Nathiya’s Weblog

She was the third wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. It was in her memory that he built the magnificent monument of love and romance, known as the “Taj Mahal”. Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian Princess, was originally known as Arjumand Banu Begum. So enthralling was her beauty that Shah Jahan (then Prince Khurram) fell in love with her at the first sight. Their marriage was solemnized five years later and from then on, started one of the most popular love stories of the world. Although she was the third wife of Shah Jahan, but at the same time, she was also his favorite. He even bestowed her with the name Mumtaz Mahal and the highest honor of the land – the royal seal, Mehr Uzaz.

She became an inseparable companion of her husband till her death. She even accompanied him on his military endeavors and provided him with her counsel. Infact, she was a pillar of support, love and comfort to the emperor. Mumtaz Mahal gave birth to fourteen children of Shah Jahan. It was during the birth of their 14th child only that she left for the holy abode. It is said that she obtained a promise from Shah Jahan that he will build world’s most beautiful monument in her memory. Whether this was true or not, but, Shah Jahan did build a magnificent monument as a tribute to her life. Today, it counts amongst the Seven Wonders of the World and is known as “The Taj Mahal”.

If u say bond then these r the things that strike u r mind…. style, gadgets, dresses ,punch dialogue not like our very own vijayakanth….. its like ”name bond james bond” then I know what u think !!! yes….. its bond girls………All these needed a change which resulted in the release of casino royale starring new bond Daniel craig……big, muscular out fit…not as good looking as others …but right man for kicking big villains…..which I think is more real…on seeing dany I thought he fits perfect for this role and liked seeing him more …but all that were put in disappointment when dany broke his silence and came out with this

“What I’ve done is I’ve signed up on the next movie [Bond 22], after that we’ll see. That’s the way I’m doing it, and certainly it’s not four more – that’s the truth. It’s certainly not four”

It disappointed all the new bonds fans…and hope he changes his mind and signs the next four..

Vikramaditya (Sanskrit: विक्रमादित्य) is the name of a legendary king of Ujjain, India, famed for his wisdom, valour and magnanimity. The title “Vikramaditya” has also been assumed by many kings in Indian history, notably the Gupta King Chandragupta II and Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya (popularly known as ‘Hemu’). The name King Vikramaditya is a Sanskrit tatpurusha, from विक्रम (vikrama) meaning “valour” and आदित्य Āditya, son of Aditi. One of the most famous sons of Aditi, or adityas, was Surya the sun god; hence, Vikramaditya means Surya, translating to “Sun of valour”. He is also called Vikrama or Vikramarka (Sanskrit arka meaning the Sun).

Vikramaditya may have lived in the 1st century BC and may have been defeated by the king Shalivahana. According to the Katha-sarita-sagara account, he was the son of Ujjain‘s King Mahendraditya of the Paramara dynasty. However this was written almost 12 centuries later. Furthermore, according to other sources Vikramaditya is also recorded to be an ancestor of the Tuar dynasty of Delhi.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The association of the legendary king with the great Gupta king Chandragupta II was made by Western historians in the 19th and 20th centuries, but some historians in India do not consider this correct. Their eras being centuries apart, the Guptas appeared to have used this name for titular effect.

The increasingly common naming of Hindu children by the name Vikram can be attributed in part to the popularity of Vikramaditya and the two sets of popular folk stories about his life.

The legendary Vikramaditya is a popular figure in both Sanskrit and regional languages in India. His name is conveniently associated with any event or monument whose historical details are unknown, though a whole cycles of tales have grown around him, so much so that Sir Richard Burton, who first translated the tales to English called him, “the King Arthur of the East” ^[6]. The two most famous ones in Sanskrit are Vetala Panchvimshati or Baital Pachisi (“The 25 (tales) of the Vampire”) and Simhasana-Dwatrimshika (“The 32 (tales) of the throne”, also known as Sinhasan Batteesee). These two are found in varying versions in Sanskrit and also in the regional languages.

