Author: Glam World

West Bengal Handicrafts

The Handicraft art of West Bengal is very rich. Diverse range of handicraft art works such as Clay Pottery, Kantha embroidery, Clay art, Wood art, Cane and Bamboo crafts are discussed below in brief:

1. Clay Pottery

The traditional folk art of Indian Clay Pottery, particularly of Bengal, is considered exceptional and best in the world.

The archaeological finds at Bengal have proved that the same degree of skill and excellence were achieved by Bengal potters too in those remote past days.

2. Kantha Embroidery

Bengal has an old tradition of Kantha embroidery. The Kantha Embroidery in Bengal is done on Shawls, sarees, coats, girdles in this way.

3. Clay Dolls

The clay dolls and toys occupy an vital place in clay craft of India, particularly West Bengal. This craft can be grouped under numerous separate categories.

4. Terracotta Art

The artists of Bengal used these terracotta works for architectural purpose. Stones are not readily available in Bengal. These artists challenged this limitation and turned the alluvial soil of the lower Bengal basin into an object of art for architectural decoration of the temples.

5. Sholapith Craft

Sholapith craft decorations of past days have reappeared with trivial modifications to provide vividness and style in interior decoration and social ceremonies.

6. Wood Craft

The traditional craftsmen used wood, stone, earth and colour for painting as raw materials. They skillfully carved doors, door frames and brackets in palaces and temples.

6. Cane and Bamboo Handicrafts

Baskets of different kinds have significant place in Cane and Bamboo Handicrafts. Bamboo fans of different sorts are also common. Bamboo matting is the choice of modern people for decorating their houses.

Importance of Ramayana and Mahabharata

India is a land of spiritualism. The monks and the sages declared long long ago before the people of this country that real happiness of life consists in renunciation, love and fellow feelings.

These two great books – the Ramayana and the Mahabharata have been the sources of inspiration to most of the Indians since their composition. These two great epics – the Ramayana and the Mahabharata speak highly of ideal way of life. They teach us what life ought to be.

The characters of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata breathe the sentiments of Indian people and the teachings of these two great epics are being handed down from generation to generation.

The festivals centering round the principal characters of the two epics – Rama and Krishna – exhibit the ideals upheld by the Hindus.

The Ramayana and The Mahabharata are not simply stories of heroism, but they embody the socio-religious ideals of millions of people of India known as Hindus. Rama and Krishna are thought to be incarnations of God and their ways are to the believing Hindu’s the ways of God. They are worshipped in temples and remember in time of stress and strain in national and personal life. The freedom movement of India received huge inspiration from the Gita. Its ideal of doing work without any expectation of result colors the dram of many Indians.

Importance of Ramayana

• Ramayana deal with the various aspects of man’s life – love, duty to superiors, treachery, devotion to parents, selflessness and what not.
• These characters of Ramayana stand as symbols of love, charity, patriotism, conjugal love, and obedience to parents, self-sacrifice and the like.
• The characters of Sita and Urmila stand for ideal womanhood.
• The character of Ravana teaches us how a man can ruin himself for his own follies and unholy ambitions.
• Dussehra is a great Hindu festival and is celebrated all over India. The festival relates to Rama’s victory over Ravana.
• The Ram Navami is a great festival celebrated over a large part of North India.

Importance of Mahabharata

The story of the Mahabharata is well-known to the thousands and millions of Indians through ages.

Everybody knows how the Pandavas were deprived of their legitimate claim for the throne of Hastinapur. Who does not know how Draupadi was insulted in an open court in presence of Bhima, Dronacharyya and others for no fault of hers and how Bhima subsequently took revenge in the battle of Kurukshetra?

It is also not unknown to the people how Krishna took the side of the Pandavas and helped them in winning the great battle of Kurukshetra.

