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Govardhan (fl. 17th century) was a well-known Indian painter from the period of the Mughal Empire. The son of painter Bhavani Das, Govardhan joined imperial service during the reign of Emperor Akbar, and continued serving the imperial court during the reign of Shah Jahan. He was one of the illustrators of the <i>Baburnama</i>.
Govardhan (fl. 17th century) was a well-known Indian painter from the period of the Mughal Empire. The son of painter Bhavani Das, Govardhan joined imperial service during the reign of Emperor Akbar, and continued serving the imperial court during the reign of Shah Jahan. He was one of the illustrators of the <i>Baburnama</i>.
The <i>Padshahnama</i> is a genre of works written to visually record the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666). The historical volumes were written by multiple authors, including Muhammad Amin Qazvini, Jalaluddin Tabatabai and Abdul Hamid Lahori, the latter having written the most significant works of the genre.<br/><br/> Lahori completed his two-volume portion in 1648, and when he died in 1654, his pupil, Muhammad Waris, completed the last volume of the <i>Pahshahnama</i>, covering the final years of Shah Jahan's reign. These works are the greatest source of information on Shah Jahan's rule, with indepth looks at his court and the administration of the Mughal Empire.
Guanyin, short for Guanshiyin, is a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism often associated with compassion and mercy. While she is often portrayed as a woman, she is beyond gender and can be depicted as both male and female.<br/><br/> Guanyin is often referred to as the 'most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity', due to her miraculous powers and her loving compassion. She is not only worshipped in Buddhism, but also in Taoism and Chinese folk religion, with various stories and legends about her. Guanyin plays a very important role in the classic Chinese novel 'Journey to the West.'<br/><br/> She is known by various names in different nations, with the Japanese calling her Kannon/Kwannon, or more formally Kanzeon, while in Thailand she is called Kuan Im. She is extremely popular, with temples dedicated to her found throughout South and East Asia, especially in China and Chinese folk religion.
The Kakrak Valley is one of three former centres of Budddhist activity in the Koh-i-Baba mountains of central Afghanistan, along with the Bamiyan Valley itself and the nearby Foladi Valley. About 100 caves and niches are cut into the low cliffs and hills here on the east side of the valley where it meets the main Bamiyan Valley. The large niche, 7m high, contained a statue of a sitting Buddha until it was destroyed by the Taliban authorities in 2001.<br/><br/> A sanctuary close to the niche, thought to be Sassanian, once contained brilliant wall paintings. The niches and sanctuary are believed to date stylistically from the 6th-7th centuries CE (Late Sassanian) and architecturally from the 9th-13th centuries CE (Turk /pre-Mongol Islamic).
Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad Shah, Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad Shah Irkhwaz, Abu Al-Fatah Nasir-ud-Din Roshan Akhtar Muhammad Shah (17 August 1702 – 26 April 1748), was the 12th Mughal emperor between 1719 and 1748.<br/><br/> Nader Shah Afshar or Nadir Shah, also known as Nader Qoli Beg or Tahmasp Qoli Khan(November, 1688 or August 6, 1698 – June 19, 1747) ruled as Shah of Persia (1736–47) and was one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history.
Jayavarman VII (1125–1215) was a king (reigned c.1181-1215) of the Khmer Empire at Angkor. Cambodia. He was the son of King Dharanindravarman II (r. 1150-1160) and Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani. He married Jayarajadevi and then, after her death, married her sister Indradevi. The two women are commonly thought to have been a great inspiration to him, particularly in his unusual devotion to Buddhism, as only one prior Khmer king had been a Buddhist.<br/><br/> Over the 30 some years of his reign, Jayavarman embarked on a grand program of construction that included both public works and monuments. As a Mahayana Buddhist, his declared aim was to alleviate the suffering of his people. One inscription tells us, 'He suffered from the illnesses of his subjects more than from his own; the pain that affected men's bodies was for him a spiritual pain, and thus more piercing'. This declaration must be read in light of the undeniable fact that the numerous monuments erected by Jayavarman must have required the labor of thousands of workers, and that Jayavarman's reign was marked by the centralization of the state and the herding of people into ever greater population centers.<br/><br/> Historians have identified three stages in Jayavarman's building program. In the first stage, he focussed on useful constructions, such as hospitals, rest houses along the roads, and reservoirs. Thereafter, he built a pair of temples in honor of his parents: Ta Prohm in honor of his mother and Preah Khan in honor of his father. Finally, he constructed his own 'temple-mountain' at Bayon and developed the city of Angkor Thom around it. He also built Neak Pean ('Coiled Serpent'), one of the smallest but most beautiful temples in the Angkor complex, a fountain with four surrounding ponds set on an island in that artificial lake.
