#hindu kingdom

[forgotten-bharat]

Maharani Durgavati

Durgavati was the daughter of King of Bundelkhand, married to Raja dalpad of Gondwana, in Madhaya Pradesh.

Soon, tragically Raja died and Queen Durgavati with her 5 year old toddler stepped up to the throne. She managed the whole kingdom exceptionally well, as recorded by Akbar’s historian. The kingdom did not suffer any major setback even after their king died.

Gondwana was a rich kingdom, with a beautiful queen which became the target of the Mughals. They didn't wanted to simply take the kingdom under their control, the commander Asaf Khan also “wanted to touch the beauty of Gondwana”.

In 1564, Asaf Khan marched with 10,000 cavalries towards Gondwana, Rani Durgavati marched with 5,000 men to the battlefield.

She led the army well and killed about 500 enemies, she came out victorious by the end of the day, later she purposed to “surprise attack” the enemies or “Gorilla Attack” but none of the council members agreed to that.

By the next morning, Asaf Khan’s army was in a much better place and the fighting continued for 3 exhausting days. By that time only 200 of her men were left but the thought of giving up never once crossed her mind. Her bravery and courage never wavered.

During the battle, one arrow pierced her temple and another pierced her neck, causing her to lose consciousness. When she opened her eyes, the inevitable defeat was clear.

Instead of falling in the hands of men that had nothing but lust for her and would eventually throw her in Harem with other women, that previously were queens of conquered kingdoms that Mughals kept as sex slaves, she took our her dagger and killed herself to save her honor and prevent invaders from doing heinous things to her body, her martyrdom day (24 June 1564) is commemorated as “Balidan Diwas”.

The Mughal army then marched to the fort to loot it's treasure. They found staggering amount of gold pots full of gold, jewels, expensive stones etc.

When they opened a room, it was full of burnt bodies of women that commited Jauhar upon hearing the news of Rani’s defeat. These women committed Jauhar to save their honor and to prevent the Mughals from taking them as sex slaves, unfortunately 2 women were still alive, stuck behind a large wooden block that saved their lives. These two women were then taken to Akbar's court and predictably put into Harem.

[blackcur-rants]

Ideas for albums the Mechs could have done alongside their already existing ones

01. Cyberpunk retelling of events from "The Shahnameh" wherein King Jamshid and his Chief Engineer Mirdas create a powerful super-computer called the Zahhak to help them run their city...only for it to go crazy with power and absorb all the minds of the people into itself using a virus a la The Acheron before being defeated by the heroic hackers Kaveh and Fereydun (who are probably boyfriends in The Mechanisms Universe, because why not).

02. Film Noir retelling of the Hero Twins wherein they are detectives trying to bring down the Brotherhood of Xibalba crime syndicate society that runs their city.

03. Dickens crossover universe involving Fagin and the DeFarges as rival space pirates, Cartmanay and Twistperpip as polycules, Paul Dombey running a spaceship firm, the Dorrits having to escape from a prison planet, and Miss Havisham as a cyborg with Estella as her adopted daughter/repairwoman.

04. Steampunk crossover AU of all the Bronte works featuring Jane Eyre crushing on Helen Graham and queer tension between either Heathcliff and Rochester or between Heathcliff and Arthur Huntingdon or between Rochester and Arthur Huntingdon.

05. Retelling of a classic Shakespeare play, preferably one that hasn't already been adapted a billion times already.

06. Retelling of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as a space opera about a war between different planets seeking to rule over the same solar system.

07. "Journey to the West" but it's about explorers on an unknown planet.

08. Polynesiian mythology retelling wherein Maui is a biio-engineer who keeps creating whole new planets and ecosystems by accident.

09. Space opera retelling of either "The Ramayana" or "The Mahabharata".

10. Russian mythology retelling about Marya Morevna and IIvan Tsarevic facing down a Koschei the Deathless who's actually a clone of King Cole alongside one of the Bogatyrs who in this retelling is in fact a former Rose Red.

