BC RELIGION
Saved by @Alex1Powell

Chennakeshava Temple, Somanathapura, Karnataka.

This temple, not to be confused with the Belur Chennakeshava temple, was built during the Hoysala period by a Hoysala general named Dandanayaka Somanatha. The temple dedicated to lord Vishnu was consecrated in 1258.

 Dandanayaka Somanatha established a village named Somanathapura on the banks of river Kaveri. He sought the permission of King Narasimha III, to begin construction of a grand temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu that would also showcase the might of Hoysalas.(1)
The temple rests on a high star shaped platform (jagati) with 3 sanctums (garbha griha) making it a trikuta, set in a square matrix oriented along the east west and north south axes.(2)
The western sanctum is dedicated to Kesava, the northern sanctum to Janardhana and the southern sanctum to Venugopala, all are forms of lord Vishnu.(3)
The sanctums share a common community hall (sabha mandapa) with many pillars. Above each of these sanctums rise the 16 pointed star shaped tower called vimana or shikara.(4)
The raised jagati platform circles around the main temple with a pradakshina patth (circumambulation path), and is supposed to be walked in a clockwise way in order to read the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana in the correct sequence.(5)
The entire outer wall of the temple is decorated with carved parallel horizontal bands of artwork. It has 3 major sections, the basement band, the wall band and the top band.(6)
The lowest band in the basement section is about 6 inches tall and shows a row of elephants mostly marching to the left in the clockwise direction. The band above the elephants is of horses with armed riders, depicting a military march.(7)
In some spots, camels substitute for horses suggesting that the Hoysala had adopted camels into their army.(8)
The band above the horsemen shows flowers, fruits, some peacocks and wildlife. The band above it is the religious one depicting spiritual stories from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana. The same spiritual theme continues inside temple interiors as well.(9)
All 3 shikharas are of same height. Their plan uses lotus with an oblong projection, four sets of ornamental turrets, and capped by a stone kalash. The carvings on the tower include dancers, gandharvas, yakshas, kirtimukhas, lion faces and mythical animals such as makaras.(10)
The top of each tower is shaped as an inverted blooming lotus flower. The original tower tops each had a large stone kalasha.(11)
Somanathapur temple was damaged during !slamc attacks on the Hoysalas. The first one was by Malik Kafur, Alauddin Khilji’s general in 1311 and in 1326 by Md Bin Tughlaq. Some parts of the temples were restored by Vijayanagara Kings and later by Wodeyars of Mysore.(12)
SOUTH SHRINE

The idol of Krishna in Venugopala form in the sanctum is 4.5 feet high. He dons ear rings, necklaces, armlets, bracelets, finger rings, toe rings, anklets, girdle and jewelled diadem.(13)
NORTH SHRINE

The garbha griha has a 6 ft high statue, wherein the Garuda pedestal is 1.5 feet, and the image of Janardhana is 4.5 feet high. He adorns jewelry, and on the fringe of his sculpture's torana are carved the 10 avatars of Vishnu.(14)
WEST SHRINE

The garbha griha has a Garuda pedestal that is 1.5 feet high but the installed idol isn't deemed to be an original one. Just taken from somewhere in the temple and placed in the sanctum. The original statue was lost during time. (15)
Ravana abducting maata sita and Jatayu trying to save her eventually meeting his end.
Lord Krishna as a shepherd
Krishna and Balrama taking on the demons sent by his uncle Kansa
Lord Krishna stealing butter while Yashoda maa churning it.
Rama left, parshurama right!
From left:
Dancing goddess lakshmi
Dhanvantri
Saraswati playing veena in both depictions
From left
Narsimha bhagwaan
Vishnu and lakshmi seated on a garuda
Lakshmi with lotus
Indira riding aeraavat
Left
Lord krishna playing a flute
Right
Lord vishnu with mace and sudarshana
https://t.co/YMZisNjOmS
Left
Indira
Right
Vishnu
Peacock band
Left
Dancing ganesha
Right
Vishnu resting on sheshanaga
From left
Dancing goddess durga
Mahishasurmardini
Another form of dancing goddess
Bhakt prahlaad chanting vishnu mantras while hiranyakashyap subjects him to various forms of torture.
Left holika dehen
From left
Matsya avatar (fish)
Varaha avatar (boar)
Kurm avatar (turtle)
From left
Meditating lord vishnu (yoga narayana)
Lakshmi holding lotus
Chaturmukhi brahma

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THE BATTLE OF TALIKOTA and the destruction of Vijaynagar (Hampi)
26 January 1565

A tale of valor, deception and decimation.

