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Indian languages, festivals, food, art, religion, and social life.

Puranas

Overview The Puranas (Sanskrit: पुराण, Purāṇa, meaning "ancients") are a vast genre of Hindu literature encompassing legends, traditional lore, and a wide range of cultural and religious subjects. Originally composed ...

Atharvaveda

Overview The Atharvaveda (Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद) is one of the four Vedas of Hinduism, traditionally regarded as the fourth and a later addition to the Vedic corpus. Its name is derived from atharvan, meaning "priest", a...

Yajurveda

Overview The Yajurveda (Sanskrit: यजुर्वेद, IAST: yajurveda) is one of the four Vedas of Hinduism, deriving its name from yajus ("worship") and veda ("knowledge"). Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, it is primarily a compila...

Samaveda

Overview The Samaveda (Sanskrit: सामवेद, IAST: Sāmaveda), derived from sāman ("song") and veda ("knowledge"), is the Veda of melodies and chants. It is one of the four Vedas and an ancient Vedic Sanskrit text held sac...

Rigveda

Overview The Rigveda (Sanskrit: ऋग्वेद, IAST: ṛgvedá, from ṛc, "praise" and veda, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns known as sūktas. It is one of the four canonical sacred texts (śru...

Vedas

Overview The Vedas (Sanskrit: वेदः, meaning "knowledge") are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, they constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and are re...

Mahabharata

Overview The Mahābhārata (Sanskrit: महाभारतम्, Mahābhāratam, 'Great Bharata') is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. Both are smriti texts and together are known as the ...

Bhagavad Gita

Overview The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit: भगवद्गीता, lit. 'God's song'), often called the Gita, is a Hindu scripture that forms part of the epic Mahabharata. It is likely to have been composed in the second or first centu...

Lalita Sahasranama

Overview The Lalita Sahasranama (Sanskrit: ललितासहस्रनाम, lalitāsahastranāma) is a Hindu religious text that enumerates the thousand names of the Mother Goddess Lalita. These names are regarded as sacred within Hindui...

Vishnu Sahasranama

Overview The Vishnu Sahasranama (Sanskrit: विष्णुसहस्रनाम, viṣṇusahasranāma) is a Sanskrit hymn that enumerates one thousand names of Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism and regarded as the Supreme God in...

Hanuman Chalisa

Overview The Hanuman Chalisa (Hindi: हनुमान चालीसा) is a Hindu devotional hymn (stotra) composed in praise of Hanuman. Its title means "forty chaupais on Hanuman", referring to the verse form and length of the composi...

Mahamrityunjaya

Overview The Mahamrityunjaya Mantra (Sanskrit: महामृत्युञ्जयमन्त्र, mahāmṛtyuñjayamantra), literally meaning the "great death-conquering mantra", is a verse from the Vedic corpus that holds an important place in Hindu...

Gayatri Mantra

Overview The Gāyatrī Mantra, also known as the Sāvitrī Mantra, is a sacred mantra from the Ṛig Veda (Mandala 3.62.10), dedicated to the Vedic deity Savitr. It is traditionally attributed to the brahmarshi Vishvamitra....

Om

Overview Om (also written Aum; Sanskrit: ॐ, ओम्; ISO 15919: Ōṁ) is a polysemous symbol representing a sacred sound, seed syllable, mantra and invocation in Hinduism as well as in other Indian religions. Its written fo...

Mantra

Overview A mantra (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्, mantram) is a sacred utterance, sound, syllable, word, or group of words believed by practitioners to possess religious, magical, or spiritual power. Mantras are most often com...

Kund

Overview Kund is a village in the Khushab District of Punjab Province, Pakistan. It also functions as one of the 51 Union Councils, which are the basic administrative subdivisions used for local governance in the dist...

Yajna

Overview Yajna (Sanskrit: यज्ञ; IAST: yajña), also known in modern usage as Havana, is a ritual in Hinduism performed before a sacred fire (agni), typically accompanied by the recitation of mantras. The term is genera...

Dhoop

Overview Dhoop (translated as Sunshine) is a 2003 Indian drama film directed by Ashwini Chaudhary. The film draws upon events linked to the Battle of Tiger Hill and is loosely based on the life of Captain Anuj Nayyar,...

Incense

Overview Incense is an aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is applied both to the prepared material itself and to the aroma it produces. Made from aromatic plant matter, it is of...

Camphor

Overview Camphor is a waxy, colourless solid with a strong, distinctive aroma. It is derived chiefly from the wood of the camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia, and from the k...