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Siddhartha Gautama
Siddhartha Gautama (better known as the Buddha, l. c. 563 - c. 483 BCE) was, according to legend, a Hindu prince who renounced his position and wealth to seek enlightenment as a spiritual ascetic, attained his goal and, in preaching his path...
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The Art & Culture of Ancient Greece
The ancient Greeks were masters at picking up ideas from other cultures, mixing these with their own innovations and producing unique contributions to world culture. Greek sculptors adored the human form, painters loved to tell stories on...
Definition
Nandi
Nandi (also Nandin) is the sacred bull calf, gatekeeper, and vehicle (vahana) of the Hindu god Shiva. Sculptures of Nandi are a common sight at Hindu temples dedicated to his master, and he is partly responsible for the Hindu reverence for...
Definition
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is a temple complex in the province of Siem Reap, Cambodia originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu in the 12th century CE. It is among the largest religious buildings ever created, second only to the Temple of Karnak at Thebes...
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Anglo-Maratha Wars
The three Anglo-Maratha Wars (1775-1819) were fought between the Maratha Confederacy of India (aka the Mahrattas, 1674-1818) and the British East India Company (EIC). The Maratha Hindu princes were rarely unified, and so the EIC steadily...
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Religious Developments in Ancient India
For well over 1,000 years, sacred stories and heroic epics have made up the mythology of Hinduism. Nothing in these complex yet colourful legends is fixed and firm. Pulsing with creation, destruction, love, and war, it shifts and changes...
Definition
Soma
Soma was a fermented juice drink which was believed to have been consumed by the Hindu gods and their ancient priests, the brahmanas, during rituals. Thought to be an elixir its consumption not only healed illness but also brought great riches...
Definition
Chidambaram
Chidambaram (Cidambaram) is an important Chola temple site in Tamil Nadu, southern India. Most of the temples at Chidambaram were built in the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The site is dominated by the huge gateway tower of the Nataraja temple...
Definition
Aihole
Aihole (Ayyavole) was an ancient walled city in Karnataka, central India. Aihole was the first regional capital of the Karnakata region under the rule of the Chalukyas. The large number of early Hindu temples and shrines at the site mostly...
Definition
Buddhism
Buddhism is a non-theistic religion (no belief in a creator god), also considered a philosophy and a moral discipline, originating in the region of modern-day India in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. It was founded by the sage Siddhartha Gautama...