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6th May 2022

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This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2022

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1.1 Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

Objective

• To achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level.
• To enhance the recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices.
• To explore the feasibility of reusing treated municipal wastewater for peri-urban agriculture.
• To attract greater private investments in irrigation.
• To promote extension activities relating to water harvesting, water management and crop alignment for farmers and grass root level field functionaries.

Salient features

• Decentralized State level planning and projectized execution’ structure, in order to allow States to draw up a District Irrigation Plan (DIP) and a State Irrigation Plan (SIP). These plans need to be prepared in order to access the PMKSY fund.
• It will be supervised and monitored by the Inter-Ministerial National Steering Committee (NSC) under PM with Union Ministers of all concerned Ministries. A National Executive Committee (NEC) is to be constituted under the Chairmanship of the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog to oversee programme implementation.
• PMKSY has been formulated amalgamation ongoing schemes viz. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP); Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP); and On-Farm Water Management (OFWM) component of National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
• Water budgeting is done for all sectors namely, household, agriculture and industries.
• Investments will happen at farm level. So, farmers know what is happening and can provide valuable feedback.
• Recently, the Long Term Irrigation Fund has been instituted under PMKSY in NABARD for funding and fast-tracking the implementation of incomplete major and medium irrigation projects.

1.2 Large Area Certification Scheme

Background

   Despite deep inroads of modern agricultural practices, still, there are large contiguous areas in hills, tribal districts, desert and rained areas in India that continue to remain free from chemical input usage. With little efforts, such traditional/ default organic areas can be brought under organic certification almost immediately.
  Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under its flagship scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY) has launched a unique quick certification programme “Large Area Certification” (LAC) to harness these potential areas under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yajana.

 Salient features

• LAC is a Quick certification process that is cost-effective and farmers do not have to wait for 2-3 years for marketing PGS(Participatory Guarantee System) organic certified products. Whereas As per the established norm of organic production systems, the areas having chemical input usage history are required to undergo a transition period of minimum 2-3 years to qualify as organic. 

• Under LAC, each village in the area is considered as one cluster/group.  
• Documentations are simple and maintained village-wise.
• Plan based on agro-climatic conditions, availability of appropriate technology and natural priorities.
• All farmers with their farmland and livestock need to adhere to the standard requirements and on being verified get certified en-mass without the need to go under conversion period. Certification is renewed on annual basis through annual verification by a process of peer appraisals as per the process of PGS-India.

1.3 NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY MISSION

Objective

• Increasing production of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals and commercial crops through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner.
• Restore soil fertility and productivity at the individual farm level.
• Enhancing farm level economy.

Salient features

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme which was launched in 2007.
• The approach of the scheme is to bridge the yield gap in respect of these crops through dissemination of improved technologies and farm management practices while focusing on districts which have high potential but relatively low level of productivity at present.
• Major Components – National Food Security Mission – Rice, National Food Security Mission – Wheat, National Food Security Mission – Pulses,
• National Food Security Mission – Coarse Cereals and National Food Security Mission –Commercial Crops.

1.4 GRAMIN BHANDARAN YOJANA

Objective of this Scheme:

• Create scientific storage capacity with allied facilities in rural areas.
• To meet the requirements of farmers for storing farm produce, processed farm produce and agricultural inputs.
• Promotion of grading, standardization and quality control of agricultural produce to improve their marketability.
• Prevent distress sale immediately after harvest by providing the facility of pledge financing and marketing credit by strengthening agricultural marketing infrastructure in the country.

 

1.5 SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME

Objective

• To issue soil health cards every 3 years, to all farmers of the country, so as to provide a basis to address nutrient deficiencies in fertilization practices.
• To strengthen the functioning of Soil Testing Laboratories (STLs) through capacity building, the involvement of agriculture students and effective linkage with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) / State Agricultural Universities (SAUs).
• To diagnose soil fertility related constraints with standardized procedures for sampling uniformly across states.
• To build capacities of district and state level staff and of progressive farmers for promotion of nutrient management practices.

