After darkness there is always a sunshine

Hope has been said to keep people alive. If there was not any hope in the world, the world could not make impossible things possible. Every person in the world is somewhere driven with hope as it remains very essential to the mankind. There is still hope that world becomes a better place to live in.

When I look at my experience of life, hope has always driven me out and improved me as a person. I think I have survived the darkest phase of life with the hope that there will be sunshine soon. It is truly said with a right attitude a person can change his or her situation 

from worse to good.

A ray of hope  was much needed to me in my last year of  my graduation when I  did not understand where my life was heading to as my other fellow mates were sure and secure about the future . I had no real passion for the subject I was studying; therefore, my grades were below average. I thought my life had no meaning, in the present scenario where everybody is so passionate and ambitious about their future. I stood at the crossroads of questioning myself that where, how and what I’m going to do with my life. Feeling hopeless about my life I resorted back to my hometown, where I was still tensed about the gloomy days ahead. And at last I could not stress myself more and told my father about what I was going through. He consoled me and asked to change my perception about life. First he asked me to throw away all the negative thoughts about myself.  He told that even if in life when one doesn’t have anything,  it is very important  to have a mind filled with optimism , that  could only make the life on the persons better in the situation he is in. A positive attitude will always lead to greater roads of success. He asked me to realise the fact that situation in life are always in flux. Therefore I need not worry about my future rather work on my present and change my present. This change would outshine the future along with it I need to keep hoping that things are going to be better. My father narrated a few incidents of his life where he was also disappointed with life, and explained me that it happens with everyone and everyone gets out of it mainly because of hope and optimism.

This explained to me a great deal of things that being hopeful can really change my situation. I don’t need to give up on myself rather work on my weakness. Seeing life with an angle of hope will at least solve my problem instead of just worrying about them. I started working on the instructions of my father, and finally I found myself in a much better situation with success and happiness.

Yes, a positive attitude can make a lot of difference; it not only can solve your problems but sometimes will end them. I feel being optimistic in life is the greatest gift one could ever gift to oneself.

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STATE IN EARLY MODERN PERIOD

The early modern period is the growth, around the world, of the states and large scale complex organization that attains size, stability capacity efficiency and territorial reach not seen since antiquity if then. Early modern states display impressive new ability to mobilize resource and deploy overwhelming force .On the Japan archipelago the Tokogawa regime united warring states of the medieval Japan to form one of the world’s powerful states of the time. In Russia the czarist state consolidated power and expanded its territory. In the Western Europe the French monarchy built a centralized state structure that directed colonial expansion throughout the world. On the British Isles, England forcibly assimilated Scotland and Ireland and built a vast maritime colonial empire.  The early modern period is also characterized by great empires which had been “nomadic” in nature. As we look into this period along the North African coast, through the Middle East and Russia through the north marches of the Mughal empires central Asia we seen nomads’ interacting with settled civilization. By the middle 16^th century, when nomad cavalry has put the Safavids on the throne in Iran, has made the Uzbeks master of Transoxania, and has given the Mughals a foothold in the north India, the balance of military power has already begun to shift in the favor of all those whose settles existences are protected by walled fortifications. 

The origins of the memorial stones among the tribal

To trace the origins of the memorial stones among the tribal suggests influence of Hinduism in their traditions or vice versa. There memorial in the tribal region are made of stone and wood. The wood memorial have created debate among scholar that the wood memorial where the earlier memorial and then stone was used. This arguments is based in the idea that stone was durable than wood, however, this has been negated as Elwin states the pillar do not have any association with the megalithic cult as they stand independent or associated with stone menhirs.while ghosa states that the sculptors became scarce and sculpturing became expensive, people might have opted for carved wood memorial and associates memorial with the rock-shelter painting which resemble very closely the memorial art of Korkus

The earliest of the hero stone among the tribal are also called "old” hero stone are found in the region of Baster which pre Rajput and pre Muslim era. They also depict a predominance of Hinduism and other regions and are mostly single paneled. They picture a warrior in foot with bow and arrow, dagger .in the early phase there is no depiction of sati in these stone even though there are 2 miniatures female depicted in 2 stone at Gond fort at Lanji but are considered to be fighting hero. At Basur there are 2 hero stone which illustrates the royal heroes on the horse back  while one has a chatri over him which is similar to Revanta .the distinguishing features is that the hero wear a big ear rings , bead head which clearly classify him as Muriyas.

