King Narasiṁha I Before his Spiritual Preceptor

1971 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-138
Author(s):  
O. M. Starza-Majewski

The collection of Indian sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum includes a fine relief from Koṇārka. It is about 2 feet 6¾ inches (78·1 cm.) in height and depicts King Narasiṁha I (a.d. 1238–64), the founder of the celebrated Sun temple at Koṇārka in Orissa, sitting at the feet of his spiritual preceptor (Plate I). Acquired in the 19th century, this relief, which is carved in carboniferous shale, was long believed to be Nepalese. Havell, writing in 1911, notes that this sculpture is “said to have come from Nepal. Its date is uncertain. It appears to represent a Vaishnava adaptation of some old Buddhist jātaka story.” Some years later it was realized that the style of this sculpture belonged to that of the Eastern Ganga of the 13th century a.d., and that it represented the conversion of a kṣatriya noble to the worship of Viṣṇu by a Vaiṣṇava priest. The figure of the warrior sitting at the feet of the priest was identified as that of Narasimha I receiving spiritual instruction from his guru. This relief is one of a number showing scenes from the life of Narasimha which come from the great Koṇārka temple dedicated by him to the sun-god Sūrya. Of these, the panel already mentioned and another in New Delhi throw an interesting light on Narasiṃha's religious beliefs.

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 156-166
Author(s):  
Karthick K ◽  
Thiruveni V

Until the Sangam literary period (till 200 AD), Tamil language was secular and Tamil literature was created with an emphasis on virtue in both internal and external life. After that, religious literature started appearing in Tamil language. Tamil grammar texts are based on literature that appeared in different periods. Thus the “Pulamai ilakkanam” (grammar for scholarliness) composed by Vannacharabam Dantapani swami reveals the literary context that prevailed in the 19th century when he lived. Pulamai ilakkanam shows the author's religiosity and the religious beliefs and devotion in the field of education and literature at that time. Grammar is the rules for creating literature. If so, constructing Tamil scholarliness in relation to a particular religion would be tantamount to narrow down the breadth of the Tamil language. Based on the content of Pulamai ilakkanam and the literary context of the time, this article discusses the dominance of the religions over Tamil literature and the use oflanguage by religions for their development.


Author(s):  
Stephen R. Wilk

In the years before the 19th century, the options for indoor lighting were limited and sometimes expensive. Yet artisans such as lacemakers, cobblers, and jewelers needed good lighting for their precise and delicate work. But not being very well paid, they needed a solution that would allow as many of them as possible to share the expense of lighting for work. How did they manage after the sun went down, especially in northern countries with long periods of winter darkness? Can the solutions they came up with be applied to present-day problems?


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-114
Author(s):  
Krisztina Fehér ◽  
Balázs Halmos

Since the 19th century, the church of Zsámbék was continuously a focus of scholars' interest. The present paper intends to research the church ruins with a new aspect. Using an accurate terrestrial laser scan survey, the geometry of the plan is analysed in order to find proportions among the dimensions. The main goal of the study is to gather information about the design logic of the first masters of the 13th-century Premonstratensian abbey. In addition, our goal was to detect contributions to the 13th-century construction history of the church, that cannot be found in archives of graphic sources. The latest archaeological excavation achieved excellent results concerning several crucial historical points; however, the periodization of the church is still not entirely clarified. From the 19th century, different scholars have proposed various hypotheses about this topic, without consensus.


1977 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 244-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerzy Krupinskif ◽  
Roma Emmerson

A study has been carried out to determine whether there has been a real increase in violent crime in Victoria or whether the public has been affected by the greater prominence given to violence in the mass media. The rates of violent crime, based on “persons taken into custody or proceeded against” were highest in the seventies and eighties of the 19th century. They, then, showed a steady decline until the mid thirties of the 20th century. Since the fifties, there has been an increase, but, with the exception of assault causing grievous bodily harm, they are still much lower than they were 100 years ago. The content analysis of the four main dailies ( The Age, The Argus, the Herald and the Sun) has shown an increasing coverage of violent crime both in the number, and in the size of articles devoted to it. The authors discuss the reasons for and possible effects of this phenomenon.


