History, Art & Culture: January 2023 UPSC Current Affairs | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

Shaheed Diwas

Why in News?

On January 30, 2023, India observes Martyrs' Day or Shaheed Diwas to pay tribute to all the freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the country. The day is also marked as the death anniversary of the nation's 'Bapu', Mahatma Gandhi.

• Martyrs’ Day or Shaheed Diwas or Sarvodaya Day is celebrated in India several times a year.

What is there to Know about Shaheed Diwas?

• In Remembrance Of:
  • Mahatma Gandhi, who was born on October 2, 1869, was one of the most influential leaders of India and played a significant role in the independence of the country.
  • On this day in 1948 Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in the Birla House in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse.
• Way of Celebrating:
  • India celebrates Martyrs' Day by paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi's Samadhi at Raj Ghat in Delhi.
  • The President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and the three Service Chiefs (Army, Air Force, and Navy) pay their respects to the ‘Father of the Nation’.
• Significance:
  • The significance of Shaheed Diwas lies in the fact that Mahatma Gandhi who led major movements against British rule through a non-violent approach.
  • His philosophy was based on the principles of non-violence, the fight for truth (satyagraha), and political and individual freedom (Swaraj) and inspired millions of people with his principles.

Other Martyrs' Days in India: What are they?

Assam’s Charaideo Maidams nominated for UNESCO tag

Why in news?

• The nomination has attained significance at a time when the country is celebrating the 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Barphukan.

Charaideo Maidams

• The Charaideo maidams represents the late medieval (13th-19th century CE) mound burial tradition of the Tai Ahom community in Assam.
• The Ahoms preferred to place the departed family members at Charaideo where the first king Sukapha was laid to rest.
• The historical chronicles inform that wives, attendants, pet animals and huge quantity of valuables were buried with the departed kings.
• The Charaideo Maidams enshrine the mortal remains of the members of the Ahom royalty, who used to be buried with their paraphernalia.
• After the 18th century, the Ahom rulers adopted the Hindu method of cremation and began entombing the cremated bones and ashes in a Maidam at Charaideo.
• Out of 386 Maidams explored so far, 90 royal burials at Charaideo are the best preserved, representative of and the most complete examples of mound burial tradition of the Ahoms.

Architecture details

• Architecturally it comprises a massive underground vault with one or more chambers having domical superstructure.
• It is covered by a heap of earthen mound and externally it appears a hemispherical mound.
• At the top of the mound a small open pavilion chow-chali is provided.
• An octagonal dwarf wall encloses whole maidam.

Ahoms Dynasty

• The Ahom, also known as the Tai-Ahom, are an ethnic group from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in India.
• This ethnic group is made up of interbred descendants of the Tai people, who first came to Assam’s Brahmaputra valley in 1228, and indigenous people who later joined them.
• Sukaphaa, the Tai group’s leader, and his 9000 supporters founded the Ahom empire (1228–1826 CE), which ruled over part of modern-day Assam’s Brahmaputra Valley until 1826.
• Charaideo, more than 400 km east of Guwahati, was the first capital of the Ahom dynasty founded by Chao Lung Sukaphaa in 1253.
• The current Ahom people and culture are a mix of the ancient Tai people and culture, as well as indigenous Tibeto-Burman people and cultures that they assimilated in Assam.

Mural Art

Why In News

The Wall of Peace, a great work of modern mural art on the 700-feet long compound wall of Government Vocational Higher Secondary School at Cherpulassery, was inaugurated in Kerala.

• The word ‘peace’ has been embossed on the wall in 250 world languages.