The character of Karna teaches us how to rise to eminence by dint of self-effort and perseverance caring little for the dictates of fate.  This character is the emblem of munificence, sacrifice and valor. It appeals to the innermost love of the hearts of the Indians who get lofty idealism add inexhaustible source of inspiration about how a man should be.

The Holi festival though a jubilant spring festival, commemorates Krishna’s heroic exploits. There are a thousand other festivals which relate to Krishna.

There are thousands of temples where Lord Krishna is worshipped. Lord Krishna was one of the central characters in Mahabharata.

Conclusion

Thus the plots and the politics of the Mahabharata are really very absorbing, interesting and exciting to sum up in fire, we may unhesitatingly say that the influences of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata upon the Indians are tremendous and these two great epics of India have been molding the sentiments of the Indian people from time immemorial.

Introduction: Christmas is an annual festival celebrated in remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a major Christian Festival. Though in some places, Christmas is also celebrated by Non-Christians.

Why do we celebrate Christmas? The birthday of Jesus Christ, the great founder of the Christian faith, falls on 25th of December. Christians believe Jesus Christ to be the son and messenger of God. He is the light of the world. Christians believe that if they follow Jesus, then he will remove all the darkness of their life with his light. Hence, we celebrate Christmas Festival on this day.

How do we celebrate Christmas? December is considered a great season of goodwill and merriment. So Christmas is greeted with special merriment and rejoicing everywhere. It is an occasion for happy family gatherings and festivities. The Christians all over the world decorate their homes. They cheerfully wear new clothes, make special cakes and share feasts with others.

Christmas has always been very much a time of family reunion. Today it is also a children’s festival. They sing Christmas carols in memory of Christ’s birth. The children are given various presents and Santa Claus or Father Christmas visits as the friend and protector of Children. The Christmas tree, with its beautiful decorations, lights and its shining star at the top is a great attraction of the Christmas.

Conclusion: But today, Christmas is not only a festival of the Christians. The Hindus, the Muslims and people of other faiths also celebrate this occasion and share the merriment with the Christians.

Also read: Major Festivals of India (National, Religious, Harvest and Seasonal)

Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the great social reformer and maker of modern India was born at Radhanagar in Hooghly in a famous Brahmin family. He was educated at Patna and Benaras. There he learnt English, Greek, Latin and Sanskrit.

The contribution of Raja Ram Mohan Roy as a social reformer is unparallel. The versatile genius turned his attention to reform the society in his later years.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy abolished the custom of ‘sati’, the evil practice of burning young widows in their husband’s funeral pyre.

Ram Mohan Roy was opposed by the conservative Hindus and as result he founded a different religion – Brahma dharma based on the Upanishads.

He founded the Brahma Samaj. In 1831 Ram Mohan left for England on behalf of the Mughal Emperor. He was given the title of ‘Raja’ by the Mughal monarch.

But Ram Mohan Roy died in England, away from his homeland. He is forever remembered as the maker of modern India.

Administrative System of King Harshavardhana

Harshavardhana followed the traditional monarchical system of administra­tion which had existed in India during the earlier imperial periods. His time having been nearer to the Gupta Age, the various features of the imperial Gupta administration influenced Harshavardhana’s administration to a very large extent. Yet, there were new innovations in accordance with the needs of the time. Moreover, every great monarch had had his personal designs to shape his administration, and Harshavardhana too went by his own individuality in governing the empire. The following were the main fea­tures of Harshavardhana’s administration.

The King – Head of the Administration

Harshavardhana was a true representative of ancient monarchy in its finest aspects. In theory, the king was absolute and all powerful. But in practice, he enjoyed limited power, being subject to the rules of the Dharma, the laws and customs of the land, and to the wise advice of the ministers and courtiers. He had also to respect the wishes of the subjects. The King was no doubt the supreme lawmaker, the chief executive, and the fountain of justice. He was also the central figure of the entire administrative machinery working like its pivot. In spite of all such powers, Harshavardhana’s monarchy was far from being autocratic. It maintained moderation and rested on popular support. One need not forget that Harshavardhana came to the thrones of Thaneswara and Kanauj in response to the collective decisions of the Councils of Ministers and of the notables of the two kingdoms.

