Culture
Entries on the art, literature, music, festivals and daily life of the civilization.
90 entries
Interactive · Atlas
Enter →The Mahābhārata
The world’s longest poem as an atlas — eighteen books, ninety-eight figures, thirty kingdoms mapped across Bhāratavarṣa, the eighteen-day war, and the ideas at its heart.
Interactive · Atlas
Enter →The Rāmāyaṇa
The first poem as an atlas — seven books, eighty-four figures, the road of the exile from Ayodhyā to Laṅkā, the war on the island, and the ideas at its heart.
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- AbhijnanashakuntalamA Sanskrit play in seven acts by the poet Kalidasa, dramatizing the courtship, separation, an…
- Adhyātmarāmāyaṇaṃ KiḷippāṭṭuThe Adhyātmarāmāyaṇaṃ Kiḷippāṭṭu is Ezhuttacchan's Malayalam version of the Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa…
- AkharasAkharas are monastic-martial orders of Hindu ascetics, organized into Shaiva, Vaishnava, and…
- The anuṣṭubh and the first verseThe anuṣṭubh or śloka is the thirty-two-syllable verse in which the Rāmāyaṇa is composed, and…
- Araṇya KāṇḍaThe Araṇya Kāṇḍa is the third book of the Rāmāyaṇa, covering the years in the Daṇḍaka forest,…
- Ayodhyā KāṇḍaThe Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa is the second book of the Rāmāyaṇa, in which Kaikeyī's two boons send Rāma…
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- Bāla KāṇḍaThe Bāla Kāṇḍa is the first book of the Rāmāyaṇa, covering Rāma's birth, his first expedition…
- Barsana HoliLathmar Holi, also called Barsana Holi, is a distinctive pre-Holi festival observed in the Br…
- Brahma KamalBrahma Kamal is the common name for Saussurea obvallata, a rare, night-blooming high-altitude…
- BrahmachariniBrahmacharini is the second of the Navadurga, the nine forms of the goddess Durga worshipped…
- Buddhist rock-cut architectureBuddhist rock-cut architecture comprises the chaitya halls and viharas excavated into the bas…
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- Dancing GirlThe Dancing Girl is a small bronze figurine from Mohenjo-daro, ancient India (modern-day Paki…
- Dating the RāmāyaṇaThe Rāmāyaṇa has no securely fixed date;
- DhanterasDhanteras, or Dhanatrayodashi, is the first of the five days of Diwali, observed on the thirt…
- DiwaliDiwali, or Deepavali ("row of lamps"), is a five-day festival of lights observed by Hindus, J…
- Diwali 2024 calendarThis entry records the five-day Diwali calendar as observed in 2024, when Dhanteras fell on 2…
- DussehraDussehra, or Vijayadashami, is a Hindu festival observed on the tenth day of the bright fortn…
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- Indian martial artsIndian martial arts are a family of combat systems native to the Indian subcontinent, ranging…
- Indus craft and beadworkIndus craft production included carnelian, steatite and faience beads, shell bangles, copper…
- Indus sealsIndus seals are small carved squares of steatite bearing an animal, an inscription and a boss…
- Indus terracotta figurinesTerracotta figurines are the commonest human and animal images from the Indus civilization, f…
- IrāmāvatāramThe Irāmāvatāram is Kamban's Tamil retelling of the Rāmāyaṇa, a poem of some ten thousand ver…
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- Jain manuscript paintingJain manuscript painting is the illustrated book tradition of western India, produced chiefly…
- JanmashtamiJanmashtami (Krishna Janmashtami) is the Hindu festival marking the birth of Krishna, the eig…
- Jataka talesThe Jatakas are stories of the Buddha's previous births, numbering some 547 in the Pali colle…
- Jati, varna and gotraJati, varna, and gotra are three distinct traditional frameworks for social classification an…
- JyotishaJyotisha is the traditional Indian science of astronomy and astrology, one of the six Vedanga…
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- Kakawin RāmāyaṇaThe Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa is the Old Javanese version of the epic, composed in central Java in abo…
- KalaratriKalaratri is the seventh of the nine forms of Durga worshipped during Navaratri, a fierce asp…
- KambanKamban was the Tamil poet who composed the Irāmāvatāram, and is counted among the greatest wr…
- KanwariyasKanwariyas are Hindu devotees of Shiva who undertake the Kanwar Yatra, an annual pilgrimage o…
- KatyayaniKatyayani is a warrior form of the Hindu goddess Durga, worshipped on the sixth day (Shashthi…
- Kiṣkindhā KāṇḍaThe Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa is the fourth book of the Rāmāyaṇa, in which Rāma allies with the exiled…
- Kṛttivāsī RāmāyaṇaThe Kṛttivāsī Rāmāyaṇa is the Bengali retelling composed by Kṛttibās Ojhā in the fifteenth ce…
- Kullu DussehraKullu Dussehra is a week-long Hindu festival held at Dhalpur in the Kullu Valley of Himachal…
- Kumbh MelaThe Kumbh Mela is a Hindu mass pilgrimage and ritual bathing festival held on a rotating cycl…
- KushmandaKushmanda is the fourth of the Navadurga, the nine forms of the goddess Durga worshipped acro…
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- Maha Kumbh Mela 2025The Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 was a Hindu pilgrimage festival held at the Triveni Sangam in Prayag…
