CULTURAL QA 01-2021-13 Being a compilation there may be errors
Q1 What are Indian railways unknown facts? A1 Respected Piyush Goyal Minister ofRailways and Commerce & Industry at Government of India October20-2020 History of Indian Railways is a treasure trove of interesting facts andtrivia Many people may not be aware that there is a Railway Station in Indiawhich falls in two different states Navapur Railway station, on the Surat - Bhusawal line, is a uniquestation as a part of it is in Gujarat, while the other part is located inMaharashtra Navapur is Taluka Headquarter in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra My note- I am happy to add a QA from quora answered by the Minister ofRailways and commerce. Q2 What is the difference between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka? A2 Ashank D'souza 16-1-2021· Lives in Bengaluru, Karnataka,India Economy Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are two major economies in South India andtogether with Kerala they have higher or equal GDP as 13 other states:The bluecolored states produce the same GDP as the 13 yellow colored states. The most striking difference in the two economies is that Karnataka seconomy which while registering higher growth rates for the past decade mostlyrelies on the serviceindustry and which is of course a low labour intensive economy. On the other hand Tamil Nadu relieson manufacturing more which is a labour intensive industry. This meansthat Karnataka will inherently have a problem with spreading its prosperity topeople outside of the elite group getting jobs in the service sector. Human Development In the human development category and within that in the sex ratiosubcategory Karnatakaoutperforms Tamil Nadu, although both perform well compared to thenational average: Politics In the category of politics there is a stark contrast with Karnatakausually voting for two national political parties, one regional in the statelevel while Tamil Naduusually goes with two regional political parties in both levels. In theLok Sabha elections Tamil Nadu votes for Tamil nationalistic parties whileKarnataka usually votes for pan India nationalistic parties like: Congress/BJP. Food Karnataka has Mysore Pak which is popular even outside KA while TamilNadu has Jaggery Payasam, Coconut Pitha. Q3 What happened to Samba after the Kuruksethra War? A3 B Dharuni· February 11, 2018Associate SoftwareEngineer at Bosch (2018–present) Samba was the son of Lord Krishnaand Jambavati. The events related to Samba, the destruction of Yadavas and the demise of Lord Krishna is describedin “Mausala Parva”[Destruction of Yadavas through a club], 16th of 18 books ofMahabharata.After the coronation of Yudhishtira, Krishna went back to Dwarakato rule over the kingdom. Blessed by the presence of the Goddess of Wealth(Rukmini), the people enjoyed a luxurious life. Slowly the curse of Gandhari about the destruction ofYadavas started taking form. The Yadavas were in eternal bliss inDwaraka. So much bliss, thatthey forgot good conduct, morals and the importance of discipline and humility. Once great sages like Vishwamitra, Durvasa, Vashista, Narada were on apilgrimage. After visiting various places, they visited Dwaraka to meet LordKrishna and Balarama. The Yadavas, who were once virtuous devotees of Krishna,had lost their sense of culture and discipline. A group of Yadava boys who sawthe great sages decided to play a prank on them in order to test their powers. They dressed Samba, the son ofKrishna and Jambavati, as a woman and tied many robes to his belly sohe'd appear as a pregnant woman. They approached the sages and asked them topredict whether the 'lady' would give birth to a boy or a girl. The Rishisrealised the truth through their divine vision and were enraged. In anger, the sages cursed them saying that the disguised boy will givebirth to a bolt of Iron which will destroy the entire Yadava race. The Yadavas, shocked though but were too arrogant to even apologise. Theyleft the place, laughing off the curse as the speech of one who had lost allhis sanity. Things were however very different the nextmorning. Samba developed labour pains and soon delivered a mace from withinhim. TheYadavas were now struck with fear. They immediately rushed with the mace toAkroora and Ugrasena and in the presence of Krishna himself; they narrated theweird tide of events. Then