The Mural Art

• About:
  • Mural art is basically an artwork made on a wall or a permanent surface. INDIA has one of the greatest traditions of painting of the ancient world.
• History:
  • The history of Indian murals begins in earliest and early medieval times, from 2nd century BC to 8th - 10th century AD.
  • The earliest surviving mural paintings in the Indian subcontinent are those of Ajanta. The paintings of Ajanta were made in two phases and the oldest dated to around the 2nd century B.C. The wonderful final phase was around the 5th century A.D., under the patronage of the Vakatakas.
• Features of Indian Mural Paintings:
  • The Mural Paintings are comparatively different from all other forms of illustrative art. The two major characteristics which make them significant are their organic relation to architecture and broad public importance. The Indian murals are rich in expressive practicality.
  • The utilization of colour, design, and thematic treatment in mural paintings has the capability to bring about an extreme change in the sensation of spatial proportions of the building. Mural Paintings are the only form of artwork which is truly three-dimensional, since it modifies and shares a given space.
  • The colour materials on the mural paintings were derived from the natural materials like terracotta, chalk, red ochre and yellow ochre mixed with animal fat. 
  • The significant mural paintings are found at Bagh in Madhya Pradesh, caves of Badami in Karnataka, Sittannavasal in Tamil Nadu and the Kailashanatha temple in Ellora, Maharashtra of 8th century AD and known for their linear styles.
• Different types of Indian Mural Paintings:
  • Tempera Painting: Tempera painting is done by preparation of pigment into a water-miscible medium. 
  • Oil Painting: Oil Painting is a standard of painting in oil colours which grips suspension of pigments into drying oils.
  • Fresco Painting: Fresco Painting is an ancient practice that engrossed painting of water-based pigments on recently applied plaster, usually on wall façade.
• Other ancient Mural Paintings of India:
  • There are fragments of paintings of the time of Ajanta which survive at many Buddhist cave sites, including Pitalkhora near Ellora, in Maharashtra.
  • Nine caves were excavated on the slopes of the Vindhya hills above the Bagh river during the reign of the Guptas, between the 4th and 6th centuries A.D.
  • Very little of the paintings survive in the 6th century Hindu caves of Badami in Karnataka.
  • Expression to themes relating to Siva in the paintings in the temples of Panamalai and Kailashanatar in Kancheepuram.
  • In the 9th century Jain cave of Sittannavasal in Tamil Nadu, there is a marvellous lotus pond painted on the ceiling. 
  • The monastery of Alchi is an oasis of beauty and colour in the midst of the vast and barren landscape of Ladakh. One of the masterpieces of the Alchi paintings is the Green Tara. 
  • The temple at Lepakshi was built in the 16th century by the Nayaka brothers, Virupanna and Viranna, at a centre of trade and pilgrimage in the Vijayanagar empire.

Parakram Diwas 2023

Why in News?

On the Occasion of Parakram Diwas (23^rd January) 2023, 21 unnamed islands of Andaman and Nicobar have been named after Param Veer Chakra awardees.

• Netaji’s Memorial, a National Memorial dedicated to Netaji will be built on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep.
• Parakram Diwas is celebrated to commemorate the 126^th birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.

What is the Purpose of Naming Islands?

• The islands named after Param Vir Chakra awardees will be the site of inspiration for generations to come. People are now visiting Andamans to learn India’s history.
• Param Vir Chakra is India’s highest military decoration awarded for displaying distinguished acts of valour during wartime whether on land, at sea or in the air.
• It aims to pay tribute to Indian heroes, several of whom had made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the sovereignty and integrity of India.
• The islands have been named after Major Somnath Sharma, Subedar and Hony Captain (then Lance Naik) Karam Singh, Nayak Jadunath Singh, etc.

Who was Subhash Chandra Bose?