2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-160
Author(s):  
Sergiusz Leonczyk ◽  

The article provides information on ethnographic studies of Siberian peoples published by Poles in the form of descriptions, notes and diaries in the second half of the 19th century. The ethnographic sketches of the exiled participants of the January Uprising in Poland (1863–1864), P. Argant, A. J. Kon, M. Hruszecki, and J. Koton, published in European languages are still little-studied. The author notes the special contribution of L. Nemojewski, who, while in exile, wrote dozens of essays and the book “Siberian Pictures”, which was published in Polish and English. L. Nemojewski was one of the first to present to the European reader the life of the Siberian peoples — and not only the indigenous, but also the Russian Siberians. Not all his descriptions are accurate, sometimes they are somewhat naive. Of particular value is one of the first detailed descriptions of the Khakasses. Nemojewski paid considerable attention to them, analysing not only their traditions, but also their psychology, folklore and religious beliefs. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of the study of published ethnographic observations of the exiled participants of the January Uprising in Poland in 1863–1864. All these essays, articles and books certainly fit into the trend of “ethnographic fiction” or “ludoznawstwa” popular in Poland in the second half of the 19th century.


Author(s):  
Younes Alaoui Mdaghri

AbstractShajarat al-kawn, (The Tree of the Universe) is a beautiful short treatise on Islamic mysticism that describes the universe and its true origin, the role and place of Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), and his central place in the sacred presence. According to some manuscripts from the 19th century (13th century A.H.), it is attributed to Muhyī d- Dīn Ibn ‘Arabī (d. 638 A.H./1240) . All scholars endorsed this attribution and it was conveyed via fifteen commercial book-prints.The study by Arabic scholars and orientalists and some translations led to doubt about the origin of the treatise. This was the start of an adventure because what was supposed to be known up to now would become questioned.During my research, I scrutinised two different unknown manuscripts of Shajarat alkawn. There was also a third, very old, manuscript written in the year 835 A.H. All these manuscripts refer to the author and poet ‘Izzu d-Dīn ‘Abd as-Salām Ibn Aḥmad Ibn Ghānim al-Maqdisī (d.678 A.H./1280) and not to Ibn ‘Arabī.Furthermore, I found some proof in the biographical history and the style of writing that pointed to Ibn Ghānim as the author. I came to the conclusion that the work was actually written by ‘Izzu d-Dīn ‘Abd as‐Salām Ibn Aḥmad Ibn Ghānim. From the results of my research, we can conclude that the book Shajarat al-kawn is by Ibn Ghānim and not Ibn ‘Arabī.This study consists of two parts. The first is: How did this treatise, Shajarat al-kawn, come to be universally attributed to Ibn ‘Arabī? The second is a discussion of the doubts that the treatise Shajarat al-kawn was written by Ibn ‘Arabī. This discussion consists of four topics: 1) the problem of copying manuscripts attributed to Ibn ‘Arabī, 2) the catalogues that attributed Shajarat al-kawn to Ibn ‘Arabī, 3) comparison of the text of the Shajarat al-kawn in both content and format with Ibn ‘Arabī and Ibn Ghānim, and 4) the studies and translations of the Shajarat al-kawn attributed to Ibn ‘Arabī.”


2021 ◽  
pp. 548-578
Author(s):  
Maria V. Antonova ◽  
◽  
Marianna A. Komova ◽  

The article defines the circumstances of the existence of the icon of Our Lady of Svensk Pechersk, which according to legend is a miracle-working icon of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, sent to Bryansk to heal the blind Prince Roman. Its iconography reproduces the altar mosaic of the assumption Pechersk Church with the image of Our Lady enthroned, supplemented by figures of the upcoming venerable Anthony and Theodosius, which are their first surviving images. The story, reflecting the history of the icon, preserved in the Legend of Conception of Svensky Monastery and in the Tale of Svensky Icon of Our Lady. The Legend dates no later than 1566, when the life of the Svensky monastery became more active in connection with the renewal of the icon’s riza, carried out on the instructions of Ivan IV Vasilyevich. Most likely, the protograph of the Legend is a petition about the restoration of the icon’s riza of the elder Job Kamy- nin, presumably included in the monastic chronicler. Two well-known lists of Tales published in the late 18th — early 20th centuries belong to editions dating back to this protograph. The text of the Legend does not reflect the ecphrasis of the miraculous icon, but contains a legend about the finding of the Shrine and the Foundation of the monastery, which dates back to 1288. It is the miracle-working icon that becomes the main text-generating factor of the Legend, which implements the traditional motif: an ancient Shrine changes a person’s life, heals him through the prayers of Our Lady, he builds a monastery that be- gins to live, preserving the memory of the shrine, the donator and legendary events. The Tale of Svensky Icon of Our Lady is a monument of the 19th century and it is a Special edition of the Legend, which is limited to the history of the icon and the emergence of Svensky monastery in the late 13th century.