Salient features

• It is a centrally sponsored scheme launched by the Government of India in 2015.
• It is being implemented through the Department of Agriculture of all the State and Union Territory Governments.
• Assistance is provided to the State Government to issue Soil Health Card and also develop a database to improve service delivery.
• Soil Health Card issued to farmers carry crop-wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilizers required for the individual farms.
• The experts will analyze the strength and weaknesses (micronutrients deficiency) of the soil collected from farms and suggest measures to deal with it.
• It will contain the status of his soil with respect to 12 parameters, namely N,P,K (Macronutrients); S (Secondary nutrient); Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (Micro – nutrients); and pH, EC, OC (Physical parameters).

1.6 PM FASAL BIMA YOJANA

Objective

• To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
• To stabilise the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
• To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
• To ensure flow of credit to the agriculture sector.
• Intended beneficiary – All farmers including sharecroppers and tenant farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible.

Salient features

• It replaced all other existing insurance schemes except the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (uses weather parameters as proxy for crop yield in compensating the cultivators for deemed crop loses).
• A uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops.
• In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%.
• There is no upper limit on Government subsidy so farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction.
• The difference between the premium paid by farmers and the actuarial premium charged was paid by the Centre and state government in the ratio of 50:50.
• It is compulsory for loanee farmers availing crop loans for notified crops in notified areas and voluntary for non-loanee farmers.
• Yield Losses: due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Lightning, Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado.
• Risks due to Flood, Inundation and Landslide, Drought, Dry spells, Pests/ Diseases also will be covered.
• Post-harvest losses are also covered.
• Mandatory use of technology: Smart phones, drones etc., will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.
• The Scheme shall be implemented on an ‘Area Approach basis’. Defined Area (i.e., unit area of insurance) is Village or above. It can be a Geo-Fenced/Geo-mapped region having homogenous Risk Profile for the notified crop.
• Presently, 5 public sector insurers (Agriculture Insurance Company of India, United India Insurance Company etc.) and 13 private insurance companies are empanelled for implementation of the scheme.
• Recently, states have been allowed to set up their own insurance companies for implementing the scheme.

1.7 National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture

National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) has been formulated for enhancing agricultural productivity especially in rainfed areas focusing on integrated farming, water use efficiency, soil health management and synergizing resource conservation.

Objectives

• To make agriculture more productive, sustainable, remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific Integrated/Composite Farming Systems
• To conserve natural resources through appropriate soil and moisture conservation measures
• To adopt comprehensive soil health management practices based on soil fertility maps, soil test based application of macro & micro nutrients, judicious use of fertilizers etc.
• To optimize utilization of water resources through efficient water management to expand coverage for achieving ‘more crop per drop’.
• To develop capacity of farmers & stakeholders, in conjunction with other on going missions e.g. National Mission on Agriculture Extension & Technology, National Food Security Mission, National Initiative for Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) etc., in the domain of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.
• To pilot models in select blocks for improving productivity of rainfed farming by mainstreaming rainfed technologies refined through NICRA and by leveraging resources  from other schemes/Missions like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), RKVY etc.; and
• To establish an effective inter and intra Departmental/Ministerial coordination for accomplishing key deliverables of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture under the aegis of National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

1.8 PARAMPARAGAT KRISHI VIKAS YOJANA

Objective

• Promotion of commercial organic production through certified organic farming.
• pesticide residue free produce and improved health of consumer
• Raise farmer’s income and create potential markets for traders.
• Motivate the farmers for natural resource mobilization for input production.
• Increase domestic production and certification of organic produce by involving farmers.

Intended beneficiary

• Farmers doing organic farming
• Farmers from NE India such as Sikkim
• Food processing industries
• Organic foods – export industry

Salient features

• “Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana” is an elaborated component of Soil Health Management (SHM) under National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
• Cluster Approach: Fifty or more farmers form a cluster having 50 acre land to take organic farming. Each farmer will be provided Rs. 20000 per acre in three years for seed to harvesting crops and to transport them to market.
• Government plans to form around 10 thousand clusters in three years and cover an area of 5 Lakh hectares under organic farming.