Besides the Chief Minister, other ministers also shouldered impor­tant responsibilities. It is known from Bana that a minister named Avanti was the Minister for Foreign Relations and War under Harshavardhana. As the king alone could not have carried the burdens of an imperial government, the ministers discharged their part of duty in helping the king.

The Bureaucracy

Harshavardhana maintained an efficient civil service. The importance of some of the higher officers of the state is known from their designations. The chief officers used to directly receive instructions from the King. Besides these, there were the Commander-in-Chief, the Chief of the Cavalry Forces, and the Chief Commandant of the Elephant Force.

In Harshavardhana’s Empire, the king’s share was one-sixth of the agricultural produce. Revenue was also earned from trade and commerce. But dittoes on goods were light.

Administrative Divisions of the Empire

Harshavardhana’s Empire was divided into several provinces. The villages were looked after by their headmen. The government did not interfere with the freedom of the villages in their usual ways of existence. The bigger territorial divisions of the empire were no doubt, controlled by the centre. But a system of decentralization also worked for better management of various units.

Harshavardhana’s administration created fear in the mind of men by a thorough penal code; though in practice, the punishments were not turned into a cruel system.

With these features, Harshavardhana’s government managed a large empire by generosity and efficiency, under the direct supervision of a dutiful emperor.

Acharya Rayaprolu Subbarao (also Abhinava Nannaya) is a renowned personality in Telugu Literature.

He was born in 1892 and died in 1984.

The publication of Truna Kankanam by Rayaprolu Subba Rao in 1912 heralded the birth of a new kind of poetry in Telugu popularly known as Bhava Kavitvam. This genre of poetry differs from the classical poetry as it gives more emphasis to Bhava (emotion) than to Rasa or sentiment.

In 1965, he got the Sahitya Akademi Award for Misra Manjari. Misra Manjari is a great poetic work.

Andhravali is one of his great works.

Besides poetry, he was also a lyricist. Some of his works were blend of Western and Indian Literature.

Some of his works are great examples of works based on Patriotism.

Dowry System ( Dahej Pratha)

Dowry System is known as “Dahej Pratha” in Hindi.

Dowry refers to the amount of money and other valuables brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage.

In modern age, even in this age of science and technology, many evil practices are prevalent in our society. These evil practices are early marriage and also the dowry system.

Dowry as part of marriage consideration is prohibited by law in India. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 was enacted to help the women who are victim of Dowry System.

Evil effects of Dowry System

In modern age, still in different cities, towns and in villages, the dowry system is going to be practiced.

Even in poor families sometimes the father of an young bride had to take loan from the bank to pay the demand of a groom.

The father has to purchase a motor bike, gold ring and furniture to decorate the house of a groom.

Though anti-dowry bill has been passed in the parliament, it is not yet practically implemented.

Sometimes young brides commit suicide for the torture.

Solution

So what is the remedy of this evil practice of this dowry system?

Only all the women should be unitedly fight against this evil system.

Women commission and all the different women forums should find out such causes of dowry system and punish those greedy guardians who encourage this system.

The most effective remedy is to bring consciousness against this evil system through education and social awareness.

There is also the necessity of spreading of women’s education to fight against the dowry system.

It is a general believed that Ramayana was originally composed by Rishi Valmiki in Sanskrit.

In this book the great deeds of Lord Rama of Ayodhya have been vividly described. The Ramayana in its present form contains about 24,000 verses (Slokas) and has seven cantos.

