Raja Venkoji was the step brother of Shivaji. He conquered Thanjavur on behalf of Bijapur Sultanate in 1676, but then established his own independent State. Thanjavur was an extremely fertile coastal plain with its own sea ports. It was a prize acquisition.

Shivaji and Venkoji met during the conquest of South. Venkoji died a year after Shivaji’s death.

The Thanjavur state was placed under the control of Nawab of Arcot who was appointed by Mughals. The Marathas liberated Thanjavur in 1740. The Nawabs retook it soon but in turn came under British. Thanjavur became a subsidiary of British in 1775. Under Doctrine of Lapse it came within British provinces in 1855.

Under Maratha rule, Thanjavur was the fountainhead of culture, music, drama and literature for over a century. The rajas, especially Serfoji, were true patrons of arts.

The picture is that of the Bell Tower in Thanjavur Palace which was built by the earlier Nayak rulers.

Picture Credit: P Jegannathan, Wikimedia Commons

Rig Veda has the famous Frog Hymn. It describes the onset of the rainy season with the croaking of frogs. In tropical countries, frogs bury themselves in sand during summer and await the rains. They emerge with the coming of rains and croak in chorus. The Frog Hymn describes the emergence of frogs and their behaviour at the advent of rains. The hymn also mentions the riches that frogs will deliver, an allusion to rains which will revive the earth and grant all riches.

Even today, Jyapus, the farmers of the Kathmandu valley, perform frog worship during the rainy season in order to secure their harvest. The Jyapu puts cooked rice and beans in the cavity of four clay containers resembling the figure of a frog. Then the Jyapu places the containers or the leaves in the four corners of his field. He stands in the middle of the field, looks upward and praises the frogs “O frogs, last year you have provided for us with plenty of rice and other grains. This year too give us plenty.” The concept of this simple ritual is almost exactly as that of the Ṛgvedic Frog Hymn.

Picture: Ganga on a clear monsoon day, upstream of Rishikesh

Source: The Rig Veda, Bibek Debroy and Dipavali Debroy.

The Adaptation of Monsoonal Culture by Ṛgvedic Aryans: A Further Study of the Frog Hymn. Gautama V. Vajracharya

Picture Credit: S. R. Ramanujam

The Cochin Maharajah went to great lengths to co-operate with Sardar Patel and VP Menon in the accession. He agreed to visit Maharajah of Travancore to merge both the States, to assuage the ego of the larger kingdom, but younger Maharajah.

His only request was that five copies of Panchangam (almanac) of Cochin Government should be supplied to him free of cost (they would have cost a few annas). Later on he would negotiate his privy purse.

VP Menon observed that the Maharajah was prepared to efface himself completely in order that his people might enjoy a larger life.

Source: V.P Menon, The Story of Integration of the Indian States.

Picture: Natioal Virtual Digital Library., Patel with Maharajah of Cochin

Manikaran Sahib is on the banks of the Parvati river. It is famous for its hot springs. Guru Nanak ji visited this region in the 16th century. When his followers were hungry, Guru Nanak ji asked the villagers for support. While the villagers donated cooking ingredients, there was no fire. Guru Nanak ji lifted a stone and a hot water spring appeared. It was hot enough to cook the food. A Gurudwara has been built in this spot. Even today food is cooked in the hot springs. The hot springs are also believed to have curative powers and many pilgrims brave the heat to benefit from the medicinal properties.

Manikaran is also sacred for Hindus. They believe the jewels of Parvati were stolen by a serpent while she was bathing in the water of the Parvati river. The name Manikaran is a derivate of Mani (jewel) and Karan(ear). Manikaran also houses a famous Ram temple whose deity is believed to have been brought from Ayodhya. The deity was later on shifted to Kullu.

The Parvati valley where Manikaran is located is also famous for Malana village, whose residents are believed to be the soldiers left behind from Alexandar’s army. Kasol is a nearby backpacking destination.

