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GS Paper: GS1-01.Indian Culture- Salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

  • GI in news: Joynagar Moa

    moa

    The Joynagar Moa, the popular Bengal sweet got 10 year extension for its Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

    Joynagar Moa

    • The moa is a popped-rice ball held together with fresh date-palm jaggery, extracted from the beginning of December till the end of February.
    • Its manufacture is so synonymous with Joynagar, a settlement on the outskirts of Kolkata, that it earned the Geographical Indication tag of Joynagar Moa in 2015.

    How is it made?

    • A moa is made with khoi (puffed rice). The best ones are made with khoi from a rice variety known as kanakchur.
    • It uses cardamom and Bengal’s legendary nolen gur (a liquid jaggery made from date palms and found only in winter).

    Back2Basics: Geographical Indication (GI)

    • A GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
    • Nodal Agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry
    • India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 w.e.f. September 2003.
    • GIs have been defined under Article 22 (1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
    • The tag stands valid for 10 years.

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  • Dhokra Art of West Bengal

    dhokra

    This newscard is an excerpt from the articles published in TH.

    Do you know?

    The dancing girl from Mohenjo-Daro (c. 2300 – 1750 BCE) is not just the most famous piece of art from the Harappan Civilisation, it is also one of the finest examples of metal art from that period.

    dhokra

    But did you know that this world-famous figurine is also the oldest example of a unique metal casting tradition called Dhokra that survives to this day in parts of India?

    Dhokra Art

    • Named after a nomadic tribe called ‘Dhokra Damar’, the art of Dhokra was originally found in the region from Bankura to Dariapur in Bengal, and across the metal-rich regions of Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
    • Today, it is practiced in the tribal belt across present-day Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
    • The Dhokra artistes first make a clay model out of wax, which is then replaced with molten metal, either brass or bronze, through a lost-wax metal cast.

    What is Dhokra?

    • Dhokra is a metal casted art that uses the ancient lost-wax casting technique.
    • This art is said to be the first of its kind to use a non-ferrous metal like copper and its alloys – brass (a mix of zinc and copper) or bronze (tin and copper) which do not contain iron.
    • It uses the process of annealing, where a metal is heated to very high temperatures and allowed to cool slowly.
    • The casting is done using two kinds of processes – the traditional, hollow-casting method and solid casting. Solid casting is predominant in Telangana, whereas hollow casting is used in Central and Eastern India.

    Symbolism of Dhokra

    • With its roots in ancient civilisations, Dhokra represents a primitive lifestyle and the beliefs of people, going back to the age of hunting.
    • This is why figures of elephants, owls, horses and tortoises are commonly seen in Dhokra art.
    • The elephant symbolises wisdom and masculinity; the horse motion; owl prosperity and death; and the tortoise femininity.
    • In Hindu mythology, these iconic symbols also have stories behind them.
    • The world is imagined to rest on four elephants, standing on the shell of a tortoise.
    • The tortoise, considered as an avatar of Lord Vishnu, carries the world on his back, holding up the earth and the sea.

     

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  • 3 more sites added to UNESCO’s tentative list of World Heritage Sites

    Gujarat’s Vadnagar town, the iconic Sun Temple at Modhera, and the rock cut sculptures of Unakoti in Tripura have been added to the tentative list of UNCESO World Heritage Sites.

    What is UNESCO tentative list?

    • The UNESCO tentative list is an inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination.
    • With these 3 sites, India now has 52 sites on UNESCO Tentative List.

    About the sites

    (1) Sun Temple, Modhera

    unesco

    • The Sun Temple at Modhera is located on the left bank of the river Pushpavati, a tributary of river Rupan in Becharaji taluka of Mehsana district.
    • The temple description states that it is built in Maru-gurjara architectural style, consists of the main temple shrine (garbhagriha), a hall (gadhamandapa), an outer hall or assembly hall (Sabhamandapa or rangamandapa) and a sacred pool (Kunda), which is now called Ramakunda.
    • This east-facing temple is built with bright yellow sandstone.
    • It is the earliest of such temples which set trends in architectural and decorative details, representing the Solanki style at its best.