• Birth:
  • Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23^rd January 1897, in Cuttack, Orissa Division, Bengal Province, to Prabhavati Dutt Bose and Janakinath Bose.
• About:
  • In 1919, he had cleared the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examination. Bose, however, resigned later.
  • He was highly influenced by Vivekananda's teachings and considered him as his spiritual Guru.
  • His political mentor was Chittaranjan Das.
• Association with Congress:
  • He stood for unqualified swaraj (independence), and opposed the Motilal Nehru Report which spoke for dominion status for India.
  • He actively participated in the Salt Satyagraha of 1930 and vehemently opposed the suspension of Civil Disobedience Movement and signing of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact in 1931.
  • In the 1930s, he was closely associated with left politics in Congress along with Jawaharlal Nehru and M.N. Roy.
  • Bose won the congress presidential elections at Haripura in 1938.
  • Again in 1939 at Tripuri, he won the presidential elections against Gandhi's candidate Pattabhi Sitarammayya. Due to ideological differences with Gandhi, Bose resigned and left congress. Rajendra Prasad was appointed in his place.
  • He founded a new party, 'the Forward Bloc'. The purpose was to consolidate the political left and major support base in his home state Bengal.
• Indian National Army:
  • He reached Japanese-controlled Singapore from Germany in July 1943, issued from there his famous call, ‘Delhi Chalo’, and announced the formation of the Azad Hind Government and the Indian National Army on 21^st October 1943.
  • The INA was first formed under Mohan Singh and Japanese Major Iwaichi Fujiwara and comprised Indian prisoners of war of the British-Indian Army captured by Japan in the Malayan (present-day Malaysia) campaign and at Singapore.
  • The INA included both the Indian prisoners of war from Singapore and Indian civilians in South-East Asia. Its strength grew to 50,000.
  • The INA fought allied forces in 1944 inside the borders of India in Imphal and in Burma.
  • In November 1945, a British move to put the INA men on trial immediately sparked massive demonstrations all over the country.

Vishwa Hindi Diwas 

Why in News?

Vishwa Hindi Diwas (VHD) or World Hindi Day (WHD) is celebrated every year on 10^th January to promote the Hindi language all around the world.

• Whereas Hindi Diwas is celebrated on 14^th September annually, which focuses largely on recognition of the Hindi language in India.

What is Vishwa Hindi Diwas?

• About:
  • It was first celebrated in 2006 to commemorate the anniversary of the first World Hindi Conference which was held in Nagpur on 10^th January, 1975.
  • It marks the day when Hindi was first spoken in the United Nations' General Assembly in 1949. It is also celebrated by Indian embassies located in various parts of the world.
  • The World Hindi Secretariat building was inaugurated in Port Louis, Mauritius in 2018.
• Significance:
  • The purpose of this day is to create awareness about the Indian language and promote it as a global language around the world. It is also used to create awareness about the usage of the Indian language, and about the issues persisting around the usage and promotion of the Hindi language.
• National Hindi Day:
  • The National Hindi Day is celebrated every year in India on September 14 to mark the day of adoption of Hindi as the official language by the Constituent Assembly of India in 1949.
  • Kaka Kalelkar, Maithili Sharan Gupta, Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Seth Govindadas made important contributions to make Hindi the official language.
  • Hindi is also an eighth schedule language.
  • Article 351 pertains to ‘Directive for development of the Hindi language’.
• Government Initiatives to Promote Hindi:
  • The Central Hindi Directorate was established in 1960 by the Government of India under the Ministry of Education.
  • Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has established ‘Hindi Chairs’ in various foreign universities/institutions abroad.
  • LILA-Rajbhasha (Learn Indian Languages through Artificial Intelligence) is a multimedia based intelligent self-tutoring application for learning Hindi.
  • E-Saral Hindi Vakya Kosh and E-Mahashabdkosh Mobile App, both initiatives of the Department of Official Language, aim to harness information technology for the growth of Hindi.
  • Rajbhasha Gaurav Puraskar and Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar recognise contributions to Hindi.

Panini’s Ashtadhyayi & Grammar’s Greatest Puzzle

Why in News?

• An Indian student claims to have solved Sanskrit’s biggest puzzle—a grammar problem found in the ‘Ashtadhyayi’.

