Wikipedia: From Vasuki to Dhanvantari

Vasuki

I remembered Bhima almost died from the hand of Duryodhana. Duryodhana threw him in the river and he ended up going to another world at the bottom of the river. There is met King Vasuki and Vasuki gave him a special gift. He is a king of the nagas.

Ocean of Milk

A big story Vasuki took part of was the churning of the ocean of milk. I wanted to know what the ocean of milk was. It is the 5th from the center of the 7 oceans. It surrounds the country of Krauncha. Some gods stirred up the ocean to release the nectar of immortal life, Amrita. 

Amrita

Amrit in Sanskrit means immortality. Amrita is usually a nectar in many religions. It sometimes is said to flow on statues of Hindu gods. The gods had to get the nectar to keep their immortality. Amrit was the last of the 14 treasure jewels of Hinduism that was contained in a pot borne by Dhanvantari.

Dhanvantari

He is an avatar of Vishnu. He is the physician of the gods. People pray to him to bring good health. He supposedly emerged from the Ocean of Milk.

Dhanvantari, Wikipedia.

Wikipedia Trail: From Ganges to Small Tortoiseshell

Ganges

I wanted to look up the Ganges river to see where it was and see pictures. It came up a few times in the Mahabharata and wanted to know if it was real. It flows through India and Bangladesh. 

South Asian River Dolphin (Ganges Dolphin)

In the previous wikipedia page, it talked about how the Ganges river is home to the endangered species of the Ganges Dolphin. I was curious what made it different from normal dolphins. It is a freshwater or river dolphin (I thought dolphins were only in the ocean!). 

List of National Animals

The Ganges Dolphin was considered to be the "national aquatic animal" of India. It took me to a list of national animals and I want to see what kind of diverse animals made the list.

Small Tortoiseshell

The Small Tortoiseshell is actually a species of butterfly that is the national butterfly of Denmark. The picture on the previous list was beautiful and I wanted to see more. I was actually fooled by the picture on the list because it made it appear that the butterfly had a brilliant purple outline around its wrings but it was actually the flower it was sitting on. It now sorta looks like a normal butterfly. 

Ganges River in Varanasi, Wikipedia.

Wikipedia Trail: From Parvati to Terma Tradition

Parvati

She was Shiva's wife in the Mahabharata and I wanted to know more about her. She is the Hindu goddess of love, devotion, and fertility. I like the idea of female deities, since I feel like I mostly hear about male deities.

Mount Kailash

This is where Parvati abides and I wanted to know where this was located and look at some pictures. It is a peak in the Kailash mountain range in Tibet. It is also near some of the longest rivers in Asia. 

Mount Kailash, Wikipedia.

Bon

Mount Kailash is considered sacred in a few religions and this is one of them. I had never heard of this religion so I wanted to know a little more about it. It is a Tibetan religion and arose in the 11th century. 

Terma

The Bon religion gets a lot of its scripture from the Terma tradition. I have also never heard of this and wanted to know more about it too. It believes that a text or ritual implement is hidden in things like rocks, herbs, trees, lakes, and etc.

Wikipedia Trail: From Krishna to Archipelago

Krishna

Krishna was in the PDE Mahabharata and I knew he was some type of god but I wanted to know more about him. He is a major Hindu deity. Several other religions and traditions worship and/or acknowledge him as well. 

Krishna Janmashtami

This is a festival that happens on the 8th day of the dark fortnight somewhere in August or September. It is the annual celebration of Krishna's birth. People fast and worship at specific times to celebrate. 

Fiji

Around 25% of the people in Fiji practice Hinduism. I decided to go to this page because I knew Fiji is beautiful but I've never looked at pictures of it before. I also wasn't sure exactly where it is.

Archipelago

The previous article said Fiji is an archipelago of more than 330 islands. I wanted to know more about what this term means. It is basically just a group, cluster, or chain of islands. 

Toddler Dressed as Krishna, Wikipedia.

Wikipedia Trail: From Hanuman to Monk

Hanuman

I read about Hanuman in the Ramayana and how great a friend he was to Rama. He was devoted to him because that was why he was born on Earth, to meet Rama and help him defeat Ravana. 

Shiva

Some Ramayana versions say Hanuman is a reincarnation of Shiva. I was curious who Shiva is. He is a key deity in Hinduism that is the "transformer."