    (2) Vadnagar

    unesco

    • Vadnagar is a historic town, which had continuous habitation for more than 2,700 years.
    • A multi-layered historic town, the history of Vadnagar stretches back to nearly 8th century BCE.
    • The town still retains a large number of historic buildings that are primarily religious and residential in nature.
    • It has evolved with time and has an early historic fortified settlement, hinterland port, centre for industries of shells and beads, late medieval town, religious centre/temple town, a significant junction on trade routes and mercantile town.
    • Rampart datable to second century BCE, fortification along the lake from third-fourth century CE, findings of Indo-Pacific glass beads and marine shells, palaeo-seismic evidence evidently point towards historical authenticity of the town.

    (3) Unakoti

    unesco

    • Located in the northeastern region of Tripura, Unakoti is known as an ancient holy place associated with Shaiva worship.
    • It is famously known as the ‘Angkor Wat of the North-East’
    • The structures of the rock-cut sculptures are gigantic and have distinct mongoloid features and display almost the same mystical charm as the spellbinding figures in the Angkor Wat temple of Cambodia.

    Back2Basics: UNESCO World Heritage Sites

    • A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area, selected by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for having cultural, historical, scientific or other forms of significance, which is legally protected by international treaties.
    • The sites are judged to be important for the collective and preservative interests of humanity.
    • To be selected, a WHS must be an already-classified landmark, unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special cultural or physical significance (such as an ancient ruin or historical structure, building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, mountain, or wilderness area).
    • It may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet.
    • The sites are intended for practical conservation for posterity, which otherwise would be subject to risk from human or animal trespassing, unmonitored/uncontrolled/unrestricted access, or threat from local administrative negligence.
    • The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Program administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 “states parties” that are elected by their General Assembly.

    UNESCO World Heritage Committee

    • The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
    • It monitors the state of conservation of the World Heritage properties, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.
    • It is composed of 21 states parties that are elected by the General Assembly of States Parties for a four-year term.
    • India is NOT a member of this Committee.

     

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  • Indian student at Cambridge decodes Panini’s Language Machine

    panini

    A grammatical problem by Panini that has defeated Sanskrit scholars since the 5th Century BC has finally been solved by an Indian Ph.D. student at the University of Cambridge.

    Who was Panini?

    • Panini was a Sanskrit philologist, grammarian, and revered scholar in ancient India, variously dated between the 6th and 4th century BCE.
    • Since the discovery and publication of his work by European scholars in the nineteenth century, Panini has been considered the “first descriptive linguist” and even labelled as “the father of linguistics”.
    • Panini’s grammar was influential on such foundational linguists as Ferdinand de Saussure and Leonard Bloomfield.

    Major literary works

    • Panini is known for his texts- Astadhyayi, a sutra-style treatise on Sanskrit grammar, verses or rules on linguistics, syntax and semantics in “eight chapters” which is the foundational text of the Vyakarna branch of the Vedanga.
    • His text attracted numerous bhashya (commentaries), of which Patanjali’s Mahabhashya is the most famous.
    • His ideas influenced and attracted commentaries from scholars of other Indian religions such as Buddhism.

    What is the recent breakthrough?

    • Panini had an extraordinary mind and he built a language machine unrivaled in human history.
    • The 2,500-year-old algorithm decoded by him makes it possible, for the first time, to accurately use Panini’s so-called “language machine”.
    • This discovery makes it possible to “derive” any Sanskrit word, to construct millions of grammatically correct words, using Panini’s language machine.
    • This is widely considered to be one of the greatest intellectual achievements in history.

    How does this language machine works?

    • Panini’s system – 4,000 rules detailed in his renowned work, the Astadhyayi, which is thought to have been written around 500 BC – is meant to work like a machine.
    • Feed in the base and suffix of a word and it should turn them into grammatically correct words and sentences through a step-by-step process.

