BENGALI 7th Year CULTURAL ASSOCIATION PETERBOROUGH DURGOTSAV - AUTUMN FESTIVAL 2014 Durgotsav 3rd, 4th & 5th October 2014 Longthorpe Village Hall, Peterborough. NO LET NO FEE COMPETITIVE RATES Landlords: Why choose Magpie INDEPENDENTLY Property Management? OWNED & MANAGED Professional Inventories What makes our company so Regular Inspections important to us is the people Free No Obligation Valuations with whom we Room Rentals work and the clients we Deposit Scheme Certified serve. LANDLORDS SPECIAL Solely Lettings INTRODUCTORY OFFER: FREE RENT Rent4Sure Professional Referencing INSURANCE FOR 6 MONTHS ARLA Agents For more information Visit: www.magpieproperty.co.uk please call Vikkii & Gill Telephone: 01480 475777 on 01480 475777 E:Mail: [email protected] 36 NEW STREET, ST NEOTS, CAMBS, PE19 1AJ. DURGA PUJA 2014 SCHEDULE Longthorpe Village Hall, 295 Thorpe Road, Peterborough, PE3 6LU Friday, 3rd October 2014 Shasthi Puja: 06:30pm Guest of Honour Dinner: 09:00 pm Mayor of Peterborough Councillor David Over Saturday, 4th October 2014 Saptami Puja: 09.30 am Children’s Art Competition: 11:30 am Lunch: 01:30 pm Ashtami Puja: 04:00 pm Guest of Honour MP, Peterborough Cultural Programme: 08:00pm Mr Stewart Jackson Dinner: 09:00 pm Saturday 11th October 2014 Sunday, 5th October 2014 Lakkhi Puja: 07:00 pm Navami Puja: 09:30 am Lunch: 01:30 pm Dashami Puja: 01:30 pm Dr. Manaan Kar Ray: 07932634720 Bijoya Dashami Celebrations: 07:00 pm Dr. Nanda Mandal: 01733 332376 Mrs Usha Dutta: 01733 343944 Dinner: 09:00 pm For more information visit: www.peterboroughbengalis.org Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/bcapuk FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK WELCOME TO ONE & ALL Manaan Kar Ray Glimpses of India Following the success of a themed brochure on Swami Vivekananda in 2013, Sreejan 2014 will provide various facets of life in India: History, Linguistics, Music, Dance, India is an experience, it Cinema, Cuisine, Costumes, Transport, Sports and does not matter what your Festivals will feature on the following pages. We would like travel guide says, nothing to acknowledge our patrons and sponsors, their support can prepare you for the has been invaluable in bringing to fruition Durga Puja 2014, our 7th year running. Also without your active participation enigma that is India. From our endeavours will be futile, so thank you and welcome. snowcapped mountains to sun bathed beaches, from lantern lit villages to cyber metros, the symphony of sights, sounds, tastes and smells that awaits you is bamboozling. 7th Year TEAM BCAP 2013-14 Another Glorious BEYOND THE TAJ Year DID YOU KNOW? Facts, Facts, Facts ● India has never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history. ● The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education. ● Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India. ● Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries. Photo Credits: Manaan Kar Ray ● When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers (over 5000 years ago), Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley ( ). The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as Sindhu. The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' refers to the land of the Hindus. ● The & Navigating was born in river Sindhu over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'. ● is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology, aetiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts. ● The ' ' and the ' ' were developed in India in 100 B.C. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India. Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12). ● The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population. Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively. Islam is India's and the world's second largest religion. There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world. The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively. Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively. Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577. is woven into the fabric of India. ● The Vishnu Temple in the city of built in the 10th century, is the world's largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday. The World's First The game of Snakes & Bhaskaracharya rightly The value of "pi" was Granite Temple is the Ladders was created by calculated the time taken first calculated by the Brihadeswara Temple at 13th century poet saint by the earth to orbit the Indian Mathematician Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. Gyandev. It was originally Sun hundreds of years Budhayana, and he The shikhara of the called 'Mokshapat'. Ladders before the astronomer explained the concept of temple is made from a represented virtues and Smart. According to his what is known as the single 80-tonne piece of snakes indicated vices. The calculation, the time Pythagoras Theorem. granite. This magnificent game underwent several taken by the Earth to He discovered this in the temple was built in just modifications, but its orbit the Sun was 6th century, long before five years, (between meaning remained the 365.258756484 days. the European 1004 AD and 1009 AD) same, i.e. good deeds take mathematicians. during the reign of people to heaven and evil Rajaraja Chola. to a cycle of re-births. Harappa to Mars, The Indian Journey - Maya Kar Ray 2600 - 1700 BC 600 - 500 BC 326 BC 321 - 185 BC Hey day of Indus Valley Mahavira founds Jainism Alexander the Great Mauryan kings like Ashoka Civilization with metros like and Gautama Buddha invades India and defeats rule a Pan-Indian empire Harappa and Mohenjodaro founds Buddhism King Porus from Patliputra AD 319 - 510 AD 850 AD 1192 AD 1336 Golden era of Gupta Chola empire comes to Prithviraj Chauhan loses Foundation of mighty Dynasty marked by a power in South India and Delhi to Mohammed Ghori, Vijaynagar empire near creative surge across India becomes a formidable force ending Hindu supremacy Hampi in Karnataka AD 1498 AD 1526 - 1707 AD 1674 AD 1757 Portugese sailor, Vasco da Glorious Mughals: Babar’s Shivaji establishes the Robert Clive of East India Gama discovers the sea victory at Panipat, Akbar’s Maratha kingdom and Company defeats Siraj ud route from Europe to India reign & Shah Jahan’s Taj assumes title of Chhatrapati Daulah in Battle of Plassey AD 1857 AD 1919 AD 1947 0800 IST 26/09/2014 Sepoys lead the First War of Jallianwala Massacre India gains independence Mangalayan enters Mars Independence against the prompts Gandhi to respond and is partitioned causing Orbit, India reaches out to British Raj with Civil Disobedience cross border exodus the stars Rupsha reciting at Lakkhi PujoAmader 2013 Pujo ----------------------------- CELEBRATING BENGAL IN BRITAIN ----------------------------- To create a future in which our children can be proud of their roots, history and heritage while spreading their wings to embrace the best of multicultural Britain. Adults: £9.95 Children: £5.95 12 noon - 9 pm Bangla’s Linguistic Ancestry - Abhijit Ghosh It is known that sometime around 1500 B.C. the of India, and was later declared the Aryans, a people who spoke an early Indo- National Song of India. Bankim European tongue, invaded India from the north- Chatterjee is considered as a key west. Gradually their language developed into figure in literary renaissance of Vedic Sanskrit which became the language of the Bengal and some of his writings upper classes. The Aryans spread Sanskrit rapidly were a breakaway from traditional into many parts of the Sub-continent including verse-oriented Indian writings. Bengal. Numerous books on different subjects like: Epic, Drama, Prose, Poetry, Novel, were At the end of the nineteenth century, written in Sanskrit. This influenced the non-Aryan Rabindranath Tagore played a significant role in local languages which led to the birth of a new developing Bengali literature and introduced new language called Prakrit. Prakrit gradually got prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial various shapes and forms and it is thought that language into Bengali literature, thereby freeing it one of these shapes led to the birth of Bengali from traditional models based on language. classical Sanskrit. Rabindranath Tagore who reshaped Bengali The Bangla alphabets use a script that is similar to literature and music in the late 19th the Devanagari script.