History of Odisha

  

History of Odisha from the earliest written records can be traced all the way back to 3rd century B.C. Ashoka fought the famous Kalinga war and brought it under Maurya rule. The Chedi emperor Kharvela of Kalinga came to power in second century B.C. He defeated the Mauryas and extended his empire as far as Mathura. The famous Hathigumpha inscription in Udaigiri near Bhubaneshwar describes in detail the war adventures of Kharvela as well as his administration. He was succeeded by the dynasties of Magharas (4th-5th century), Sailodbhavas (6th-8th century), Bhoumakaras and Somavamsis (8th-llth century). Later, Gangas emerged as a major power in Southern Odisha in the eleventh century. In this period remarkable development in Odisha's economy, society and culture took place. The contribution to Oriya art especially, to the development of Odissi dance and Odissi music was disproportionately great compared to the contribution of other dynasties. Turko-Afghans conquered Odisha in 1590. According to historians the political decline started in Odisha from the time of the Muslim rule. British finally conquered Odisha in 1803.

Ancient History of Odisha
The state of Odisha was also known as Utkal and Odra in the ancient India. In fact during the rule of the Aryans the kingdom of Kalinga was a name to reckon with. The reference to this kingdom is quite frequent in Mahabharata as well. The ancient political history begins with the rulers of the Nanda dynasty. It was Chandragupta Maurya who captured the Nanda kings throne and thus the Mauryan reign commenced. However it is the Kalinga War that has been immortalised in the history of India. The sudden transformation of Ashoka from a power-hungry emperor to a Buddhist monk is an unforgettable tale. Post-Ashoka, the history of Odisha mentions a number of ruling dynasties, such as, the Kharavelas, Guptas, Satavahanas, Eastern Gangas, Nalas, Parvatadvarakas, Durjayas, Sailodbhavas and others. During the medieval times, the Marathas and the Mughals ruled over the kingdom of Odisha.

Medieval History of Odisha
The Muslim rulers after came to Delhi occupied Bengal and Odisha in 1576. It was not before 1751 that the Maratha rule was established in Odisha. As far as religion is considered a major change was noticed post Kalinga War. Ashoka adopted Buddhism and inspired others to do the same. After the Kharavela kings were Jains. Hence even Jainism had an impact on the religious faith of the masses. However there are several temples in Odisha dedicated to Hindu deities that had been built by Hindu kings. Of these the most popular temple is the Jagannath Temple, Puri.

Modern History of Odisha
In 1803, with the beginning of modern era, Odisha once again witnessed transfer of powers when the British captured it from the Marathas in the Second Anglo-Maratha war. The British East India Company then divided the state of Odisha into three districts: Cuttack, Puri and Balasore. Initially the coastal area of Odisha was separated from Bengal and later in 1936 it was separated from Bihar.

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Indian Tribal Jewellery

  

Indian Tribal Jewellery is a traditional form of Indian jewellery and is known for its rustic flavour. India is a country, blessed and endowed with a richtribal culture. The tribes of India have preserved the ancient crafts and arts of India with their ethnic pieces of jewellery. Ornaments used by the tribes stand out in a crowd because of its rustic and earthy flavour. They make jewellery from the indigenous items that are available locally. Moreover the jewellery they prepare exhibit their artistic skill in a profound manner. The appeal of the tribal jewellery is mainly due to its chunky and unrefined look.

Features of Indian Tribal Jewellery
Tribal Jewellery communicates a lot regarding the status of the individual who wears it, since these represent the socio-cultural traditions of those tribal groups. The materials which they commonly use to prepare the wonderful pieces of jewellery are wood, shells, bone, clay and some crude metals. Sometimes they also use hairs of animals in a painted form. The shapes which they use are basic and very close to the ethnic Indian art.

Indian Tribal Jewellery of Different Regions
Various tribes in India use different types of jewellery to adorn themselves. Sometimes it is found that may be they are scantily clothed but they have ample jewellery on their bodies. Even tattoo is an attractive form of jewellery created by some tribal groups.

The tribe of Bastar District in Madhya Pradesh uses a lot of grass, beads and cane to prepare their unique jewellery. Traditional ornaments made out of silver, wood, peacock feathers, glass, copperand wild flowers are also commonly used by the tribes of Bastar. Sometimes the women of the Bastar tribe are seen wearing necklaces made out of one rupee coin It portrays the culture of Bastar District.

Similarly, the Banjara Tribe is a group of nomadic people in Rajasthan. The use of colourful, heavy jewellery is very popular among them. They make ornaments and a variety of belts which are heavily embossed with metal-mesh, coins, beads, shells and chains.

The Tribes of Meghalaya like the Khasi, Jaintia and the Garo Tribes are known for their exclusive creation of jewellery. The Khasi and the Jaintia tribes mainly use thick red coral bead necklaces and the Garo on the other hand are identified with thread strung thin fluted stems of glass. The Bhutias of Sikkim use the traditional gold to make jewellery. Along with gold they also use metals like silver, zee stones, turquoiseand coral.