It is very difficult to say when this great Epic was written and what particular period of history is mentioned in it. The Indians believe that this book was composed about 3000 B.C. but most of the European critics do not agree with this view. According to Winternitz this voluminous work is not the result of one age and was most probably written between 400 B.C. to 200 A.D. But one thing is quite certain that though this book may have been composed much later (i.e. 400 B.C. to 200 A.D.) the subject matter mentioned in it refers to much earlier times. The story mentioned in the Ramayana became so popular that it was translated into many foreign as well as Indian languages. Perhaps the most important of all such works is “Ramcharitmanas” of Goswami Tulsidas, the immortal poet of the Hindi literature.

Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana

Abdul Rahim or Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana (also spelled Khan-e-Khana) was one among the nine important minister (nine gems, navaratnas) in the Mughal court of Akbar. He was also a poet who had written many astrological books. He was born on 17th December, 1556 in Lahore in Pakistan.

Abdul Rahim was given the title of ‘Mirza Khan’.

Abdul Rahim was the son of Bairam Khan, who was the trusted military general, and guardian of Akbar. His mother was the Jamal Khan’s daughter. He was married to Mah Banu.

Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana was also the step son of Salima Sultan Begum. Salima Begum was the second wife of Bairam Khan.

After the death Bairam Khan in 1561, Rahim was brought to the royal court of Akbar and Salima Begum was married to Akbar. Thus, Rahim became the step-son of Akbar.

Rahim was also an admirer of Lord Sri Krishna and written some poems which are dedicated to Krishna.

Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana was a kind hearted person. He is popularly known for doing works of charity for the benefit of poor people. Even the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar had high regard for Rahim.

Abdul Rahim had translated the Baburnama and written various Dohas. He had very good command over Sanskrit language, and had sound knowledge of astrology. He had written astrological books such as ‘Dwa Wishd Yogavali’ and Khet Kautukam. The dohas of Rahim are widely studied in schools of India.

Abdul Rahim was died in 1626. During his lifetime, in 1598, he had built a tomb for his wife. After his death, his body was also buried in it.

Suggested External Readings: Wikipedia on Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana

Introduction

Haider Ali (also spelled Hyder Ali) was the de-facto ruler of Mysore Kingdom for the period between 1761 to 1782. He is remembered in history for bravely resisting the expansion of British Empire in India.

Background

Udiyar, a Hindu dynasty, ruled Mysore since the fourteenth century. Mysore was a tributary state of the Mughals. The existing ruler of Mysore, King Chikka Krishnaraja Wadiyar II, was turned into a nominal ruler by his ministers Devaraj and Nanjaraj.

Devaraj was the Dalwai or the commander-in-chief of the state, and Nanjaraj was the Sarbadhikari or the minister of revenue and finance. These two brothers strengthened their control over the state between 1731 and 1734. The situation changed in 1746. As the aged Devaraj could no longer conduct the military campaigns of the state in remote areas, Nanjaraj took over the responsibility. During the latter’s absence, Devaraj temporarily took charge of the finance and revenue departments.

Haider Ali (Hyder Ali)

Haider Ali joined the army of Nanjaraj as a cavalier. As a warrior he proved his mettle in the 1750s against the Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao and the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Haider Ali supported the Nanjaraj’s campaign in Trichinopoly. The satisfied minister and commander appointed him the faujdar of Dindigul, and Haider also enriched himself by seeming a share of booty coming out of the plunder of Trichinopoly. Later, by taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the hostility between Devaraj and Nanjaraj during 1755-57, Haider enhanced his power and authority in the Dindigul region. In the fratricidal struggle, Nanjaraj won and Devaraj had to quit Mysore. Nanjaraj now became the unquestioned leader of Mysore.

Before Nanjaraj could consolidate his position, Mysore was attacked by the Marathas in 1757. Before submitting, Nanjaraj agreed to pay 32 lakh rupees, but at that moment he could clear only 6 lakhs rupees. He, however, agreed to surrender 15 taluks as a mortgage to the Marathas against the unpaid amount. At this stage, Haider Ali provoked Nanjaraj to remove the Marathas from the taluks of the Mysore state which made another Maratha aggression inevitable. The Mysore warlords refused to proceed to another war unless the dues of the army were cleared.

