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Music Of India
Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk, rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over several geo-locations spanning the sub-continent. Music in India began as an integral part of socio-religious life. History Pre-history Paleolithic The 30,000-year-old paleolithic and neolithic cave paintings at the UNESCO world heritage site at Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh show a type of dance. Mesolithic and chalcolithic cave art of Bhimbetka illustrates musical instruments such as Gongs, Bowed Lyre, daf etc. Neolithic Chalcolithic era (4000 BCE onward) narrow bar shaped polished stone celts like music instruments, one of the earlier musical instrument in India, were excavated at Sankarjang in the Angul district of Odisha. There is historical evidence in the form of sculptural evidence, i.e. musical instruments, singing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sankarjang
Sankarjang (20°52’08“N; 84°59’19“E), Odisha, India is an archaeological site near Angul, a former cemetery and settlement with large, worked stones but no one knows what they were made for, although some people think they might have been part of a lithophone . This site was test excavated by the State Archaeology Department of Odisha after a chance find of 20 long unfinished chipped and ground, lithic bars and axes of basalt, together with human skeletal remains and metallic artifacts, by a shepherd in 1971. Archaeologists understood ground stone lithics to be typical of the Neolithic Period The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ... although they were in production later. The elegant lithics from Sankarjang resemble elaborate ones from eastern Asia and the South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tala (music)
A tala (IAST ''tāla'') literally means a 'clap, tapping one's hand on one's arm, a musical measure'. It is the term used in Indian classical music similar to Metre (music), musical meter, that is any rhythmic beat or strike that measures musical time. The measure is typically established by hand clapping, waving, touching fingers on thigh or the other hand, verbally, striking of small cymbals, or a percussion instrument in the Indian subcontinental traditions. Along with ''raga'' which forms the fabric of a melodic structure, the ''tala'' forms the life cycle and thereby constitutes one of the two foundational elements of Indian music. ''Tala'' is an ancient music concept traceable to Vedas, Vedic era texts of Hinduism, such as the ''Samaveda'' and methods for singing the Vedic hymns. The music traditions of the North and South India, particularly the ''raga'' and ''tala'' systems, were not considered as distinct until about the 16th century. There on, during the tumultuous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shloka
Shloka or śloka ( , from the root , Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 232 (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927).) in a broader sense, according to Monier-Williams's dictionary, is "any verse or stanza; a proverb, saying"; but in particular it refers to the 32- syllable verse, derived from the Vedic '' anuṣṭubh'' metre, used in the '' Bhagavad Gita'' and many other works of classical Sanskrit literature. In its usual form it consists of four '' pādas'' or quarter-verses, of eight syllables each, or (according to an alternative analysis) of two half-verses of 16 syllables each. The metre is similar to the Vedic '' anuṣṭubh'' metre, but with stricter rules. The ''śloka'' is the basis for Indian epic poetry, and may be considered the Indian verse form ''par excellence'', occurring as it does far more frequently than any other metre in classical Sanskrit poetry. The ''śloka'' is the verse-form generally used in the '' Maha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shatapatha Brahmana
The Shatapatha Brahmana (, , abbreviated to 'SB') is a commentary on the Yajurveda, Śukla Yajurveda. It is attributed to the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya. Described as the most complete, systematic, and important of the Brahmanas (commentaries on the Vedas), it contains detailed explanations of Historical Vedic religion, Vedic Yajna, sacrificial rituals, symbolism, and mythology. Particularly in its description of sacrificial rituals (including construction of complex fire-altars). The Shatapatha Brahmana is also considered significant in the development of Vaishnavism as the origin of several Puranas, Puranic legends and avatars of Vishnu. Notably, all of them (Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, and Vamana) are listed as the first five avatars in the Dashavatara (the ten principal avatars of Vishnu). There are two versions (recensions) available of this text. They are the Madhyandina Shakha, Madhyandina recension and the Kanva Shakha, Kanva recension. This article focuses exclusively ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vedic Period
The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the end of the urban Indus Valley Civilisation and a second urbanisation, which began in the central Indo-Gangetic Plain BCE. The Vedas are liturgical texts which formed the basis of the influential Brahmanical ideology, which developed in the Kuru Kingdom, a tribal union of several Indo-Aryan tribes. The Vedas contain details of life during this period that have been interpreted to be historical and constitute the primary sources for understanding the period. These documents, alongside the corresponding archaeological record, allow for the evolution of the Indo-Aryan and Vedic culture to be traced and inferred. The Vedas were composed and orally transmitted with precision by speakers of an Old Indo-Aryan language who had migrated into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vedas
