m̌ ḫ's photos

Preparation of a water stall in the morning

Tekari Raj was a zamindari in South Bihar, the Tekari family belonging to the Bhumihar Brahmin community it controlled 2,046 villages big 7,500 km2 area. In the Mughal period, Tekari was a rich estate, protected by Bhumihar Brahmins as part of the Mughal Empire. The emblem of the Kingdom of Tekari was a pigeon attacking over an eagle sat on the perch of a tree. Pundits said "this jungle of tetris (a kind of tree) is the place where the fort should be made," and declared it very lucky. "The zamindari of Tekari owed its origin to an imperial grant made about the time when the Mughal empire first began to decay." The mansions of the Maharaja of Tekari dominated the Patna riverfront in 1811-12.Maharajas of Tekari like Maharaja Mitrajit Singh were renowned for their scholarship and for their works of poetry and history. Maharaja Hit Narayan Singh of Tekari was said to have been "a man of a religious turn of mind...who became an ascetic and left his vast property in the hands of his wife" shortly after inheriting a lion's share of the estate in the 1840s. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, suspicions were entertained by the East India Company's officers in Bihar about the Rani of Tekari, who had sympathy for the movement. The Commissioner of Patna favoured demolishing the Fort of Tekari and removing the Rani to Patna. The Lieutenant Governor of Bengal did not approve of these measures but guns and ammunition found at Tekari were seized.

Legends state that Lord Rama did penance here for killing Ravana, the demon king of Lanka; and Lakshmana, his younger brother, crossed the river Ganges, at a point, where the present 'Lakshman Jhula' (लक्ष्मण झूला) bridge stands today, using a jute rope bridge. The 'Kedar Khand' of Skanda Purana, also mentions the existence of Indrakund at this very point. The jute-rope bridge was replaced by iron-rope suspension bridge in 1889, and after it was washed away in the 1924 floods, it was replaced by the present stronger bridge. Another similar suspension bridge Ram Jhula was built in 1986 at nearby Shivananda Nagar. The sacred river Ganges flows through Rishikesh. It is here that the river leaves the Shivalik mountains in the Himalayas and flows out into the plains of northern India. Several temples, ancient as well as new, can be found along the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh. Shatrughna Mandir, Bharat Mandir, Lakshman Mandir are the ancient temples established by Adi Shankaracharya. Shatrughna Temple is located near Ram Jhula and Lakshman Mandir is near to Lakshman Jhula.

Vynášanie Moreny je starý pohanský zvyk, ktorý symbolicky pretrváva dodnes. Morena bola staroslovanská bohyňa zimy a smrti - zosobnenie niečoho nepríjemného, čoho sa chceli ľudia na jar zbaviť. Rituálnou rozlúčkou s Morenou privolávali teplú a životodarnú jar. Táto tradícia sa zachovala v jemne obmenených podobách v rôznych kútoch Slovenska, ale i v okolitých krajinách. Carrying out an efigy of Morena is an old pagan custom that continues till today, in symbolic form. Morena is a Slavic goddess of winter and death - the personification of something unpleasant, which people wanted to get rid in the beginning of Spring. By a ritual farewell to Morena our ancestors had asked for warm and life-giving spring. This tradition has been preserved in slightly varied forms in different parts of Slovakia, as well as in neighbouring countries.