The Festival of Jagannath Mishra is an observance of the Jata karma samskara for baby Nimai (Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu). Following the fast for Gaura Purnima, which is broken upon the rising of the moon, the next day is held for feasting. On Jagannath Mishra festival day, the devotees meditate upon the Jata karman ceremony. The festival is also known as Anandotsava amongst the Gaudiya Matha devotees.

Prithvi is one of several Sanskrit names for the Earth Mother, more commonly known as Mother Bhumi Devi. Prithvi is the personification of the Earth, and is therefore also known as Prithivi Tattwa, the essence of the element earth. Prithvi is also called Dhra, Dharti, or Dhrithri, meaning 'that which holds everything'.

"Sripada Madhvacarya took his birth at Udupi, which is situated in the South Kanarada district of South India, just west of Sahyadri. This is the chief city of the South Kanarada province and is near the city of Mangalore, which is situated to the south of Udupi.

"Sri Ramanuja Acarya appeared around 1017 A.D in a pious brahmana family. He became the formost Acarya in the Sri Sampradaya and was reputed to be the incarnation of Laksmana, the younger brother of Lord Ramacandra.

The Kanyakubja kingdom is known as the modern day Kannauj district of Uttar Pradesh. During the reign of King Drupada of southern Panchala, this territory formed a part of the southern Panchala.

Drona defeated Drupada, by means of his disciple Arjuna, to settle his old scores. Drona spoke as follows to the captive Drupada: 'Thou toldest me before that none who was not a king could be a king’s friend. Therefore is it, O Yajnasena (Drupada), that I retain half thy kingdom.

Panchala Kingdom extended from the Himalayas in the north to the River Charmanwati in the south during the period of Mahabharata. The Kuru, Surasena and Matsya kingdoms were to the west, and the forest of Naimisha was to the east. Later, Panchala was divided into Southern Panchala (Panchala proper ruled by King Drupada, the father-in-law of the Pandavas) and Northern Panchala (ruled by Ashwathama, the son of Drona.

Emperor Janamejaya was the son of Maharaja Pariksit and the great-grandson of Arjuna. Pariksit was the son of Abhimanyu, and Abhimanyu was the son of Arjuna and Subhardra, and the nephew of Sri Krsna. He took up the Kuru throne following the death of father.

Various accounts exist of the origination of Durga Puja in the state of Orissa, and all historical accounts agree that important influences came from many regions outside of Orissa state. Durga Puja is a festival that is observed for 10 days, and in two different ways in Orissa. In Shakti peethas (temples of the goddess) the Durga Puja is observed with proper rituals for 10 to 16 days, known as Shodasa Upachara.

On the purnima of the month of Pausa, Narayana (December-January), the last day of the astrological month (Pushyami nakshatra), one is instructed to bath the Deity in five seers of ghee (approximately 2.5kg of ghee). According to Hari Bhakti Vilasa, on this day one should rub ghee on the Deity of Sri Krishna.

The National Mission for Manuscripts completed its fourth year on 7 February 2007. Established by the Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India, the Mission was established with the objective of creating a national resource base for manuscripts scattered across the country.

Over the last two years, the Sun has run numerous articles about the plight of the widows in Vrindavan Dhama. In August 2005, the issue gathered steam with the release of a film entitled Shwet - White Rainbow, which was nationally released in India. The movie exposed the horrible treatment dealt to widows in India.

The River Ganga has a long history of reverence in India and is worshipped by Hindus as an embodiment of the transcendental personality, Ganga Ma. The total length of the river is about 2,510 km (1,557 miles). Along with the Yamuna River, it forms a large and fertile basin known as the Gangetic plains, stretching across north India and Bangladesh, supporting one of the highest densities of human population in the world.

The mere thought of going on pilgrimage to Dwarka liberates the devotee and his ancestors from their sinful activities. Each step taken on the path of devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna gives one virtues similar to that of ashwamedha yagya, as performed by Bali Maharaja at Kurukshetra.

The twin arts of dance and sculpture developed together in close spiritual association with the concept of the Divine Being himself as a dancer in Tamilnad. The fusion of these two arts dates back to the dawn of our civilisation. The figure of a dancer unearthed in Mohenja-daro of proto-historic India explains the genetic relationship between the various dance styles of India.

Traditionally, vyakarana and nirukta are shared across all four Vedas, while each Veda has its own shiksha, chandas, kalpa and jyotiisha. The Vedangas are first mentioned in the Mundaka Upanishad as topics to be observed by students of the Vedas. Later, they developed into independent disciplines, each with its own corpus of Sutras. As described in Wikipedia, kalpa is one of the six disciplines of Vedanga, treating ritual.

About five hundred years ago, Sri Chaitanya on his pilgrimage to Puri from Nadia Navadweep visited Gopinath Temple at Remuna, situated in the Balasore district of Orissa. During the aforesaid pilgrimage, the Lord stayed for some time in the tiny Gadjat kingdom of Mangalpur, about 30 km away from Remuna. The king of the said tiny kingdom was initiated by Sri Mahaprabhu into the Vaishnava cult. The successors of the king later on took the pioneership in spreading the Vaisnava cult in the region by constructing several temples.

Bishnupur, formerly known as MallaBhum, is famously known as the temple town of West Bengal for its architecturally exclusive temples, built by the Malla Rulers from AD 695 onwards. The town remained as the capital of MallaBhum, ranging as a territory containing the entire of the Bankura District and extending up to a quantitative part of today’s districts of Bardhamman and Midnapore. Any and every visitor to Bishnupur is sure to be stunned by the exquisite workmanship and architectural elegance of these historic creations.

Pushpaka Brahmins are a class of Brahmins in Kerala who show attributes of both the Brahmins and Kshatriyas. Hence this caste is generally considered as an intermediate caste between Brahmins and Kshatriyas. They are commonly known as Arddhabrahmanar, i.e. Semi-Brahmins. They carry on the various activities of the temple, though not the actual ceremonies. Pushpakas lived on the income of the temple and were under its care. They are generally clubbed under the Ambalavasi community in Kerala.

Some think that the name Namboothiri is derived from 'Nambu' meaning sacred (in Prakruta Tenugu) and 'Thiri', which is a suffix added to the names of certain upper castes in Kerala. Another view is that it is derived from Nam (Veda) and Poorayathi (who imparts).Brahmins are supposed to have migrated from North, however it is unclear if all of them migrated after various South Indian kingdoms started taking shape.