    Significance of this development

    • A major implication of the recent discovery is that now there is an algorithm that runs Panini’s grammar.
    • We can potentially teach this grammar to computers.
    • Computer scientists working on Natural Language Processing (NLP) gave up on rule-based approaches over 50 years ago.
    • NLP is a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.
    • So teaching computers how to combine the speaker’s intention with Panini’s rule-based grammar to produce human speech would be a major milestone in the history of human interaction with machines.

     

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  • What Ambedkar said about Buddhism ‘being better than Marxism’

    While his views on Buddhism being superior to other religions are well-known, Ambedkar also believed the Buddha’s path to be superior to the popular religion-rejecting philosophy, Marxism.

    Marxist view of religion

    • Marx saw religion as a conservative force that prevented social change by creating false consciousness.
    • Marx once said- “Religion is the opium of the people. It is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of our soulless conditions.”
    • The end goal of Marxism is to achieve a classless society throughout the world.

    How Dr. Ambedkar compared Buddhism to Marxism?

    • Ambedkar has compared Buddhism with Marxism, saying that while both strive for the same end of a just and happy society.
    • The means propounded by Buddha are superior to those of Marx.
    • It is just simple that Marx was modern and Buddha ancient.
    • If the Marxists keep back their prejudices and study the Buddha and understand what he stood for I feel sure that they will change their attitude, Ambedkar writes.

    Similarities between the two

    • In showing the similarities between Buddhism and Marxism, Ambedkar first condenses the basic philosophy of both into neat bullet points.
    • For Buddhism, Dr. Ambedkar lists key points:
    1. The function of Religion is to reconstruct the world and to make it happy and not to explain its origin or its end;
    2. That private ownership of property brings power to one class and sorrow to another;
    3. That it is necessary for the good of Society that this sorrow be removed by removing its cause; and
    4. All human beings are equal.
    • Of Marx, he says all that is left “is a residue of fire”:
    1. The function of philosophy is to reconstruct the world and not to waste its time in explaining the origin of the world;
    2. That private ownership of property brings power to one class and sorrow to another through exploitation;
    3. That it is necessary for the good of society that the sorrow be removed by the abolition of private property.”

    How abolition of private property works under Buddhism?

    • Dr Ambedkar says Buddhism’s commitment to abolishment of private property is apparent in how its ‘Bhikshus’ give up all worldly goods.
    • He says the rules for Bhikhshus owning property or possessions are “far more rigorous than are to be found in communism in Russia.”
    • To establish a happy and fair society, the Buddha had laid down a path for believers.
    • The means adopted by the Buddha were to convert a man by changing his moral disposition to follow the path voluntarily.

    Key difference: Violent means

    • The means adopted by the Communists are equally clear, short and swift. They are (1) Violence and (2) Dictatorship of the Proletariat.
    • It is now clear what are the similarities and differences between Buddha and Karl Marx.
    • The differences are about the means. The end is common to both.
    • The driving force of India’s Constitution also says Buddha was a democrat.
    • As to Dictatorship, the Buddha would have none of it. He was born a democrat and he died a democrat, Ambedkar writes.

     

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. Karl Marx explained the process of class struggle with the help of which one of the following theories?

    (a) Empirical liberalism.

    (b) Existentialism.

    (c) Darwin’s theory of evolution.

    (d) Dialectical materialism.

     

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  • ‘French Baguette’ gets UNESCO heritage status

    Baguette

    Baguette the staple French bread has been inscribed into the UN’s list of intangible cultural heritage (ICH).

    What is a Baguette?

    • The baguette is a long and thin loaf made of flour, water, salt and yeast, and is consumed as a staple in France.
    • Some believe that it was invented by August Zang, a baker and an entrepreneur from Vienna in 1839, who introduced the world to the taste of crusty bread with softer insides, using a steam oven.
    • It gained its official name in 1920.
    • The history of the bread is uncertain, some also believe that Napoleon Bonaparte ordered thin sticks of bread for consumption by his soldiers as they could be carried from one place to another more conveniently.

