a lotus as an offering to Vishnu as he arrives to save his devotee from a crocodile. The realm of Kris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hayagriva
Hayagriva, also spelled Hayagreeva ( sa, हयग्रीव IAST , ), is a Hindu deity, the horse-headed avatar of Vishnu. The purpose of this incarnation was to slay a danava also named Hayagriva (A descendant of Kashyapa and Danu), who had the neck of a horse and the body of a human. Iconography Hayagriva is an avatar of the god Vishnu. He is worshipped as the god of knowledge and wisdom, with a human body and a horse's head, brilliant white in color, with white garments and seated on a white lotus. Symbolically, the story represents the triumph of pure knowledge, guided by the hand of Divinity, over the demonic forces of passion and darkness. Vedanta Desika's ''dhyāna-śloka'' (meditative verse) on Hayagriva typifies this deity's depiction in Hindu iconography: He has four hands, with one in the mode of bestowing knowledge; another holds books of wisdom, and the other two hold the Conch and Discus. His beauty, like fresh cut crystal, is an auspicious brillian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