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Kaivalya Pada, Patanjali Yoga Sutra

  

Kaivalya Pada is the fourth and the final chapter of Patanjali Yoga Sutra. The three components of Indian philosophy have been laid down systematically in the unique way of Patanjali. The components of Kaivalya Pada are 'Bhakti Marga', 'Karma Marga', and 'Jnana Marga'. In Kaivalya Pada, the path of renunciation or the 'Vairagya Marga' is elaborately explained.

Kaivalya means exclusiveness, or eternal emancipation. Kaivalya Pada describes an absolute, indivisible state of existence of the 'Yogi'. The yogi is free of thoughts, mind, intellect and ego and also freed from the intricacies of the 'gunas' of nature like, 'sattva', 'rajas' and 'tamas'. The chapter of Kaivalya Pada is both impressive and exhaustive. One of its main themes is that the content of consciousness is pure, absolute and divine, provided it remains unblemished by action; be it white ('sattvic') grey ('rajasic') or black ('tamasic'). The absolute nature of consciousness is to be realised by propitious birth, spiritual fervour and meditation.

Kaivalya Pada opens with the contention that prodigious yogic powers may be inborn, acquired by merit accumulated through practice in former lives. They may also be attained through use of herbs ('ausadhi'), incantation ('Mantra'), devoted discipline ('tapas'), meditation ('dhyana') and total absorption ('Samadhi'). In these five types of yogis, nature's energy, which later becomes known as 'Kundalini', flows with ever-increasing abundance, preparing them to receive the infinite light of the soul. This is why tapas and Samadhi are held to be the best of the five; they provide a firm foundation for stable growth, which prevents the yogi from misusing the energy built up through his practices. For ensuring safety the yogis employ method and restrain so as to use nature's energy ('Shakti'), intelligently to gain wisdom.

In other chapters of Patanjali Yoga Sutra, it is pointed out that nature is eternal and its qualities or gunas are ever-changing. Kaivalya Pada further says that this blending of the gunas creates diversity in the mind so that it sees objects in different ways. The object is the same and the mind, too, is the same. But the same mind has many qualities of mood and behaviour. This fragmentation is the cause of 'Avidya'. The mind divided by the gunas moulds and re-moulds man. The study of subject and object helps the student to perceive with prejudice, and facilitates him to be aware of the objects exist independently, irrespective of his cognition of them.

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Ayurvedic Herbs

  

Ayurvedic Herbs are made out of roots, bark, fruits and plants, found in the deep dark woods of India where the herbs grow freely without pesticides and chemicals. These ayurvedic herb works with perfect harmony with the body and the mind. Ayurvedic medicine utilizes Ayurvedic herbs for the therapeutics like herbal tonics and herbal sweat baths. To deal with stress-related, metabolic, and chronic conditions these Ayurvedic herbs are administered often orally or even often inhaled depending on the need of the patient.

Classifications of Ayurvedic Herbs
Ayurvedic herbs can be classified into five types; according to origin, habitat, various actions, action on doshas and their use.

Classifications of herbs according to origin are based on the theory of Panchabhuta. The classification of ayurvedic herb as per habitat and life span divides the herbs into four main categories like:

Sthalaj - Plant and trees that grow on land; e.g. Haritaki, Amalaki, etc,

Jalaj - herbs that grow in water; e.g. Lotus,

Vruksharuha - herbs that grow other tree but are not dependent on that tree for its food

Vrukshadan (parasitic) - herbs that grow on another tree and also depend on that for its required food.

Ayurvedic herbs that are being classified according to the action on doshas are known as

Shaman - herbs which associate the vitiated dosha without purifying the doshas or disturbing the equilibrium

Kopan - herbs which vitiate the doshas in equilibrium and

Swasthahita - herbs which have a tendency to increase or decrease vata doshas.

Depending on their usage also Ayurveda classifies the Ayurvedic Herbs into two main categories like:

Aushadhi herb - herbs which are mainly used in preparing medicine

Ahar Dravya herb - the herbs that are used in preparing Ayurvedic pathya.

Ayurvedic herbs are further categorized according to their herbal properties and functions and each herb is used to treat each specific disease or behaviour. It is only by studying the symptoms coupled with the constitution of the patient, the ayurvedic practitioners determines the prevalence of each of the physical manifestations of the doshas and selects herbs to correct the physical imbalances.

Various Types of Ayurvedic Herbs
While some Ayurvedic herbs are administered individually some other herbs are also used as traditional formulas. Some of the Ayurvedic Herbs widely used are as follows;

Amalaki: Amalaki is a common Ayurvedic herb mainly used to maintain and rebuild tissues. Rich in Vitamin C, it reduces pitta without aggravating vata or kapha and is one of the three herbs used in Triphala, the primary Ayurvedic tonic for maintaining health.

Arjuna: Arjuna is traditionally given to support circulation and oxygenation of all tissues. It is also a famous cardiac tonic used in Ayurveda for a variety of heart conditions.

