Sanskrit and Related Topics

Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of the Buddha (circa 500 BCE) – modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan

Buddhism

21 links

Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on a series of original teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha.

The gilded "Emaciated Buddha statue" in an Ubosoth in Bangkok representing the stage of his asceticism

Enlightenment of Buddha, Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century CE, Gandhara.

The Buddha teaching the Four Noble Truths. Sanskrit manuscript. Nalanda, Bihar, India.

Traditional Tibetan Buddhist Thangka depicting the Wheel of Life with its six realms

Ramabhar Stupa in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India is regionally believed to be Buddha's cremation site.

An aniconic depiction of the Buddha's spiritual liberation (moksha) or awakening (bodhi), at Sanchi. The Buddha is not depicted, only symbolized by the Bodhi tree and the empty seat.

Dharma Wheel and triratna symbols from Sanchi Stupa number 2.

Buddhist monks and nuns praying in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple of Singapore

A depiction of Siddhartha Gautama in a previous life prostrating before the past Buddha Dipankara. After making a resolve to be a Buddha, and receiving a prediction of future Buddhahood, he becomes a "bodhisattva".

Bodhisattva Maitreya, Gandhara (3rd century), Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Sermon in the Deer Park depicted at Wat Chedi Liam, near Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

Buddhist monks collect alms in Si Phan Don, Laos. Giving is a key virtue in Buddhism.

An ordination ceremony at Wat Yannawa in Bangkok. The Vinaya codes regulate the various sangha acts, including ordination.

Living at the root of a tree (trukkhamulik'anga) is one of the dhutaṅgas, a series of optional ascetic practices for Buddhist monastics.

Kōdō Sawaki practicing Zazen ("sitting dhyana")

Seated Buddha, Gal Viharaya, Polonnawura, Sri Lanka.

Kamakura Daibutsu, Kōtoku-in, Kamakura, Japan.

Statue of Buddha in Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat, Phitsanulok, Thailand

An 18th century Mongolian miniature which depicts the generation of the Vairocana Mandala

A section of the Northern wall mural at the Lukhang Temple depicting tummo, the three channels (nadis) and phowa

Tibetan Buddhist prostration practice at Jokhang, Tibet.

Vegetarian meal at Buddhist temple. East Asian Buddhism tends to promote vegetarianism.

A depiction of the supposed First Buddhist council at Rajgir. Communal recitation was one of the original ways of transmitting and preserving Early Buddhist texts.

Gandhara birchbark scroll fragments (c. 1st century) from British Library Collection

The Tripiṭaka Koreana in South Korea, an edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon carved and preserved in over 81,000 wood printing blocks

Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu reads Mahayana sutras from an old woodblock copy of the Tibetan Kanjur.

Mahākāśyapa meets an Ājīvika ascetic, one of the common Śramaṇa groups in ancient India

Ajanta Caves, Cave 10, a first period type chaitya worship hall with stupa but no idols.

Sanchi Stupa No. 3, near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Map of the Buddhist missions during the reign of Ashoka according to the Edicts of Ashoka.

Extent of Buddhism and trade routes in the 1st century CE.

A Buddhist triad depicting, left to right, a Kushan, the future buddha Maitreya, Gautama Buddha, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and a monk. Second–third century. Guimet Museum

Site of Nalanda University, a great center of Mahāyāna thought

Vajrayana adopted deities such as Bhairava, known as Yamantaka in Tibetan Buddhism.

Angkor Thom build by Khmer King Jayavarman VII (c. 1120–1218).

Distribution of major Buddhist traditions

Buddhists of various traditions, Yeunten Ling Tibetan Institute

Monastics and white clad laypersons celebrate Vesak, Vipassakna Dhaurak, Cambodia

Chinese Buddhist monks performing a formal ceremony in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.

Tibetan Buddhists practicing Chöd with various ritual implements, such as the Damaru drum, hand-bell, and Kangling (thighbone trumpet).

Ruins of a temple at the Erdene Zuu Monastery complex in Mongolia.

1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago

Interior of the Thai Buddhist wat in Nukari, Nurmijärvi, Finland

Percentage of Buddhists by country, according to the Pew Research Center, as of 2010

A painting by G. B. Hooijer (c. 1916–1919) reconstructing a scene of Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world.

Frontispiece of the Chinese Diamond Sūtra, the oldest known dated printed book in the world

The Dharmachakra, a sacred symbol which represents Buddhism and its traditions.

An image of a lantern used in the Vesak Festival, which celebrates the birth, enlightenment and Parinirvana of Gautama Buddha.

Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars: Theravāda (Pali: "The School of the Elders") and Mahāyāna (Sanskrit: "The Great Vehicle").

Franz Bopp was a pioneer in the field of comparative linguistic studies.

