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Region: South Asia [X] Type: Background Information [X]
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Showing 21–30 of 42 results
A woman creates a complex labyrinth kolam in Kanchipuram, India
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Ritual Tradition of Threshold Art

Grade Level: 
Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12), College and Beyond
Resource Type: 
Background Information
Description: 

Throughout the subcontinent of India, women of all ages, castes, and professions, perform the traditional art of threshold painting. Women pride themselves on a vast repertoire of designs from simple geometric patterns to complex diagrams comprised of floral and symbolic motifs. Threshold art also serves to commemorate events occurring within the home. In a variety of ways, threshold art reflects the Hindu concept of the interconnectedness of the universe. Learn more about this tradition.

Stories of the Shinto deity Hachiman and shrines dedicated to him, 1389
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Stories of the Shinto deity Hachiman

Grade Level: 
Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12), College and Beyond
Resource Type: 
Background Information
Description: 

Hachiman is one of the most important deities in Shinto tradition. He serves as a protector of the nation and a sort of patron saint of warriors. He is the deified spirit of the legendary Emperor Ojin, who is supposed to have lived some sixteen hundred years ago.

Maharaja Man Singh of Jodhpur, approx. 1820–1840
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An Introduction to Maharajas of India

Grade Level: 
High School (9-12), College and Beyond
Resource Type: 
Background Information
Description: 

The word maharaja, which means “great king,” is rooted in the ancient concept of “king above kings” (in Sanskrit, maharajadhiraj). Although rulers were sometimes addressed as “maharaja,” this lofty title was rarely adopted formally until the nineteenth century.

The Imperial Durbar
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Elephants on Parade

Grade Level: 
Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12), College and Beyond
Resource Type: 
Background Information
Description: 

The rulers of India have for many centuries ridden in elaborate howdahs (thrones or covered pavilions on the backs of elephants) as they went into battle or on the hunt for antelope and tiger. Elephants have also carried rajas and emperors on state occasions, and, when richly decorated and caparisoned, elephants have been the highlight of many a ceremonial procession.

Kandariya Mahadeva temple
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Kandariya Mahadeva Temple

Grade Level: 
High School (9-12), College and Beyond
Resource Type: 
Background Information
Description: 

Background information on a Hindu temple called the Kandariya Mahadeva, the largest and tallest of the surviving temples at the temple site of Khajuraho.

Babhruvahana fights the demon Anudhautya from a series illustrating the Mahabharata
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Principal Texts of Hinduism

Grade Level: 
Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12), College and Beyond
Resource Type: 
Background Information
Description: 

While there is no one text or creed that forms the basis of all Hindu beliefs, several texts are considered fundamental to all branches of Hinduism. Learn more.

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