|
Shore Temple
The Shore Temple (c. 725 AD) is a complex of temples and shrines that overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is located in Mahabalipuram, about south of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. It is a structural temple, built with blocks of granite, dating from the 8th century AD. At the time of its creation, the site was a busy port during the reign of Narasimhavarman II of the Indian Pallava dynasty. As one of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, it has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. It is one of the oldest structural (versus rock-cut) stone temples of Southern India. History Marco Polo and the European merchants who came to Asia after him called the site Seven Pagodas. One of these is believed to be the Shore Temple. The temple probably acted as a landmark for seafarers. As it appears like a Pagoda, the name became familiar to the seafarers. This structural temple complex was the culmination of the architectural creations that were initiat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified by adherence to the concept of ''dharma'', a Ṛta, cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righteous living, as expounded in the Vedas. The word ''Hindu'' is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, it has also been described by the modern term ''Sanātana Dharma'' () emphasizing its eternal nature. ''Vaidika Dharma'' () and ''Arya dharma'' are historical endonyms for Hinduism. Hinduism entails diverse systems of thought, marked by a range of shared Glossary of Hinduism terms, concepts that discuss God in Hinduism, theology, Hindu mythology, mythology, among other topics in Hindu texts, textual sources. Hindu texts have been classified into Śruti () and Smṛti (). The major Hin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marvels of the World '' and ''Il Milione'', ), a book that described the then-mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of the Mongol Empire and China under the Yuan dynasty, giving Europeans their first comprehensive look into China, Persia, India, Japan, and other Asian societies. Born in Venice, Marco learned the mercantile trade from his father and his uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, Niccolò and Maffeo, who travelled through Asia and met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, exploring many places along the Silk Road until they reached "Cathay". They were received by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shiva Linga
A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, where it means a "mark, sign, emblem, characteristic", the "evidence, proof, symptom" of Shiva and Shiva's power. The lingam of the Shaivism tradition is a short cylindrical pillar-like symbol of Shiva, made of stone, metal, gem, wood, clay or precious stones. It is often represented within a disc-shaped platform, the '' yoni'' – its feminine counterpart, consisting of a flat element, horizontal compared to the vertical lingam, and designed to allow liquid offerings to drain away for collection. The ''lingam'' is an emblem of generative and destructive power. While rooted in representations of the male sexual organ, the ''lingam'' is regarded as the "outward symbol" of the "formless reality", the symbolization of merging of the 'primordial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharmaraja Ratha
Dharmaraja Ratha is a monument in the Pancha Rathas complex at Mahabalipuram, on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, in the Kancheepuram district of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is an example of monolithic architecture, monolith Indian rock-cut architecture. Dating from the late 7th century, it is attributed to the reign of King Mahendravarman I and his son Narasimhavarman I (630–680 AD; also called Mamalla, or "great warrior") of the Pallava Kingdom. The entire complex is under the auspices of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). It is one of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram that were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. Resembling a chariot (''ratha''), it is carved out of a single, long stone of pink granite. Though sometimes mistakenly referred to as a temple, the structure was not consecrated because it was not completed following the death of Narasimhavarman I. The structure is named after the eldest of the Pandava, Pancha Pandav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shore Temple Floor Plan, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, such as that caused by wind wave, waves. The geology, geological composition of rock (geology), rock and soil dictates the type of shore that is created. Earth has about of coastline. Coasts are important zones in natural ecosystems, often home to a wide range of biodiversity. On land, they harbor ecosystems, such as freshwater marsh, freshwater or estuary, estuarine wetlands, that are important for birds and other terrestrial animals. In wave-protected areas, coasts harbor salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrass meadow, seagrasses, all of which can provide nursery habitat for finfish, shellfish, and other aquatic animals. Rocky shores are usually found along exposed coasts and provide habitat for a wide range of sessility (motility), sessile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The Hindu'' is published from 21 locations across 11 states of India. ''The Hindu'' has been a family-owned newspaper since 1905, when it was purchased by S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar from the original founders. It is now jointly owned by Iyengar's descendants, referred to as the "Kasturi family", who serve as the directors of the holding company. Except for a period of around two years, when Siddharth Varadarajan, S. Varadarajan held the editorship of the newspaper, senior editorial positions of the paper have always been held by members of the original Iyengar family or by those appointed by them under their direction. In June 2023, the former chairperson of the group, Malini Parthasarathy, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Groynes
A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid aquatic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concrete, or stone. In the ocean, groynes create beaches, prevent beach erosion caused by longshore drift where this is the dominant process and facilitate beach nourishment. There is also often cross-shore movement which if longer than the groyne will limit its effectiveness. In a river, groynes slow down the process of erosion and prevent ice-jamming, which in turn aids navigation. All of a groyne may be underwater, in which case it is a ''submerged groyne''. They are often used in tandem with seawalls and other coastal engineering features. Groynes, however, may cause a shoreline to be perceived as unnatural. Groynes are generally straight but could be of various plan view shapes, permeable or impermeable, built from various materials such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varaha
Varaha (, , "boar") is the avatar of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a wild boar, boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. In legend, when the demon Hiranyaksha steals the earth goddess Bhumi (goddess), Bhumi and hid her in the primordial waters, Vishnu appears as Varaha to rescue her. Varaha kills Hiranyaksha and retrieves the earth from the cosmic ocean, lifting her on his tusks, and restores her to her place in the universe. Varaha is depicted as a boar or in an anthropomorphic form, with a boar's head and the human body. Varaha often depicted lifing his consort Bhumi, the earth. Etymology and other names The deity Varaha derives its name from the Sanskrit word ''varaha'' (Devanagari: वराह, ) meaning "boar" or "wild boar". The word ''varāha'' is from Proto-Indo-Iranian language, Proto-Indo-Iranian term ''warāȷ́ʰá'', meaning boar. It is thus related to Avestan ''varāza'', Kurdish lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jetty
A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater (structure), breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French language, French word ', "thrown", signifying something thrown out. For regulating rivers Wing dams Jetties of one form, wing dams, are extended out, opposite one another, from each bank of a river, at intervals, to contract a wide channel (geography), channel, and concentrate the current to deepen the channel. At the outlet of tideless rivers Jetties have been constructed on each side of the outlet river of some of the rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea, Baltic, with the objective of prolonging the scour of the river and protecting the channel from being shoaled by the littoral drift along the shore. Another application of parallel jetties is in lowering the bar in front of one of the mouths of a deltaic river flowing into a tide — a v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europeans
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are no universally accepted and precise definitions of the terms "ethnic group" and "nationality", but in the context of European ethnography in particular, the terms ''ethnic group'', ''people'', ''nationality'' and ''ethno-linguistic group'' are used as mostly synonymous. Preference may vary in usage with respect to the situation specific to the individual countries of Europe, and the context in which they may be classified by those terms. The total number of national minority populations in Europe is estimated at 105 million people, or 14% of 770 million Europeans in 2002.Christoph Pan, Beate Sibylle Pfeil (2002), Minderheitenrechte in Europa. Handbuch der europäischen Volksgruppen', Braumüller, (Google Books, snippet view). Als2006 rep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsunami Of 2004
On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma plate and the Indian plate, and reached a Mercalli intensity of IX in some areas. A massive tsunami with waves up to high, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami after the Boxing Day holiday, or as the Asian Tsunami, devastated communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean, killing an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries, violently in Aceh (Indonesia), and severely in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu (India), and Khao Lak (Thailand). The direct result was major disruption to living conditions and commerce in coastal provinces of surrounding countries. It is the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century, one of the deadli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