Source: Sikhwiki.org

Picture Credit: Adarsh Kuruvath Flickr

Kanishka ruled over North West India upto Mathura, Afghanistan & parts of Central Asia in 1st/2nd CE. In his Rabatak inscription in Afghanistan, he invokes Nana and mentions that the kingship is derived from Nana. Nana is a bactrian female divinity and is shown, like Durga, seated on a lion. The Rig Veda uses Nana as one of the names of the Goddess. The ancient Sogdians from central Asia called the Mother Goddess Nana Devi Amba. Amba is a commonly used name for the Devi even today. Ambala, the town in Haryana takes its name from Devi Amba.

Source: When Devi Comes home. Bibek Debroy and Anuradha Goyal.

Picture Credit: WikiCommons

In Gujarat prevalence of the sun worship is indicated by the number of inscriptions and remains of stone sculptures. The temple at Modhera is the most important of all sun-temples built in the whole of Gujarat.  It enjoys the same significance as other two well known sun-temples in Kashmir (Martand) and Orissa (Konark).  According to the Skanda Purana (3.2.40-67) after defeating Ravana, Lord Rama consulted Muni Vasishta to show him a place of pilgrimage where he could go and purify himself.  The Muni showed him dharmaranya, where Modherak or Modhera is situated. The famous sun temple was constructed in 1026-27 A.D. during the reign of Chalukya King Bhima I (1022-1063 A.D.). Though the temple has suffered extensive damages due to invasions, it still retains its original grandeur. But apart from its material beauty, its designer has succeeded in communicating to it an atmosphere of spiritual grace.  The temple faces the east. The rising sun at the equinoxes filters in a golden cadence through its openings, from door way to corridor, past columned vestibules finally to fall on the image in its innermost chamber.

Source: Dr. Advaitavadini Kaul, Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts

Picture Credit: S. R. Ramanujam

A seal from Mohenjodaro shows in its top right corner a schematised figure with a long pigtail and horned head-dress. It stands in between the trunks of a tree and is fronted to the left by a kneeling supplicant who is followed by an animal, possibly a unicorn. The lower panel shows a row of seven standing figures identical to the figure standing inside the trunks of the tree. Some kind of personification of a tree deity can certainly be envisaged in this case. Furthermore, the row of seven deities suggests the concept of Saptamatrikas or “seven mothers” known to Hinduism, and thus the tree deity itself is likely to be a female deity. Several mother Goddess images have also been unearthed in Harappan sites.

Saptamatrikas are common across India. In Kerala temples, Saptamatrikas are also depicted as a set of small discs on a stone platform. The second picture is an example from Sri Chandramouleeshwara temple in Udupi, just opposite the famous Udupi Sri Krishna temple. Each of the circular discus in the bottom row represent one of the mothers.

Source: Archaeology and World Religion-Routledge (2001) DK Chakrabarti

Picture Credit: Harappa.com

S.R. Ramanujam

The deity in Guruvayur represents the full manifestation of the Lord Mahavishnu as was revealed to Vasudeva and Devaki at the time of Krishnavatara; form of Sri Krishna endowed with the four lustrous arms carrying the conch, the discus, the mace and the lotus.

Source: Temples and Legends of Kerala by Bharatiya Bhavan

The association of Sun with knowledge or enlightenment is considered unique to Indian civilization. The Gayatri mantra is an invocation to Savitri, one of the twelve forms of Aditya (Sun) in the Rig Veda. Savitri is the stimulating form of the Sun and came to be connected to wisdom and intelligence and became the symbol of ultimate knowledge.

The name Gayatri refers to the metre in which the hymn is composed. It is one of the most oft quoted hymns in Hindu literature, being referred to in the Brahmanas, Upanishads, Sutras and Puranas.

The knowledge function of the Sun is also referred to in the story that the great sage Yajnavalkya learnt and composed the Shukla Yajur Veda with Surya as his guru. Hanuman is called “gyan gun sagar” – the ocean of knowledge, and his guru in the Ramayana story is Surya.