Indo-European languages

17 links

The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent.

Indo-European family tree in order of first attestation

Indo-European language family tree based on "Ancestry-constrained phylogenetic analysis of Indo-European languages" by Chang et al

Scheme of Indo-European language dispersals from c. 4000 to 1000 BCE according to the widely held Kurgan hypothesis. – Center: Steppe cultures 1 (black): Anatolian languages (archaic PIE) 2 (black): Afanasievo culture (early PIE) 3 (black) Yamnaya culture expansion (Pontic-Caspian steppe, Danube Valley) (late PIE) 4A (black): Western Corded Ware 4B-C (blue & dark blue): Bell Beaker; adopted by Indo-European speakers 5A-B (red): Eastern Corded ware 5C (red): Sintashta (proto-Indo-Iranian) 6 (magenta): Andronovo 7A (purple): Indo-Aryans (Mittani) 7B (purple): Indo-Aryans (India) [NN] (dark yellow): proto-Balto-Slavic 8 (grey): Greek 9 (yellow):Iranians – [not drawn]: Armenian, expanding from western steppe

Some significant isoglosses in Indo-European daughter languages at around 500 BC.
Blue: centum languages
Red: satem languages
Orange: languages with augment
Green: languages with PIE *-tt- > -ss-
Tan: languages with PIE *-tt- > -st-
Pink: languages with instrumental, dative and ablative plural endings (and some others) in *-m- rather than *-bh-

Countries where Indo-European language family is majority native
Countries where Indo-European language family is official but not majority native
Countries where Indo-European language family is not official

Writing in 1585, he noted some word similarities between Sanskrit and Italian (these included devaḥ/dio "God", sarpaḥ/serpe "serpent", sapta/sette "seven", aṣṭa/otto "eight", and nava/nove "nine").

Pali

15 links

Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent.

19th century Burmese Kammavācā (confession for Buddhist monks), written in Pali on gilded palm leaf

Pāḷi, as a Middle Indo-Aryan language, is different from Classical Sanskrit more with regard to its dialectal base than the time of its origin.

A Balinese Hindu family after puja at Bratan temple in Bali, Indonesia

Hinduism

16 links

Variously defined as an Indian religion, a set of religious beliefs or practices, a religious tradition, a way of life, or dharma—a religious and universal order by which followers abide.

Om, a stylized letter of Devanagari script, used as a religious symbol in Hinduism

Swami Vivekananda was a key figure in introducing Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and the United States, raising interfaith awareness and making Hinduism a world religion.

Ganesha is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon.

The Hare Krishna group at the Esplanadi Park in Helsinki, Finland

The festival of lights, Diwali, is celebrated by Hindus all over the world.

Hindus in Ghana celebrating Ganesh Chaturti

Holi celebrated at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Utah, United States.

Kedar Ghat, a bathing place for pilgrims on the Ganges at Varanasi

Priests performing Kalyanam (marriage) of the holy deities at Bhadrachalam Temple, in Telangana. It is one of the temples in India, where Kalyanam is done everyday throughout the year.

Basic Hindu symbols: Shatkona, Padma, and Swastika.

Kauai Hindu monastery in Kauai Island in Hawaii is the only Hindu Monastery in the North American continent.

The Hindu Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram was built by Narasimhavarman II.

The word Hindū is derived from Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit root Sindhu.

India

12 links

India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), – "Official name: Republic of India.";

An illustration from an early-modern manuscript of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana, composed in story-telling fashion c. undefined.

India has the majority of the world's wild tigers, approximately 3,000 in 2019.

A Chital (Axis axis) stag attempts to browse in the Nagarhole National Park in a region covered by a moderately dense forest.

The last three Asiatic cheetahs (on record) in India were shot dead in Surguja district, Madhya Pradesh, Central India by Maharajah Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo. The young males, all from the same litter, were sitting together when they were shot at night in 1948.

Children awaiting school lunch in Rayka (also Raika), a village in rural Gujarat. The salutation Jai Bhim written on the blackboard honours the jurist, social reformer, and Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar.

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar about to score a record 14,000 runs in test cricket while playing against Australia in Bangalore, 2010.

Bhutesvara Yakshis, Buddhist reliefs from Mathura, {{CE|2nd century}}

Gupta terracotta relief, Krishna Killing the Horse Demon Keshi, 5th century

thumb|Elephanta Caves, triple-bust (trimurti) of Shiva, {{convert|18|ft|m}} tall, {{circa|550}}

Chola bronze of Shiva as Nataraja ("Lord of Dance"), Tamil Nadu, 10th or 11th century.