About

• Confusion in Interpretation of Ashtadhyayi:
  • Ashtadhyayi delves deep into the language’s phonetics, syntax and grammar.
  • It also offers a ‘language machine’, where you can feed in the root and suffix of any Sanskrit word, and get grammatically correct words and sentences in return. 
  • To ensure this ‘machine’ was accurate, Panini wrote a set of 4,000 rules dictating its logic. 
  • But as scholars studied it, they found that two or more of the rules could apply at the same time, causing confusion. To resolve this, Panini had provided a ‘meta-rule’ (a rule governing rules), which had historically been interpreted as:
  • ‘In the event of a conflict between two rules of equal strength, the rule that comes later in the serial order of the ‘Ashtadhyayi’ wins’.
  • However, following this interpretation did not solve the machine’s problem. 
  • It kept producing exceptions, for which scholars had to keep writing additional rules. 
• Solution to This Problem:
  • In his thesis titled ‘In Panini We Trust’, Dr Rishi Rajpopat took a simpler approach, arguing that the meta-rule has been wrongly interpreted throughout history; what Panini actually meant, was that for rules applying to the left and right sides of a word, readers should use the right-hand side rule.
  • Using this logic, he found that the ‘Ashtadhyayi’ could finally become an accurate ‘language machine’, producing grammatically sound words and sentences almost every time.
  • The discovery now makes it possible to construct millions of Sanskrit words using Panini’s system—and since his grammar rules were exact and formulaic, they can act as a Sanskrit language algorithm that can be taught to computers.

Panini, the ‘father of linguistics’

• Period:
  • Panini probably lived in the 4th century BC, the age of the conquests of Alexander and the founding of the Mauryan Empire.
  • He has also been dated to the 6th century BC, the age of The Buddha and Mahavira.
• Location:
  • He likely lived in Salatura (Gandhara), which today would lie in north-west Pakistan.
  • Panini was probably associated with the great university at Taksasila, which also produced Kautilya and Charaka, the ancient Indian masters of statecraft and medicine respectively.

About Ashtadhyayi

• ‘Ashtadhyayi’, or ‘Eight Chapters’ - Panini’s great grammar
• It is a linguistics text that set the standard for how Sanskrit was meant to be written and spoken. 
• The Ashtadhyayi laid down more than 4,000 grammatical rules, couched in a sort of shorthand, which employs single letters or syllables for the names of the cases, moods, persons, tenses, etc. in which linguistic phenomena are classified.
• Significance:
  • By the time it was composed, Sanskrit had virtually reached its classical form — and developed little thereafter, except in its vocabulary.
  • Panini’s grammar, which built on the work of many earlier grammarians, effectively stabilized the Sanskrit language. 
  • Panini’s grammar is one of the greatest intellectual achievements of any ancient civilization, and the most detailed and scientific grammar composed before the 19th century in any part of the world.
  • The earlier works had recognised the root as the basic element of a word, and had classified some 2,000 monosyllabic roots which, with the addition of prefixes, suffixes and inflexions, were thought to provide all the words of the language.
• Commentaries on Panini:
  • Later Indian grammars such as the Mahabhasya of Patanjali (2nd century BC) and 
  • the Kashika Vritti of Jayaditya and Vamana (7th century AD)

Jain Community Protests

Why in News?

The Jain community has been protesting over demands related to two holy sites — Sammed Shikhar on Parasnath hill in Jharkhand and Shatrunjaya hill in Palitana of Gujarat.

• In Jharkhand, the issue is about Parasnath hill being declared a tourist spot and an eco-sensitive zone without consulting the people from the Jain community, while in Gujarat, the row is over the vandalising of a shrine and related security concerns in Shatrunjaya Hill.

What are the Key Facts about Parasnath Hills and Shatrunjaya Hill

• Parasnath Hills:
  • Parasnath Hills are a range of hills located in Giridih district of Jharkhand.
  • The highest peak is 1350 metres. It is one of the most important pilgrimage centre for Jains. They call it Sammed Sikhar.
  • The hill is named after Parasnath, the 23^rd Tirthankara.
  • Twenty of Jain Tirthankaras attained salvation on this hill. For each of them there is a shrine (gumti or tuk) on the hill.
  • Some of the temples on the hill are believed to be more than 2,000 years old.
  • The Santhals call it Marang Buru, the hill of the deity. They celebrate a hunting festival on the full moon day in Baisakh (mid-April).
  • Every year, thousands of Jains from across the world undertake the 27 km long trek of climbing the hills to reach the summit.
• Palitana and Shatrunjaya Hill:
  • Shatrunjaya Hill is a sacred site containing hundreds of shrines in Palitana town, Bhavnagar District, Gujarat.
  • The shrines were sanctified when Rishabha, the first Tirthankara of Jainism, gave his first sermon in the temple on the hilltop.
  • It is one of the Jainism’s holiest pilgrimage sites, the Shatrunjaya hill is an incredible hill studded with temples, built over 900 years.
  • It is said that Adinath (also known as Rishabha), the founder of Jainism, meditated beneath the rayan tree at the summit.

