🌿Some rare oil, litho and oleograph paintings of the Pre-Bengal School from 19th century. Painted by various unknown artists 🌿
1. 🌺Devi Durga with little shri Krishna🌺

The Moon is one of the most important placements in a person’s birth chart. In astrology from the Islamic world, the Moon is central after the Ascendant for determining the character and nature of a person.

A thread on the Moon and its meanings-

Astrologers from the medieval Islamic world, noted the placement of the Moon as important for shaping a person’s life.

Doubly so for nocturnal births, but important for all. Al Khayyat, Mashallah, and Sahl interpreted the Moon through its placement in the signs.

Moon in Aries is quick to anger, the holding of grudges, and an easily wounded pride.

Headaches and vertigo are common as is fights with friends.

Moon in Taurus indicates the desire for sex and love is mingled with comfort and security.

They find joy in partnerships and leisure and food.

Moon in Gemini indicates a desire for women, men, and youths. They delight in words and coyness.

They speak truthful things though not always believed.

#THREAD
1.JALAKANDESWARAR TEMPLE,Vellore,#TamilNadu It's dedicated to God SHIVA is located inside the Vellore Fort. The temple is named Jalakandeswarar,as it is located at a lower height than the temple moat.The construction of the temple began in the year 1274 CE @LostTemple7

2.its construction continued for 50 years.The temple has two courtyards and has a main shrine with a closed path around it and a number of sub-shrines. Inside the Garbha griha, main deity Jalakandeswarar is seen in the form of Shivalinga. @ReclaimTemples

3.Goddess Sri Akilandeswari Amman is seen in separate sanctum in the inner enclosure of the temple. To the outer walls of Amman sanctum one can get the darshan of Vinayaka, Madeswari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Lakshmi & Saraswathi.

4.There is also a Nandi statue in front, facing Sri Jalakandeswarar sanctum.According to puranas, Athri muni installed a Shiva Lingam in this place and worshiped. After he left, without proper maintenance the Shiva Lingam in the temple was covered by an ant-hill.

5. Rain waters in the lower levels of the ant-hill made a tank there. God Shiva appeared in the dream of a chieftain Bommi Reddy who was ruling the region and asked him to build a temple there.

#Mahabhashiam #GovindaBhagavatpada #AdiShankara

Adi Shankara's guru was Govinda Bhagavatpada who in turn was a shishya of Sree Gaudapadacharya. Interestingly, his story is connected to Mahabhashiam by Patanjali and his 4 sons are prodigies in their own right.

1/

Sage Patanjali was very kind at heart, but extremely short tempered. After composing the colossal Mahabhashiam, he started to spread the knowledge by conducting classes.

Once, one of his students stepped out of class. Patanjali was very furious & flames came out of his eyes.

2/

The flames burnt all 999 students in the class. The student who stepped out came in and said, "Gurudeva, don't worry. I am alive. I can propogate the knowledge of Mahabhashiam"

Patanjali was furious that because of him he lost others & landed up burning him down too

3/

There was a Gandharva who comes & says, "Master, I have learnt the Mahabhashiam from the nearby Peepal tree. I can help spread the knowledge"

Patanjali was livid and anger and curses him that he has cheated and hence, should become Brahmarakshasa.

4/

Gandharva begs for forgiveness. Patanjali says that he will meet a befitting student to whom he should teach Mahaabhashiam. Once the student learns, he will be rid of curse

Brahmarakshasa starts to pose questions to passing by Brahmins. When they dont answer, he eats them

5/

Here is a special thread introducing our series on “The Making of the Islamic World.” It offers 10 episodes about the transformation of Islamicate societies between the 7th and 17th centuries. You can find the series page here: https://t.co/7mL9eWmMmz

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.

@Kate_SdE @PriyamvadaGopal @ChathamHouse @AdomGetachew Hindu nationalism should not have a negative connotation. It’s not exclusivist because Hinduism isn’t a religion - rather, it’s a way of life, and the term “Hindu” refer broadly to the people around and east of the Sindhu. This transcends the modern construct of religions.

@PriyamvadaGopal @ChathamHouse @AdomGetachew For “Hindus” - a broad-brush stroke for a people whose culture is underpinned by a knowledge system that provides logical structure for adopters of a plethora of philosophies, “Hindu nationalism” by definition, is inclusive and pluralistic. It gives space to everyone.

@PriyamvadaGopal @ChathamHouse @AdomGetachew If Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva-Mimamsa, Buddhist and Jain philosophies are studied in comparison with Abrahamic faiths, India’s unique Carl Popper Paradox comes to light. The imposition of a western matrix of secularism on a pluralistic culture has done much harm.

@PriyamvadaGopal @ChathamHouse @AdomGetachew Because the traditions are rooted in universalist philosophies, India gladly hosts followers of non-proselytizing faiths. Supremacist theocratic ideologies find little resonance with the people of the land. To understand “Hindu nationalism,” one has to study Indic philosophy.

@PriyamvadaGopal @ChathamHouse @AdomGetachew Equally, it is important to view history objectively, know the excesses of supremacist invaders/colonizers, and importantly, understand the asymmetries created by the “secular” state which structurally disadvantage the vastly heterogeneous so-called “Hindu” majority.