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 and Nepal. It has its roots in the Sanskrit word ' which refers to the lotus flower. The word is a compound 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
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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
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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
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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, a Bollywood actor
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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, an Indian writer
* Pankaj Mullick, a Bengali Indian music director
* Pankaja Munde, an Indian politician
* Pankaj Oswal, the former chairman and managing director of Burrup Holdings Limited
* Pankaj Patel, the current chairman and managing director of Cadila Healthcare
* Pankaj Rag, current director of the Film and Television Institute of India
* Pankaj Roy, an Indian cricketer
* Pankaj Sharma, an associate professor in clinical neurology at Imperial Collegem
* Pankaj Singh, an Indian cricketer
* Pankaj Tripathi, an Indian actor
* Pankaj Udhas, an Indian Ghazal singer
* Pankaj Sharma, Professor of Clinical Neurology