Components –

• Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) certification through cluster approach – mobilization of farmers, form clusters, identification of land resources and training on organic farming and PGS Certification and quality control.
• Adoption of organic village for manure management and biological nitrogen harvesting through cluster approach –action plan for Organic Farming, Integrated Manure Management, Packing, Labelling and Branding of organic products of cluster.

1.9 NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL MARKET (NAM)

Objective

• To promote genuine price discovery
• Increases farmers’ options for sale and access to markets
• Liberal licensing of traders / buyers and commission agents. One license for a trader valid across all markets in the State
• Harmonisation of quality standards of agricultural produce
• Single point levy of market fees, i.e on the first wholesale purchase from the farmer.
• Provision of Soil Testing Laboratories in/ or near the selected mandi to facilitate visiting farmers to access this facility in the mandi itself

Intended beneficiary

• 585 regulated wholesale markets in states/union territories (UTs).
• Farmers
• Local traders
• Bulk buyers, processors
• Farm produce exporters
• Overall economy of the nation

Salient features

• NAM is a pan-India electronic trading portal which seeks to network the existing APMCs and other market yards to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.
• Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) has been selected as the lead agency to implement it.
• Central government will provide the software free of cost to the states and in addition, a grant of up to Rs. 30 lakhs per mandi or market or private mandis will be given for related equipment and infrastructure requirements.
• New Features added to the scheme such as E-NAM Mobile App, BHIM Payment facility, MIS dashboard for better analysis and insights, grievance redressal mechanism for Mandi Secretaries and integration with Farmer Database to ease the registration and identification process will further strengthen e-NAM.
• Fund Allocation – The Scheme is being funded through AgriTech Infrastructure Fund (AITF).

1.10 Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)

Objective

• ZBNF is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India.
• Subhash Palekar perfected it during the 1990s at his farm in Amravati district in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Vidarbha region.
• According to the “zero budget” concept, farmers won’t have to spend any money on fertilisers and other agricultural inputs.
• Over 98% of the nutrients that crops require — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water, solar energy — are already present in nature.
• The remaining 1.5-2% are taken from the soil,

Four wheels of ZBNF

The “four wheels” of ZBNF are ‘Jiwamrita’, ‘Bijamrita’, ‘Mulching’ and ‘Waaphasa’.

• Jiwamrita is a fermented mixture of cow dung and urine (of desi breeds), jaggery, pulses flour, water and soil from the farm bund.
• This isn’t a fertilizer, but just a source of some 500 crore micro-organisms that can convert all the necessary “non-available” nutrients into “available” form.
• Bijamrita is a mix of desi cow dung and urine, water, bund soil and lime that is used as a seed treatment solution prior to sowing.
• Mulching, or covering the plants with a layer of dried straw or fallen leaves, is meant to conserve soil moisture and keep the temperature around the roots at 25-32 degrees Celsius, which allows the microorganisms to do their job.
• Waaphasa, or providing water to maintain the required moisture-air balance, also achieves the same objective.

1.11 MERA GAON-MERA GAURAV

Objective

• To promote direct interface of scientists withthe farmers and hasten the land to lab process.
• To imbibe a sense of ownership among the agricultural scientists
• To provide farmers with required information, knowledge and advisories on regular basis by adopting villages.

Intended beneficiary

• Scientists with ground level experience
• Farmers

 Salient features

• This scheme involves scientists of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and state agricultural universities.
• Groups of four multidisciplinary scientists each will be constituted at these institutes and universities. Each group will “adopt” five villages within a radius of maximum 100 km.

1.12 Price Stabilization Fund

Objective: to safeguard the interest of the growers and provide them financial relief when prices fall below a specified level.