    Why did France nominate it for the UN list?

    • About 10 billion baguettes are consumed every year in France by a population of 67 million.
    • It drew attention to the steady decline in the number of bakeries in the country as around 20,000 of them have closed down since 1970.
    • In March 2021, France nominated the baguette as its candidate for consideration within the UNESCO ICH list.
    • In 1970, there were 55,000 artisanal bakeries (one for every 790 residents) compared with 35,000 today (one for every 2,000), often in favour of baguettes produced industrially.

    Back2Basics: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)

    • ICH means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated with them that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as a part of their cultural heritage.
    • Furthermore, its importance is not in the cultural manifestation itself, but in the wealth of knowledge, know-how and skills that are transmitted from one generation to the next.
    • The adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the ICH by the General Conference of UNESCO in 2003 was a crucial step towards preserving intangible heritage.
    • UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was established in the year 2008.

    Criteria for the selection

    • There are three criteria for an intangible cultural heritage to be inscribed in the United Nations list.
    • The entity must-
    1. be recognized by communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals as part of their cultural heritage,
    2. be transmitted from generation to generation and be constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history and
    3. provide them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity

    India’s ICH on the UNESCO list

    • Sangeet Natak Akademi is the nodal organisation which looks after this function, and files nominations of intangible cultural entities from India, for evaluation by the international body.
    • ICG from India include Kolkata’s Durga Puja (2021), Kumbh Mela (2017), Navroz (2016), Yoga (2016), traditional brass and copper craft of utensil-making among coppersmiths of Punjab (2014), Sankirtana, a ritual musical performance of Manipur (2013), and the Buddhist chanting of Ladakh (2012).
    • Before 2011, the list included Chhau dance, Kalbelia folk songs and dance of Rajasthan, and Mudiyettu, a dance drama from Kerala (2010), Ramman, a religious festival and theatre performance of Garhwal in the Himalayas (2009), and Kutiyattam or Sanskrit theatre, and Vedic chanting (2008).
    • Ramlila, a traditional performance of Ramayana, was also included in 2008.
    • This year, India nominated Garba, a traditional dance form that originated in the state of Gujarat, for inscription on UNESCO’s ICH list.

     

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  • Who was Srimanta Sankardeva?

    sankardeva

    ‘Gurujana’ a musical tribute to 15th–16th century Assamese polymath Srimanta Sankardeva was recently released by the PIB.

    Srimanta Sankardeva (1449–1568)

    • Sankardeva was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of importance.
    • He is widely credited with building on past cultural relics and devising-
    1. New forms of music (Borgeet)
    2. Theatrical performance (Ankia Naat, Bhaona),
    3. Dance (Sattriya)
    4. Literary language (Brajavali)

    Literary works

    • He has left extensive literary trans-created scriptures (Bhagavat of Sankardev), poetry and theological works written in Sanskrit, Assamese and Brajavali.

    Political influence

    • The Bhagavatic religious movement he started, Ekasarana Dharma and also called the Neo-Vaishnavite movement, influenced two medieval kingdoms – Koch and the Ahom kingdom.
    • His influence spread even to some kingdoms as the Matak Kingdom founded by Bharat Singha, and consolidated by Sarbananda Singha in the latter 18th century endorsed his teachings.
    • The assembly of devotees he initiated evolved over time into monastic centers called Sattras, which continue to be important socio-religious institutions in Assam and to a lesser extent in North Bengal even today.

     

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  • Buddhist Nyingma Sect finds ‘reincarnation’ of famous Rinpoche

    In a significant development in Tibetan Buddhist circles, the Nyingma sect has identified a boy from Spiti in Himachal Pradesh as the reincarnation of the late Taklung Setrung Rinpoche, a scholar known for his knowledge of Tibetan Tantric school.