A grim reminder that if we fail to protect our heritage, it will eventually crumble under the onslaught of "forces of anarchy".
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This decisive battle was fought between the Vijayanagara empire and the Deccan sultanates resulting in a rout of Vijayanagara and ending the last major medieval era Hindu kingdom in south India.(1)

The seeds of 1565 encounter were sown more than 250 years earlier when the forces of the Delhi Sultanate, during the time of Alauddin Khilji and later Md Bin Tughlaq swept through southern India in an expansion spree.(2)

By middle of the 14th century, facing rebellions, Tughlaq withdrew to Delhi, leaving behind 2 empires, Bahmani, which ruled the Deccan from Kalaburagi, and Vijayanagara, which ruled most south India with its capital at Vijayanagar.(3)

The Raichur Doab, between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, existed as a natural boundary between these two kingdoms, with wars often breaking out over control of this territory.(4)
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THE BATTLE OF SARAIGHAT (1671)

Lachit Borphukan's humiliation of Aurangzeb.

The battle of Saraighat was a naval engagement fought on the Brahmaputra river near Saraighat between the M0ghul empire and Ahom kingdom in 1671.

Guts, resolve and glory!

(Elaborate thread)


Koch was a state situated between the dominions of M0ghuls and Ahoms. For Ahoms, it was a buffer state for keeping M0ghul territorial expansions at bay.(1)

Times changed when the ruler of the Koch kingdom, Nara Narayana passed away in 1587 resulting in Koch being divided into 2. Western Koch was ruled by his son Lakshmi Narayan and the eastern Koch by his nephew, Raghudev.(2)

Lakshmi Narayan formed an alliance with M0ghuls after which he attacked Parikshit, son of Raghudev, in 1602. Parikshit Narayan was defeated while his brother Bali Narayan took refuge in the Ahom Kingdom.(3)

The M0ghuls used it as a pretext to invade Ahom kingdom. The first battle between them took place in 1615 leading to a series of engagements in which both sides had their shares of ups and downs resulting in a stalemate.(4)
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The BATTLE OF PAVAN KHIND (13 July 1660)

300 MARATHAS against 10000+ ADIL SHAHI TROOPS

A Sparta style last man stand at a mountain pass which ensured Shivaji Maharaj's safety.

Valour, loyalty and sacrifice!


Baji Prabhu Deshpande was one of the most able lieutenants of Shivaji. He sacrificed his life defending Shivaji in a heroic last stand known as the "Battle of Pavan Khind" in which his force was hugely outnumbered.(1)

In this battle he became a martyr, but managed to halt the enemy forces for several hours, which secured Shivaji’s safety and victory on another front. Without this heroic last stand Shivaji’s glorious career may have been cut short.(2)


Baji Prabhu was senior to Shivaji. In the beginning he opposed Shivaji being from a rival Maratha clan, but realised that Shivaji stood for national resurgence. Henceforth he became a friend and loyal supporter of Shivaji.(3)

In 1660, Shivaji was trapped in the fort of Panhala, under siege and vastly outnumbered by an Adilshahi army led by general Siddhi Jauhar.(4)
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FRANCIS XAVIER and THE GOA INQUISITION

A classic case of tampered history resulting in a Stockholm syndrome.

(Thread)


Francis Xavier was a Jesuit missionary who was sent to Indian colonies of Portugal by King Joao III of Portugal on a mission to convert Indians to xtianity.(1)

Francis landed in Goa, on 6th May 1542. Before his arrival, 2 Portuguese governors, Minguel Vaz and Diago Borba, had begun a Portuguese state sponsored pogrom for conversion of the native Hindu populationand carrying out large scale demolitions of Hindu temples.(2)

Francis worked hard at converting native Hindus to Christianity. He manifested a deep distrust for Hindus and described them as "pagans" and ‘idolators’.His contempt towards Hindus and Hindu faith is reflected in his own writings in several places.(3)

From his compilation "The letters and instructions of Francis Xavier"(4)
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WHEN GH0RI TOOK TO HIS HEELS WHILST FIGHTING A HINDU QUEEN

THE BATTLE OF KASAHRADA (Kayadara)
1178 AD

Strategy! Bravado! Glory!

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The narrative set by left historians about one of their favorite poster boys "Gh0ri" is that he went unchallenged upon entering the Indian subcontinent with one king falling after another.(1)

They conveniently deleted this event. Why? An agenda aimed at making us feel weak and inferior against the invaders in an attempt to glorify them. Simple strategy: To destroy a civilization tamper their history.(2)

Gh0ri defeated Prithviraj Chauhan at the 2nd Battle of Tarain in 1192 and laid the foundation of Delhi Sultanate. What is not well known is the fact that 14 years before he won this battle, he was defeated by the queen of Gujarat "Naiki Devi"!(3)

In 1173 Md Gh0ri had conquered the Ghaznavids in Afghanistan. A ruthless, persistent and deceptive Gh0ri was successful in conducting massive raids deep inside Indian territory.(4)
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One defining feature of many Christian men today is the effeminate practice of covert and evasive speech.

Even worse is the fact that this manner of speaking is widely seen as the moral, "charitable," and polite manner of speech, to be praised, encouraged, & emulated.
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The essence of this effeminate style in the evangelical man is the strategic avoidance of taking personal responsibility for (or "owning") what he has to say.