2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 462-490
Author(s):  
Jacques Gapaillard

In his Astronomie populaire, Camille Flammarion points out that the heliocentric path of the Moon, which, according to him, has generally been represented as a sinuous curve, is actually concave everywhere towards the Sun. Flammarion’s observation is the starting point of this study which goes backwards in time, via often misinformed authors, to the mathematician who first established this counterintuitive property by means of a purely geometrical proof. The story also includes a heated debate between readers of a British periodical. Beginning in France at the end of the 19th century, the journey finishes in Scotland in the first half of the previous century.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Maha Qahatn Sulaiman

A comprehensive investigation of Thomas Hardy’s poetry reveals the doctrines of Existentialism which were new and not common during the 19th century. Hardy’s poetry, combining both Modern and Victorian elements, proclaims the emancipation from the fetters of money and religious oriented orthodox heritage. Hardy believes that the struggle for existence is the canon of life and, therefore, human cooperation is a necessity to man’s wellbeing. Though Hardy’s religious beliefs declined, mainly the concepts of divine intervention, absolution, and afterlife, he did not relinquish his faith in the moral principles of the Christian Church. This is expressed in his poetry through an intense desire to elevate man’s status in the world, to secure the transition of man’s existence from insignificance to accomplishment and excellence. The present study examines Hardy’s poetry in the light of the existentialists’ belief that man can achieve supremacy by being conscious of one’s limitations, ethical responsibilities, and duties. The focus of the study is on female characters in Hardy’s poetry, whose elevated consciousness and self-realisation present an ethical model that can assist the development of humanity and improve the world.


2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 45-55
Author(s):  
Petr Voit

This article deals with printed graphic sheets, cycles and illustrations by Albrecht Dürer, which penetrated into book printing in the Czech language (Nuremberg) and in Bohemia (Prague, Litomyšl) through original printing blocks as well as copies in the first half of the 16th century. Dürer’s graphic sheets were distributed by the Nuremberg printers Hieronymus Höltzel (1509, 1511) and Friedrich Peypus (1534), the Litomyšl printing workshop working for the Unity of the Brethren (Unitas fratrum) in Litomyšl (1520), and the so-called Severin Workshop, connected to the Prague printing workshop of Pavel Severin of Kapí Hora (1529, 1539). Eleven works of religious character associated with Dürer have been discovered among Czech illustrations so far – they were made by means of seven original printing blocks and four copies, which is not so much. In this respect, Dürer was greatly surpassed by his Nuremberg successor, Erhard Schön. After Schön died in 1542, the printer Jan Günther received roughly one quarter of workshop printing blocks (approximately 340 pieces). Two years later, he moved them to Moravia, where they were coming to life in Prostějov, then in Olomouc and eventually in popular books, brochures and broadsides from Skalice until the end of the 19th century. Dürer’s printing blocks that functioned in the context of Czech book printing depict: [1a] the Nativity, [2c] the apocalyptic Woman Clothed with the Sun, and [5a–e] the Saints (James the Greater, Peter, John the Evangelist, John the Baptist and Judas Thaddaeus). The following subjects were copied: [2b] the apocalyptic Woman Clothed with the Sun, [3b] Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, [4c] Two Angels (Geniuses), and [6b] the Holy Trinity. The woodcut copies are not exact replicas. The poor artistry and craftsmanship of the copyists, whose names are not known, led to the omission of details. The problem is that the copyists were not trying to present Dürer’s graphic art but needed a cheap and simple acquisition of the biblical scene required. More detailed information on the printing blocks and copies is available in the catalogue attached.


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