they grind the bolt of iron and threwit into the sea. The town then witnesses several dark omens. Pests multiply. Sinful actsmultiply, yet no one feels any shame. Everyone has the same terrifying dreams.People insult and humiliate their seniors and teachers. Krishna gets concerned, askseveryone to go on a pilgrimage to the sacred waters of the Prabhas sea.They do. When they arrive, the Yadavas revel in merry making, dance and drinklots of alcohol. They started teasing one another, bringing up the gory pasts and gruesomemistakes of each other. Satyakiand Krithavarma acted as the starting points of the doom of Dwaraka.Satyaki had fought on Pandava’s side in the battle of Kurukshetra andKrithavarma, on the Kaurava side. They taunted one another, bringing backmemories of the horrific war. In rage, Satyaki, jumped on Krithaverma and cuthis head off. The friends of Krithavarma pounced on Satyaki and a great brawlfollowed. Pradyumna, the son of Krishna,innocent though he was, found himself in the thick of the fight and was killed. As they have come to the sea shore for a pleasure,they did not carry any weapons along with them. They saw the long grown grassin abundance along the sea shore. They picked up the grass stems and beat andkilled each other. Those grass stems were nothing but bladesmade of the powder of the same bolt of Iron born to Samba. Thus the curse of saintsfructified.Each blade of grass became a mace, smashing into the Yadavas,killing them instantly. It was a matter of moments before the Yadavas lay dead,killed by their own clan members and in front of their very King. Except Krishna, all Yadavas were killed. Krishna’s charioteer Daruka and another one called Babhru only survived.Krishna asks Daruka to go to Pandavas, tell what had happened and ask Arjuna tocome with help. Some of thepowder cast in the Prabhas sea had been swallowed by a fish. Inside thefish, the powder has become a metal piece. Jara, a hunter, catches that fishand finds the metal. Jarasharpens it to make an arrow. He goes hunting, and accidentally shootsKrishna, while Krishna is meditating, thinking he is a deer. Krishna consoles Jara and then ascended with his four armed form to hisabode. Reference:“Mausala Parva” Q4 How was the divorce and widowhood system seen in theSambandam concept of marriage in Kerala? A4 Arun Mohan (അരുൺ മോഹൻ)· January 9-2021 Livesin Kerala, India (2016–present) How was the divorce and widowhood system seen in the Sambandam concept ofmarriage in Kerala?I have made a detailed answer on the concept of Sambandhamculture that prevailed among erstwhile upper castes of Hindu society of Keralatraditionally before itended by 1940s-50s era completely. You can read my original answer on the concept of Sambandham as I don’tneed to explain the system again here. Arun Mohan (അരുൺ മോഹൻ)'s answer to What is Sambandhamin Kerala? The basic tenant of Sambandham concept is consensus Live-in relationship.The basic concept of Marriage and husband-wife relationship orfather-mother-children concept of family was not allowed among most of upperHindu castes. So thebasic purpose of sexual relationships were to produce offsprings and beyondwhich there is no sanctity to the relationship. So technically therewas no marriage culture as such, rather it worked fully on live-in relationship style. The basic advantage of this system is commencement and termination ofrelationship at will and instantly. There were no huge rituals or process for start of this sort ofrelationship as well as end of this relationship as the society wereboth Polyandrous(women entering into sexual relationship as many as men as she likes) as wellas Polygamous (menentering into sexual relationship with as many as women he likes). In a way, Sambandham system was much more sexually open system with nobaggage of one-man/woman life time commitment etc. Due to this, many oftraditional Hindu codes of chastity (Pavithratha) or marital vows or marriageconcepts donot apply in Kerala context. As I said, Sambandham can be started quickly. In those days, Nair orNampoothiri or Kshyatriya men in their trips around would identify ladies ofhigher castes/communities, normally in temples or any public places. When they like her, they may approach her uncle ormother at her family house. In some cases, they do directly approach to lady’shouse out of intention to form an alliance with the family. Sambandham