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This is Chris Gratien posting. I created this series during Fall 2020 for my students as asynchronous material supported by readings and discussion. This is going to be a long thread, but it will be a great shortcut for those looking to make similar use of these materials.

There are two items worth pointing out: 1. This is an overview of the political, social, and cultural history of Islamicate societies. It does not deal with the origins of Islam or many theological questions. It does discuss Islam’s spread and the transformation of Islamic law.

2. This is the first part of a two-part sequence that takes the history of the Islamic world into the present. It emphasizes developments and themes that have particular relevance for later periods.

This is really a multivocal narrative of Islamic history. We feature over 20 scholars from almost as many institutions. Many of those who worked on it, myself included, study the early modern and modern era but have teaching obligations that take us further back in history.
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THE SCIENCE BEHIND YAJNA

Fire is, of course, one of the greatest discovery of mankind. Our control over the fire dramatically changed the entire human habits; earlier it was used to cook food, protection from animals and to stay warm.


Among the many applications of fire, one is Yajna (यज्ञ, yajña); also called as Havana (हवन) or Agnihotra (अग्निहोत्र).
Yajna is elaborately described in Yajurveda. In Yajurveda, Yajna is the greatest among all works (Karman). One can purify his /her soul by performing Yajna.

In Vedic culture, it is thought that the holy fire is the mediator between Gods and us; when the offerings are made to Yajna with chanting mantras, it directly reaches the Gods, who bless the people with rains, food, health, and good luck.

According to Apastamba Sutra, the definition of Yajna is Vedic sacrifice; an act by which we surrender something for gods e.g. grains (Anna), pulse, milk and milk product (ghee, butter, curd) fruits, plant juice (soma), etc.

As we said; Yajna is the contact medium for gods and

to seek their blessings.

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1. Rajsuya Yajna
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Thinking about how, in Judaism, redeeming captives is considered a "great mitzvah," something that takes precedence over even supporting the poor, and the cash bail system.

1/x thread

Maimonides writes that ignoring the need to redeem captives goes against “Do not harden your heart or shut your hand against your needy fellow” (Deut 15:7) and “Do not stand idly by your neighbor’s blood” (Lev 19:16), among other Torah commandments.

The Shulchan Aruch (a significant Jewish law code) writes: “Every moment that one delays in freeing captives, in cases where it is possible to expedite their freedom, is considered to be tantamount to murder.”

If a community is in the middle of building a synagogue and the need to redeem captives comes up, they're ordered to dismantle the synagogue and sell the bricks and wood and use that money to redeem captives.

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Whenever we discuss about Mahabharata, we discuss same characters again & again. I thought we should discuss about lesser known but significant characters.

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Shalya was King of province called Madra. He was also known as Madra Naresh and he was the brother of Queen Madri, 2nd wife of King Pandu & Maternal Uncle of Nakul & Sahdev.

Pandavas called him Mama. Mama Shalya had pledged his supports to Pandavas, but then comes a twist.

Pandavas had gathered 7 Akshauhini Sena, while Kauravas had 9 Akshauhini Sena

According to epic Mahabarta, one Akshauhini contains four different types of armed forces
 21,870 chariots
 21,870 elephants
 65,616 horses
 109350 infantry

Pandavas knew Shalya has 2 Akshauhini Sena

With Mama Shalya joining Pandavas, things would have been squared at 9 Akshauhini Sena each. But Shakuni tricked him.

While Shalya was travelling towards Kurukshetra, Shakuni arranged excellent hospitality for him along the road for him & his Sena. Shalya was highly impressed.

Shalya was under the impression that this has been arranged by Yudhistir. After Madri went Sati, Nakul & Sahdev lived with Kunti instead of living with their uncle. Hence Shalya barely got chance to meet his nephews

He met Duryodhana on his arrival & he thought it was Yudhistir
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THREAD: Meditations on marriage metaphors in Ruth

The book of Ruth is, of course, a story about a beautiful marriage. But even before the courtship and the wedding and the important genealogy at the end, we find interesting language that is strikingly reminiscent of Genesis 2:24


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'Therefore a man shall leave [יַֽעֲזָב] his father and his mother and hold fast [וְדָבַ֣ק] to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.'

The verb עזב can be quite strong in force. For example, Joseph leaves behind [וַיַּעֲזֹ֤ב] his garment as he flees from Pharaoh's wife's sexual advances. Countless times, Israel is depicted abandoning the LORD, for example in Judg 2:12 [וַיַּעַזְב֞וּ], and going after other gods.

Likewise, the verb דבק is rather striking. Lot is mortified of disaster overtaking him [תִּדְבָּקַ֥נִי] as he flees from Sodom. Israel is commanded in Deut 10:20 to cling fast [תִדְבָּ֔ק] to the LORD and serve him and swear by his name.

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