AyyappanAyyappan, also called Dharmasastha and Manikandan, is a Hindu deity popular in Southern India. He is considered to be the epitome of dharma, truth, and righteousness and is often called upon to obliterate evil. Although devotion to Ayyappan has been prevalent earlier in South India, his popularity rose only in the late 20th century. Jagadguru Adi Sankaracharya has praised him in many hymns. According to Hindu theology, he is the son of Harihara (Vishnu in the form of Mohini, and Shiva).
NarakaNaraka (नरक) is the realm of hell in Indian religions. According to some schools of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, Naraka is a place of torment. The word Neraka (modification of Naraka) in Indonesian and Malaysian has also been used to describe the Islamic concept of Hell. Alternatively, the "hellish beings" that are said to reside in this underworld are often referred to as Narakas. These beings are also termed in Sanskrit as Narakiyas (नारकीय, ), Narakarnavas (नरकार्णव, ) and Narakavasis (नरकवासी, ).
PatalaIn Indian religions, Patala (Sanskrit: पाताल, IAST: pātāla, lit. that which is below the feet), denotes the subterranean realms of the universe – which are located under the earthly dimension. Patala is often translated as underworld or netherworld. Patala is described as more beautiful than Svarga (subtle dimensions, loosely translated as heaven). Patala is described as filled with splendid jewels, beautiful groves and lakes.
KamadevaKama (कामदेव, ), also known as Kamadeva and Manmatha, is the Hindu god of erotic love, desire and pleasure, often portrayed alongside his consort and female counterpart, Rati. He is depicted as a handsome young man decked with ornaments and flowers, armed with a bow of sugarcane and shooting arrows of flowers. The Atharva Veda regards Kamadeva as the wielder of the creative power of the universe, also describing him to have been "born at first, him neither the gods nor the fathers ever equalled".
PancharatraPancharatra (IAST: Pāñcarātra) was a religious movement in Hinduism that originated in late 3rd-century BCE around the ideas of Narayana and the various avatars of Vishnu as their central deities. The movement later merged with the ancient Bhagavata tradition and contributed to the development of Vaishnavism. The Pancharatra movement created numerous literary treatises in Sanskrit called the Pancharatra Samhitas, and these have been influential Agamic texts within the theistic Vaishnava movements.
Matsya PuranaThe Matsya Purana (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the half-human and half-fish avatar of Vishnu. However, the text has been called by the 19th-century Sanskrit scholar Horace Hayman Wilson, "although a Shaivism (Shiva-related) work, it is not exclusively so"; the text has also been referred to one that simultaneously praises various Hindu gods and goddesses.
PulastyaPulastya (Sanskrit: पुलस्त्य) is one of the ten Prajapati, and one of the mind-born sons of Brahma in Hinduism. He is also one of the Saptarishi (Seven great sages) in the first age of Manu, the Manvantara. The sage is said to have emerged from the ear of Brahma in the Bhagavata Purana. The Ramayana describes Pulastya's wedding to Manini, and the birth of his son, Vishrava. Once, Pulastya was engaged in austerities in the ashrama of Trinabindu, on the slopes of Mount Meru.
Satya Yuga[[File:Kedareshwar Cave Temple , Avinash Rohra.jpg|250px|thumb|Kedareshwar Cave Temple is located at Harishchandragad, a hill fort in Ahmednagar district. Though there were four pillars surrounding the Linga, now there is only one pillar intact. Some believe the pillars to be symbols of yuga or time, namely, Satya, Treta, Dvapara , and the Kali Yuga. The temple was designed in the Hemadpanti style and is dedicated to Harishchandreshwar.
AdharmaAdharma is the Sanskrit antonym of dharma. It means "that which is not in accord with the dharma". Connotations include betrayal, discord, disharmony, unnaturalness, wrongness, evil, immorality, unrighteousness, wickedness, and vice. Adharma (Sanskrit: अधर्म) is derived from combining "a" with "dharma", which literally implies "not-dharma". It means immoral, sinful, wrong, wicked, unjust, unbalanced, or unnatural. According to Bhagavata Purana's verse 6.1.
Govardhan HillGovardhan Hill (गोवर्धन पर्वत; ; Pronunciation: [ɡoʋəɾdɦən]), also called Mount Govardhana and Giriraj, is a sacred Hindu site in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India on an 8 km long hill located in the area of Govardhan and Radha Kund, which is about from Vrindavan. It is the sacred centre of Braj and is identified as a natural form of Krishna, the Govardhana Shila. The name 'Govardhana' has two primary translations. In the literal meaning, 'Go' translates to 'cows', and 'vardhana' translates to 'nourishment'.
