Week 13 Story: Microfictions. Durga and Mahishasura

 

Durga slays the Buffalo demon, Mahishasura. Source.

Mahishasura was a half buffalo-demon. He decided to repent for his crimes, and underwent severe penance for Brahma’s forgiveness. After many years, Brahama was pleased with his peaceful ways, and appeared before the demon. Mahishasura asked the god for immortality, but Brahma refused on the grounds that all must die. Angered, Mahishasura asked that only a woman be able to kill him. Brahma granted his wish. Mahishasura was pleased by his deception. He raged across the earth, torturing all in his way. Eventually, he set his sites on heaven, believing none could stop him as he thought women were weak.   

(100 words)

 

Mahishasura  set his sites on the heavens. He gathered a legion of demons and vile creatures, and waged war on the Devas. Led by Indra, the battles between gods and demons commenced, but the Devas stood no chance against Mahishasura. Slowly, the demons overcame the gods, and the Devas were forced to retreat. Mahishasura sat on the throne of heaven, and the Devas hid away in the mountains. The gods did not resign themselves to defeat, instead combining their energies, the gods created Durga – the goddess of strength and protection.

(90 words)

 

The gods gifted Durga their astra, and a lion as her mount. She left the mountains to confront Mahishasura, and made good time on the back of her mount. Mahishasura saw the goddess approaching. Fearing imminent defeat, Mahishasura moved first. Hoping to catch Durga off guard, he pounced on her, morphing into any form he could think of to overtake Durga. Durga was unaffected by his attempts, and destroyed every form the demon took. Tired from his changing, Mahishasura took on his true form – a buffalo. As he reared to attack, Durga drove a spear through his heart, killing Mahishasura.

(100 words)

 

Author's Note: I thought this story was so cool! I contemplated making it an entire story, but I like the challenge of microfictions, and keeping things under 100 words. It sort of hones your writing skills, and makes you learn how to detail without saying too much. It's really fun!

Bibliography: Durga

Week 13 Reading: Pattanaik. Narayana

 

 

A depiction of Narayana at the Badami Cave Temples in Karnataka. Source.

 

 

Narayana - another name of the Hindu god Vishnu, who is claimed to reside in Bhavsagar on a gigantic five headed snake named Sheshnaag

According to the Bhagavad Gita, he is also the "Guru of the Universe". The Bhagavata Purana declares Narayana as the Supreme Personality of Godhead who engages in the creation of 14 worlds within the universe Brahma who is Deity of rajas-guna, himself sustains, maintains and preserves the universe as Vishnu by accepting sattva-guna. Narayana himself annihilates the universe at the end of Maha-Kalpa as Kalagni Rudra who is presiding deity of tamas-guna. 

 

Narada enjoys provoking people. He constantly compares people and thus spreads anger and ignites quarrels. He fills the mind with jealousy and insecurity

 

 

Bibliography: https://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/11/guide-pattanaiks-calendar-art-part-b.html 

Week 13 Reading: Pattanaik. Shiva to Shankara

 

Source

Ganesha and Kartikeya's race around the world

 

Parvati is a Goddess because she embodies the whole range of emotions from fear to love

Brahma 's 4 heads represent four expressions of the Veda

Khandoba loves turmeric

The Greeks did not believe in God — they had gods and goddesses, but no God or Goddess

 Not much is known about Vishwakarma

 The gods of Greek mythology became masters of the universe by overthrowing the Titans,

Bibliography: https://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/search/label/Guide%3A%20Pattanaik.%20Calendar%20Art

Week 12 Review

 

The incantation bowl is so cool! 

This video was so interesting, I think Gustav's paintings are so beautiful. I love watching videos like this, I think they're so relaxing and a great way to learn about artists I didn't know about!

Week 12 Extra Credit: Wiki Trail

 

An impression made from the steatite seal. Source

 

 

Shiva

Shiva (/ˈʃiːvə/; Sanskrit: शिव [ɕɪʋɐ], IAST: Śiva, ISO: Śiva, listen (help·info), lit. 'The Auspicious One'), also known as Mahadeva (lit. 'The Great God'),^[9][10][11] is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism.^[12][13]

Pashupati seal

The Pashupati Seal is a steatite seal which was uncovered in the 1928–29 Archaeological Survey of India excavations of the Indus Valley Civilisation site of Mohenjo-daro, then in the British Raj, and now in Pakistan. The seal depicts a seated figure that is possibly tricephalic (having three heads). The seated figure was once thought to be ithyphallic (having an erect penis), an interpretation that has been questioned by many critics and even supporters.^[1] The man has a horned headdress and is surrounded by animals. He may represent a horned deity.^[2]

Dravidian peoples

The Dravidian peoples, or Dravidians, are an ethnolinguistic group originating in South Asia who predominantly speak any of the Dravidian languages. There are around 245 million native speakers of Dravidian languages.^[1] Dravidian speakers form the majority of the population of South India and are natively found in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan,^[2] Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal,^[3] Bhutan^[4] and Sri Lanka.^[5] Dravidians are also present in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates through recent migration. 