Jahangir Receives Prince Khurram at Ajmer on His Return from the Mewar Campaign, Balchand, {{circa|1635}}

Krishna Fluting to the Milkmaids, Kangra painting, 1775–1785

By, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, had diffused into India from the northwest, (a)

Indo-Aryan languages

16 links

The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages ) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Indo-Aryan peoples.

The Mitanni warriors were called marya, the term for "warrior" in Sanskrit as well; note mišta-nnu (= miẓḍha, ≈ Sanskrit mīḍha) "payment (for catching a fugitive)" (M.

Rama with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana during exile in the forest, manuscript, ca. 1780

Ramayana

14 links

Sanskrit epic from ancient India.

An artist's impression of sage Valmiki composing the Ramayana

Rama (left third from top) depicted in the Dashavatara, the ten avatars of Vishnu. Painting from Jaipur, now at the Victoria and Albert Museum

The marriage of the four sons of Dasharatha with the four daughters of Siradhvaja Janaka and Kushadhvaja. Rama and Sita, Lakshmana and Urmila, Bharata and Mandavi and Shatrughna with Shrutakirti.

A gold carving depiction of the legendary Ayodhya at the Ajmer Jain temple.

Ravana fights Jatayu as he carries off the kidnapped Sita. Painting by Raja Ravi Varma

A stone bas-relief at Banteay Srei in Cambodia depicts the combat between Vali and Sugriva (middle). To the right, Rama fires his bow. To the left, Vali lies dying.

Ravana is meeting Sita at Ashokavana. Hanuman is seen on the tree.

The Battle at Lanka, Ramayana by Sahibdin. It depicts the monkey army of the protagonist Rama (top left, blue figure) fighting Ravana—the demon-king of the Lanka—to save Rama's kidnapped wife, Sita. The painting depicts multiple events in the battle against the three-headed demon general Trishira, in the bottom left. Trishira is beheaded by Hanuman, the monkey-companion of Rama.

The epic story of Ramyana was adopted by several cultures across Asia. Shown here is a Thai historic artwork depicting the battle which took place between Rama and Ravana.

A relief with part of the Ramayana epic, shows Rama killed the golden deer that turn out to be the demon Maricha in disguise. Prambanan Trimurti temple near Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia.

Cambodian classical dancers as Sita and Ravana, the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh (c. 1920s)

Lakshmana, Rama and Sita during their exile in Dandaka Forest depicted in Javanese dance

Rama (Yama) and Sita (Me Thida) in Yama Zatdaw, the Burmese version of Ramyana

The Thai retelling of the tale—Ramakien—is popularly expressed in traditional regional dance theatre

A Ramlila actor wears the traditional attire of Ravanan.

Hanuman discovers Sita in her captivity in Lanka, as depicted in Balinese kecak dance.

The painting by the Indonesian (Balinese) artist, Ida Bagus Made Togog depicts the episode from the Ramayana about the Monkey Kings of Sugriva and Vali; The Killing of Vali. Rama depicted as a crowned figure with a bow and arrow.

The Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and the Hindu life and culture.

Shaivism

14 links

The "Pashupati" seal from the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Kushan coin of Vima Kadphises (2nd century CE), with a possible Shiva, holding a trident, in ithyphallic state and next to a bull, his mount, as in Shaivism. The deity was described by the later Kushans in their coinage as "Oesho", a possible Zoroastrian deity.

Shiva with Trisula, worshipped in Central Asia. Penjikent, Uzbekistan, 7th–8th century CE. Hermitage Museum.

Gudimallam Lingam with Shiva standing on Apasmara, variously dated from the 2nd century BCE to the 7th century CE.

The 7th to 8th-century Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It features thousands of Shaivism-related sculptures.

An image collage of 1st millennium CE Shaivism icons and temples from Southeast Asia (top left): Shiva in yoga pose, Nandi, Prambanan temple, Yoni-Linga and Hindu temple layout.

Two female Shaiva ascetics (18th century painting)

Kauai Hindu monastery in Kauai Island in Hawaii is the only Hindu Monastery(shaivaite) in the United States.

Lakulisha at Sangameshvara Temple at Mahakuta, Karnataka (Chalukya, 7th century CE). His 5th–10th century ithyphallic statues are also found in seated yogi position in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.

Tirumular, the great Tamil Śaivasiddhānta poet and mystic saint (siddha).

Nayanars Shaiva poet-saints are credited with Bhakti movement in Shaivism. It included three women saints, such as the 6th-century Karaikkal Ammaiyar.

A 3rd century Nandi statue from Kashmir.

Goraknath founded the Nath Shaiva monastic movement.

A necklace with pendant containing linga symbol of Shiva are worn by Lingayats.

Shaivism and Buddhism have co-developed in many regions. Above a syncretic image of Yoni-Linga with four reliefs of the Buddha in a Vajrayana temple.

