Indian Culture

The Gayatri Mantra occurs in the Rigveda 3.62.10 and is addressed to Savitri/Savitr, the solar deity. It is traditionally associated with the sage Vishvamitra.

Kalidasa is popularly called the Shakespeare of India because of his contribution to Sanskrit drama and poetry. His major works include Abhijnanashakuntalam, Meghaduta and Raghuvamsha.

Ashapurna Devi became the first woman recipient of the Jnanpith Award in 1976. She was a major Bengali novelist and short-story writer.

The Gayatri Mantra occurs in the Rigveda 3.62.10. It is addressed to Savitr/Savitri, a solar deity, and is traditionally associated with Vishvamitra.

Dhrupad is generally regarded as the oldest surviving major form of Hindustani classical vocal composition. It developed from older devotional and court traditions and emphasizes disciplined voice production, alap and rhythmic composition.

Jana Gana Mana was first published in Tattva Bodhini Patrika in January 1912 under the title Bharat Vidhata. It was later adopted as India's National Anthem in 1950.

The Rigveda Samhita contains 1,028 hymns (suktas) arranged in 10 Mandalas. It is the oldest of the four Vedas and a major source for early Vedic history and culture.

Mahavira (Vardhamana) is regarded as the 24th and last Tirthankara of Jainism. The first is Rishabhanatha; Parshvanatha was the 23rd.

Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for the English version of Gitanjali. He was the first Asian Nobel laureate.

Abhijnanashakuntalam (Shakuntala) is Kalidasa's celebrated Sanskrit drama. Kalidasa is generally placed in the Gupta age, often associated with Chandragupta II Vikramaditya, though exact chronology is debated.

Kalachakra is a Vajrayana Buddhist tantric tradition; the Kalachakra Tantra is an important Sanskrit Buddhist text.

Vande Mataram appears in Anandamath, published in 1882 by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay; it was adopted as India’s National Song.

Anthropology studies humans, including biological, cultural, social and linguistic dimensions.

Operation Blackboard was launched under the National Policy on Education framework to improve minimum facilities and teaching resources in primary schools, especially in educationally backward areas.

Tea generally prefers well-drained, acidic soils. Laterite soils can support tea where climate, drainage and nutrient conditions are suitable.

In traditional Indian economic terminology, the January–June period is often described as the slack season because agricultural activity is comparatively lower than during the main kharif season.

UNESCO has its headquarters in Paris, France. The organization was established in 1945 to promote international cooperation in education, science and culture.

The Buddha is popularly known as the “Light of Asia”, a title strongly associated with Edwin Arnold’s English poem The Light of Asia, published in 1879.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee wrote New Dimensions of India’s Foreign Policy. He served as India’s External Affairs Minister before becoming Prime Minister.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak authored Gita Rahasya, a philosophical interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita that gives special emphasis to Karma Yoga. It was written during his imprisonment in Mandalay.