Chola art and architecture

The period of the imperial Cholas (c. 850 CE - 1250 CE) in South India was an age of continuous improvement and refinement of Dravidian art and architecture. They utilised the wealth earned through their extensive conquests in building long-lasting stone temples and exquisite bronze sculptures, in an almost exclusively Hindu cultural setting. 

Week 12 Reading: The Krishna Key Part 2

 

 

 

The plot involves four different pieces of a seal which must be brought together to solve the puzzle. Each part of the seal is in the possession of different people who are the descendants of the ancient Yadava tribe, namely Saini, Bhoja, Vrishni, Kukura and Chhedi. The author narrates a detailed version of the post-Mahabharatha history through the protagonist, a distinguished professor of history, who himself happens to be a lineal descendant of Lord Krishna being from Saini tribe of Punjab. The author also portrays the biography of Lord Krishna in his own words, in parallel to the main story-line.

Week 12 Storylab: Learn About Microfiction

 

Micro Photography. Source.

Tiny-Tales - 100 words or fewer stories based on myth or folklore. Collected into books and published on press books. Neat!

Tiny love stories - 100 words or fewer stories about loooovvveeee 😍😻 New York Times contest. Readers send in their stories to be published.

Hint Fiction - 25 words in length. Rely on readers to fill in the gaps since they're so short. Hence "hint"

Six word stories - Six words or less. Can You Tell Your Life Story In Exactly Six Words? That's very difficult. I'll try

I am tired all the time.

There's my life story ah ha

Two-Sentence Horror - Self explanatory. Two sentences. All the spooks. I'll try.

I crept through the house so as not to wake my hosts. When I opened the front door, I found them expectantly waiting for me.

BIG SPOOKS

I think these have such potential for great material. I would love to explore these more, and I'm disappointed that I didn't spend more time this semester doing so! I have three weeks to catch up on them lol I think I'll write some extra credit microfiction

Week 12 Reading: The Krishna Key

 

Source

 

 Professor Ravi Mohan Saini - Professor. Accused of the murder of his best friend. Ends up trying to solve the murder and traveling around to decipher the code Varshney did

Anil Varshney - a famous archaeologist. Deciphered the code of the Indus Valley Seals

Taarak Vakil - a serial killer who thinks hes Kalki - the final avatar of Lord Vishnu. 

 

 

 

Bibliography: 

Title: The Krishna Key
Year: 2012
Author: Ashwin Sanghi

https://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2014/06/reading-guide-sanghi-krishna-key.html

Week 11: Wikipedia Trail

 

 

A Kuru coin, earliest example of coinage in India. Source

 

Hindu deities

I was interested in looking at all of the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. There are a lot! This article mentions the beginning of some of these deities in the Vedic period.

Vedic period

c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE started around the late Bronze Age. This age followed the Indus Valley Civilization, 

and contributed to many incredible innovations. The Kuru Kingdom  followed after.

Kuru Kingdom

Took place in the Iron Age. The Kuru kingdom decisively changed the religious heritage of the early Vedic period, arranging their ritual hymns into collections called the Vedas, and developing new rituals which gained their position in Indian civilization as the srauta rituals,which contributed to the so-called "classical synthesis" or "Hindu synthesis". - wiki

Cemetery H culture

A Bronze Age cemetery found between modern day India and Pakistan. considered by some scholars as a factor in the formation of the Vedic civilization

Week 11 Reading: Babbitt. Jataka Tales Part A

 

Source

 

Dishonest King - wanted a dishonest valuer to get more rich

Valuer - set the price precious goods. Honest and just. Very clever, tricks the kings valuer into selling the city for rice lol

Stupid peasant - made valuer so the king can get rich. Set prices very high since he didn't know their actual value. Made a fool of when he sets a measure of rice to the value of the whole city.

 

https://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2013/06/reading-guide-babbitt-jataka-tales.html

Week 11: Growth Mindset: even more cats

 

Source

This cat's so cute ♡. I like this meme cat because I don't think of learning as a superpower, but it sure can be! I love learning, I sit and read wikipedia for hours. I learn too much useless information, but it sure is fun!

Source

This meme saying is 1000% me. If instruction or input isn't interesting I zone out. I won't be rude about it but I certainly can't help it. I've had instructors who have a droning voice and I couldn't help but not listen. My thoughts were more interesting.