11. Retelling of "Dream of the Red Chamber" wherein the house is a virtual reality computer simulation.

12. Steampunk retelling of "Les Miserables" featuring Javert as a cyborg.

13. Retelling of "War and Peace" with a Rose Red as Napoleon and Pierre trying to shoot down King Cole.

14. Sherlock Holmes but make it Film Noir.

15. Dracula or something Dracula related.

16. Snow Queen retelling.

@lady-asteria @carcosa-commune @cynicalclassicist @miralines @cinderswife

[owls0ma]

I wanted to say that I love your buring spice snake art! also I just got buring spice and picked him up and eyes were showing up, imagine snake buring spice has a type of hypnosis! maybe he uses it on a sertan jester?

aww thanks! i actually based snake burning spice off of the egyptian god of chaos apophis, who is the sun god ra’s mortal enemy. he’s said to be a serpent so…

i think it’d be cool if burning spice had some sort of hypnosis…i may draw that at some point teehee

[blackknight-100]

So, sometime back I made this post about Fathers and Sons in Hindu Mythology, and @chahaa-piun-ja mentioned this:

I'll admit I forgot about Dhritarashtra, which speaks a lot about his paternal nature honestly, but when I was about to reblog and mention him, I realised he deserved a different post all to himself.

So... Dhritarashtra is blind. And by popular consensus this is a metaphor for his moral blindness and his blind support of his antagonist sons which... yeah. There's a lot to say about this representation of blind people but then again, this is a text from a time when disrobing a woman was theoretically lawful so. We'll ignore that bit for now.

That being said, I did subscribe to this idea myself, and it seems pretty straightforward overall: a father loving his son to the point of ruin, until I dug in a little deeper. And it seems to me overall that he isn't just blindly granting his sons' wishes out of love, he, like every other adult male in the Kuru court, is complicit in it.

From his backstory we know that he has been denied the throne because he was blind. Which today we would call ableism, but it was clearly as allowed in those times as it is now (looking at you, people who put ridiculous physical requirements to discount disabled applicants), so Pandu becomes the king. His feelings on this matter vary from neutral, unmentioned, resignation, frustration, jealousy, fury to outright hatred, again depending on which version you are reading and the point of view. All of this is valid by the way. If your family effectively decides to cheat you out of a throne and give it to your younger brother, who is also physically indisposed, just more agreeably so, in a society dominated by progentiure, you'd have every right to be furious.

So, when Pandu is compelled to go to the forest, either because of his impotence, or the curse, this feels like justice served. If I were Dhritarashtra I'd be happy too - look, you cast me away, and now you need me again. And Dhritarashtra becomes king. Whether he wanted it or not, whether he was jealous or not, he reclaims his birthright, and his brother isn't even dead or anything. I suppose he would have more qualms about the throne if Pandu were dead. Reasonably speaking, he has every cause to be happy.

And then Pandu tries to sleep with an unwilling Madri. And Pandu dies. And his sons come to Dhritarashtra's court. And the elders want Yudhisthira to be King.

Do you see where I'm going with this? This is Dhritarashtra's childhood/adolescent nightmare come again, and this time with his sons. He has a hundred of them. The fate of a son who is not King is erasure. History forgets them, people no longer remember them. Yes everyone knows the other Pandava brothers now, but they are outliers. They are heroes. They are demigods. And they are only 5 in number. No one will remember the 95 other Kauravas. No one remembers all the names of Krishna's sons, and they too were demigods, albeit unconventional ones, Hell, I don't! And I'm sure most people don't either.

Then, like a manna from heaven, Shakuni falls into his lap. Shakuni is his brother-in-law. Shakuni loves Gandhari and will always want the best for her sons. Shakuni is also really, really clever. And Shakuni, for whatever reason, hates the Pandavas.

Now, I know there are many popular versions where Shakuni is doing this to take vengeance on the Kuru clan, and yes it was dumb of Dhritarashtra to hand over his son's care to him in this case, but Dhritarashtra is overall driven by emotion and a desperate desire to be innocent. He just... gives away 3 boons to Draupadi because her condition makes him feel guilty and afraid (as it should, but this is not what you would typically expect from a man who blindly caters to his sons). When he realizes that doom has come for his children, he has a whole breakdown where he gaslights himself into thinking that he isn't responsible for the situation at all. Dhritarashtra is not even particularly immoral overall: he doesn't want to harm his brother's kids, he loved Pandu, and by extension he loves Pandu's children. But they have to be removed for his sons to get their due. He circumvents this by applying agents - Shakuni, Karna, his own sons.

