Indian Culture

The temple was constructed during the 10th Century when Chidambaram used to be the capital of the Chola dynasty. The Cholas considered Lord Shiva as Nataraj as their family deity. Bharat Natya originated with Tapas and Nataraja himself is the supreme teacher of Natya and codified by Bharatha Muni in his Natya Sastra.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati emphasized the authority of the Vedas and founded the Arya Samaj in 1875. His reform movement sought a return to what he regarded as the original teachings of the Vedas.

The Booker Prize is an important international literary award associated with the best eligible works of long-form fiction written in English. It was first awarded in 1969.

The paintings at Ajanta include narratives from the Jataka tales, which describe stories associated with the previous births of the Buddha.

The Buddhist Three Jewels (Triratna) are Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. Ahimsa is not one of these three refuges.

The four-lion capital of Ashoka at Sarnath was adopted as the State Emblem of India. The emblem was adopted on 26 January 1950; the Lion Capital symbolizes power, courage and confidence.

The Sthanakvasi sect is a reformist sect of Jainism, particularly associated with the Shvetambara tradition. Sthanakvasis emphasize scripture and generally reject temple-based image worship.

Anekantavada is a central Jain philosophical doctrine emphasizing the many-sided nature of reality. It teaches that a single statement may not express the whole truth from every perspective.

Ajanta Caves and Lepakshi Temple are known for mural paintings. Sanchi is famous primarily for its Buddhist stupas, gateways and relief sculpture rather than for surviving mural cycles comparable to Ajanta and Lepakshi.

Bagh Caves in Madhya Pradesh preserve important ancient Indian mural paintings and are generally dated to the Gupta/post-Gupta period. They are often studied alongside Ajanta in Indian art history.

The earliest Buddhist canonical texts are preserved in Pali, the language of the Tipitaka or Pali Canon. Pali is closely related to the Middle Indo-Aryan languages of ancient India.

Bhimbetka contains some of the oldest known rock paintings in India. The rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh preserve paintings spanning prehistoric periods and provide evidence of early human activity.

The Durand Cup is a football tournament. It was first held in 1888 and is one of Asia’s oldest football competitions.

Sachin Tendulkar co-authored his autobiography Playing It My Way, published in 2014. It covers his international cricket career and life in cricket.

The Vivekananda Rock Memorial stands at Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. It was built in 1970 on the rock where Swami Vivekananda is traditionally believed to have meditated in 1892.

The first Winter Olympic Games were held at Chamonix, France, in 1924. They were originally called the International Winter Sports Week.

Chapchar Kut is a major spring festival of the Mizo people of Mizoram. It is associated traditionally with the completion of jhum-field clearing and the arrival of spring.

The Yadavindra Cup is associated with hockey. Such named cups are commonly used in Indian domestic hockey competitions.

The term Tirthankara belongs to Jainism. Jains believe in a succession of 24 Tirthankaras, with Mahavira as the 24th.

The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognized Sattriya as a classical dance form in 2000. It originated in Assam’s Vaishnavite monasteries, or sattras.