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The water lily in the figure’s right hand shows that this statue represents the goddess Uma (also known as Parvati), wife of the Hindu god Shiva. She is standing in an elegant pose, with her body slightly angled at the hip and neck.<br/><br/> In a temple she would have stood to the left of Shiva, her customary position.
Mahishasura's father Rambha was king of the asuras, and he once fell in love with Princess Mahishi, who was cursed to be a water buffalo; Mahishasura was born out of this union. He is, therefore, able to change between human and buffalo form at will (<i>mahisha</i> is Sanskrit word for buffalo).
Dashain is the longest and the most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar, celebrated by Nepalese people throughout the globe. It is also celebrated by many Hindus elsewhere. Dashain symbolizes the victory of good over evil.<br/><br/> For followers of Shaktism, it represents the victory of the goddess Parvati. In Hindu mythology, the demon Mahishasura had created terror in the devaloka (the world where gods live ) but Durga killed the demon. The first nine days of Dashain symbolizes the battle which took place between the different manifestations of Durga and Mahishasura. The tenth day is the day when Durga finally defeated him. For other Hindus, this festival symbolizes the victory of Rama over Ravana as recounted in the Ramayana.<br/><br/> Buddhists Nepal celebrate Dashain to commemorate Ashoka's adoption of ahimsa and Buddhism.<br/><br/> Kathmandu is an unexpected and extravagant mixture of peoples and religions, child-goddesses, bare-foot porters padding in back alleys, and sacred cows. The Kathmandu most people come to see is the Old City, a tangled network of narrow alleys, stores and temples located around central Durbar Square.
Durga (meaning 'the inaccessible' or 'the invincible'), is the most popular incarnation of Devi and one of the main forms of the Goddess Shakti in the Hindu pantheon. Durga is the original manifested form of Mother Parvati or Adi-Parashakti.<br/><br/> The most revered Hindu site in Nepal is the extensive Pashupatinath Temple complex, five kilometres east of central Kathmandu. The focus of devotion here is a large silver Shivalingam with four faces of Shiva carved on its sides, making it a 'Chaturmukhi-Linga', or four-faced Shivalingam. Pashupati is one of Shiva’s 1,008 names, his manifestation as 'Lord of all Beasts' (pashu means 'beasts', pati means 'lord'); he is considered the guardian deity of Nepal.<br/><br/> The main temple building around the Shivalingam was built under King Birpalendra Malla in 1696, however the temple is said to have already existed before 533 CE. In 733 CE, King Jayadeva II erected in its precincts a stone tablet which chronicled all the kings of Nepal, beginning with the sun god. During the Muslim raids of 1349 the temple was largely destroyed, but in 1381 Jayasinharama Varddhana of Banepa restored it. Further renovations were conducted towards the end of the Malla period, and the latest extensive improvements were made in 1967.<br/><br/> Since the temple's inception, all the rulers of Nepal have taken great pains to pay their respects to it, to make donations, and to finance extensions.
Si Thep, also Sri Thep, (7th – 14th century CE) is an ancient ruined town in Northeast Thailand. Many architectural structures still remain to indicate its past prosperity. It was once the centre of contact between the Dvaravati Kingdom in the central plain basin of Thailand and the Khmer Kingdom in the Northeast.<br/><br/> A twin- city, there were over one hundred ancient sites all built with bricks and laterite. There are also remains of several ponds spread out all over the area. Most of the ancient relics recovered are architectural by nature such as elaborate lintels and sema stones. A few of the human skeletons discovered are still adorned with ornamental pieces.
Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति) from Sanskrit shak - 'to be able', meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism.<br/><br/> Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes referred to as 'The Great Divine Mother' in Hinduism. On the earthly plane, Shakti most actively manifests through female embodiment representing creativity and fertility, though it is also present in males in its potential, unmanifest form.<br/><br/> Not only is the Shakti responsible for creation, it is also the agent of all change. Shakti is cosmic existence as well as liberation, its most significant form being the Kundalini Shakti, a mysterious psychospiritual force. Shakti exists in a state of svātantrya, dependence on no-one, being interdependent with the entire universe.<br/><br/> In Shaktism, Shakti is worshiped as the Supreme Being. However, in other Hindu traditions of Shaivism and Vaishnavism, Shakti embodies the active feminine energy Prakriti of Purusha, who is Vishnu in Vaishnavism or Shiva in Shaivism. Vishnu's female counterpart is called Lakshmi, with Parvati being the female half of Shiva.
Navratri, Navaratri, or Navarathri is a Hindu festival of worship of Shakti. The word Navaratri literally means 'nine nights' in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning night. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti/Devi are worshiped. It is commonly referred to as Dussehra. The custom of celebrating Dussehra is believed to have originated in the Deccan Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar, with its capital at Hampi, in the 14th century.
Tantra is an esoteric current of Hinduism. The word Tantra also applies to any of the scriptures (called "Tantras") commonly identified with the worship of Shakti. Tantra deals primarily with spiritual practices and ritual forms of worship, which aim at liberation from ignorance and rebirth, the universe being regarded as the divine play of Shakti and Shiva. Tantrism originated in the early centuries CE and developed into a fully articulated tradition by the end of the Gupta period. It has influenced the Hindu, Sikh, Bön, Buddhist, and Jain religious traditions. Along with Buddhism, Tantra in its various forms has spread to Tibet, East Asia and Southeast Asia.
The kingdom of Champa (Campadesa or nagara Campa) Chăm Pa in Vietnamese, 占城 Chiêm Thành in Hán Việt and Zhàn chéng in Chinese records) was an Indianized kingdom that controlled much of southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.<br/><br/> Champa reached its apogee in the 9th and 10th centuries. Then began a gradual decline under pressure from Đại Việt, the Vietnamese polity centered in the region of modern Hanoi. In 1471, Viet troops sacked the northern Cham capital of Vijaya, and in 1697 the southern principality of Panduranga became a vassal of the Vietnamese emperor.<br/><br/> In 1832, the Vietnamese emperor Minh Mạng annexed the remaining Cham territories. Mỹ Sơn, a former religious center, and Hội An, one of Champa's main port cities, are now UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Shiva (Sanskrit: शिव Śiva, meaning 'auspicious one' ) is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine.<br/><br/> Shiva is depicted three-eyed, the waters of the River Ganges poring from his top-knot.<br/><br/> Parvati (Sanskrit: पार्वती (IAST: Pārvatī)) is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti herself, considered as wife of Shiva, albeit the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Supreme Goddess. Parvati is sometimes considered as the supreme Divine Mother and all other goddesses are referred to as her incarnations or manifestations.<br/><br/> Mewar (मेवाड़ مئور also called the Udaipur Kingdom) is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.<br/><br/> The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later became a princely state under the British. It was ruled by the Chattari rajputs of Mori Guhilot Parihar and Sisodia dynasties for over 1,400 years.
The lingam, or linga, meaning 'mark' or 'sign', represents the penis and is an aniconic representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples. Although most Hindu sculpted images (murtis) are anthropomorphic, the aniconic Shiva linga is an important exception. The lingam is often represented with the Yoni, the aniconic symbol of the goddess.<br/><br/> Yoni (literally 'vagina' or 'womb') is the symbol of the goddess Shakti or Devi in Hinduism. Within Shaivism, the sect dedicated to the god Shiva, the yoni symbolizes his consort.
Shiva (Sanskrit: शिव Śiva, meaning 'auspicious one' ) is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is regarded as one of the five primary forms of God. Followers of Hinduism who focus their worship upon Shiva are called Shaivites or Shaivas (Sanskrit Śaiva).<br/><br/> Uma or Parvati (Sanskrit: पार्वती (IAST: Pārvatī)) is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti herself, considered as wife of Shiva, albeit the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Supreme Goddess. Parvati is sometimes considered as the supreme Divine Mother and all other goddesses are referred to as her incarnations or manifestations.