works only if lady’s uncleand senior members of family agree to it. If they agree, he will visitin evening soon after Sandyavandanam (lighting lamps for evening prayers) andoffer a piece of cloth (Mundu/Dhoti) to the lady with whom he wish to enterinto a sexual relationship. When the lady accepts the Mundu, the Sambandham hasofficially been commenced. Theacceptance of Mundu from a man is called Pudamuri (Pudava means maritalcloth and Muri means acceptance) and thats the official indication of start ofsambandham. The lady is supposed to keep the Mundu with her until termination ofSambandham. The existence of Mundusignifies the ongoing Sambandham relationship. General rule was that, at atime, only one Sambandham can be done, but in Travancore side, it wasn’t thatstrict, so a lady can have multiple Sambandhams at a time. The only conditionis that, she should remember, who gave which Mundu to her. One thing to note- Sambandhamhappens at woman’s own house. There was no legal marriage, so the lady will never leave her house. Rather the man who will be knownas Sambandhakaran (or consort as in British English terminology records)lives in wife’s house as long as Sambandham goes on. Thats why the rule of OneSambandham at a time existed. If the love was much stronger, theSambandham shall go forever and the man will live in wife’s house forever.However officially he will be an outsider in wife’s house and can’t own ormanage wife’s properties. He can simply stay there and live there as long asthe wife pleases OR till her natural death. In all ways, the so-called consort or man’s status in this relationshipis always inferior to the status of woman. He was an outsider and never enjoyedany privilege or status in woman’s perspective.An old pic of Queen SethuParvathy Bai who sits in a throne like chair with her consort- Rama Varma KoyilThampuran sitting on a stool to signify his lower position Now to the question-How divorce works in Sambandham? Its the most easiest process. Divorce is called Ozhimuri in Malayalam andunder Sambandham, Ozhimuri, its very instant and quick. The lady has full rightto decide whether she wants to continue the Sambandham or not as therelationship works under lady’s pleasure. The Sambandhakaran has nomuch say on this. If he doesn’t want to continue, he can cease visitingthe lady’s house as he has no personal responsibility to the lady. But he can’t cancel Sambandhamby himself. Whereas the lady can. For lady to cancel Sambandham,she has to simply return back the Mundu which was given during the start ofSambandham. The Ozhimuri customs is simple. The lady summons the Sambandhakaran, butwon’t allow to enter into the house. Rather make him stand at the forecourt(Thirumuttum). Then either she or her maid will come out, give the mundu to Sambandharakan and shuts the maindoor in front of him. That signifies termination of Sambandham with thatman and he must leave the house. He will have no more visiting rights to thelady’s house.Ozhimuri customs vary from region to region, though returning ofMundu is more common across Kerala. In Malabar side, 10 threads from Mundu is taken and its twisted in frontof the Sambandhakaran and broken into two and thrown opposite sides.That means the relationship is broken forever. This custom is locally known as Noolacharam (Nool- Thread, Acharam- Ritual) In Kochi and Central Kerala side, Mundu is returned in hand and door isshut to signify Ozhimuri In Southern Kerala side, instead of Mundu, the betal leaf box ofSambandhakaran will be kept at the Padipura door (main gate door) by the maid when he makes a visit to the lady’s home.The act of keeping Betal Leaf box at the gate door signifies, he is no morewelcome to the home and Sambandham has officially ceased. His personal effectswill be also kept outside, which he can collect and leave. A scene from Malayalam movie- Ozhimuri when the martriach of the familydecided to terminate her relationship with her Sambandakaran by placing betalleaf box outside the house that symbolizes end of relationship and he has toleave the house In all cases, Ozhimuri wasarbitrary and fully decided on will of the lady. In case, both lady and Sambandhakaran continues the relationship foreverand if the lady dies first, then an automatic Ozhimuri happens. In such case,the man loses his right to live in that house and must leave after completionof Pela period (16 days from