Ashwamedha Yagya
(A Thread)

Raghunandan Bhattacharya,a great Sanskrit scholar of Bengal in the 16thcent describes Durga Puja is of the same value to those who perform it as the Ashwamedha Yagna.

'Ashwamedhambapnoti bhaktina surasattvam
Mahanabamyang pujeyang sarbakamaprodayika'
@DharmikSonal @Aabhas24 @Go_Movie_Mango @arpita_pedia You've to understand that 'medha' means to kill or sacrifice. Somehow the idea of horses being sacrificed never made it into the books and with good reason. Thankfully, Sanskrit texts also ban the Ashwamedha in our time or Kaliyuga.
@DharmikSonal @Aabhas24 @Go_Movie_Mango @arpita_pedia In ancient times, kings who wished to establish themselves as the most powerful would often perform a Ashwamedha Yagna. A fine horse was marked with turmeric, vermilion, sandalwood & incantations read for its welfare before it was set free to wander through the land for a year.
@DharmikSonal @Aabhas24 @Go_Movie_Mango @arpita_pedia It was accompanied by a small group of armed men and when it passed through another kingdom without being challenged, that land became part of the powerful king's kingdom. A sensible way to increase one's possessions! So far, so good!
@DharmikSonal @Aabhas24 @Go_Movie_Mango @arpita_pedia But once the year was over, the horse was guided back to the capital which it had once left. The ceremonies had continued in its absence. All that was needed now was the sacrifice of the horse after a number of rituals were performed.
@DharmikSonal @Aabhas24 @Go_Movie_Mango @arpita_pedia One of most unusual of these was the custom of the queens spending a night with the dead horse. While there are various lascivious explanations of what the reason for this, I suspect it was nothing more than a wake of some sort, where the women prayed for the horse's soul.
@DharmikSonal @Aabhas24 @Go_Movie_Mango @arpita_pedia Other cultures such as the Celts had the same rituals involving the sacrifice of horses.

(Pic:- Horse Sacrifice. Mewar Ramayana, 1649. British Library.)
@DharmikSonal @Aabhas24 @Go_Movie_Mango @arpita_pedia The Ashwamedha Yagna gradually fell out of favour in India. The last kings to perform them were the Cholas in the south and Jai Singh II of Jaipur.

(Pic:- Jai Singh II, Jaipur)
@DharmikSonal @Aabhas24 @Go_Movie_Mango @arpita_pedia @threadreaderapp Pls unroll

Thank you..😊🙏

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Indian Art

Indian Art Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @IndiaArtHistory

Jan 9
The Story of 1st Indian Ink Company from Kolkata.
(A Thread)

During the 1930s, when the Swadeshi movement was at its peak, its founder Mahatma Gandhi was ferociously looking for a locally-made ink to write letters and petitions.

Cont.-
He shared this with Satish Chandra Das Gupta, a freedom fighter from WB. Credited with making Krishnadhara, India’s 1st Swadeshi ink, Gupta shared his formulation with the Maitra brothers, Nanigopal & Sankaracharya.

Newspaper clipping how Sulekha was started at Gandhi's request.
The brothers, who had just been released from jail and jumped on the opportunity to defy the British again. The deep-rooted nationalism was such that Nanigopal even left his teaching job at the Rajshahi University, as he was ordered to switch from dhoti to a suit.
Read 8 tweets
Sep 24, 2021
Kanyadaan
(A Thread)

When we say "the father gave her daughter's hand in marriage" do we think of an evil father casting away his child or do we think of a well dressed gentleman leading his child upto the groom in a church?
Do we ever ask ourselves what right a father has to give his daughter's hand to someone else ?
We do not.
Because everything that is from the west and it's Judeo Christian cultural backdrop is sacrosanct.
If "giving her hand in marriage" is okay , then what is so fundamentally wrong with "kanyadaan" ?
We'll , it is wrong just because it is hindu (read pagan idol worshipping natives) . Our colonial masters taught us to hate our roots and we have since continued with the practice.
Read 8 tweets
May 17, 2021
The 'MOST' Horrible sacking of cities by the Invaders.
(A Thread)

1. Timur sacked Delhi in 1398, it is said he slaughtered a 100K people there.

(Pic :-Timur defeats the Sultan of Delhi, Nasir Al-Din Mahmud Tughlaq 1397–1398, painting dated 1595–1600.)

Cont.:- Image
2. Alla-ud-din Khilji killed around 8K of the Mongol army who were settled in today's Mongolpuri in Delhi.
Their heads were displayed at the Chor-Minar, Delhi (Pic 1)

3. In 1556, Akbar defeated Hemu at Panipat (Pic 2), slaughtered his army, and built a tower with the heads. ImageImage
4. Sacking of Mandu by Adham Khan in 1561. (Pic 1)

5. Sacking of Chitod by Akbar where he killed 30K peasants in 1567. (Pic 2).
Women committed Jauhar.

6. Sacking of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739 where 1st he emptied the Mughal Treasury & then he killed over 20K delhites. (Pic 3) ImageImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Apr 6, 2021
The Last known case of Sati in India.
(A Thread)

34 years ago Roop Kanwar’s Sati forced Rajasthan to rewrite laws. She sat on her husband’s funeral pyre & was burnt to death at Deorala village in Sikar district.

18-year-old Roop Kanwar remains India’s last known case of Sati. Image
Sati was an ancient practice among Hindu communities in India, in which a recently widowed woman, either voluntarily or by force, immolated herself on her deceased husband's pyre. Image
In December 1829, the Bengal Sati Regulation banning the Sati Pratha (practice) in all jurisdictions of British India was passed by the then Governor-General Lord William Bentinck.

But, this did not stop the practice. Image
Read 7 tweets
Oct 3, 2020
The ill-effects of the MONOPOLY of Bollywood.
(A Thread)

Compare Bollywood with rich variety that traditionally existed in India -

Dance / नृत्य -(classical & folk dance forms including but not restricted to - Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri etc. Image
Music / गायन, वादन - (classical and folk including Hindustani, Carnatic, लावणी, भांड, पांडववाणी, भावगीत, रसिया, टप्पा, जनपद गीती ... )

Theater / नाटक - (classical and folk like - संस्कृत नाटक, सट्टक, प्रकरण, संगीत नाटक ... जत्रा, नौटंकी, भावाई, तमाशा, यक्षगान, दशावतार ...) ImageImageImageImage
Street Performances / डोंबारी, पोतराज, बहुरूपी, गारुडी, सपेरा, माकडवाला, चित्रकथी ...

Puppet Show / कठपुतली
Shadow Support Show / रावणछाया ...
Story Telling / कथा, पुराण, कीर्तन, प्रवचन ...
Ramlila / रामलीला, रम्मन ...
Processions / many a रथयात्रा ... ImageImageImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Sep 28, 2020
What does a Hindu Temple means to all hindus ??
(A Thread)

It is a Abode of God / Goddess
A Shrine
A Teertha-Kshetra
A Spiritual Center
A Philosophical School
A Community Center
A Food Donation Center
A Free Shelter for Yatris
A Community School Teaching Ethics.

Cont.
An Art, Music, Dance, Drama School
A Platform for Artists
A Marketplace
An Architectural Marvel
A Masterpiece of Craftsmanship
An Art Gallery
A Museum
A Historic Monument
A Place of Pride
An Employment Guarantee Scheme

Cont.
A temple provided employment for hundreds of people. When one temple was destroyed hundreds of families lost their livelihood. Imagine what the destruction of temples must have done to the artists, shopkeepers, florists ... and their families.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(