|
Dhanteras
Dhanatrayodashi (), also known as Dhanteras (), is the first day that marks the festival of Diwali or Tihar in most of India and Nepal It is celebrated on the thirteenth lunar day (Trayodashi) of Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) in the Hindu calendar month of Ashwin (according to the amānta tradition) or Kartika (according to the Bikram Sambat tradition). Dhanvantari, who is also worshipped on the occasion of Dhanteras, is considered the god of Ayurveda who imparted the wisdom of Ayurveda for the betterment of mankind and to help rid it of the suffering of disease. The Indian ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy announced its decision to observe Dhanteras as the "National Ayurveda Day", which was first observed on 28 October 2016. Celebrations Dhanteras is the worship of Dhanvantari. Dhanvantari, according to Hindu traditions, emerged during Samudra Manthana, holding a pot full of '' amrita'' (a nectar bestowing immortality) in on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diwali
Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual victory of ''Dharma'' over ''Adharma'', light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.Jean Mead, ''How and why Do Hindus Celebrate Divali?'', Diwali is celebrated during the Hindu calendar, Hindu lunisolar months of Ashvin (month), Ashvin (according to the Hindu calendar#amanta, amanta tradition) and Kartika (month), Kārtikabetween around mid-September and mid-November.''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (1998) – p. 540 "Diwali /dɪwɑːli/ (also Diwali) noun a Hindu festival with lights...". The celebrations generally last five or six days. Diwali is connected to various religious events, deities and personalities, such as being the day Rama returned to his Kosala, kingdom in Ayodhya (Ramayana), Ayodhya with h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dhanvantari
Dhanvantari () is the physician of the devas in Hinduism. He is regarded as an avatar of Vishnu. He is mentioned in the Puranas as the god of Ayurveda. During his incarnation on earth, he reigned as the King of Kashi, today locally referred to as Varanasi. Dhanvantari is also identified as the great-grandfather of Divodasa, the King of Kashi mentioned in the Vishnu Purana who is known as the father of surgery in Ayurveda. Iconography According to the ancient Sanskrit work ''Vishnudharamottara'', Dhanvantari is a handsome individual and is to usually be depicted with four hands, with one or two of them carrying a bowl of amrita, the elixir of immortality. Dhanvantari is depicted in a stark resemblance to Vishnu, with four hands, holding the shankha, chakra, jalauka (herb), and a pot containing amrita. He is often shown with a leech in his hand rather than the scriptures, symbolism for the historical practice of bloodletting. Some texts describe him as holding a conch, amr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tihar (festival)
Tihar (also known as Yamapanchak Deepawali) is a five-day spiritual and cultural Hindu festival of lights celebrated by Nepalese as well as by the Indian Gorkhas inhabiting Sikkim state and Territories (particularly the towns of Darjeeling and Kalimpong). Tihar is analogous to the Indian festival of Diwali, the festival of lights, but both are different Festival. Tihar is referred to as Yamapanchak Tihar in Kathmandu Valley by Newari Nepalis and Dipawali Tihar in Madhesh Province by Madhesi Nepalis. In the rest of Nepal and the Indian states of Sikkim and Gorkhaland, both Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas refer to Diwali as the Tihar Parwa. Like Diwali, it is marked by lighting '' diyo'' inside and outside the home, but unlike Diwali in other parts of India, the five days of Tihar include celebration and worship of the four creatures associated with the God of death Yama, with the final day reserved for people themselves. According to the Vikram Samvat calendar, the festiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ayurveda
Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayurveda is pseudoscientific and toxic metals including lead and Mercury (element), mercury are used as ingredients in many ayurvedic medicines. Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia. Therapies include herbal medicines, Dieting#Detox, special diets, Meditation#Hinduism, meditation, yoga, massage, Laxative#Historical and health fraud uses, laxatives, Enema#Alternative medicine, enemas, and medical oils. Ayurvedic preparations are typically based on complex herbal compounds, minerals, and metal substances (perhaps under the influence of early Indian alchemy or ''rasashastra''). Ancient ayurveda texts also taught surgical techniques, including rhinoplasty, lithotomy, sutures, cataract surgery, and the extraction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Krishna Paksha
Paksha () refers to a fortnight or a lunar phase in a month of the Hindu lunar calendar. Literally meaning "side", a paksha is the period either side of the ''purnima'' ( full moon day). A lunar month in the Hindu calendar has two fortnights, and begins with the ''amavasya'' (new moon). The lunar days are called ''tithis;'' each month has 30 ''tithi''s, which may vary from 20 – 27 hours. A paksha has 15 ''tithi''s, which are calculated by a 12 degree motion of the moon. The first fortnight between the new moon day and the full moon day is called the Gaura Paksha or Shukla Paksha (), the period of the brightening moon ( waxing moon), and the second fortnight of the month is called the Vadhya Paksha or Krishna Paksha (), the period of the fading moon ( waning moon).Hindu calendar The |
Ashwayuja
Ashvin or Ashwin or Ashwan (; ; Malay/ Indonesian: ''Aswin''; Thai: ''Asawin''), also known as Aswayuja, is the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, the solar Tamil calendar, where it is known as Aippasi, and the solar Indian national calendar. It is the sixth month of the solar Bengali calendar and the seventh of the lunar Indian calendar of the Deccan Plateau. It falls in the season of ''Sharada'', or autumn. In Hindu astrology, Ashvin begins with the Sun's enter into Virgo. It overlaps with September and October of the Gregorian calendar and is the month in which Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated according to the amanta tradition (Diwali falls in Kartika according to the purnimanta tradition). In lunar religious calendars, Ashvin begins on the new moon or the full moon around the time of the September equinox. Etymology Ashvini is the first star that appears in the evening sky. In Indian astrology, it is the head of Aries, or the first of the 27 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kārtika (month)
