Shah Jahan--3 day urs

Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor from 1628-1658, is known for building the Taj Mahal. His three-day urs, that takes place every year began on 5 June.
The graves of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal are washed, sandalwood and flowers offered and prayers recited. Entry to the Taj is free during these special days.
Urs is a term in Islam for a death anniversary, though it literally means 'wedding'. Usually urs are celebrated for Sufi saints, whose death can be considered union with god.
Thousands of people attend Shah Jahan's urs. This year a 450 metre chadar [cloth] has been offered, woven by people of different communities, a symbol of peace.

Polish Children in India---1942

During the Second World War, 5000 Polish children came as refugees to India. A documentary on this, Little Poland in India,will soon be released. The children were orphans, evacuated from Poland to Siberia during the war. They reached India in 1942 and lived in special camps, returning to Poland later.One such camp was set up by K S Digvijaysinhji, the maharaja of Jamnagar in Gujarat. He looked after the children as a father would. There were other camps in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Most of the children were said to be Roman Catholics.
The film is based on records and on the memories of the now grown-up children.

Zoroastrianism: List of topics

Zoroastrianism: List of entries in Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths.
Aderbad bin Mahrespand
Agiary
Ahriman
Ahum Bis
Ahuna Vairya
Ahura
Ahura Mazda
Amardad
Ameretat
Amesha Spentas
Anagra Raochao
Angels
Angra Mainyu
Arda Viraf, Dastur
Ardashir Babagan
Ardi Behesht
Armaiti
Arya
Aryaman
Asha
Ashavan
Ashi Vanghui
Atar/ Adar/ Atash
Atash Adaran
Atash Behram
Atash Dadgah
Avesta
Avesta language
Azar Kaivan, Dastur
Baga
Bahman
Behram
Boi ceremony
Bundahishn
Chinvat Bridge
Cow, sanctity of
Dabistan-i Mazahib
Dadestan-i Denig
Daevas
Dakhma/ Dokhma
Dar-e Meher
Dasatir
Dastur
Dinkard
Dinyar, Dastur
Dog, in religion
Druj
Dughdova
Faridun
Farishta
Firdausi
Fire
Frashokereti
Fravashi
Gahambars
Gahs
Garo Demana
Gathas
Gaush Urva
Gayodad
Gayomard
Getig
Hamkar
Haurvatat
Homa/ Haoma
Hormazd
Humata
Hvare Kshaeta
Ilm-e-Khshnoom
Jadi Rana
Jakhs
Jamshed
Jashan
Kadimi/ Kadmi
Kava-Ushan
Khordad
Khordeh Avesta
Khorshed
Khratu
Khshathra
Kissah-i-Sanjan
Kukadaru, Dastur
Kusti
Magi
Manthras
Mazdayasnan/ Mazdayasni
Meharji Rana, Dastur
Meher Baba
Menog
Mithra
Muktad
Mulla Feroze
Mumbai
Naoroji, Dadabhai
Nasks
Navjote
Navroze
Navsari
Neryosang, Dastur
Nirang
Nyaesh
Ohrmazd
Pahlavi
Parsis
Rivayats
Sacred thread
Sanjan
Saoshyants
Shah Namah
Shahenshahi
Shroff, Behramshah Navroz
Spendarmad
Spenta Mainyu
Sraosha
Sudreh
Thraetona
Trita Aptya
Udvada
Vendidad
Verethraghna
Vishtaspa, Kava
Vohu Mana
Yasht
Yasna
Yazata
Yima
Zadspram
Zarathushtra
Zoroaster
Zoroastrain texts
Zoroastrian Calendar
Zoroastrian festivals and ceremonies
Zoroastrian temples
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrians
Zurvan

Soumyadip Choudhury's Blog : Audio recording of Swami Vivekananda's 1893 Chicago address is fake

Soumyadip Choudhury's Blog : Audio recording of Swami Vivekananda's 1893 Chicago address is fake

The curse of a Tantrik - Hindustan Times

The curse of a Tantrik - Hindustan Times

Lindbergh’s feat eclipsed earlier heroic transatlantic flights

Lindbergh’s feat eclipsed earlier heroic transatlantic flights

Guns, Germs and Steel

Guns, Germs and Steel: a short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years by Jared Diamond [first published 1997]. [A review]



This book tries to understand European colonialism, and European domination of the world, beginning in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The title of the book is a brief summary of the answer-- the Americas and Australia, conquered and resettled by Europeans, did not have either guns or steel to defend themselves. Nor did they have horses, which were often crucial in early warfare. Disease germs such as small pox and tuberculosis brought by Europeans, were new to the regions they conquered, and the native people were decimated by diseases they had never encountered before.
Of course, the almost 500 page book has much more than this. It attempts to present a broad sweep of history, beginning with the occupation of the world. It provides examples of how weapons and germs devastated certain groups, and then goes on to try and understand how these weapons and germs came to be in Europe. Food production, leading to a surplus, was the basis for sedentary, complex societies, which led to diversification and the development of technology, as well as of writing and political organisation. Animal domestication was the basis for certain germs. Climate, terrain, and naturally available plants and animals were a crucial aspect of where agriculture would develop, how much it could increase, and how it could spread.
This winner of the 1998 Rhone-Poulenc Science Book Prize is vast in its scope.
Some of its ideas are now outdated or disproved, as for instance the view that agriculture spread through Eurasia from the Fertile Crescent.
Why did Europe suddenly overtake Asia in development and technology? Why did Europeans and not the great Asian empires colonise the world? These questions need more analysis, but the book is still an interesting read.