Source: Prof Deepali Patwadkar, Indic Studies Toronto
VC Srivastava, Sun Worship in Ancient India

Picture Credit: Sun worship in Udupi temple, S. R. Ramanujam

The national calendar of India is based on the Saka Era. It was adopted from 22 March 1957. Chaitra is the first month and it has a normal year of 365 days. 1 Chaitra falls on 22nd March every year and on 21st March in a leap year. Both the Saka era and Gregorian calendar are official calendars.

The Saka era began in 78 CE. It probably marks the victory of the Andhra Satavahana ruler, Gautamiputra Satkarni over the Sakas who were of Iranian origin. There is no consensus on this though.

The other major era used in Hindu religious calendars is the Vikram era which began in 57BCE. It is supposed to mark the victory of Emperor Vikramaditya of Ujjain over an earlier generation of Sakas. Both Vikramaditya & Shalivahana are said to be from the same dynasty. Historians are unclear about the identity of these two kings. Other eras used in India include the Saptarshi or Laukika era, Kali era Kollam era and Bengali san etc.

Source: https://knowindia.india.gov.in

Picture Credit: Government of India

Jinnah tried his level best to lure young Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur to his side. Through Jodhpur (and Indore), Jinnah wanted to create a contiguous corridor from Pakistan to Bhopal. Jinnah offered Jodhpur the free use of Karachi port, free import of arms, jurisdiction over railways and supply of grains to his famine affected state. He even pushed across a blank sheet with his signature for the Maharaja to write his own terms.

Hanwant Singh was advised to hold on and consult family elders by the Maharaja of Jaisalmer. The elders convinced Hanwant Singh by asking if he was willing to fight for Pakistan in the event of war between India and Pakistan. Patel also convinced him by offering good terms – a new port in Kutch, railway connectivity at Jodhpur, large scale food assistance and permission for the royal family to continue to carry arms.

Source: Sandeep Bamzai, Princestan.

Picture: Wikimedia Commons. Umaid Bhawan Palace built by Hanwant Singh’s father.

The Bengali new year is called Poila Baisakh. The name means the first day (Poila/ Pahela) of the month Vaisakh. The Bengali calendar is a mix of the Hindu solar and Muslim Hejiri calendar and is supposed to have been started in 1584 during Akbar’s reign. Bengali businessmen and shopkeepers open new account books, ‘haalkhaata’ on this day and take the blessings of deities for the new year. No Bengali festival is complete without food and there is an enormous variety of dishes served on Poila Baisakh. The Chaler Payesh is the equivalent of the North Indian rice kheer and the South Indian payasam and is a popular dessert. Want to rush to Kolkata to sample this?

Picture Credit: Slurrp.com

The Abyssinian Siddis were based at Janjira and were a threat to the Marathas. From Alibaug southwards, a stretch of 200 kilometers was under the control of Siddis. In 1672, Shivaji blockaded Janjira. Over a period of time, the Siddis changed their allegiance from Bijapur to Mughals to British. The Marathas continued to fight them well into the eighteenth century. In 1732, Bajirao took over the entire Konkan coast from the Siddis except the island of Janjira and a few forts to the south. In 1736, Chimaji Appa and Manaji Angre fought and killed Siddi Sat. From then onwards the Siddi’s hold over Konkan was broken leaving them only with the fort of Janjira.

Picture Credit: Janjira Fort, Himanshu Sarpotdkar, Flickr

The Jesuit delegation to Akbar in 1579 is said to have introduced the idea of grafting mangoes to the emperor. He is said to have planted one lakh trees in Darbhanga, Bihar to introduce this technique on a large scale. This led to the creation of many mango varieties. While the story is not in Ain-i-Akbari, it is accepted by historians as true. The Mughals loved mangoes, introducing recipes like the Aaam Panna, Aaam ki Lauz and Aam ka Meetha Pulao. Nurjehan is said to have created wines mixed with mangoes.

Picture Credit: AI generated image of one lakh mango trees, GenCraft

Odisha celebrates its new year on April 14 or 15, following the solar calendar. Pana is made during the festival. It is a drink made with bel fruit pulp (wood apple) or sweet mango. Milk or yoghurt and coconut water are the other ingredients. Open the fridge and look for Pana now.

Picture Credit: Kamalakanta777, Wikimedia Commons