What is Jainism?

• Jainism came to prominence in the 6^th century B.C., when Lord Mahavira propagated the religion.
• There were 24 great teachers, the last of whom was Lord Mahavira.
• These twenty-four teachers were called Tirthankaras-people who had attained all knowledge (Moksha) while living and preached it to the people.
• The first Tirthankara was Rishabnatha.
• The word Jaina comes from the term Jina, meaning conqueror.
• Tirthankara is a Sanskrit word meaning 'Ford maker', i.e., one who is able to ford the river, to cross beyond the perpetual flow of earthly life.
• Jainism attaches utmost importance to ahimsa or non-violence.
• It preaches 5 mahavratas (the 5 great vows):
  • Ahimsa (Non-violence)
  • Satya (Truth)
  • Asteya or Acharya (Non-stealing)
  • Aparigraha (Non-attachment/Non-possession)
  • Brahmacharya (Celibacy/Chastity)
  • Among these 5 teachings, the Brahmacharya (Celibacy/Chastity) was added by Mahavira.
• The three jewels or Triratna of Jainism include:
  • Samyak Darshana (right faith).
  • Samyak Gyana (right knowledge).
  • Samyak Charitra (right conduct).
  • Jainism is a religion of self-help.
  • There are no gods or spiritual beings that will help human beings.
  • It does not condemn the varna system.
  • In later times, it got divided into two sects:
  • Shvetambaras (white-clad) under Sthalabahu.
  • Digambaras (sky-clad) under the leadership of Bhadrabahu.

What is the Pilgrimage vs Tourism Debate?

• Pilgrimage:
  • Pilgrimage is the purpose of traveling to the destination, which is mostly focused on religion. Pilgrimage shrines are an important aspect of any religion’s materiality and sacred geography.
  • Despite using the term Pilgrimage and Tourism interchangeably, the two cannot be mixed, if a pilgrimage shrine is declared a tourist spot, even people who may not have the distinct sensibilities for the shrine may enter the sacred place, thus affecting the sanctity and the “purity” of the place.
  • Also, the sacred character of the place helps to protect the entire landscape from degradation.
  • Consider the sacred groves spread throughout India, protected by local deities of different communities and connected to people’s behaviour in these places, showing us the traditional example of ecological conservation practiced by local communities.
  • Therefore, declaring the area open for tourism may be doing more harm than good, not only to the community and its faith but also to nature and its fragile ecosystem.
    • We have seen what happened in Kedarnath, especially when the cloudburst occurred in June 2013.
    • The lack of planning, clearing of forests, and absence and violation of construction codes in a fragile Himalayan ecosystem meant that a natural calamity turned into a human-made disaster.
• Tourism:
  • Tourism attracts more people in the country and thus creates more employment opportunity, also brings in focus the importance of sites and need to preserve them.
  • Tourism as a form of soft power, helps in promoting cultural diplomacy, people to people connect and thereby promotes friendship and cooperation between India and other countries.
  • The growth of domestic tourism largely depends on the Pilgrimage tourism in India and restricting any sort of tourism may affect the economic growth of the place and of the country.

Way Forward

Pilgrimage tourism is the type of tourism that entirely or powerfully motivates tourists for the achievement of religious attitude and practices. Thus, pilgrimage and “religious tourism could become an enduring source of employment and income, without sacrificing the important social and religious functions of the sanctuaries and their pilgrimages.