- Maha ShivaratriMaha Shivaratri, the 'Great Night of Shiva,' is a Hindu festival observed on the fourteenth n…
- MahabharataThe Mahabharata is a Sanskrit epic of ancient India, traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyasa…
- MahagauriMahagauri is the eighth of the Navadurga, the nine forms of the goddess Durga worshipped on s…
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- NagasNagas are serpent deities and semi-divine beings in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain tradition, wors…
- NalaNala is the vānara engineer in the Rāmāyaṇa, a son of the divine architect Viśvakarman, who b…
- NatyashastraThe Natyashastra is an ancient Sanskrit treatise on dramaturgy, dance, and music attributed t…
- NavratriNavratri is a nine-night Hindu festival cycle centered on the worship of the goddess Durga an…
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- Phra Lak Phra LamPhra Lak Phra Lam is the Lao Rāmāyaṇa, named for Lakṣmaṇa before Rāma, told as a birth-story…
- Priest-KingThe Priest-King is a small steatite bust from Mohenjo-daro, ancient India (modern-day Pakista…
- PunditPandit, from the Sanskrit paṇḍita meaning "learned," is a title for a scholar or expert that…
- PuranasThe Puranas are a body of Sanskrit smriti literature — eighteen major texts and numerous mino…
- The Puṣpaka vimānaThe Puṣpaka is the flying chariot of the Rāmāyaṇa, made for Kubera and seized by Rāvaṇa, whic…
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- Raksha BandhanRaksha Bandhan (Rakhi) is a Hindu festival, kept on the full moon of the lunar month of Shrav…
- RamakienThe Ramakien is the Thai national version of the Rāmāyaṇa, whose fullest text was composed un…
- Ramanand Sagar's RamayanRamanand Sagar's television Ramayan, broadcast on Doordarshan from 1987, was watched by audie…
- RāmāyaṇaThe Rāmāyaṇa is the Sanskrit epic attributed to Vālmīki, in seven books, telling how Rāma of…
- The Rāmāyaṇa in culture and religionThe Rāmāyaṇa has shaped Indian religion, literature, art and performance more thoroughly than…
- The Rāmāyaṇa in dance and mask-dramaThe Rāmāyaṇa is the central repertoire of classical and folk performance across South and Sou…
- The Rāmāyaṇa in paintingThe Rāmāyaṇa has been illustrated continuously in Indian painting, most magnificently in the…
- The Rāmāyaṇa in temple reliefThe Rāmāyaṇa is carved on temple walls from the Gupta period onward, and the great relief cyc…
- RāmcaritmānasThe Rāmcaritmānas is Tulsīdās's retelling of the Rāmāyaṇa in Awadhi, begun at Ayodhyā in 1574…
- RāmlīlāRāmlīlā is the annual public staging of the Rāmāyaṇa across northern India, played over days…
- Raṅganātha RāmāyaṇaThe Raṅganātha Rāmāyaṇa is the earliest full Telugu retelling of the epic, composed in the dv…
- ReamkerThe Reamker is the Khmer Rāmāyaṇa, known from manuscripts of the sixteenth century onward and…
- Recensions of the RāmāyaṇaThe Rāmāyaṇa survives in three broad regional recensions whose manuscripts differ substantial…
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- SaraswatiSaraswati is the Hindu goddess of wisdom, learning, speech, music and the arts, worshipped si…
- ShailaputriShailaputri is the first of the nine forms of Durga (Navadurga) worshipped on the opening nig…
- Shraddha and Pitru PakshaShraddha is the Hindu ritual of offering food and libations to deceased ancestors, performed…
- SiddhidatriSiddhidatri is the ninth and final form of Durga in the Navadurga sequence, worshipped on the…
- SkandamataSkandamātā, mother of Skanda, is the fifth of the Navadurga — the nine forms of the goddess D…
- StupaA stupa is a solid domed monument raised over relics, the earliest form of Buddhist architect…
- Sundara KāṇḍaThe Sundara Kāṇḍa is the fifth book of the Rāmāyaṇa, in which Hanumān leaps the ocean, finds…
- SwastikaThe swastika is an equilateral hooked cross, one of the oldest continuously used symbols in h…
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- TandavaTandava is the cosmic dance of the Hindu god Shiva, performed in both fierce, destructive for…
- Torave RāmāyaṇaThe Torave Rāmāyaṇa is the best-known Kannada retelling of the epic, composed in the sixteent…
- TulsīdāsTulsīdās was the sixteenth-century poet-saint who composed the Rāmcaritmānas, the Awadhi Rāmā…
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- VaisakhiVaisakhi is the spring harvest festival of the Punjab and the anniversary of the founding of…
- VālmīkiVālmīki is the sage to whom the Rāmāyaṇa is attributed, called the ādi-kavi or first poet, an…
- The vānarasThe vānaras are the forest people of the Rāmāyaṇa who supply Rāma's army — described as monke…
- VedasThe Vedas are the oldest layer of Hindu scripture, a body of Sanskrit hymns, ritual formulas,…
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- Yama ZatdawThe Yama Zatdaw is the Burmese version of the Rāmāyaṇa, established in its present form after…
- YogaYoga is a body of Indian spiritual and physical disciplines, rooted in Vedic ritual and Upani…
- Yuddha KāṇḍaThe Yuddha Kāṇḍa is the sixth and longest book of the Rāmāyaṇa, covering the bridging of the…