A seated Ardhanarishvara symbolically presenting the feminine Shakti as inseparable part of masculine Shiva.

Many Shaiva temples present Shiva in yoga pose.

Dancing Shiva Nataraja at the 6th century Badami cave temples.

Shaivism (Sanskrit: शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions that worships Shiva as the Supreme Being.

Southeast Asia

12 links

Geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of Mainland China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and north of Australia.

Megalithic statue found in Tegurwangi, Sumatra, Indonesia 1500 CE

The Austroasiatic and Austronesian expansions into Maritime Southeast Asia.

Bronze drum from Sông Đà, northern Vietnam. Mid-1st millennium BC

Spread of Hinduism from South Asia to Southeast Asia

Borobudur temple in Central Java, Indonesia

Wapauwe Old Mosque is the oldest surviving mosque in Indonesia, and the second oldest in Southeast Asia, built in 1414

Fort Cornwallis in George Town marks the spot where the British East India Company first landed in Penang in 1786, thus heralding the British colonisation of Malaya

Duit, a coin minted by the VOC, 1646–1667. 2 kas, 2 duit

Southeast Asia map of Köppen climate classification

Komodo dragon in Komodo National Park, Indonesia

Wallace's hypothetical line divides Indonesian Archipelago into 2 types of fauna, Australasian and Southeast Asian fauna. The deepwater of the Lombok Strait between the islands of Bali and Lombok formed a water barrier even when lower sea levels linked the now-separated islands and landmasses on either side

The Port of Singapore is the busiest transshipment and container port in the world, and is an important transportation and shipping hub in Southeast Asia

Along with its temples Cambodia has been promoting its coastal resorts. Island off Otres Beach Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Population distribution of the countries of Southeast Asia (with Indonesia split into its major islands).

Ati woman in Aklan – the Negritos were the earliest inhabitants of Southeast Asia.

Spirit houses are common in areas of Southeast Asia where Animism is a held belief.

The Mother Temple of Besakih, one of Bali's most significant Balinese Hindu temples.

Thai Theravada Buddhists in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The prayer hall of the Goddess of Mercy Temple, the oldest Taoist temple in Penang, Malaysia.

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque in Brunei, an Islamic country with Sharia rule.

Roman Catholic Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, the metropolitan see of the Archbishop of Manila, Philippines.

A Protestant church in Indonesia. Indonesia has the largest Protestant population in Southeast Asia.

Jewish Surabaya Synagogue in Indonesia, demolished in 2013.

The Royal Ballet of Cambodia (Paris, France 2010)

Angklung as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity

Thai manuscript from before the 19th-century writing system

Sign in Balinese and Latin script at a Hindu temple in Bali

The UN Statistics Division for Asia are based on convenience rather than implying any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories:
Central Asia
Eastern Asia
Northern Asia
South-eastern Asia
Southern Asia
Western Asia

Map showing the divergent plate boundaries (oceanic spreading ridges) and recent sub-aerial volcanoes (mostly at convergent boundaries), with a high density of volcanoes situated in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Bái Đính Temple in Ninh Bình Province – the largest complex of Buddhist temples in Vietnam

Sanskrit and Pali became the elite language of the region, which effectively made Southeast Asia part of the Indosphere.

Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra in Siddham on palm-leaf in 609 CE. Hōryū-ji, Japan. The last line is a complete Sanskrit syllabary in Siddhaṃ script.

Devanagari

10 links

Left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ancient Brāhmī script, used in the Indian subcontinent.

The Jnanesvari is a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, dated to 1290 CE. It is in written in Marathi using Devanagari script.

A few palm leaves from the Buddhist Sanskrit text Shisyalekha composed in the 5th century by Candragomin. Shisyalekha was written in Devanagari script by a Nepalese scribe in 1084 CE (above). The manuscript is in the Cambridge University library.

A mid 10th-century college land grant in Devanagari inscription (Sanskrit) discovered on a buried, damaged stone in north Karnataka. Parts of the inscription are in Canarese script.

Indic scripts share common features, and along with Devanagari, all major Indic scripts have been historically used to preserve Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts.

Devanagari INSCRIPT bilingual keyboard layout

Among the languages using it – as either their only script or one of their scripts – are Marathi, Pāḷi, Sanskrit (the ancient Nagari script for Sanskrit had two additional consonantal characters), Hindi, Boro, Nepali, Sherpa, Prakrit, Apabhramsha, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Braj Bhasha, Chhattisgarhi, Haryanvi, Magahi, Nagpuri, Rajasthani, Bhili, Dogri, Kashmiri, Konkani, Sindhi, Nepal Bhasa, Mundari, and Santali.

A report on Sanskrit

204 related topics with Alpha