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

Ashok Vatika

Overview Ashoka Vatika (Sanskrit: अशोकवाटिका, romanised: Aśokavāṭikā) is a grove situated in Lanka, the kingdom ruled by the rakshasa king Ravana. The grove takes its name from the ashoka tree and features in several ...

Indraprastha

Overview Indraprastha (Sanskrit: इन्द्रप्रस्थ, literally "Plain of Indra" or "City of Indra") is a city mentioned in ancient Indian literature as a constituent of the Kuru kingdom. According to the Hindu epic Mahabhar...

Lanka

Overview Lanka is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the Rakshasa king Ravana, and features prominently in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. According to these texts, the citadel stood on ...

Pashupatastra

Overview The Pashupatastra (IAST: Pāśupatāstra; Sanskrit: पाशुपतास्त्र) is, in Hindu tradition, a celestial missile or astra associated with the deity Shiva. Its name derives from Pashupati, an epithet of Shiva meanin...

Kaumodaki

Overview Kaumodaki (Sanskrit: कौमोदकी, Kaumodakī, literally 'captivator of the mind') is the gadā or mace of Vishnu, a principal deity in the Hindu tradition. Vishnu is commonly depicted with four hands holding his ch...

Sudarshan Chakra

Overview The Sudarshana Chakra (Sanskrit: सुदर्शनचक्र) is, in Hindu tradition, a divine spinning disc associated with the deity Vishnu. In iconography, it is generally depicted in the right rear hand of the four-armed...

Ghatotkacha

Overview Ghatotkacha (Sanskrit: घटोत्कच, IAST: Ghaṭotkaca) is a character in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. The name is traditionally explained as a compound referring to his bald head (utkacha) shaped like a gh...

Abhimanyu

Overview Abhimanyu (Sanskrit: अभिमन्यु, IAST: Abhimanyu) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic Mahābhārata. He is portrayed as a young and valiant warrior of the Kuru lineage, born to Arjuna, the third of the Panda...

Bhishma

Overview Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्म, Bhīṣma), also known as Pitāmaha, Gangāputra, and Devavrata, is a central figure in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. According to the tradition of the text, he was a statesman and military...

Karna

Overview Karna (Sanskrit: कर्णः, IAST: Karṇa), also known as Vasusena, Anga-Raja, Sutaputra and Radheya, is one of the major characters in the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. According to the epic, he is the spiritual son of ...

Draupadi

Overview Draupadi (Sanskrit: द्रौपदी, "Daughter of Drupada"), also known as Krishnā, Panchali and Yajnaseni, is one of the central characters of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. Born from a yajna (fire sacrifice) conduc...

Yudhishthira

Overview Yudhishthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, Yudhiṣṭhira, meaning 'one who is steady in battle'), also known as Dharmaputra ('Son of Dharma') and Dharmaraja ('King of Dharma'), is one of the central figures of the Hind...

Sahadeva

Overview Sahadeva (Sanskrit: सहदेव) is the youngest of the five Pandava brothers in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He and his elder twin Nakula are described as the sons of Madri, one of the wives of the Pa...

Nakula

Overview Nakula (Sanskrit: नकुल) is a major character in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He is the elder twin brother of Sahadeva and the fourth of the five Pandava brothers. According to the epic, he was bo...

Bhima

Overview Bhima (Sanskrit: भीम, IAST: Bhīma), also known as Bhimasena, is one of the most prominent characters in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is the second of the five Pandava brothers, born to Kunti, wife of King P...

Arjuna

Overview Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, IAST: Arjuna) is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers and is widely regarded as the most distinguished am...

Kaurava

Overview Kaurava is a Sanskrit term meaning "descendant of Kuru", referring to the lineage descending from Kuru, a legendary king of ancient India. As Kuru is presented as the ancestor of many central figures of the e...

Pandava

Overview The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) are the five legendary brothers who are central figures of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata. The name is a patronymic, derived from their father Pandu, the Kin...

Kurukshetra War

Overview The Kurukshetra War (Sanskrit: कुरुक्षेत्रयुद्ध), also referred to as the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It forms the central narrative event of the epic and is set on the ...

Gopi

Overview Gopi (Sanskrit: गोपी, IAST: Gopī), also known as Gopika, refers in Hinduism to the milkmaids of the Braj region in India. They are regarded by Hindus as the consorts and devotees of Krishna, and are venerated...