MEMORIAL STONES

Memorial stone have been discovered in large numbers in throughout India. The memorial stone are also called viragalas( vira = “hero” and gala ="stone) are dedicated to hero  who died in battle , saving the cattle’s from the cattle raids , protecting their modesty of a women , following the order of their masters and sati. The hero cult arises out of the notion of ones sacrifices for the society and wellbeing of others. The glorification of the death hero or heroine has been an important segment in history of the tribal society as well.
The memorials glorify and depict the life of the dead. The sun and the moon are also illustrates which represent the eternity of the person. The carving is from one to eight panels. The carving on these memorials differs from place to place and is well defined.

ORIGINS OF MEMORIAL STONES

Memorializing dead have been old phenomena in the human civilization.The stone-age man used to bury the dead along with his worldly possessions, such as ornament, snail shells and even his long-lost tooth. The origin of the erecting memorial can be associated with the megalithic burials. This association is highly doubtful .Further  the origin of the hero stone can be associated with the Buddhist who practiced relics or the formation of stupa or the funeral practices of the easterner. The Tulsi-like memorials might have been specially evolved and dedicated to deceased priests and holy men. Later on the carving on the granite boulder pillar became elaborate in the eighth century. It is very important that these are mostly restricted to Bastar district which suggest that this art might have come into central region from the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as other memorial stone like the nishidi and sati stone are derived from this region. Some scholars suggests that the existence of this custom among people of Dravidian origin and almost its absence among Aryans indicated its tribal origin. Verrir Elwin suggests that erecting the memorials among tribal is custom which borrowed from Hindus. Therefore it is not very clear to trace the origin of the memorial stone among the tribal

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[1] (PATIL 1982)

[2] (GHOSA 1932)

[3] (ELWIN 1951)

HISTORICAL METHODS AND LITERARY STUDIES

 The relationship between historical and literary studies can be a vexed and difficult one. At the heart of this difficulty lies the possible conflict between historical methods of analysis and the formal or stylistic analysis of texts deemed ‘literary’. Here the conflict consists of how the historical contextualization of a literary text, from the moment of its origins to the history of its transmission and reception, might be inimical to the nature of a literary text as an aesthetic artifact. Historical method might reduce the complexities of literary texts by treating them as documents which are transparent to the historical, social and economic circumstances in which they are produced and received, rather than grappling with their stylistic and formal complexities as verbal artifacts. In this context, historical method and critical analysis appear to work with two opposing ideas of the text, the first operating with the notion of a document as reflecting its historical and social contexts of origin and transmission, and the other working with the notion of a literary work as an autonomous verbal object, a self-referential entity which generates its own techniques of analysis and criticism, and which therefore cannot be reduced to the original context in which it was produced .This model of the text assumes that the meanings of literary texts are always in some way trans-historical.

The Significance of Literature in Writing History

To study  the significance of literature in writing history I would firstly like to reject the British notion which claimed that literary consiousness was idea which was firstly brought in India by the britisher. The source of history in pre colonial time was seen as myths, imaginary like fairly tales but the Ithihasa purna and kharif which belong to a pre colonial period as very important sources of history.

To understand why colonial historian have  rejected the idea of India to have a history writing tradition. We  first need to understand that Pre-colonial India as a deeply multilingual society with multiple tradition of knowledge and of literary production conducted in specific languages and the ‘vernaculars’. But what the first tradition of histories of north India literatures, written during the colonial and nationalist period s did they deeply involved in cry stalling communities around language and cultural identity and rewrote literary history in term of separate single language tradition as the competitive teleological histories. 

