Pankaj is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

, common in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. It has its roots in the

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 ...

word ' which refers to the

lotus flower ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as sacred lotus, Laxmi lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often ref ...

. The word is a

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struct ...

of ' 'mud' and the suffix ' 'born from, growing in'.This is a shortened form of the root ' 'to live', which is cognate with Pashto ''-zai'' and Persian ''-zad''. The associated symbolism is of the lotus that is born in mud and blossoms after arising from mud. The lotus flower is also the national flower of India and is considered to be a symbol of Buddhist teaching (cf.

Nalanda Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.Pankaj Advani, an Indian billiards and snooker player * Pankaj Choudhary, an Indian politician of a party *

Pankaj Dheer Pankaj Dheer is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films and TV series. He is known for his role of Karna in TV series ''Mahabharat and'' other roles in '' Chandrakanta'', ''The Great Maratha'', '' Yug'' and '' Badho Bahu''. He appeared in se ...

, an Indian actor *

Pankaj Gupta Pankaj Kumar Gupta (10 September 1898 – 5 March 1971) was one of the earliest Indian sports administrators involved in professional football, hockey and cricket. He is best known for his involvement in professional hockey where he worked va ...

, an Indian sports administrator and hockey manager *

Pankaj Jain Pankaj Jain (born 1970) is a professor of Philosophy, Religious Studies, Film Studies, Sustainability, and Diaspora Studies. He has authored three books and has co-edited the Hinduism Section of the Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. His artic ...

, an Indian American professor of religious studies, film studies, and sustainability *

Pankaj Kapur Pankaj Kapur (born 29 May 1954) is an Indian actor who has worked in Hindi theatre, television and films. He has appeared in several television serials and films. He is the recipient of several awards, including a Filmfare Award and three Nat ...

, a Bollywood actor *

Pankaj Manubhai Zaveri This is a list of cricketers who have played first-class, List A or Twenty20 cricket for Gujarat cricket team. Seasons given are first and last seasons; the player did not necessarily play in all the intervening seasons. Players in bold hav ...

, an Indian cricketer *

Pankaj Mishra Pankaj Mishra FRSL (born 1969) is an Indian essayist and novelist. He was awarded the Windham–Campbell Prize for non-fiction in 2014. Early life and education Mishra was born in Jhansi, India. His father was a railway worker and trade unioni ...

, an Indian writer *

Pankaj Mullick Pankaj Kumar Mullick (10 May 1905 – 19 February 1978) was an Indian music composer, playback singer and actor, who was a pioneer of film music in Bengali cinema and Hindi cinema at the advent of playback singing, as well as an early exponent ...

, a Bengali Indian music director *

Pankaja Munde Pankaja Munde (born 26 July 1979), also known by her married name Pankaja Munde-Palwe, is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra and National Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Early life Pankaja Munde was born to Gopina ...

, an Indian politician *

Pankaj Oswal Pankaj Oswal is an Indian businessman. He was the chairman and sole founder of Burrup Holdings Limited, a Perth, Australia based company and one of the world's largest liquid ammonia production companies. Oswal has an estimated fortune of over A$3 ...

, the former chairman and managing director of Burrup Holdings Limited *

Pankaj Patel Pankaj Ramanbhai Patel (born 1952/1953) is an Indian billionaire businessman, and the chairman of Zydus Lifesciences, the fifth largest pharmaceutical company in India. Early life Pankaj Patel is a Gujarati. Patel holds Bachelor of Pharmacy and ...

, the current chairman and managing director of Cadila Healthcare *

Pankaj Rag Pankaj Rag is an Indian poet and IAS officer of 1990 batch. He has served as the Commissioner of Directorate of archeology, archives and museums, in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Director-General of National Archives of India, and Director of Film a ...

, current director of the Film and Television Institute of India *

Pankaj Roy Pankaj Roy (; 31 May 1928 – 4 February 2001) was an Indian cricketer and former national cricket team captain. He was right-handed opening batsman, he is best known for establishing the world record opening partnership of 413 runs, together ...

, an Indian cricketer *

Pankaj Sharma Pankaj Sharma is a British professor of Clinical Neurology at Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituen ...

, an associate professor in clinical neurology at Imperial Collegem * Pankaj Singh, an Indian cricketer *

Pankaj Tripathi Pankaj Tripathi (Birth name, né Tiwari; born 5 September 1976) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema and has also appeared in Telugu cinema, Telugu and Tamil cinema, Tamil language films. Tripathi has established himself as one of the n ...

, an Indian actor *

Pankaj Udhas Pankaj Udhas (born 17 May 1951) is an Indian ghazal and playback singer. He started his career with a release of a ghazal album titled ''Aahat'' in 1980 and subsequently recorded many hits like ''Mukarar'' in 1981, ''Tarrannum'' in 1982, ''Mehf ...

, an Indian Ghazal singer *

, Professor of Clinical Neurology

References and notes

{{Reflist Indian masculine given names