Duryodhana loves him for it - he has no qualms exerting his power over his father. Except he does this with the belief that his father would never let him walk off to his ruin, which is why he is big mad™️ whenever Dhritarashtra costs him something. And Dhritarashtra basically costs him everything - by giving the Pandavas sanctuary, by letting them get equal education, by partitioning the kingdom, and especially by freeing them. When Draupadi wins over the Pandava brothers, that is when Duryodhana's belief really snaps, and he starts seeing his father as a lenient and foolish king. And the next time, he makes decisions himself and enforces it before his father can get a word in edgewise.

So yes, overall, Dhritarashtra is not a blind, dumb and ignorant spectator, or a helpless father bound by love. He's an indecisive coward, plain and simple, and he actively gives leeway for Duryodhana and co. to do what they do, and then hinders them because he cannot pick a lane. This is a sharp contrast to someone like, say, Kunti, who effectively enforces her will on her sons more than once, and orchestrates her sons' ruin more directly. Like sure, I get where Dhritarashtra is coming from. I'd be just as unhappy as he was if I were ever in his position. And it isn't that Duryodhana doesn't have a claim on the throne. It's just that Dhritarashtra is a passive parent who kind of tried to do good by his sons by keeping his own hands clean, and dirtied theirs in the process. And you know what? I'd rather take Kunti's ferocious authoritarianism over this.

[stxrrynxghts]

History of the Matsya Kingdom

Idk if y'all are interested or not, But I am compiling the facts I found out about Matsya or not, but I am still doing this post, haha-

So basically there was this King of Chedi called Uparichara Vasu. He was a friend of Indra's, and he was so special for Indra that he was gifted a flying chariot.

Uparichara was married to this lady named Girika, with whom he had many sons, as was normal.

Now comes the creepy part. One day he was roaming around, thought of his wife and well, ejaculated out of a sudden. He scooped his semen as he felt that "it was wrong to waste the semen in a fertile time".

So he scooped it into a leaf (ew) and gave it to a bird, to give it to his wife. IDK what she was supposed to do with it, but yeah-

so the bird dropped the leaf into the water, and this fish, who was actually an Apsara cursed to be a fish, swallowed it.

Now some fishermen caught it, and they opened her stomach to see two living human babies inside. They took the kids to the King, who took the boy, and gave the girl to the chief fisherman.

This girl grows up to become Satyavati. And the boy? He is named Matsya, and is later on given a part of Chedi, where he forms his own kingdom, named after him, aka Matsya.

Now, Uparichara is Chandravanshi King, who is descended from both Yadu and Puru, like most Kings of that time.

Historically, Matsya was one of the 16 Mahajanapadas. Geographically, it is to the south of Kurujangala and Shurasena Kingdom, hence, in present day Rajasthan. Some parts might have been part of MP and UP.

Pali Literature shows Matsya Kings as descendants of the Shurasena Kingdom.

The Matsya King featured in the Mahabharata is Virat, and it is in this kingdom, that the incognito year of the story takes place. Virat has many brothers and relatives as per the story.

He is married to Sudeshna, who is referred as Kaikeyi, so she is probably from Kekaya. Her brother is Kichaka, who is one of the most powerful dudes of the time. He is the commander-in-chief of Matsya.

Virat has four children, as per the Mahabharata, three sons Shweta, Shankha and Uttar, and one daughter Uttara. The order of these children is not specified, though.

Uttar is a very important character during the Virat War, when he and Arjun go and face the Kaurava army. Dude very naturally chickens out, but doesn't take Arjuna's credit at all.

As a token of credit, Virat requests Arjun to marry his daughter, which he (thankfully) refuses. Arjun instead sets up his student with his son, and the marriage takes place.

This marriage is described in very detail, with an assortment of gifts exchanged on both sides, and such a long list of gifts. Matsya is definitely rolling in gold.

Haha, how funny, how many sites call Virat an idiot and incompetent king, when he is called just so many times. FYI, despite so many allies, the Panchala and Matsya forces form the major part of the Pandava army.

