Friday, 29 July 2016
MANIFESTATIONS OF HUMAN INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENT: Social Reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Passes A...
MANIFESTATIONS OF HUMAN INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENT: Social Reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Passes A...: ALSO LISTED IN Philosophers, Social Reformers, Writers FAMOUS AS Social Reformer, Philosopher NATIONALITY Indian Famous Indi...
Social Reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
ALSO LISTED IN Philosophers, Social Reformers, Writers
FAMOUS AS Social Reformer, Philosopher
NATIONALITY Indian Famous Indian Men
BORN ON 26 September 1820 AD
BIRTHDAY 26th September Famous 26th September Birthdays
DIED AT AGE 70
SUN SIGN Libra Libra Men
BORN IN Paschim Midnapore District, West Bengal, India
DIED ON 29 July 1891 AD
PLACE OF DEATH Kokkata, India
FATHER Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay
MOTHER Bhagavati Devi
SPOUSE: Dinamani Devi
The social reformer who strived to make life better for the
women of India and pushed the British government to pass the Widow Remarriage
Act, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a Bengali polymath who lived during the 19th
century. Vidyasagar was a brilliant man, an educator by profession; he was
deeply pained by the injustices faced by several sections of the Indian society.
Character
Vidyasagar came of an obscure orthodox Brahmin family in
Midnapore. Yet he won the heart of the Bengali people by dint of his versatile
activities. He roused the Bengali people from the caves of idleness and
ignorance.
In his character of extra-ordinariness were reconciled the
opposite: love and heroism, tenderness and manliness, precept and practice,
action and contemplation.
Education &
life
Ishwar Chandra was a brilliant student. His quest for knowledge
was so intense that he used to study on street light as it was not possible for
him to afford a gas lamp at home. He cleared all the examinations with
excellence and in quick succession. He was rewarded with a number of
scholarships for his academic performance. To support himself and the family
Ishwar Chandra also took a part-time job of teaching at Jorashanko.
In the year 1839, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar successfully cleared
his Law examination. In 1841, at the age of twenty one years, Ishwar Chandra
joined the Fort William College as a head of the Sanskrit department.
After five years, in 1946, Vidyasagar left Fort William College
and join the Sanskrit College as 'Assistant Secretary'. In the first year of
service, Ishwar Chandra recommended a number of changes to the existing
education system. This report resulted into a serious altercation between
Ishwar Chandra and College Secretary Rasomoy Dutta. Following this, Vidyasagar
resigned from Sanskrit College and rejoined Fort William College but as a head
clerk.
Reforms
Ishwar Chandra VidyasagarIshwar Chandra Vidyasagar initiated the
concept of widow remarriage and raised concern for the abolition of
child-marriage and polygamy. He also opened the doors of the colleges and other
educational institutions to lower caste students, which was earlier reserved
only for the Brahmins. For his immense generosity and kind-heartedness, people
started addressing him as "Dayar Sagar" (ocean of kindness).
In 1828,
eight year old Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-91) walked with his father, from
the village of Birsingha in Midnapur district to Calcutta to seek admission in
an English language institution. The fees at Hindu college were too high for
his father to pay, so Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was enrolled in Sanskrit
college. While studying in Calcutta, he lived at the home of a friend whose
sister was a child widow. This was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's first experience
of the hardships this custom imposed on women. Sometime later, his old guru
decided to marry a young girl.
Widow Remarriage(Widow
Remarriage Act)
Vidyasagar championed the uplift
of the status of women in India, particularly in his native Bengal. Unlike some
other reformers who sought to set up alternative societies or systems, he
sought to transform orthodox Hindu society from within.[6]
With support from people like
Akshay Kumar Dutta, Vidyasagar introduced the practice of widow remarriages to
mainstream Hindu society. In earlier times, remarriages of widows would occur
sporadically only among progressive members of the Brahmo Samaj.
Unable to tolerate the ill
treatment, many of these girls would run away and turn to prostitution to
support themselves. Ironically, the economic prosperity and lavish lifestyles
of the city made it possible for many of them to have successful careers once
they stepped out of the sanction of society and into the demi-monde. In 1853 it
was estimated that Calcutta had a population of 12,718 prostitutes and public
women. Many widows had to shave their heads and don white saris, supposedly to
discourage attention from men. They led a deplorable life, something Vidyasagar
thought was unfair and sought to change.
He took the initiative in
proposing and pushing the Widow Remarriage Act XV of 1856 (25 July) in India.
He also demonstrated that the system of polygamy without restriction was not
sanctioned by the ancient Hindu Shastras.
Bengali alphabet and language
reconstruction
He reconstructed the
Bengali alphabet and reformed Bengali typography into an alphabet (actually
abugida) of twelve vowels and forty consonants. He contributed significantly
toBengali and Sanskrit literature.Vidyasagar's "Barna Porichoy" is still
considered a classic.
Nawab's shoe donation
One day, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and his few
friends decided to collect donations to form Calcutta University. He traveled
across Bengal and neighboring states asking people to donate for the
foundation. While doing so, one day he reached outside the palace of an
influential King. After hearing his plea the King, pulled one of his shoes and
dropped into Vidyasagar's bag as donation. Vidyasagar thanked Nawab and left.
The very next day Vidyasagar organized an auction
of the Nawab's shoe and earned Rs. 1000. The Nawab after hearing that his shoe
has fetched so much amount of money, he himself gave a similar amount of money
as donation.