Yogi

In some stories, Shiva is depicted as a yogi. I wanted to know what a yogi was. Yogi means either a person that practices yoga or a practicer of tantra (tantra traditions) or can mean a member of the Nath siddha tradition of Hinduism.

Monk

I was curious about what all traditions have monks. Eastern and Western Christianity, Buddhism, and Jainism all have monks. I think monks' purpose to help others selflessly is a beautiful thing.

Hanuman

Wikipedia Trail: From Nina Paley to Xerox

Nina Paley

I decided to do some research on Nina Paley because she animated "Sita Sings the Blues." I've only watched the first half, but so far I absolutely love it. I love the comedic tone it has. I love all the illustrations and the different types of animations used for the characters.

Super-8 Reels 

Nina's first animation was recorded using this type of film when she was very young. I was curious what is special about this kind of film. 

Fujifilm

I've always been interested in photography. I know Fujifilm is a big company in photography and film. I wanted to know when they started up (1934).

Xerox

I wanted to see what all exactly the Xerox Corporation does/produces. They have printing services and they sell office equipment like printers and scanners. Apple almost bought out Xerox but they could not ever agree on a deal.

Xerox Logo

Wikipedia Trail: From Jatayu to Sanskrit

Jatayu
I looked up Jatayu because he was in the Ramayana that I read and I also retweeted a tweet for a tech tip that was of a massive statue of Jatayu. In Ramayana, he was so selfless and wanted to help Rama find Sita.
Chadayamangalam

I went to this page because it was where Jatayu supposedly fell when Ravana cut his wings off. I had no idea where that was and wanted to see what it looked like. I believe that it is the location where that statue I had retweeted is located. 

Malayalam

One of the official languages of Chadayamangalam is Malayalam and I had never heard of that before so I was curious what it was and where it came from. The other official language was English. It is predominately in India and in the state of Kerala. 

Sanskrit

I knew this was some type of language but I was never sure what exactly it was. I have seen it pop up in other things that I have searched for on Wikipedia. It is a philosophical language in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Jatayu Fighting Ravana

Wikipedia Trail: From Rakshasa to Evil Eye

Rakshasa
After reading part A and B of PDE Ramayana, I wanted to know more about the Rakshasas. They came up so many times and I could get a brief sense of who/what they were, but I wanted to know more.
Vampire
The article described Rakshasas that can sometimes be depicted to be similar to vampires in Western culture. I decided to go to this page because I wanted to see what specifics they might have about "real" vampires from back in the day.
Apotropaic magic

Apotropaic magic are items that are supposed to ward off evil spirits or beings. I thought it would interesting to read about examples other than garlic with vampires. 

Evil Eye

The last article talked about people painting eyes on things to keep away the Evil Eye. My thought was "what the heck is Evil Eye?" like I'm sure most people think. Apparently, it is a curse cast by glaring at someone. If that was true, my mom would have cursed me thousands of times when I was younger! 

Eyes painted to keep Evil Eye away, Wikipedia Commons

Wikipedia Trail: From Nāga To Anaphylaxis

Nāga

I decided to look up Nāga because I had read a story that involved these people (I included that story in my Storybook Favorites). The story did not tell me very much about who these people actually are. These snake-like people show up in the epic Mahabharata. The stories of these people show up frequently in the stories and traditions in Hindu regions. 

Indian Cobra

In the etymology (study of the origin of words and how the meaning of the word has changed over time) section of the Wikipedia page about the Nāga people, the word Nāga in Sanskrit is the Indian cobra (naja naja). I decided to look at the Indian Cobra because I wanted to see what was special about that species. This species is one of four that bites the most people in India. The bite of the Indian Cobra can lead to paralyzed muscles and even respiratory failure or cardiac arrest. 

Polyvalent Serum (Anti-venom)

I decided to go to the polyvalent serum page because I wasn't sure what that was. I had a suspicion that it meant anti-venom or something similar. Specifically a polyvalent serum can help treat a bite by more than one species. I am going to attend pharmacy school so things like this always peak my interest; I wanted to know how it works.

Anaphylaxis

I read on the anti-venom page about how people can have bad reactions to anti-venoms. I saw the word anaphylaxis and was curious what that was. I found out it is a serious allergic reaction that happens rapidly. It can cause rashes, throat/tongue swelling, difficulty breathing, vomiting, etc. People can get this from insect bites, foods, medications, and more. 

Angioedema, Wikipedia