Virat is a very crucial person in the war as well, seeing how he is one of the only Maharathis from their side, apart from Drupada, Arjuna and Abhimanyu.

Uttar dies on the 1st day of the war, after a fight with Shalya. He has defeated Shalya, but instead waits to taunt him, and Shalya kills him in the meanwhile.

Angered at his brother's death, Shweta goes berserk, attacking whoever comes in his way. Bhishma kills him with the Brahmastra, and unlike his would-be nephew, Shweta does NOT survive. The Pandava army "mourn" the loss of their "hero".

Shankha dies on the fifth day, at Drona's hands, then Virat follows him in the same manner on the 15th day. The rest of the Matsyas are either killed by Drona on the 14th and 15th days, or by Ashwatthama on the night of the 18th day.

Uttara is the only surviving Matsya kid left, and her son Parikshit and his descendants, the only ones carrying the blood of the Matsyas.

BTW, by this logic, aren't Uttara and Abhimanyu cousins? Like, very distantly yes, being Chandravanshis with Puru and Yadu's blood but see-

Uparichara Vasu-> Satyavati-> Vichitraveerya->Pandu->Arjun->Abhimanyu and

Uparichara Vasu-> Matsya->Son->Son->Virat->Uttara unless Virat isn't of Arjun's generation, but Pandu's? He is mentioned as aged so much, and he and Drupada are always mentioned together-

It is possible that Virat was closer to Karna in age than the Pandavas, and Uttara can still marry Abhimanyu, as she is the youngest kid (until one of her brothers is younger than her?)

BTW, they ain't direct cousins, even by the logic I specified above, since all the human blood in Arjuna is from Kunti, not Pandu. So Abhimanyu is what....1/4 god, 3/4 Yadava(?) technically?

[margoshansons]

Rewatching the Indiana Jones movies and holy shit they are way more racist than I remember

They are like…really bad

[cadmar]

Entering

The Kingdom of Simplicity is not a physical place.  It is a symbolic metaphor.  Not for the intellect to understand, but to reach and penetrate the other process of one’s perception.  Entering into this kingdom of simplicity is not through, nor using your sensory process of emotions, memories, and desires.  Your current state of mind was and continues to be shaped, formed, and constructed from all the inputs of your sensory process which results into creating your emotions, desires, choices, actions,  experiences, memories, and beliefs.

One way to view this entering into the Kingdom of Simplicity is as travelling at  a higher speed.  The kingdom is at a higher speed because this  process Is less dense.  For example, a photon of light moves extremely fast  compared to a baseball travelling at a very slow and sluggish speed.  The Kingdom of Simplicity, because it does not use your physical neurons, nor any of your physical sensory apparatus, travels through a different, and lighter channel.  This channel is much quicker as it is less dense, as if you are connected to another dimension, such as a 4D hypersphere.

Another way to view this entering into the Kingdom of Simplicity is the presence of your inner peace.  As the Kingdom of Simplicity can not be accessed by your intellect, your brain has no way of observing, knowing, and telling if you are actually inside this kingdom.  The Kingdom of Simplicity’s love is different from the common physical world of love.  The love of our physical world is created from your sensory process and is not comparable to the love of the Kingdom of Simplicity.  Emotional highs, such as those from a concert of your favorite band or individual performer, or sporting event when your team wins, or when you fall in love with your special lover, or at an emotional religious meeting, are all using emotions made from your sensory process.  The Kingdom of Simplicity has a totally different pathway and this love is not made from the same physical cloth.

Peace.  Inner peace.  One has to have peace inside of oneself before being able to have love.  Out of peace comes love.  One can not have love unless one is in peace with oneself. Out of peace then comes love.  One can not have justice unless one is in peace with oneself.  Out of peace then comes justice.  One can not have compassion unless one is in peace with oneself.  Out of peace then comes compassion.  One can not have forgiveness unless one is in peace with oneself.  Out of peace then comes forgiveness.  Only inner peace with oneself  can bring out the true love, justice, compassion, justice, and forgiveness as they are all fruits and creations of peace with oneself and then with others!