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu texts, scriptures of Hinduism. There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda. Each Veda has four subdivisions – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Brahmanas (commentaries on and explanation of rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices – Yajñas), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).Gavin Flood (1996), ''An Introduction to Hinduism'', Cambridge University Press, , pp. 35–39A Bhattacharya (2006), ''Hindu Dharma: Introduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dhol
Dhol () can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such as the Jammu division, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Himachal, Punjab region, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Kashmir, Sindh, Assam Valley, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. A related instrument is the dholak or dholki. ''Dhols'' are amongst other events used in Indian wedding ceremony processions such as Baraat or ''Varyatra''. Someone who plays the dhol is known as ''dholi''. Etymology The word Dhol is derived from Sanskrit word ''ḍhola,'' a term for drum in Sanskrit language. Construction The dhol is a double-sided barrel drum played mostly as an accompanying instrument in regional music forms. In Qawwali music, the term ''dhol'' is used to describe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilisations of the Near East and South Asia, and of the three, the most widespread, its sites spanning an area including much of Pakistan, northwestern India and northeast Afghanistan. The civilisation flourished both in the alluvial plain of the Indus River, which flows through the length of Pakistan, and along a system of perennial monsoon-fed rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the Ghaggar-Hakra, a seasonal river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. The term ''Harappan'' is sometimes applied to the Indus Civilisation after its type site Harappa, the first to be excavated early in the 20th century in what was then the Punjab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dancing Girl (prehistoric Sculpture)
''Dancing Girl'' is a prehistoric bronze sculpture made in lost-wax casting about –1751 BC in the Indus Valley Civilisation city of Mohenjo-daro (in modern-day Pakistan), which was one of the earliest cities. The statue is tall, and depicts a nude young woman or girl with stylized ornaments, standing in a confident, naturalistic pose. ''Dancing Girl'' is highly regarded as a work of art. The statue was excavated by British archaeologist Ernest J. H. Mackay, Ernest Mackay in the "HR area" of Mohenjo-daro in 1926. It is now in the National Museum, New Delhi, having been allocated to India at the Partition of India in 1947. History After excavation at Mohenjo-daro in 1926, this and the other finds were initially deposited in the Lahore Museum, but later moved to the Archaeological Survey of India headquarters at New Delhi, where a new "Central Imperial Museum" was being planned for the new capital of the British Raj, in which at least a selection would be displayed. It became a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra Khetra'' and ''Ekamra Khetra'' (Area adorned with a mango tree). Bhubaneswar is dubbed the "Temple City", a nickname earned because of many temples which are standing there. In contemporary times, the city is a hub of sports, tourism and IT in the country. Although the modern city of Bhubaneswar was formally established in 1948, the history of the areas in and around the present-day city can be traced to the 1st century BCE. It is a confluence of Hinduism, Hindu, Buddhism, Buddhist and Jainism, Jain heritage and includes several Kalinga architecture, Kalingan temples, many of them from 6th–13th century CE. With Puri and Konark, it forms the "Swarna Tribhuja" (), one of Eastern India's most visited destinations.Ramesh Prasad Mohapatra, ''A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Udayagiri And Khandagiri Caves
Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves, formerly called Kattaka Gumpha or Cuttack caves, are partly natural and partly artificial caves of archaeological, historical and religious importance 3 km south of the city of Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India. The caves are situated on two adjacent hills, Udayagiri and Khandagiri mentioned as ''Kumari Parvata'' in the Hathigumpha inscription. They have a number of finely and ornately carved caves built during the 1st century BCE. It is believed that most of these caves were carved out as residential blocks for Jain monks during the reign of King Kharavela. Udayagiri means "Sunrise Hill" and has 18 caves while Khandagiri has 15 caves. The caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri, called ''lena'' or ''leṇa'' in the inscriptions, were taken out mostly during the reign of Kharavela for the abode of Jain ascetics. The most importance of this group was Ranigumpha in Udayagiri which is a double storeyed monastery. Other important caves include Hathi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