The first problem faced by the nineteenth and early twentieth century works on ‘Hindi’ and ‘Urdu’ linguistic and literary history and in the debates that suffused the era their composition was that of language definition. The issue of language definition was first recognized as a ‘problem’ by colonial linguist and the suggestion they put forward often carry the stamp of official authority either became commonplace or provoked long lasting debate and resentment. The problem centered on the oblivious difference in script and vocabulary in what seemed to be the same language and also on the uncertainty surrounding the correct name go language. At present, Hindi and Urdu literary histories are trapped in competing historical narratives that do not allow a common history to emerge.

Why do erotic scuptures appear on the religious monuments??

The early scholarship associated the sculpture were carved to  protecting the monuments from the lighting and thunder or evil eye or to attract the tourist  , secondly there is a disregard for other sects like Kuala kapilaka and other . thirdly  to teach the sex education as people are ashamed of sex so sexuality and religion could be enter linked .these theories have been negated by scholar . The theory which is associated to erotic sculptures is the link with the tantric cult.

There is no mentioning of the temples of Khajuraho in any text as pilgrimage centre. The tantric as well as the prunes are silent about Khajuraho. There s no evidence if patronage of the chandelle to the tantrums.

The predominance to the erotic sculpture could to trace by Pramod Chandra as an influence of Kuala kapilaka, while L.k. Tripati suggests that there were the Kuala kapilaka by the digimbar monks.

Devangana deasi argues that the panchayantana Vaishnava of the Vaikuntha cannot be associated to the Kuala- kapilaka.  There is a tantric influence on the Lakshmana temple is enshrining with the three faces Vishnu, varah and narishma that forms Vaikuntha. It is an important of pancharactic pantheon of the tantrisim. The kasimargara scholar and the padma tantra and isvara samhita mention Tanta Tara School Vishnu as Vaikuntha. The image is said to come from Bhota the modern Tibet .the worship of the panchantratic image of Vishnu obtained from the tantric religion. But the inscription which as on the temple tell a different story. As it upheld the idea of the puranic cult as the king is said to protect the three Vedas and maintain the prosperity of the Brahman. therefore on can suggest that the religious attribute of the temple at Khajuraho had both puranic as well as tantric influence in it .as  Devangana Desai suggest that there is a prevalence of the school of samarta worship , this form of worship is a mixture of the  puranic as well tantric religion.

Richard Lannoy explains the reason for the erotic sculpture on the religious monument with a Buddhist understanding. The Buddhists philosophy of middle path condemned passion, and excess. It prohibited women in it initial stage but later on women were included in it. He calls it the influence of the Sahaja cult.

He further suggests the sex life in the religious setting is more dedicated to fertility. The Upanishad also uses the metaphor of the sexual freedom for the experience of the other. The Gita Govind also has a great variety of the erotic spiritual realization. The religious language of the erotic cannot be developed without the erotic metaphor or erotic imagery in the religious literature of India. The sexual imagery was present in cult like tantric and Sahaja which as religious connotations.

CLASSIFICATION OF EROTIC SCUPLTURES ON LAKSHMANA TEMPLE , KHAJURAHO

The erotic sculpture of the Lakshmana temple can be easily associated with vatsyayana – Kamasutra.  These sculptures a can easily be divided into six categories reflect different erotic moods[1].

Group (I) this group of sculpture are mostly single of the Apasrasa or the celestial beauties, sursundaries or the entertainer of god. They display nudity, unloosening of knot their garment, arising sensuousness by displaying their youth, erotic moods. There bodies are voluptuous.

Group (ii)

This group sculpture have single domesticate male and female couple of embracing, kissing and the amorous moods.

Group (iii)

This group of sculptures has passionate embracing, kissing and many postures of the Kamasutra like the nail makes and other game postures

Group (IV)

They depict the sexually congress and extra vaginal coital. These are mostly in the standing postures; there is a depiction of, two men engaged with one woman and vice versa, and also oral congress as well vice verse.

There is a presence of the 3 party with cohabiting

Group (v)

There are sculptures of plural intercourse 4 person predicating with one woman or three men participating with one man,

The congress between human and animal like dogs, ass, mare, deer are show the basic urge for men and the animal are the same. The profusion of erotic sculpture on large number portraying the royal couple, ascetic reveals that tantrisim was quite popular among sculptor and the patron.