date of death)How Widowhood system worked Well, there isno concept of widowhood among upper Hindu castes of Kerala in past(barringTamil Brahmins and Nampoothiri ladies who follows Patriarchal rules) There was no marriage at first place, so how there will be widowhood inevent of death of husband. Infact there was no husband itself. The man wascalled Sambandhakaran which means Consensual Mate or just a consort… Death of Sambandhakaran effects nothing to the lady and her children bornto him as he was an outsider. Even the traditional mourning rules (Pela) willnot apply over them as he was no one for them. He was just a consensual sexualpartner only This was one key reason, Keralanever had any concept of widowhood or its related issues See, in traditional Hindu marriage codes, a Marriage means settingrelationship for 7 lives, not just this life. Once a man and woman enters intoa marriage relationship, it means both man and woman will serve each other for7 lives. If husband dies first, she has to sacrifice all pleasures of life andfast till end of her life, to get back the same husband in next birth. That’swhy widowhood was a big deal and created lot of tortures or hardships forwidows in reality as they were supposed to fast to get back the same man ashusband in next birth. Its for this reason, at the time of marriage, 7 steps/roundsare made around the sacred fire to signify the commitment made for 7 lives(Saath Janam ke Rishte as said in Hindi). This never worked in Kerala. Even today, Malayalee Hindus never do 7 rounds around Fire(barring some communities like Nampoothiris or Tamil Brahmins etc) as we neverenter into any marital vows of 7 lives. As a result, in Kerala Hinduculture (for all communities barring Nampoothiris), marriages are more ofsocial contract prevailing between 2 individuals in this life time. Its never amatter of 7 lives. We never perform marriage in front of sacred fire (Agni) orinvoke Agni thro’ a homam. In many traditional Indian marriages, the rationalbehind invoking Agni thro’ a Homam or a Havan etc is to have Agnideva (God ofFire who is also the divine messenger of gods) solemnizes marriages on earth onbehalf of Gods. So only Agni can break a marital relationship (in form ofcremation when Agni takes the body). Thats why widowhood concept do existincase husband dies and wife stays back. But as Kerala never hadsanctity for marriages, we never invoke Holy fire for Kerala marriages eventoday. As a result, none of the marriages are solemnizedby Agni, hence no widowhood concept even today. Since 1940s, many North Indianconcepts crept into Kerala system thro’ renaissance movement. So widowhoodconcept also came, but not severe or hard as one sees in North India, otherthan avoiding wearing Kumkum on forehead or bright color sarees (that too nowreduced). In Sambandham times, there was no Widowhood concept among those whoobserves. Saying so, this wasn’t applied to Nampoothiri community who followedtypical patriarchal rules as seen in North India. So Namboothiri womenseriously suffered horrors of widow hood and never had liberty of easy divorceat will My note- Many Tamil iyers came to Kerala had relations with nayars at onetime. Irrespective of what is told above due to the relations lot of landed propertiesthey could get from nairs. The children born hadhigh regard to father iyer. Even in mycollege days I knew of such relations in central Kerala. Q5 What are interesting facts about Parad Shivling? A5 Dev Kumar January 1-2021 Former Teacher. Have you evernotice the Structure of BhabaAtomic Research Centre BARC resembles like a Shivling ? Water continuously flows through nuclear reactor to keep it cool. A waterpot is a always placed over shivling to pour water on it continuously. Thefunction of Shivalinga is very close to a nuclear reactors which generatesuniversally present energy which we call the energy of Shiva, which isunlimited and divine. Themodern day nuclear reactor is an inspiration of that energy creation. The water comes out from the Shivling is never consumed. Also no one isallowed to cross the spoutduring padakshina. Just like that the water releasedfrom the nuclear reactor cannot be consumed as it polluted with radiation All the above QA are based onQuora digest to me on 16-1-2021. Quora answers need not be 100% correct answers Compiled and posted by R. 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