    About the Nyingma Sect

    • Nyingma (literally ‘old school’) is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
    • It is founded on the first lineages and translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan in the eighth century, during the reign of King Trisong Detsen (r. 710–755).
    • Nyingma traditional histories consider their teachings to trace back to the first Buddha Samantabhadra (Güntu Sangpo) and Indian mahasiddhas such as Garab Dorjé, Śrī Siṃha and Jñānasūtra.
    • Traditional sources trace the origin of the Nyingma order in Tibet to figures associated with the initial introduction of Buddhism in the 8th century, such as Padmasambhava, Yeshe Tsogyal, Vimalamitra, Vairotsana, Buddhaguhya and Shantaraksita.

    Who is a Rinpoche?

    • Rinpoche is an honorific term used in the Tibetan language.
    • It literally means “precious one”, and may refer to a person, place, or thing—like the words “gem” or “jewel”.
    • The word consists of rin (value), po (nominalizing suffix) and chen (big).
    • The word is used in the context of Tibetan Buddhism as a way of showing respect when addressing those recognized as reincarnated, older, respected or an accomplished Lamas or teachers of the Dharma.
    • It is also used as an honorific for abbots of Buddhist monasteries.

     

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  • Who was Guru Tegh Bahadur?

    November 24, is commemorated as the Shaheedi Divas of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth guru of the Sikhs, who stood up against forcible conversions by the Mughals, and was executed on the orders of Aurangzeb in 1675.

     Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)

    • Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. He was born at Amritsar in 1621 and was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind.
    • His term as Guru ran from 1665 to 1675. One hundred and fifteen of his hymns are in Guru Granth Sahib.
    • There are several accounts explaining the motive behind the assassination of Guru Tegh Bahadur on Aurangzeb’s orders.
    • He stood up for the rights of Kashmiri Pandits who approached him against religious persecution by Aurangzeb.
    • He was publicly executed in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for himself refusing Mughal rulers and defying them.
    • Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of his body.

    Impact of his martyrdom

    • The execution hardened the resolve of Sikhs against religious oppression and persecution.
    • His martyrdom helped all Sikh Panths consolidate to make the protection of human rights central to its Sikh identity.
    • Inspired by him, his nine-year-old son, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, eventually organized the Sikh group into a distinct, formal, symbol-patterned community that came to be known as Khalsa (Martial) identity.
    • In the words of Noel King of the University of California, “Guru Teg Bahadur’s martyrdom was the first-ever martyrdom for human rights in the world.
    • He is fondly remembered as ‘Hind di Chaadar’.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following Bhakti Saints:

    1. Dadu Dayal
    2. Guru Nanak
    3. Tyagaraja

    Who among the above was/were preaching when the Lodi dynasty fell and Babur took over?

    (a) 1 and 3

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3

    (d) 1 and 2

     

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  • 400th birth anniversary of legendary hero Lachit Borphukan

    lachit

    The three-day-long celebration of the 400th birth anniversary of Ahom General Lachit Barphukan has begun.

    Who was Lachit Borphukan?

    • The year was 1671 and the decisive Battle of Saraighat was fought on the raging waters of the Brahmaputra.
    • On one side was Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s army headed by Ram Singh of Amer (Jaipur) and on the other was the Ahom General Lachit Borphukan.
    • He was a commander in the Ahom kingdom, located in present-day Assam.
    • Ram Singh failed to make any advance against the Assamese army during the first phase of the war.
    • Lachit Borphukan emerged victorious in the war and the Mughals were forced to retreat from Guwahati.

    Lachit Divas

    • On 24 November each year, Lachit Divas is celebrated state-wide in Assam to commemorate the heroism of Lachit Borphukan.
    • On this day, Borphukan has defeated the Mughal army on the banks of the Brahmaputra in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671.
    • The best passing out cadet of National Defence Academy has been conferred the Lachit gold medal every year since 1999 commemorating his valour.

     

     

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