The disturbances of your inner peace comes from the activations and triggering of your physical emotions, desires, wants, experiences, memories, and actions.  Perceiving your disturbances and allowing them to reveal themselves to you will cause the disturbance to dissipate on their own.  All one has to do is to merely watch.  No action is needed and required by you.  No judgement is needed by you.  All you do is  just sit back and allow the disturbances to dissipate on their own.  When the disturbance dissipates, you are left with the calming and quiet peace.  Like a stone thrown into a still pond, just do nothing, but watch, observe, and perceive the waves dissipate back into the pond.  Just perceiving the stone hitting the stillness is all one needs to do which then allows the stillness to become.  When you do something, anything, just by doing anything, no matter how trivial, stirs the pond and will never bring forth the peaceful stillness.  Only by doing nothing will bring forth the stillness.

Peace is this state of being and you are inside the Kingdom of Simplicity.

[meluhha]

what’s the link between nagarvadhus & devadasis?

we know “indian” religious texts looked down on courtesans at least from the vedic age & similarly the british demonized ‘em in modern eras but beyond that?

(Amrapali, Vasantasena, Madhavi, etc were more empowered ~2500 years ago, but not entirely)

[sheltiechicago]

“Lunchtime at the Ashram”

by Sue O'Connell (United Kingdom).

“These gentlemen are pilgrims attending the mighty Kumbh Mela Hindu festival, reputed to be the largest gathering of humanity on earth. The venue is the northern Indian city of Haridwar on the banks of the Ganges. All pilgrims are offered food, usually dhal and rice, by local ashrams, and I was struck by the patience and discipline involved. Once the gates opened, a hundred or more men walked calmly and silently into the building and took up their places, waiting to be served. The meal over, they rose as one man and left as silently as they had entered.”

Food for the Family,  a category of Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2024.

[tetrachromate]

kind of ironic how much better the early medieval buddhist kingdoms of northern india fared against islamic raids and conquest attempts than their hindu successors; when we tend to imagine buddhism as quietist and perhaps effete and hinduism as being all rah-rah warrior caste etc

[viroop]

UTHO United Kingdom Telugu Hindu Organisation 

[lawanphere]

UK’s Premier Matrimonial Site for Hindu & Sikh Singles

[rodaportal]

Troubling Beliefs Among British Muslims

🌟 Dive into thought-provoking insights on troubling beliefs among British Muslims in our latest YouTube video! Explore attitudes, challenges, and the road to fostering inclusivity. Let's tackle extremism together! 🤝 Check out the video here: YouTube Video #BritishMuslims #Extremism #ShariaLaw

[shamelessislamreligionhorse]

What are the benefits of Govardhan Parikrama?

[pocketseizure]

TofK Ganondorf Design Notes

The character design for the Ganondorf who appears in Tears of the Kingdom is extremely interesting. This is just speculation, but I don’t think he’s dressed like a villain.

The golden ornaments on Ganondorf’s topknot, chest, arms, and ankles reference the common portrayal of Fudō Myōō, one of the most widely venerated deities in Japanese Buddhism. Fudō was originally a minor Hindu deity called Acalanātha, who is an avatar of the wrath of Shiva, the god who destroys so that new life may emerge.

Like Fudō, Ganondorf wears long hair bound into a topknot, golden sandals, and loose pants gathered at the knee. These are sartorial traces of Fudō’s South Asian origins, and they serve to connect Ganondorf to the Gerudo of Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild, whose designs are inspired by various cultures along the ancient Silk Road.

Fudō was especially venerated by the warriors of Japan’s medieval period, so perhaps it’s fitting that Ganondorf’s costume alludes to the dress of medieval warlords. His robe, with its embroidered hem, crimson lining, and golden sleeve weights, would have been extremely expensive to create and would only be worn by a wealthy domain lord.

The matte black of Ganondorf’s outer robe is an indicator of high rank, as is its colorful interior. Toward the end of the medieval period, black robes were sewn with gorgeous inner linings in order to demonstrate wealth, power, and prestige. To me, Ganondorf’s robe reads as something that would be worn by Oda Nobunaga, one of Japan’s most notorious warlords.

What’s interesting about Ganondorf’s design is that he doesn’t come off as a deity or a warlord. A god would have no need for such a sumptuous robe, while a lord would not reveal his skin or wear sandals. I’m strongly reminded of the sort of rōnin famously played by Toshiro Mifune in The Seven Samurai, a skilled but aging warrior who retains his dignity despite his debased circumstances.