Sculptures on the Lakshmana temple have a depiction of the play prabodharchrya written by krshna Misra was the court poet   of the Chandellas.  The sutra dhara of the Khajuraho have device the characters of the play on the temple .some these sculpture as erotic as well. There is depict of the union king viveka and his wife Upanishad who plays s the protagonist of the play .the union is shown by two sursundaries[2]. There is identification two sursundaries on the buttress. There is sursundaries on lower row arranging her necklace on the upper garment by raising her arm. This is like to the description do the mithyadrishtri, the beloved of the king mahamoha in the prabodhancandrodayya.Mahamoha describes her as on who exhibits sport fully rows, nail marks on her arms on the pretext of keeping in place on the garland. These sursundaries as well as mithunas observed independently their context as motif of the temple art. This sculpture figure they revealed as parts and plots of the play.

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[1] (desai, 1985)

[2] (DESAI, THE PATRONAGE TO OF THE LASKHMANA TEMPLE OF KHAJURAHO, 1992)

EROTIC SCUPTURES

The most important feature of the temples at Lakshmana temple is the manifestation of the erotic sculptures and it was the first temple in Khajuraho to depict the erotic sculpture in such large numbers. .There is different type of erotic motif mostly pre-coital and coital, sursundaries, amorous couple and Apasrasa. The Maithuna motif occupies a major place in the temple.

The sculpture mainly rest on both exterior as well as the interior of the temple. In exterior it rest on the Jangha Adishtana and Shikhara in the interior in the sculpture are carved on the pillar lintels, door, cornices, and the Garbhagriha.

The size of these sculptures varies from 6inches in cornice to 1 foot on platform to 2.5 fetes in Jangha.

There is a definite indication that the silpona were governed by the canon in the Antrala. The upper tier of the Antrala has divinity couple in erotic pose attended by musicians o the lower tier of the Antrala has depiction of organic sense. There is depiction of royal person ascetic; female attendants touching the private parts of their partners. Ascetic in an ecstasy of dance are portrayed another Jangha. The southern eastern side of the jagati has a long frame which depict numerous couple involve in wild orgy.

THE TEMPLE OF KHAJURAHO

The period between the 9^th – 14^thcenturies marks a high point in the history of temple architecture in the central India which was ruled the Chandelles.

The word “Khajuraho” with means “carrier of the date Palms” was ruled under the Chandelles ruler of Central India. They built  85 temples out of which only 25 survive till today. The temples at Khajuraho are dedicated to Siva, Vishnu and Jain sects.

The Lakshmana temple was built by Yasovarma in 950 A.D.The evidence of ruins of chausta yogini temple . The Lakshmana temple is vaishanava shrine which has its main deity as Vaikuntha who has three faces and a mixture of Vishnu, varah and narishma. An inscription of 954 suggest that the temple Ardhamandapa was erected under Yasovarma and it consecration under his son Dhangdeva. It was the first Nagara style temple in India.

The origin of the Chandelles has been traced down to tribal of Gond and Bhars, the chandelles worshiped Maniyagah who is also the deity of the Bhars. The sources provided to us is inspiration inscribed on the temple.Inscription equates the kings with god and epic hero like Arjuna, Rama, and Yudhishtri. It was reveals that there was a dependency on the brahaman and the kings made grants and buildstanks .temple and did charitable works. The inscription suggest that the time of the temple was being erected the chandelle were feudatories of the Partihara of Kannuj. The temple is dedicated to Vaikuntha which was borrowed from Partihara king Devepala. The temple symbolizes victory of Yasovarma which is equating to the god Vishnu calls himself the enemy of Madhu.

TECHNOLOGY IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD

The early modern period saw the rapid evolution of gunpowder related technology. Both portable personal firearms and cannon gained ease if operation, power and accuracy. Early modern states, confronted with the greatly increases costs of firearms, turned their attention to improving their assessment and collection. Military organization light field artillery in place of the medieval reliance on heavily armors mounted cavalry. The most potent new technology of the period was printing with movable metal type. The new invention was especially suitable for Romans and other writing system with limited number of symbolic letters .China, Japan and Korea all which have ideographic writings system remained attached to their sophisticated technology of woodblock printing which supported wide publication of books. The Islamic and Indian world was slow to give up manuscripts and the pen to use less appealing metal type printings.