Scheme:

• Central Sector Scheme.
• To support market interventions for price control of perishable agri-horticultural commodities.
• PSF will be used to advance interest free loan to State Governments and Central agencies to support their working capital and other expenses on procurement and distribution interventions for such commodities.
• Procurement of the commodities will be undertaken directly from farmers or farmers’ organizations at farm gate/mandi and made available at a more reasonable price to the consumers.
• Initially the fund is proposed to be used for onion and potato only. Losses incurred, if any, in the operations will be shared between the Centre and the States.

Framework and Funding:

• States will set up a revolving fund to which theCentre and State will contribute equally, i.e. 50:50.
• The ratio of Centre-State contribution to the State-level corpus in respect of Northeast States will, however, be 75:25.

1.13 Mission Fingerling

• It is a programme to enable holistic development and management of the fisheries sector in India.
• The mission aims to achieve the target to enhance fisheries production from 10.79 mmt (2014-15) to 15 mmt by 2020-21 under the Blue Revolution.

Programme:

• Government has identified 20 States based ontheir potential and other relevant factors to strengthen the Fish Fingerling production and Fish Seed infrastructure in the country.
• This program will facilitate the establishment of Fingerling rearing pond and hatcheries.
• This will converge in the production of 20 lakh tonnes of fish annually, which will in turn benefit about 4 million families.
• The implementation of this program will supplement the requirement of stocking materials in the country up to a large extent, which is a much needed input to achieve the enhanced fish production.

1.14 Umbrella Scheme Green Revolution — Krishonnati Yojana

Aim

These schemes look to develop the agriculture and allied sector in a holistic and scientific manner to increase the income of farmers by enhancing production, productivity and better returns on produce.

The Schemes that are part of the Umbrella Schemes are :-

1. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)
2. National Food Security Mission (NFSM)
3. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
4. Submission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE)
5. Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP)
6. Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM)
7. Sub Mission on Plant Protection and Plan Quarantine (SMPPQ)
8. Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census, Economics and Statistics (ISACES)
9. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperation (ISAC)
10. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing (ISAM)
11. National e-Governance Plan (NeGP-A) The Schemes/Missions focus on creating/strengthening of infrastructure of production, reducing production cost and marketing of agriculture and allied produce.

1.15 Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA)

1. The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018.
2. It is expected that the increase in MSP will be translated to farmers’ income by way of robust procurement mechanism in coordination with the State Governments.

The three schemes that are part of AASHA are:

1. the Price Support Scheme (PSS)
2. the Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS)
3. the Pilot of Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPPS)

• These three components will complement the existing schemes of the Department of Food and Public Distribution.
• They relate to paddy, wheat and other cereals and coarse grains where procurement is at MSP now.
• PSS – Under the PSS, physical procurement of pulses, oilseeds and copra will be done by Central Nodal Agencies.
• Besides, NAFED and Food Corporation of India will also take up procurement of crops under PSS.
• The expenditure and losses due to procurement will be borne by the Centre.
• PDPS – Under the PDPS, the Centre proposes to cover all oilseeds.
• The difference between the MSP and actual selling/modal price will be directly paid into the farmer’s bank account.
• Farmers who sell their crops in recognised mandis within the notified period can benefit from it.
• PPSS – In the case of oilseeds, States will have the option to roll out PPSS in select districts.
• Under this, a private player can procure crops at MSP when market prices drop below MSP.
• The private player will then be compensated through a service charge up to a maximum of 15% of the MSP.

1.16 Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)

What is the news:

• The Central Government notified a decision to extend the benefit of ₹6,000 per year under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to all 14.5 crore farmers in the country, irrespective of the size of their landholding.
• Central sector scheme

Objective

○ To provide income support to all farmer families having cultivable land.

○ To supplement the financial needs of the farmers in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income.

