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.
GaudapadaGauḍapāda (Sanskrit: गौडपाद; 6th century CE), also referred as Gauḍapādācārya ("Gauḍapāda the Teacher"), was an early medieval era Hindu philosopher and scholar of the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. While details of his biography are uncertain, his ideas inspired others such as Adi Shankara who called him a Paramaguru (highest teacher). Gaudapada was the author or compiler of the , also known as Gaudapada Karika. The text consists of four chapters (also called four books), of which Chapter Four uses Buddhist terminology thereby showing it was influenced by Buddhism.
Jagannath Temple, PuriThe Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu – one of the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism. Puri is in the state of Odisha, on the eastern coast of India. King Indradyumna of Avanti has built the main temple of Jagannath at Puri. The present temple was rebuilt from the tenth 10th century onwards, on the site of pre-existing temples in the compound but not the main Jagannatha temple, and begun by Anantavarman Chodaganga, the first king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty.
PadmapadacharyaPadmapadacharya was an Indian philosopher, a follower of Adi Shankara. Padmapāda's dates are unknown, but some modern scholarship places his life around the middle of the 8th century; similarly information about him comes mainly from hagiographies. What is known for certain is that he was a direct disciple of Shankara, of whom he was a younger contemporary. Padmapada was the first head of Puri Govardhana matha. He is believed to have founded a math by name Thekke Matham in Thrissur, Kerala.
Homa (ritual)In Indic religions, a homa (Sanskrit: होम) also known as havan, is a fire ritual performed on special occasions by a Hindu priest usually for a homeowner ("grihastha": one possessing a home). The grihasth keeps different kinds of fire including one to cook food, heat a home, amongst other uses; therefore, a Yajna offering is made directly into the fire. A homa is sometimes called a "sacrifice ritual" because the fire destroys the offering, but a homa is more accurately a "votive ritual".
TripundraTripundra (त्रिपुण्ड्र tripuṇḍra "three marks") is a Hindu tilaka, and a form of body art with origins in Ancient India. It is also one of the tilakas worn by Smarta Hindus. It consists of three horizontal lines (and sometimes a dot) on the forehead, usually made with sacred ash, and has spiritual meanings in the Shaivite traditions of Hinduism. The Vaishnava counterpart of this tilaka, consisting of vertical lines, is called the Urdhva Pundra. The practice is discussed in Hindu texts such as Bhasmajabala Upanishad, Brihajjabala Upanishad and Kalagni Rudra Upanishad.