Phnom Bok is a hill in the northeast of the East Baray in Cambodia, with a prasat (temple) of the same name built on it. It is one of a 'trilogy of mountains', each of which has a temple with similar layout. The creation of the temple is credited to the reign of Yasovarman I (889–910) between the 9th and 10th centuries and was established after he moved his capital to Angkor and named it Yasodharapura. The two other sister temples, named after the contiguous hills, are Phnom Bakheng and Phnom Krom.<br/><br/> The temple is an Angkor monument. It is dedicated to the Trimurti of the Hindu pantheon, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. It was built in Bakheng style (893–927) and designed with individual sanctums, which have door openings to the east and west. These are raised on a foundation with a plinth made of laterite stone.
Phnom Bok is a hill in the northeast of the East Baray in Cambodia, with a prasat (temple) of the same name built on it. It is one of a 'trilogy of mountains', each of which has a temple with similar layout. The creation of the temple is credited to the reign of Yasovarman I (889–910) between the 9th and 10th centuries and was established after he moved his capital to Angkor and named it Yasodharapura. The two other sister temples, named after the contiguous hills, are Phnom Bakheng and Phnom Krom.<br/><br/> The temple is an Angkor monument. It is dedicated to the Trimurti of the Hindu pantheon, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. It was built in Bakheng style (893–927) and designed with individual sanctums, which have door openings to the east and west. These are raised on a foundation with a plinth made of laterite stone.
Phnom Bok is a hill in the northeast of the East Baray in Cambodia, with a prasat (temple) of the same name built on it. It is one of a 'trilogy of mountains', each of which has a temple with similar layout. The creation of the temple is credited to the reign of Yasovarman I (889–910) between the 9th and 10th centuries and was established after he moved his capital to Angkor and named it Yasodharapura. The two other sister temples, named after the contiguous hills, are Phnom Bakheng and Phnom Krom.<br/><br/> The temple is an Angkor monument. It is dedicated to the Trimurti of the Hindu pantheon, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. It was built in Bakheng style (893–927) and designed with individual sanctums, which have door openings to the east and west. These are raised on a foundation with a plinth made of laterite stone.
Prince Shōtoku (Shōtoku Taishi, 574–622), also known as Prince Umayado, was a regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan. He was a member of the ruling Soga clan. Shōtoku was appointed as regent (Sesshō) in 593 by Empress Suiko.<br/><br/> Shōtoku, inspired by Buddha's teachings, succeeded in establishing a centralized government during his reign. In 603, he established the 12 official ranks at court. He is credited with promulgating a Seventeen-article constitution. The Prince was an ardent Buddhist and composed commentaries on the Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakirti Sutra, and the Sutra of Queen Srimala. He commissioned the Shitennō-ji Temple in Settsu province (present-day Osaka). Shōtoku's name has been linked with Hōryū-ji, a temple in Yamato province. Documentation at Hōryū-ji claims that Suiko and Shōtoku founded the temple in the year 607. Archaeological excavations in 1939 have confirmed that Prince Shōtoku's palace, the Ikaruga-no-miya, stood in the eastern part of the current temple complex, where the Tō-in sits today.<br/><br/> China's Sui Emperor, Yangdi, dispatched a message in 605 that stated: 'The sovereign of Sui respectfully inquires about the sovereign of Wa'. Shōtoku responded by sponsoring a mission led by Ono no Imoko in 607. The Prince's own message contains the earliest written instance in which the Japanese archipelago is named 'Nihon', literally, sun-origin (country). The salutation stated: 'From the sovereign of the land of the rising sun (nihon/hi izuru) to the sovereign of the land of the setting sun'. He is said to be buried at Shinaga, in the former Kawachi province (today Osaka prefecture).<br/><br/> Wooden statue in Musee Guimet, Paris, picture by PHGCOM.
Jayavarman VII (1125–1215) was a king (reigned c.1181-1215) of the Khmer Empire at Angkor. Cambodia. He was the son of King Dharanindravarman II (r. 1150-1160) and Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani. He married Jayarajadevi and then, after her death, married her sister Indradevi. The two women are commonly thought to have been a great inspiration to him, particularly in his unusual devotion to Buddhism, as only one prior Khmer king had been a Buddhist.<br/><br/> Over the 30 some years of his reign, Jayavarman embarked on a grand program of construction that included both public works and monuments. As a Mahayana Buddhist, his declared aim was to alleviate the suffering of his people. One inscription tells us, 'He suffered from the illnesses of his subjects more than from his own; the pain that affected men's bodies was for him a spiritual pain, and thus more piercing'. This declaration must be read in light of the undeniable fact that the numerous monuments erected by Jayavarman must have required the labor of thousands of workers, and that Jayavarman's reign was marked by the centralization of the state and the herding of people into ever greater population centers.<br/><br/> Historians have identified three stages in Jayavarman's building program. In the first stage, he focussed on useful constructions, such as hospitals, rest houses along the roads, and reservoirs. Thereafter, he built a pair of temples in honor of his parents: Ta Prohm in honor of his mother and Preah Khan in honor of his father. Finally, he constructed his own 'temple-mountain' at Bayon and developed the city of Angkor Thom around it. He also built Neak Pean ('Coiled Serpent'), one of the smallest but most beautiful temples in the Angkor complex, a fountain with four surrounding ponds set on an island in that artificial lake.