Salient Features:

• The revised Scheme is expected to coveraround 2 crore more farmers, increasing the coverage of PM-KISAN to around 14.5 crore beneficiaries.
• Responsibility of identifying the landholder farmer family eligible for benefit under the scheme shall be of the State/UT Government.
• The lists of eligible beneficiaries would be published at the village level to ensure transparency.
• Exclusions: Certain categories of beneficiaries of higher economic status such as institutional landholders, former and present holder of constitutional posts, persons who paid income tax in the last assessment year etc. shall not be eligible for benefit under the scheme.
  • Professionals like doctors, engineers and lawyers as well as retired pensioners with a monthly pension of over ₹10,000 and those who paid income tax in the last assessment year are also not eligible for the benefits.
  • For the purpose of exclusion State/UT Government can certify the eligibility of the beneficiary based on self-declaration by the beneficiaries.
• A dedicated PM Kisan Portal will be launched for the implementation of the scheme.
• This is a Central Sector Scheme and will be funded fully by the Government of India

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It is a part of our Nikaalo Prelims 2022 Initiative. You can join our official space on habitat to ask your doubts with the mentors and decode Prelims.

These keywords are taken from Upinder Singh book which is a very high relevant source for Prelims but bulky for an Aspirant to cover.

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Agrahara: Land or village gifted by a king 

Ahimsa: Non-injury, non-violence 

Ajivikas: An ancient religious sect, associated with Makkhali Gosala 

Akam: Sangam love poems 

Alvars: The Vaishnava saint-poets of early medieval South India

Anekantavada: The Jaina doctrine of the manifold nature of reality

Antarala: The vestibule or antechamber of a temple

Araghatta: The Persian wheel, or a similar contrivance

Aranyakas: literally ‘forest books’; part of the Vedic corpus

Ardhamandapa: The hall preceding the sanctum in a temple

Ariya-sachchani: The Four Noble Truths related to suffering; an important part of the Buddha’s teaching

Ayyavole: A powerful merchant guild of early medieval South India 

Bands: Small and usually nomadic communities, usually related to each other through kinship

Brahmadeya: Land gifted to Brahmanas, generally by kings.

​​Charana: School of Vedic study 

Charvaka: An atheistic materialism philosophical school, also known as Lokayata

Dhamma: A Pali word (Sanskrit, dharma), referring to the ideal conduct of an individual living in society.

Dhammachakka-pavattana: Pali, literally ‘turning the wheel of dhamma’; the Buddha’s first sermon in the deer park near Benaras 

Dhamma-mahamatas: A new cadre of officials created by Ashoka to propagate dhamma.

Dvija: literally ‘twice born’: Those entitled to the performance of the upanayana (sacred thread) ceremony, which is considered analogous to a second birth, viz., the upper three varnas, namely the Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas.

Four Noble Truths(Ariya-sachchani): An important part of the Buddha’s teaching, viz., there is suffering; it has a cause; it can be eliminated; and the way to eliminate it is to follow the Eight-fold Path

Gahapati: Pali for Sanskrit grihapati, i.e., householder; a wealthy property-owner 

Gaja-Lakshmi: A popular representation of the goddess Lakshmi, flanked by two elephants, sometimes holding jars in their trunks gana: a word which has many meanings, including an oligarchy 

Garbha-griha: The inner sanctum of a temple, where the image of the main deity is placed and worshipped.

Hundikas: Bills of exchange used by traders in early medieval India

Kani rights: Rights over land in early medieval South India, sometimes also associated with certain duties and obligations 

Kara-shasanas: Tax-paying agraharas

kottam: Settlement clusters in the Pallava kingdom, similar to the nadus 

Kraya-shasana: A secular land-sale deed 

Kshatra: Secular power kshatrapa: a viceroy or subordinate ruler of the Scytho-Parthians; a title assumed by kings of the Kshaharata and Kardamaka dynasties

Madhayamaka: A major Mahayana school founded by Nagarjuna, in which the idea of shunyata (emptiness) is of great importance.

Mandapika: A local centre of exchange, in between small periodic markets and larger trade centres Manigramam: a powerful merchant guild of early medieval South India.

Mahakshatrapa: Viceroy, subordinate ruler; a title assumed by some kings of the Kshaharata and Kardamaka dynasties

Menhir: A type of megalithic burial, marked by a single, large, standing stone.

