DandakaranyaDandakaranya is a historical region in India, mentioned in the Ramayana. It covers about of land, which includes the Abujhmar Hills in the west and the Eastern Ghats in the east, including regions of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana and Karnataka states. It spans about from north to south and about from east to west. Dandakaranya roughly translates from Sanskrit to "The Jungle (aranya) of Danda (Danda, the son of Ikshvaku)." Dandakaaranya, means the Dandaka forest, the abode of the demon Dandaka.
KapilaKapila (कपिल), also referred to as Cakradhanus, is a sage in Hindu tradition. According to Bhagavata Purana, he is the son of the sage Kardama and Devahuti, the daughter of the Svayambhuva Manu. Kardama had nine daughters, who were very learned and went ahead to marry Marici, as well as other great sages. When he came of age, Kapila is most well-known as the founder of the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. Kapila of Samkhya fame is considered a Vedic sage, estimated to have lived in the 6th-century BCE, or the 7th-century BCE.
MahabaliMahabali (IAST: Mahābalī), also known as Bali, Indrasenan, or Māveli, is a daitya king featured in Hinduism. He is the grandson of Prahlada, and a descendant of the sage Kashyapa. There are many versions of his legend, in ancient texts such as the Shatapatha Brahmana, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and several Puranas. According to Hindu literature, he was banished beneath the earth into the patala (netherworld) by the Vamana avatar of Vishnu. In Hinduism, Mahabali is considered one of the Chiranjivi, a group of seven immortals.
Adam's BridgeAdam's Bridge, also known as Rama's Bridge or Rama Setu, is a chain of natural limestone shoals, between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. Geological evidence suggests that this bridge is a former land connection between India and Sri Lanka. The feature is long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (southwest) from the Palk Strait (northeast).
BalakandaBala Kanda (बालकाण्ड; IAST: ', Incident of childhood) is the first book of the Valmiki Ramayana, which is one of the two great epics of India (the other being the Mahabharata). There has been debate as to whether Bala Kanda was composed by the original author Valmiki or a later addition. The book consists of seventy-six sargas (sometimes translated as chapters or "cantos") of Sanskrit verse. The Bāla Kāṇḍa begins with the sage Vālmīki asking Nārada if there is a righteous man still left in the world, to which Nārada replies that such a man is Rāma.
