Indian Epics 2018

Beginning Topic: Grand Trunk Road 1. Grand Trunk Road -This is the oldest and longest highway in Asia. I started with this road because it is interesting to see it's importance to India. 2. Chandragupta Maurya -I chose this link because I have never heard of him before. He (reign: 321–298 BCE) was the founder of the  Maurya Empire  in ancient India. 3.  Maurya Empire -Again, I have not heard of this empire before, so it was interesting to learn more about Indian history. This empire was important because it was the largest to exist in their history. ( Source ) 4. Largest Empires -This sparked my interest to see which nation had the largest empire to exist. The largest was the British Empire.

What a semester! This will be one of my final blog posts for the semester. How did the time go by so quickly? I am honored to have had the chance to meet all of you in both my Indian Epics section and the section for mythology. I have spent this final week catching up on some of the final points and assignments that I have been lacking. I have realized my portfolio finally came together at the end. It was really interesting to go back and reread what I have written back at the beginning of the semester and see how it has transformed in the revision process. I want to thank everyone who commented on my portfolio because your comments really did help me become a better writer. (Personal Photo of Me in Heidelberg, Germany on May 1, 2018) As for my life outside of class this week, I have been super busy (like always haha). My aunt surprised me in Heidelberg. I was not expecting her to come to Europe while I was here. I had a really nice time showing her around my city. We also deci

This week I watched: Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir, "Fly to Paradise"  This video, in my opinion, was a great way to get the semester. It was really cool to see the influence of technology on the choir. The song has nothing to do with Rama, but it is an ending to a great semester. I hope you all have an amazing summer vacation!   In the blog feed this week, the sand art also stood out to me. I wish I could create something like this! India Item.  From the amazing sand artist  Sudarsan Pattanaik , Hanuman sand art:

Source: Seven Secrets of Vishnu by Devdutt Pattanaik 2011 Mohini's Secret -Spiritual growth should not exclude material -Female form of Vishnu -Material reality is tangible -Perceived through the senses -Female form -Spiritual reality is intangible -Cannot be perceived through the senses -Male form -Apsara enchants to distract humanity from spiritual reality -Mohini draws attention to spiritual reality -MR is known as prakriti, SR is known as purusha -Human couple -Interdependence of woman and man is the mix of realities -Cease pleasure to the mind -Causes negative results -Unborn state child is innocent -Nothingness The part about an unborn child the most interesting because it was my first time to hear about what the Indian's view this topic. Throughout the semester, we have explored the role of men and women or even the complexity of relationships. To see that an unborn child is equated to the likes of nothing is an odd idea.

Title : Seven Secrets of the Goddess Author : Devdutt Pattanaik Year : 2016 Source Chapter 4.1 Durga's Secret and Chapter 4.2 -"Everyone lives in Fear" -Offerings -More than standard offerings, i.e. pieces of cloth -Keep the goddess covered -Dignity and nature -Shiva is to domesticate nature -Kanya has to marry at sunrise to ensure a happy marriage -Shiva cannot make it and the sun rises -She washes her cosmetics away in the sea (that is why there are so many colors in the water) -The goddess is a family member, where god is everyone -Everything comes back, everything ends (it is a cycle) -"what is ego?" --- aham -Aham is how humans understand themselves These videos dived in more depth about Indian mythology and older stories outside of the epics. It was interesting to see the reason for the main river to be multi-colored and that it had a backstory to it. 

( source ) If you can't tell by the image, I took a look at Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences . The concept is that humans can have different types of intelligence. For example, I could be good at one thing, but not at another. This is an important concept to grasp because we often forget that we have our own talents. So, if I were to fail at math, that doesn't mean that I am a complete failure. It simply means that I need to find something else that I could be good it.