Nagarakkani: Land owned and managed by the nagaram 

Nagarams: Market or commercial centres in early medieval South India N

Agarattar: The corporate organization of the nagaram

Nattar: The leading men of the nadu (locality) in early medieval South India.

Nibbana: A term used often in the Buddhist tradition for liberation from the cycle of birth and death

Niyoga: levirate; the ancient custom of a widow cohabiting with her brother-in-law or another man in order to produce sons.

Paramitas: Perfections whose attainment led to the bodhisattva path; a Mahayana idea Paribbajaka: Pali, literally, ‘wanderer’, renunciant pariharas: exemptions and privileges granted to donees in royal land grants parinibbana: the passing away of the Buddha Patichcha-samuppada: Pali, the law of dependent origination; a part of the Buddha’s teaching

Periyapuranam: A 12th century work containing hagiographies of the Nayanmar saints

Pramanas: grounds of knowledge 

Prashasti: Panegyric 

Pravara: The names of one, two, three, or five supposed ancestral rishis, connected with the gotra system of the Brahmanas

Puram: War poems of the Sangam corpus 

Purva Mimamsa: A school of Vedic exegesis

Samana: A Pali word (Sanskrit shramana); literally, ‘one who strives’, a renunciant 

Samanta: Subordinate ruler; feudatory 

Samhita: A collection of hymns, associated with the Vedas 

Samkhya: A very ancient philosophical school which views the world as consisting of two fundamental categories of purusha (the spiritual principle) and prakriti (matter or nature)

Sandhara: A temple style with an enclosed passage for circumambulation

Sangam literature: Texts in old Tamil, comprising the earliest parts of the Ettutokai, Pattuppattu, and Tolkappiyam.

Sapindas: People who are held to be related to each other, an important category in Dharmashastra discussions on rules of marriage, inheritance, and rules of purity and impurity to be observed among relatives when a person died 

Saptanga rajya: Literally ‘the seven-limbed state’, the Arthashastra concept of the state as consisting of seven elements.

Setthi: Pali (Sanskrit sreshthin); a high-level businessman associated with trade and money-lending 

Shakha: A recension of a Veda

Siddhamatrika: An ancient script, known from the 6th century CE; also known as Kutila

Syadavada: Literally ‘doctrine of maybe’; the Jaina doctrine of the partial nature of all statements about reality

Taniyur: A special status given to certain brahmadeyas in early medieval South India, making them independent of the nadu wherein they were located

Tevaram: A collection of hymns, part of the canon of South Indian Shaiva bhakti

Tipitaka: Pali, literally ‘the three baskets’ or ‘three collections’, Buddhist canonical texts; the Pali Tipitaka is the canon of the Theravada school 

Tirthankara: Literally, ‘ford builder’; a Jaina saint 

Tirumurai: The canon of South Indian Shaiva bhakti 

Tiruttondar-Tiruvantai: A work by Nambi Andar Nambi, which gives a short hagiography of the Nayanmar saints 

Tiruttondar-Tokai: A work by Sundarar, which lists 62 Nayanmar saints torana: the gateway of a shrine

Vatteluttu: An ancient South Indian script used for writing Tamil

Vellala/vellalar: Cultivating groups of South India 

Vellanvagai: Non-brahmadeya villages of early medieval South India; same as ur 

Vendar: The three ‘crowned kings’ of early historical South India, i.e., the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas

Viragal: The word for a ‘hero stone’ in the Tamil Nadu area

Yajamana: The person for whom the yajna (sacrifice) is performed and who bears its expenses Yajna: sacrifice 

Yakshas: Deities associated with water, fertility, trees, forests, and the wilderness 

Yakshis: Female deities associated with fertility, consorts of yakshas 

Yavana: Greeks, foreigners from the West 

Yoga: A philosophical school which aimed at focusing the mind to achieve complete tranquility and control 

Yogachara: A major Mahayana school which attached great importance to meditation as a means of attaining the highest goal
Yupa: Sacrificial post