Kārtika (,) is the eighth month of the Hindu calendar, which falls in October and November of the Gregorian calendar. In India's national civil calendar. In most Hindu calendars, Kartika begins with the transit of the Sun into Libra, beginning on 18 October and lasting until 15 November. In the Nepali calendar, which is also the country's official calendar, Kartika is the seventh month of the year, similar to the Maithili and Bengali calendars. In Bengal, Kartika marks the start of the dry season ( ''Hemôntô''). In the solar Tamil calendar, ''Kārttikai'' (கார்த்திகை, ) is the seventh month, corresponding to November/December in the Gregorian calendar. It begins when the sun enters the sign of Scorpio. Many festivals, such as Karthikai Deepam, are celebrated in this month. Etymology The name of the month is derived from the name of a star, Krittika (, ) nakshatra. Festivals Several major religious holidays take place in Kartika. These are as fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvati and Sarasvati, form the trinity of goddesses called the Tridevi. Lakshmi has been a central figure in Hindu tradition since pre-Buddhist times (1500 to 500 BCE) and remains one of the most widely worshipped goddesses in the Hindu pantheon. Although she does not appear in the earliest Vedic literature, the personification of the term '' shri''—auspiciousness, glory, and high rank, often associated with kingship—eventually led to the development of Sri-Lakshmi as a goddess in later Vedic texts, particularly the ''Shri Suktam''. Her importance grew significantly during the late epic period (around 400 CE), when she became particularly associated with the preserver god Vishnu as his consort. In this role, Lakshmi is seen as the ide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rangoli
Rangoli is an art form that originates from the Indian subcontinent, in which patterns are created on the floor or a tabletop using materials such as powdered limestone, red ochre, dry rice flour, coloured sand, quartz powder, Petal, flower petals, and coloured rocks. It is an everyday practice in many Hindu households; however, making it is mostly reserved for festivals and other important celebrations as it is time-consuming. Rangolis are usually made during Diwali or Tihar (festival), Tihar, Onam, Pongal (festival), Pongal, Ugadi and other List of Hindu festivals, Hindu festivals in the Indian subcontinent, and are most often made during Diwali. Designs are passed from one generation to the next, keeping both the art form and the tradition alive. Rangoli have different names based on the state and culture. Rangoli hold a significant role in the everyday life of a Hindu household especially historically when the flooring of houses were untiled. They are usually made outside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaggery
Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane juice and often Date (fruit), date or Arecaceae, palm plant sap, sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in colour. It contains up to 50% sucrose, up to 20% invert sugars, and up to 20% moisture, with the remainder made up of other insoluble matter, such as wood ash, proteins, and bagasse fibres. Jaggery is very similar to muscovado, an important sweetener in Portuguese cuisine, Portuguese, British cuisine, British and French cuisine. Etymology Jaggery comes from Portuguese terms , , borrowed from Malayalam (), which is borrowed from Sanskrit (). It is a wikt:Appendix:Glossary#doublet, doublet of wikt:sugar#English, sugar. Origins and production Jaggery is made of the products o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naivedya
200px, ''Naivedya'' offered to Sri Maya Chandrodaya Mandir in Mayapur, India">Mayapur.html" ;"title="Sri Maya Chandrodaya Mandir, Mayapur">Sri Maya Chandrodaya Mandir in Mayapur">Sri Maya Chandrodaya Mandir, Mayapur">Sri Maya Chandrodaya Mandir in Mayapur, India Prasāda (, Sanskrit: प्रसाद), prasad or prasadam is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most often ''Prasada'' is vegetarian food especially cooked for devotees after praise and thanksgiving to a god. ''Mahaprasada'' (also called ''bhandarā''),Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech, 2014The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies/ref> is the consecrated food offered to the deity in a Hindu temple which is then distributed and partaken by all the devotees regardless of any orientation.Chitrita Banerji, 2010Eating India: Exploring the Food and Culture of the Land of SpicesSubhakanta Behera, 2002Construction of an identity discourse: Oriya literature and the Jagannath lovers (1866–1936) pp. 140–177.Susan Pattinson, 2011Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motif (visual Arts)
In art and iconography, a motif () is an element of an image. Motifs can occur both in figurative and narrative art, and in ornament and geometrical art. A motif may be repeated in a pattern or design, often many times, or may just occur once in a work. A motif may be an element in the iconography of a particular subject or type of subject that is seen in other works, or may form the main subject, as the Master of Animals motif in ancient art typically does. The related motif of confronted animals is often seen alone, but may also be repeated, for example in Byzantine silk and in other ancient textiles. Where the main subject of an artistic work - such as a painting - is a specific person, group, or moment in a narrative, that should be referred to as the "subject" of the work, not a motif, though the same thing may be a "motif" when part of another subject, or part of a work of decorative art - such as a painting on a vase. Ornament (art), Ornamental or decorative art ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