Cultivation During Early Modern Period

The early modern world reflects the process of intensified use of land to expand production in numerous episodes of settler frontiers. Growing population aggressive states and market forces combined to send pioneer settlers into forest or savannas to reclaim land for plow cultivation or commercial pastoralism. Early modern frontiersmen invariably were tied to domestic and international markets for the goods they produced. There is also other side of this which shows that is there are peasant revolts in many areas which seems due to heavy taxation on the peasant who actually pay. In the 16^th and 17^th centuries the rich find its way to escape keeping their land off tax rolls and it may also occur due to the increasing population. The condition of peasantry deteriorated.

A final process was the diffusion of several new technologies – cultivation of new world crops, gunpowder and printing. The new crop like tobacco, coffee, tea, Chocolates, maize were grown which was a result of the new world connection. With these new cultivators, farmer could clear hill forest and profitably grow these highly productive food crops. New world food crops provided a technical breakthrough that stimulated expansion of cultivation throughout china, Japan and Taiwan in the 18^th century. Maize and potatoes added to the productive capacity of Europe and later African agriculture.

Class of society in the early modern period

The urban class just not emerges as class of society in the early modern period but this class reexamines the religious value and religion. Everywhere reform movement have come earlier but in the 16^th and 17^th centuries they fully saturate society , often creating great social upheavals, and they become linked with vast and truly far-flung missionary movements and activists commonly moving hand in hand with trade and carrying as an ingredient the values of the urban commercial classes. The new urban man is not content with the decayed spirtual content of his religious institution. He believes more firmly than did his medieval forerunner in the validity of his own perception. Reformation, counter reformation-eastern orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism these distinctions have confused us when we look Europe in this period. In the Muslim world, central Islamic authority has disappeared. In 1500 the political reemergence of Shi’ism ,embodied in the Safawiyya , a Sufi order , splits Islam in half .the worldliness and moral laxity of the high ulema at princely courts offend the common man . And this intricate in and outs of Islamic jurisprudence seem baffling and irrelevant to him so he turn instead to the Sufi order affiliate with trade guild. This is precisely the period when Buddhism was decaying which lead to a reform movement in the leadership of the Yellow sect .the Yellow reforms stimulate a new self criticism and reorganization of the unreformed monastic communities under the leadership of the red sect. this period was also marked as the time of Rawshanniya among the Afghans, the Mahdawiyya among the Indian Muslim, the Sikhs movement in north India and the “high tide” of the bhakti movement among the Hindus.

Urbanisation of Early Modern Period

A kind of urbanization trend is also apparent we see a growth in the number, size and importance of towns and medium sized cities. There were off course large cites before this period along the trade routes  , as military garrisons, as tradition cults .In the 16^th , 17^th , 18^th centuries , long distance trade continues and European mar times trade increased as we discussed it the above paragraph . it is by no meaning , however that the sea fearing Portuguese , Spanish , Dutch and English merchants of the early modern Europe expect perhaps those trading after about the middle 18^th century are carrying in trade of greater commercial value or that they are more active . The important thing is the difference in the amount of regional short- distance trade in inland. Regional market has begun to grow. Fairs, held at regular intervals become important and urban character. There is a growth in the number and in size of cities and towns of regional type central market town acting as the hub of intraregional exchange, cities served as the economic and cultural centers foe the surrounding region. The 17^th century is time of crises for the world‘s cities and for   the growth of the “regional” cities and town in particular.