At this juncture Haider Ali came forward to clear the outstanding arrears and also took charge of reorganizing the army of the state. Instead of waging a fresh war with the Marathas, Haider Ali opened negotiations with them. The Marathas agreed to leave Mysore on securing 32 lakhs rupees. Half of the amount was immediately paid and Haider promised to clear the balance soon. As the Marthas vacated, Haider took control over those taluks.

His next object was to oust Nanjaraj from power. He secured the support of Khande Rao, the then Dewan of the state, and Nanjaraj’s loyal Portuguese military officer. Watching the drifting of the sources of power and unable to cope up with the situation, the disillusioned Nanjaraj quit his administrative and military responsibilities of the state. He was given a jagir and left Mysore for Kunur. More than half of the Mysore state came under the direct administrative control of Haider Ali. The status of the king of Mysore, however, did not change. He remained a nominal ruler with effective power passing from Nanjaraj to Haider Ali.

The career of Hyder Ali is encouraging. Immediately after Haider Ali became the ruler of Mysore, his associate Khande Rao entered into a clandestine dealing with the Marathas and hatched a conspiracy to oust him. On 12th August, 1760, a Maratha army attacked an unprepared Haider Ali, who fled from Seringapatam to Bangalore. His career would have ended there had not the Marathas stopped the war after receiving 51 lakh rupees from Haider.

In fact, a war was imminent between the Marathas and the Afghan chief Ahmed Shah Abdali, which forced the former to withdraw from the war proceedings in the south. This gave Haider a reprieve and he utilised the opportunity to strengthen his position. An afraid Khande Rao immediately joined hands with Nanjaraj, but Haider prevailed over them and seized Seringapatam. The king of Mysore surrendered unconditionally and Nanjaraj was banished to Kunur never to return and intervene in the internal affairs of Mysore. Khande Rao was imprisoned and died soon after. By sheer diplomatic skill and outstanding courage Haider was able to suppress his opponents and became the real ruler of Mysore. Chikka Krishnaraj, however, still remained the nominal king of Mysore.

Haider Ali also occupied Doddaballapur. The poligar of Chikkaballapur revolted against Haider. The revolt was suppressed and the poligar imprisoned in Bangalore. The poligar of Rai Durg acknowledged the supremacy of Haidar and was treated in a courteous manner. Haider then decided to annex Bednur, which was then ruled by a foster son of the late king. The widow of the late king was in charge of the state’s administration as the guardian of the minor king. Bednur was easily annexed and the minor king was imprisoned. Haider then conquered Sonda and the ruler fled away and found asylum under the Portuguese.

After the debacle at Panipath in 1761, the Maratha forces were being regrouped by Peshwa Madhav Rao. Mysore faced fresh threats. More than once between 1762 and 1771 the Marathas defeated Haider. Fate was, however, with Haider when Madhav Rao died at the age of 28 in November 1772 and threw the Maratha state in confusion. Haider seized this opportunity and soon brought the lost territories under his control. His kingdom was extended up to the river Tungabhadra and soon beyond that to the river Krishna.

Mysore emerged as one of the most powerful regional states by the second half of the eighteenth century owing to the diplomatic skill and military acumen of Haider Ali. Not only he extended the kingdom of Mysore but also provided the state an efficient administration. He strove hard to protect the integrity and sovereignty of Mysore at a time when the English East India Company was planning aggression against the Indian states. By 1765, the French were defeated, the English had possessed the Dewani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and Awadh and Hyderabad had accepted English supremacy. Haider could prevent the English annexation of Mysore. English generals had praised Haider’s military genius.

It was after the death of Hyder Ali in December 1782 and during the reign of his son Tipu Sultan that Mysore ultimately surrendered to the English Company.