Ashoka: Ashoka is used in Ayurveda as a tonic for the uterus and is believed to maintain the proper function of the female generative system.

Ashwagandha: Ashwagandha has been traditionally used for general debility, sexual debility and nerve exhaustion.

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Bengali Cinema

  

Bengali cinema has its own importance in the Indian film industry. It comprises talented directors, actors, actresses, cameramen, music directors and other technicians. Bengali cinema goes through a lot of experiments before its execution. It is rich with variety of subject matter.

History of Bengali Cinema
The history of Bengali cinema dated back to those days when the first bioscope was introduced in Kolkata in 1980. It has come along a long way since its inception. Initially it was stage actors who shouldered the responsibility of establishing the Bengali film industry successfully. It flourished first in Hiralal Sen's silent movie, ‘Billwamangal’ released in 1919 produced by the ‘Madan Theatre Company of Calcutta’. After six years the first Indian feature film ‘Raja Harish Chandra’ was released. The Talkies began in early 1930s. ‘Dena Paona’ is first Bengali cinema as a talkie in 1931.

With the coming of the talkies in the early ‘30s, new studios became prominent in Bengaland most famous being Birendranath Sircar’s ‘New Theatres Ltd.’ which was established in 1930. ‘New Theatres’ landmark films were Debaki Bose’s ‘Chandidas’ (1932), Pramathes Barua’s ‘Debdas’ (1935) and ‘Mukti’ (1937) and Nitin Bose’s ‘President’ (1937). Pankaj Kumar Mallick, music director at New Theatres, first made use of Rabindra Sangeet in Barua’s ‘Mukti’. The studio created singing stars like Umasashi, Kananbala and K.L. Saigal. In the ‘50s, Bengali cinema also produced its most iconic star duo, Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. Uttam Kumar remained Bengali cinema’s top hero for over two decades and his death on 24th July 1980 almost brought the Bengali industry to a standstill. Kanon Devi was considered to be the earliest actress in Bengali cinema. Later on Savitri Chaterjee, Madhavi Mukherjee, Supriya Devi, Sharmila Tagore are note worthy. After them a group of very talented, versatile actresses came and Deboshree Roy topped the list. Indrani Halder, Shatabdi Roy, Rituparna Sengupta did well in contributing much to the Bengali cinema.

The best-known ‘event’ of the ‘50s Bengali cinema is nonetheless Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’ which released in 1955 and won "Best Human Document" at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. ‘Pather Panchali’ was appreciated by filmgoers and critics alike, as was ‘Apur Sansar’, the third film of Ray’s ‘Apu trilogy’, which had a ‘silver jubilee’ in Kolkata. ‘Apur Sansar’ introduced Soumitra Chatterjee, who along with Uttam Kumar became Bengali cinema’s top male star, and also worked in Ray’s classics like ‘Charulata’ (1964). Ray worked with Uttam Kumar in ‘Nayak’ (1966), a film supposedly inspired by Uttam’s iconic recognition. ‘Jalsaghar’ (1958), ‘Ajantrik’ (1958), ‘Neel Akasher Neechey’ (1959), ‘Devdas’ (1955), ‘Devi’ (1960), ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’ (1960), ‘the Calcutta trilogies’ (1971-1976), etc are also note worthy.

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Tourism in Maharashtra

  

Tourism in Maharashtra is one of the most exciting events of western part of India. The national and international tourists from all over the world come and visit the state to see a number of places which include popular cities, well known shrines and hill stations as well as historical sights which reflect the heritage of Maharashtra.

While the tourist spots in Masharashtra are surrounded with the scenic beauty of the Western ghats, it also includes some popular places which provide opportunity for leisure tourism. With well connected roadways and sufficient accommodation for its tourists it is one of the most popular states in India which is visited by the tourists.

Pilgrimage Tourism in Maharashtra
Pilgrimage Tourism of Maharashtra includes the Shirdi Saibaba which is located at a distance of 122 kms from Nasik; temple of Grishneshwar which is dedicated to Lord Shiva situated at a distance of half a kilometre from Ellora caves; the temples of Astavinayak which are scattered indifferent parts of Maharashtra. Dedicated to Lord Ganesha these are some of the most auspicious temples of Maharashtra; Sri mahalakshmi temple of Kolhapur which mainly draws its visitors towards the splendid curvatures that decorate the temple. Nanded is another important pilgrimage of which is dedicated to the sikh saints. It is one of the most popular gurduwaras of Maharashtra. Along with this Nasik which is one of the most popular centers of pilgrimage in Maharashtra. These temples are mainly known for their splendid architecture and colourful looks.

Nature Tourism in Maharashtra
Maharashtra is surrounded with a number of caves that can be dated back to 2nd and 3rd century BC. Prominent among them are the Ajanta caves, Ellora caves, Elephanta caves, Pitalkhora caves, and a number of Buddhist caves which are located at the slopes of mountain ranges of Sayadri Hills. These depict a high variety of architectural elegance which defines the life of early inhabitants of Maharashtra.

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