The growth of the regional town is accompany not only by regional trade but also in this period we seen the influx of merchant and artisan in the cities. as the period progresses there  sharp distinction which  once separated the urban commercial class from the traditional social and cultural aristocracies gradually becomes blurred .there are more financial understanding , more business deals, more alliances, more over lapping of the functions between aristocrats and merchants , between merchant families and aristocratic families. Artists and writers who once had to satisfy the traditional esthetic requirement of a more rural elite cultural elite now satisfy the city dweller , with the urban man’s tastes and concern. Urban patrons of high culture are nothing new, as in Italian cities in Herat and in china and Japan prior to 1500, and the Italian renaissance of the fifteenth century is noteworthy even for merchant patronage of visual art, but with 16^th and 17thy century the urban character of the arts is more apparent. Islamic attitudes toward the fashioning of image make the urban influence on visual arts difficult to compare during the period in view. The fact that Aurangzeb terminates Mughal patronage of painting altogether in 1659, for Aurangzeb is responding to urban Muslim sentiment, spearheaded by Naqshbandiyya, which holds that infidel practices at court have gone too far. As patron, as appreciators and as creators, the urban commercial classes begin playing a cultural role that they have not played before and their tastes and their support leave a distinctive mark. In china, the so-called “novel” comes out into the open; popularizations of classical literary and philosophical works begin to appear; intellectuals like ku yen wu look with new eye neo-Confucianism that has dominated Chinese thinking for five centuries; and there are fresh development in social thoughts. In Muslim India, the 17^th century sees the development of vernacular literatures at the expense of Arabic and Persian: a genre like tadhkira, increasingly popular in Central Asia also at time, reflects the interest of the commercial classes.

Demography in early modern period

In the early modern phase there is evidence in rise of the population. Human numbers increased more or less steadily with an accelerating rate in till the eighteenth century. And according to sources which estimated the world population grew by 350-550 million over 300 years. Viewed as a whole, the demographic curves of the globe‘s various population was look quite unalike except perhaps for a fairly universal rise in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Furthermore, even between 1500 and 1800 the various population rates of increase and decrease vary widely. China grows faster than Europe, and Europe grows faster than India. But exception central America and in Japan , the shapes of the various population curves in the 16^th century and the first part of the 17^th century are similar to a remarkable degree. And even Central America shares the 17^th century global dip in the curve.  

The Creation of Global Sea Passages in the Early Modern Period

In the early modern period  make a distinction from the earlier as well the later period.One of them was the creation of global sea passages that played a major role in linking different region of the world and which also set a strong network of transportation. In the fourteenth century there were three maritime regions and sea fearing traditions from which mariners were equipped to undertake long ocean voyages of the discovery : the Europeans , the Arab-Indian, and the Chinese. Throughout the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century’s European rules paid for and encouraged maritime exploration, mapping and reporting that generated extensive systematic knowledge. And it was for the first time that European mariners created are liable sea passage to the new world from the old. The new maritime connection did not supersede older land route, nor did they attract more than a portion of long distance trade. It was European knowledge of and access to these new global routes that conferred a commercial, military and diplomatic edge over other societies. Steady, incremental improvement in ship design and construction, navigational techniques and kills and seaborne armament characterized early modern European shipping fleets. By the late 1700 European mariners even had reliable techniques for measuring longitude as well latitudes.

Periodisation of early modern

The ‘early modern’ period which is said to a transitional phase from the medieval to the modern phase in history .The early modern period has been timed from the late fifteenth to the early nineteenth century. This period marks the end of the middle ages and goes further into the new era of industrialization and modernity in the nineteenth and the twentieth century’s. For many historians the term ‘early modern’ seems to be an attempt to show the rapid changes occurring in the human organization themselves as well as interaction with other human beings and with the natural world. The early modern is a period which is said to have interconnections, continuities, general trends, common to and linked them all are questioned.  The term early modern is largely meaningless except for Europe and the early modern period has no history, only histories seem to be a dilemma.

As I look into whole notion of early modern period I would first like to draw the attention towards the term which Joseph Fletcher has examined i.e., interconnection and continuities. Interconnection which he denotes as a phenomena in which there is a contact linking two or more societies. He distinguish between horizontal and vertical continuity ,as he emphasizes that horizontal continuity is denoted by an economic , social and cultural phenomena experienced by two or more societies between which there is not necessarily any communication. The early modern world is not easy for historian to integrate, mainly because the historical work that has been done especially for the non-western world has tended to emphasize political and diplomatic history and more recently institutional history. To find the interconnection and horizontal continuities of the early modern history, we need to look at the political and institutional history and examine the development in the economies societies and cultures of the modern world.