The Chera Dynasty (Tamil: சேரர்) was a Tamil dynasty that ruled in southern India from before the Sangam era (300 BCE – 250 CE) until the twelfth century CE. The early Cheras ruled Kerala, Kongu Nadu and Salem. Their capital was Vanchi Muthur, though this may have been located either at present-day Kodungallur in Thrissur district of Kerala or else at Karur.^[1]. Since they were a hill tribe, their ancient capital could not be on the plains or on the coast. Karur is on the plains and Kodungallur is on the sea coast. They cannot be considered as their ancient capital, Vanchi Muthur. Their ancient capital Vanchi Muthur is in Kanthallur-Kizhanthur region of Idukki District of Kerala, for obvious reasons. They moved their administrative capital to Karur (Karur Vanchi) in second century, until the first dynasty perished in 3rd Century CE. The second dynasty ruled from out skirts of Muziris on the banks of River Periyar.

While Cheras had their own tribal religion inimical to Hinduism, other religious traditions came to this area during the period of the Chera kings. Jainism came to Chera Kingdom by the second century BCE.

The Rāmāyana (Devanāgarī: रामायण) is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage (maharishi) Valmiki and an important part of the Hindu canon (smṛti). It was the original story on which other versions were based such as the Khmer Reamker, the Thai Ramakien, the Lao Phra Lak Phra Lam the Malay Hikayat Seri Rama and the Maranao Darengan.

The name Rāmāyaṇa is a tatpurusha compound of Rāma and ayana “going, advancing”, translating to “Rāma‘s Journey“.^[1] The Rāmāyaṇa consists of 24,000 verses^[2] in seven books, and 500 cantos (kāṇḍas)^[3] and tells the story of Lord Rāma, whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon (Rākshasa) king of Lanka, Rāvana. Thematically, the epic explores themes of human existence and the concept of dharma.^[4]

Verses in Rāmāyana are written in thirty two syllable meter called anustubh and the epic was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and Indian life and culture, primarily through its establishment of the śloka meter. But, like its epic cousin the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyana is not just an ordinary story. It contains the teachings of the very ancient Hindu sages and presents them through allegory in narrative and the interspersion of the philosophical and the devotional. The characters of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanumān and Rāvana (the villain of the piece) are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of India.

Valmiki‘s Ramayana, the oldest version of Ramayana, is the basis of all the various versions of the Ramayana that are relevant in the various cultures. The text survives in numerous complete and partial manuscripts, the oldest surviving of which is dated from the eleventh century AD.^[7] The current text of Valmiki Ramayana has come down to us in two regional versions from the north and the south of India. Valmiki Ramayana has been traditionally divided into seven books, dealing with the life of Rama from his birth to his death.

The story is about Rama, a prince in the city of Ayodhya – the capital of Kosala kingdom, belonging to Suryavansh (the Sun dynasty) – sometimes referred to as Raghuvansh (Raghu dynasty, named after Raghu, one of his illustrious forefathers).

The Mahābhārata (Devanāgarī: महाभारत) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa (literally “history”), and forms an important part of Hindu mythology.

It is of immense importance to the culture in the Indian subcontinent, and is a major text of Hinduism. Its discussion of human goals (artha or purpose, kāma or pleasure, dharma or duty, and moksha or liberation) takes place in a long-standing tradition, attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world (the nature of the ‘Self‘) and the workings of karma.

The title may be translated as “the great tale of the Bhārata Dynasty”. According to the Mahābhārata’s own testimony it is extended from a shorter version simply called Bhārata of 24,000 verses.

Traditionally, the authorship of the Mahābhārata is attributed to Vyasa. There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and composition layers. Its earliest layers probably date back to the late Vedic period (ca. 8th c. BC)^[2] and it probably reached its final form by the time the Gupta period began (ca. 4th c. AD).^[3]

With more than 74,000 verses, long prose passages, and about 1.8 million words in total, the Mahābhārata is one of the longest epic poems in the world. It is roughly ten times the size of the Iliad and Odyssey combined, and about four times the size of the Ramayana.^{[citation needed]} Including the Harivaṃśa, the Mahabharata has a total length of more than 90,000 verses.