Ganondorf’s lower torso is wrapped in a haramaki to reinforce his core strength, and his right arm is bare so he can wield his sword without impediment. These are both very human touches, as is the cloth covering his shins and soles so that his skin doesn’t chafe. A more godlike character would not need these concessions, and a more aristocratic character would not bother with them.

In previous games, Ganondorf was covered from chin to toe in ornate armor or belted robes, signifying a lack of openness and vulnerability. Meanwhile, the Ganondorf of Tears of the Kingdom literally bares his chest as he reveals a number of contradictions. He is ornamented yet barefoot, and his regal black robe has been peeled back to showcase a bright lotus pattern.

Even despite his stern frown and clenched fists, I don’t feel that Ganondorf is visually coded as a villain… or, at least, he doesn’t seem completely inhuman.

[depressedraisin]

here's how armand can still be bengali

why do i think so? no other good reason than i am bengali myself and i want armand to be. (also assad zaman's family is from bangladesh. bengali solidarity!!!)

bengal: the region in south asia comprising present-day bangladesh and the indian states of west bengal, odisha, assam and parts of bihar.

armand said in the season one finale, that takes place in 2022, he is a 514 year old vampire. is it 514 years including or excluding his human years? let's go with including. that means armand would have been born in 1508.

now what was going on in india and bengal in 1508? well, the mughals hadn't come to india yet; it's still about two decades before babur makes his way here. delhi was under the rule of the lodi dynasty, the delhi sultanate was in its dying days. most of north india, mainly uttar pradesh and bihar was under the jaunpur sultanate. bengal was still it's own independent kingdom, called the bengal sultanate. alauddin hussain shah had just seized power and become the sultan of bengal in 1494, beginning the hussain shahi dynasty (they ruled in bengal till 1538 when the mughals captured the region).

india as a country did not exist yet. even it's conception would be a few centuries away still. the subcontinent was a collection of big and small kingdoms and sultanates, constantly warring amongst themselves, some ruled by hindu rulers others by muslims, each with their own distinct histories and cultures. bengal was one of the most prosperous and thriving among them. the bangla language and bengali culture was just beginning to develop.

vasco da gama had arrived in india in 1498, landing at kozhikode on the malabar coast. this began the arrival of the portugese in india, and soon other european colonialists followed. they soon set up their capital in goa, built forts all along the western coast and established trade through obtaining licenses and exclusive permits from local rulers. they first made their way to the bay of bengal region around 1516, with the first portugese representative- a guy called joao coelho- coming to chittagong (present day bangladesh). the first factory was set up in chittagong the next year.

the portugese traded in spices and cotton and fruits and muslin and also slaves. the european indian ocean slave trade began with the coming of the portugese in the early 16th century. slavery in south asian societies had obviously existed long before, and it was a deeply complex and diverse system of dependency and regimes of slavery. slavery of youth and children was also pretty prevalent: it would not be uncommon for poor, farming families to sell away themselves or their children to zamindars (landlords) and colonial overlords in desperation. there were many, many cases of young children being forced to get onboard ships where they'd be held agains their will and taken to europe, the americas or south-east asia. goa and lisbon were the two cities that linked the movement of goods and people between the indian and atlantic oceans, but goa wasn't the only place where enslaved children were traded in portugese india nor lisbon the only european they were taken to.

one of those kids might as well have been arun.

i know the brief glimpse at the talamasca files showed armand's origin to be in delhi but in this particular scene he clearly says that he was sent *to* delhi, thinking he was going to work on a merchant boat.

this is just a theory i have btw. armand could've been from maharastra or the deccan as well idk. anyway.

armand is a monster, a vicious, villanious creature of unfathomable powers and ferocity. but he is also so deeply tragic. he had been forcibly torn away from his people and his land. he has no memory of his family or his humanity. he has lived for over half a millenium. the india he might've known hasn't existed for centuries, and he never got to know the one that exists today. the bangla he might've spoken no one remembers anymore. he has nothing left of the human he was except that name.

further readings (STRONGLY SUGGESTED!!!):