Death
Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar, the great scholar, academician and reformer passed away on 29 July,
1891 at the age of 70 years. After his death Rabindranath Tagore said,
"One wonders how God, in the process of producing forty
After death, he is
remembered in many ways, some of them include:
· Vidyasagar
Setu, which connects Howrah and Kolkata, is named after him
· Vidyasagar
Setu (commonly known as the Second Hooghly Bridge), is a bridge over the
Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It links the city of Howrah to its twin
city of Kolkata. The bridge is named after Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
· A
fair named Vidyasagar Mela (Biddashagor Mêla), which is dedicated to spreading
education and increasing social awareness, has been held annually in West
Bengal since 1994. Since 2001, it has been held simultaneously in Kolkata and
Birsingha.
· There
is a reputed college named after him and it is located in College Street,
Kolkata and a university named Vidyasagar University in Paschim Midnapore.
· Rectitude
and courage were the hallmarks of Vidyasagar's character, and he was certainly
ahead of his time. In recognition of his scholarship and cultural work the
government designated Vidyasagar a Companion of the Indian Empire (CIE) in
1877.
In the final years of life, he chose to spend his days among the
"Santhals", an old tribe in India.
· There
is Vidyasagar Street in Central Kolkata, which is named after him.
· The
West Bengal Government has established a stadium named after this great man (
Vidyasagar Stadium) at Barasat, the district center of North 24 Parganas.
· Vidyasagar
Hall, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Conclusion
Wednesday, 20 July 2016
MANIFESTATIONS OF HUMAN INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENT: July 21 1947 - The National Flag Is Adopted by the...
MANIFESTATIONS OF HUMAN INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENT: July 21 1947 - The National Flag Is Adopted by the...: The National Flag of India is a horizontal rectangular tricolour of deep saffron, white and India green; with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spok...
July 21 1947 - The National Flag Is Adopted by the Constituent Assembly
The National
Flag of India is a horizontal rectangular tricolour of deep saffron, white and
India green; with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its
centre. It was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent
Assembly held on 22 July 1947, when it became the official flag of the Dominion
of India. The flag was subsequently retained as that of the Republic of India.
In India, the term "tricolour"
almost always refers to the Indian national flag. The flag is based on
the Swaraj flag, a flag of the Indian National Congress designed by Pingali
Venkayya.
The flag, by law, is to be made of khadi, a
special type of hand-spun cloth, or silk made popular by Mahatma Gandhi. The
manufacturing process and specifications for the flag are laid out by the
Bureau of Indian Standards. The right to manufacture the flag is held by the
Khadi Development and Village Industries Commission, who allocate it to the
regional groups. As of 2009, the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha has
been the sole manufacturer of the flag.
A number of flags with varying designs
were used in the period preceding the Indian Independence Movement by the
rulers of different princely states; the idea of a single Indian flag was first
raised by the British rulers of India after the rebellion of 1857, which
resulted in the establishment of direct imperial rule. The first flag, whose
design was based on western heraldic standards, were similar to the flags of
other British colonies, including Canada and Australia; its blue field included
the Union Flag in the upper-left quadrant and a Star of India capped by the
royal crown in the middle of the right half. To address the question of how the
star conveyed "Indianness", Queen Victoria created the Knight
Commander of the Order of the Star of India to honour services to the empire by
her Indian subjects. Subsequently, all the Indian princely states received
flags with symbols based on the heraldic criteria of Europe including the right
to fly defaced British red ensigns
Saturday, 16 July 2016
MANIFESTATIONS OF HUMAN INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENT: Suna Bhesha of Puri Jaganntha Temple
MANIFESTATIONS OF HUMAN INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENT: Suna Bhesha of Puri Jaganntha Temple: Suna Bhesha, also known as Raja or Rajadhiraja bhesha or Raja Bhesha, is an event when the Lord Jagannath and other deities Balabhadra, an...
Suna Bhesha of Puri Jaganntha Temple
Suna Bhesha, also known as Raja or Rajadhiraja bhesha or Raja Bhesha, is
an event when the Lord Jagannath and other deities Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra
are adorned with gold jewelry.Suna Bhesha is observed 5 times during a year.It
is commonly observed on Magha Purnima (January), Bahuda Ekadashi also known as
Asadha Ekadashi (July), Dashahara (Vijyadashami) (October), Karthik Purnima
(November), and Pousa Purnima (December).The name Suna Bhesha is derived from
two words, 'Suna' meaning "gold" and 'Bhesha' meaning
"costume"
During the reign of Ananga Bhima Deva, the king of
Utkal, Lord Jagannath was declared as 'Utkal Samrat' or "Lord of the
Nation" in the 13th century,and by then the Jagannath Temple at Puri had
been built by him in 1198. According to temple history, Suna Bhesha was
introduced during the era of King Kapilendradeva in 1460 A.D. When the king
Kapilendradeva (r.1434-1466 AD) returned home triumphant after winning wars
over the rulers of the Deccan (Southern India) he brought a huge bounty which
was carried in 16 cart loads (on 16 elephants is also mentioned.). The trophies
which he collected consisted of diamonds and gold. The day he arrived in Puri
he donated all the booty to the Lord Jagannath. He instructed the temple
priests to get ornaments crafted out of the gold and diamond he had donated to
adorn the deities on the occasion of the Ratha Yatra festival. Since then the deities,
Jagannatha, Balabharda and Subhadra are decorated with this jewelry after the
Bahuda Yatra.
Ornaments
of deities
According to the temple sources, in the past, the
total weight of the gold ornaments used to adorn the deities weighed more than
208 kg initially made in 138 designs. However, now only 20-30 designs are used.
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